Squeezed rose Our Ove Gomreovonre Canton, May 25.
For the average British firm of Canton, the Coronation of George VI marks the emergence from a period fof commercial stagnation, the entrance {into a period of business. prosperity. Times are decidedly better; both in the import and the export trade.
As the manager of one of the oldest Inouses" has remarked: "Homeside lorders are more plentiful; and we are [getting better prices by far than we Idid any time during the past several slack years. Here in the south [China market business is brisker, because the hong merchants are not [being squeezed to death as they were Jduring the Chen Chi-tang era, more sympathetic Government, which "nas "been putting finances on a firmer foundation, removing onerous fax. burdens ana retrenching all along the line, hag in large measure restored confidence that had been so badly shaken—1937 should be a ba er year."
German firms, conversely, taking them by and large, are suffering from the cessation of the wild orgy of factory building characteristic of, the latter part of the Chen Chitang period." There also are some concerns {Under other flags that, like the aver~ age German house, had come to con-<|contrate on machinery and building supplies, but this Kwangtung and Canton 'regime stopped squandering Public funds for ill-conceived public Jenterprises that are better jeff to private capitalists and industrialists, Transitional Period Tt being a transitional period, outgo must exceed income for a while. Loss of revenue has been incurred with the stamping out of gamble ing, and the" fast-ending opium evil and, while the standing army fs brutal shadow of the vast_machine built up by Gen. Chen, it cannot be brought down the. size commensurate with actual provincial need until many more months have elapsed. So it has come to pass that the Government has not been able to full all existing obliga~ tions to which it succeeded when it threw out the officials who had been lavish in spending' the people's money.
Messrs, MeDonnel! and German are American engineers who have unde way a lengthy bridge to bring together the Canton-Hankow and. the Canton-Samshui Railways, For mon! they have not been able to collect a cent, which the Government says 1s regrettable, but cannot be helped. Mayor Tsang is trying to get a no-tonal grant to enable the Municipal-Hty to take up these payments, but until he succeeds the engineers' will have to struggle along the best they These dimeulties too will be overs come in time, and there are bound {to be more public building, but on a saner basis after the public income has become larger and overhead further reduced, Reconstruction plans Thave not been altogether scrapped, snd when they can again be under token" these firms specializing in machinery and building supplies. will make again the profits. that tempora arily are non-existent,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.