London, Sept. 9.
The British 1,019-ton steamer Stan-wold was captured by a Spanish Nationalist torpedo-boat to-day within the three-mile limit near Rivadesella, on the north coast of Spain.—Reuter.
Subscription to the $500,000,000 Chinese Liberty Bonds will be voluntary, and any effort to compel any person or organization to buy them will be discouraged, Mr. T. V. Soong, Chairman of the special committee in charge of affairs relating to the Bonds, told a representative of the "North-China Daily News" yesterday.
Any compulsory measure to boost the sales of the Bonds, Mr. Soong explained, will incur the danger of inflation, moreover, it is not in conformity with the standing policy of the authorities..No banking institution, Mr. Soong said, had been asked to take any portion of the Bonds, but some had already purchased large amounts.
Signs of enthusiastic response to these bonds are abundant, large groups of merchants, labourers and Others having voluntarily subscribed or applied for them. Judging from present indications, Mr, Soong said he expected that half of the $500,000, 000 Bonds would be subscribed within two or three months.
Subscriptions received to date have exceeded $60,000,000. This is regard ed as encouraging in view of the fact that the flotation was authorized by the Chinese Government only recently, Chinese messages from differ ent parts of the country report organized efforts by Chinese in various walks of life to purchase the Bonds.
Meanwhile, the Government has studiously maintained its credit position with regard to bonds, although its revenue from taxes has fallen oft considerably since the outbreak or Sino-Japanese hostilities. The payments due under interest and capital items on Recovery Bonds, to the amount of $11,000,000, and of the first two instalments of interest on railway loans, totalling $2,300,000 have been promptly made by the Government banks and the Central Trust,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.