The remarkable disclosures of the actual experiences of a foreign busi ness man tio sought to organize sale of products of @4 Shanghai factories and was defeated in his laudable enterprise by the eccentric operations of official regulations and tariff anomalies, will awaken special interest at this' juncture. The re-Jmaining instalment of the tale to-day gives. precise details in respect of certain of these industrial products.
vividly shows at least one reason why China's exports are shrinking. [The information thus given should be lot the greatest possible value to the various departments of the Chinese Government interested in pressing on with a policy of industrial development and in improving the country's revenue. Import duties imposed for the protection of local manufactures Jean be defended. Impcct duties on ma~ terials which are not now, nor likely, in the future, to be produced in China lchould clearly be eliminated. They merely place an unnecessary additional burden on domestic indus~ tries. The subject cannot be lightly dismissed even by passing comment on" the illuminating narrative to-day's issue. It would be exceedingly interesting to have the views land experiences of other business men, Chinese or foreign. Perhaps by pooling information and collecting horrid instances some measure of agreement may be reached in regard ito.the principles of reform. This journal's columns are open to constructive suggestions and, above all, to the record of other experiences which the present tale may appositely recall.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.