Mr. B. D. F. Beith on Difficulties Faced by the Industry: Adverse Effect on Higher Duties Mr. B.D. F. Beith, chairman, presided at the fourteenth ordinary meeting of shareholders of the Ewo Cotton Mille, Ltd, in the offices of the general managers, Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Ca,, Ltd, 27 The Bund, last Wednesday morning when shares 176,006 were represented Mr. R. J. McNicol, Secretary, read the notice convening' the meeting and the auditors' report.
Mr, Beith, im his address, indicated the sound position of the company in spite of the adverse condition faced last year as anticipated. He outlined some of the chief dimiculties under which the cotton Industry as a whole wag labouring in China and stressed the tact that largely contributory to this was the increase in duty cotton instituted in July Inst year by the Chinese Government, Having token the report and a counts a5 read, the chairman recalled that lost year he had held out little hope of "improvement and he remretted that hie pessimism had been justified although, having regard to the dificult period under review, the accounts were not unsatisfactory though less favourable than those for 1983, Continuing he said:—
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.