As usual our annual report will carry comprehensive reports on the trade of Hankow. These are. not merely dry as dust statements of Agures, "You will find them instructive.and informative and in thanking those members of the Chamber who have compiled them T am contdeat that do so on behalf of us You will no doubt expect from me however a general survey of conditions during the past year and I trust that my review wilt provide you with the skeleton which you can later clothe with the substance to be found the reports mentioned.
'Judging me in the light, of the spoken word for the past two years you will have guessed that I am by hole an optimist but I have had some. years' experience of Hankow ud I always gather fresh hope for the future when T reflect upon our past. We still suffer from the Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune but even if we cannot command Success we can carry on so long as we deserve it There are signs nevertheless that the worst of the depression is passing, that we have dammed its rising tide although ¢hore are still many obstacles to overcome before any general revival of international trade, or return to real stability or a renewal of confidence are possible.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.