In any review of China's export trade "the questions of quality, method of production and marketing arise, The authorities are aware of the value of standard qualities but the difculties possibly the expense which prevent really effective effort towards improvement appear insuperfable for the moment yet unless these overcome and some definite progress is made in the direction of eradication of deliberate and foolish adulteration It will be a long journey before the desired goal is reached.
'A disturbing feature is the ten-Jdency towards official interference with trade: Government control and the institution of monopolies so fre-/quently check development and therefore interfere with sound efficient trading: in this connection it is rumoured that control may' be Me troduced in the Wood Oil trade—a matter that is causing considerable anxiety.
Tt is fitting to mentioned in this connection the Testing Bureau. It is served by experts but in the main! markets of China it should be possible to widen the scope of their work to tonsure that cargo cannot be put on the market below a certain standard: it Is the aim of all Governments te encourage exports and also to assist fas far og lies in their power to main~ tain a standard of quality which is automatically recognized by receiving countries as first class. If the' raw material" is put on the market deliberately adulterated, as is 60 frequently the case, it does not rejdound to the credit of China and merchants or middlemen should be dealt with severely. Tactica of this sort are short-sighted and there are two ultimate losers China herself and the unfortunate producer whose lot hard enough in any case and whose interest the Government 1s out tol further.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.