It they were to revalue the ex: ports and imports of 1997 from the point of view of price level, the increased excess of £86,000,000 would Revised Customs Schedule Shanghai, May 31.
Reports were in' circulation yesterday that a revised Cus toms tariff schedule will be introduced at an early date in Shanghai and Central China under Japanese control. The new schedule, it is reported, will be based on the 1931 schedule with certain exceptions, and follows the general Line of the tariff policy of the new Peiping and Nanking Governments. No confirmation of these reports could be obtained, but it was stated in Japanese circles that the matter is under discussion and telegraphic advice is awaited from Tokyo. The "North-China Daily News" was informed by a foreign source last night that his office had received a telegram from Peiping stating that the government there expected to promulgate the new schedule from tomorrow. towards the close of the year, had been an extremely prosperous' year for British trade. There had been hardly a section of British industry which had not been able to increase Hie production and its profits and where wages had not tended to rise. In the first four months of 1938, however, there had been a certain slackening in the increase of production.
Industrial production last year, ho said, had been nearly seven per cent. greater than in 1936 following i creases of 91% per cent, and just over Seven per cent. in the two proceeding years.
American Depressi The second cause for dwindling! production was the influence of the Sepression in the United States. With & population of 120,000,000 people with a standard of living higher Joss of buying power in the United States had a most decisive effect upon commodity prices.
Whereas in 1937 the United States were buying from abroad commodities and raw materials at the rate $81,000,000 monthly, the average rate for the first two months of this This rise in the price of raw commodities Imported was a thing all of them, for some time, had been hoping to.seo and the fact that It was occurring, therefore, did not give rise to any particular anxiety because to a large extent the rise in the price of imports should be followed after a certain lag by ising receipts from exports, Figures for the frst four months of this year, however, the Minister thought, were not so encouraging, Despite the beginning of the "fall commodity prices, the adverse balance had Increased, due partly to the increase of impens but even more to the decrease of exports. A sttlking fact was that the whole of the Increased adverse balance of trade, the first four months of the year' Was covered by an increased adverse Bolanco with one country—the United States, Such Agures, ho concluded, were @isquieting and would have to be taken Into account in the negotiations proceeding with the United States—Wireless through Reuter, Assistance to China, London, May 25, At question time in the House of Commons today, Mr. Arthur Hender= son, Labour M.P, for the Kingswinford Division of Staffordshire, asked the Prime Minister what steps. the British Government proposed to take to give effect to the recent resolution of the League of Nations Council urging members to do their utmost to give effect 10 previous resolutions adopted by the Council and the Assembly in respect to the needs of China's National. Dotence, Furthermore, did the Government propose to accede to the request of the Chinese Government' for the granting of long term credits for defence purposes, "The Foreign Secretary informed the Council of the League of Nations on May 14 that His 'Majesty's 'Government have done their best within the limits of the situation imposed on them to implement to the full. the obligations to China under the League resolution," replied Mr. R. A. Butler, Under-Secretary for Foreign' Affairs, "The Government will give sympathetic consideration to any request they may receive from the Chinese Government in conformity with this. As stated on February 14, if the Chinese Government find It' possible to obtain long term credits from British ancial institutions, any request for the consent of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to such operations will by sympathetically considered."—Havas, year was only $49,000,000.
American recovery, when it came, would be the greatest contribution which could be made to the recovery of commodity prices and industrial improvement in the United Kingdom,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.