London, Dec. 7.
The adverse effect on cargo and passenger trade of the Sino-Japanese and Spanish wars was the subject of a report by Sir William Crawford Currie, Chairman of the P. & O., at a general meeting of the company today.
Sir William Currie said that, owing to unsettled conditions in the Far East, the volume of cargo outward had dwindled considerably during the past year.
This was offset, to some extent, by increased rates of freight on certain commodities.
The export trade of China, the Chairman asserted, had been di located, but China's powers of recovery were such that, given peace, he was confident trade would resume its normal course within a short time after the end of hostilities.
The holiday traffic from India and China to Japan, which was on the upward trend, had disappeared, he added.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.