Appreciation must be. recorded of the friendly assistance which the United States and Great Britain have ded to China in this connee-
China's determination to uphold her credit has been such that, for well over a year following the' outbreak of the present hostilities, she continued to meet her debt service fully and regularly. "Maintenance of debt service, in spite of the enormous urgent demands on the national trea. sury for war expenses and enforced readjustment of the country's finan-lal and economic life asia result of the hostilities, explains why China's credit in both foreign and domestic markets remains intact. That it imposed great hardships on the Government and people to keep on Faying cannot be doubted. "But without seizing upon some pretext for declar-Ing a general moratorium, China ided her financial loins and paid.
For the first 21 months of the war, 'China paid out not Jess than 000 for the services on external and internal obligations. This perform. ance is all the more remarkable in view of" the Japanese Interference with the lion's' share of the customs and salt revenues—the two principal securities for China's obligations,—and of their attempts to. disrupt China's currency structure. Between July, 1997 and December, 1938, the Government advanced for the' service of customs-secured obligations alone a total of $175,000,000 from other sources in order to make no for the funds that should have been remitted from areas under Japanese
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.