CONDITIONS IN CHINA.
The annual meetings of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation are always awaited with interest by reason of the fact that the speech of the Chairman usually contains some interesting and useful comments upon the general situation in the Far East. On the present occasion the Chairman of the meeting, the Hon. J. J. Paterson, dealt faithfully and impartially both with favourable and unfavourable features in the Chinese situation. The heavy fall in China's exports he attributed in the main to the great fall in commodity prices, but at the same time he also referred to the " uncertain quality of some of the principal exports," while, he added, " the universal disease of frozen credits appears to have invaded China and hampered the movement of goods, a season of bumper crops having by an irony of fate come at the same time with a general drying up of native banking facilities." On the other hand the Chairman also referred to some favourable developments, among which he mentioned the improved running of the railways, the increase in motor roads and the recovery of large productive areas in Central China from Communist hands. After referring to the fact that China's purely domestic affairs in the last year have brought no important changes, such wars as took place having been happily localized, with no material alteratiqa in the relations between Nanking and the provinces, mr. Paterson said : " If the year has left its lesson it is, I would venture to say, tls old lesson of patience. China's advance along-the road (,f political reintegration must inevitably be slow, and it is useles, for us ,0 expect too rapid a rate of progress. Even the form whieil the final solution of the national problem will take is still far front certaK and in this transitional period we may rest content with seei„, another year go by without any further return of widespread cirt warfare."
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