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share of office rent, share of booking office salaries,
(8.600 and 8.555 respectively a month) should be so
debited.
It is, however not possible to apportion the amount
due by the export department, and the percentage given
in column 6 of the figures on the last page shows suf-
ficiently clearly the margin on which the export business
was carried on.
In 1913 a single deal in hides made in a moment of
excitement resulted in a loss of .11,000 and a trans-
action in feathers in conjunction with a small Swatow
firm showed a loss of $.5,500. I have omitted these two
transactions from the figures.
Including them a loss of
.18,000 is shown for the year 1913 and a loss of .6,700
for the four years trading.
The figures for tin given in red type are added as
tin represents a very high percentage of the total ex-
porta. It will be seen that the profits on tin show a
small proportion to turnover. I understand, however, that
1/2 to 1% is quite a normal return; and that in the year
1913 China tin was unable to compete with Straits tin, a
fact which would account for the largely reduced turn-
over and the absence of any profit.
The