194
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
The Right Honourable ARTHUR HENDERSON, M.P.
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The Right Honourable WILLIAM GRAHAM, M.P., President of the Board of Trade.
GENTLEMEN,
1. On behalf of the British Economic Mission to the Far East, I transmit to you herewith the Report which, in accordance with our terms of reference, we have prepared on the present condition of British trade in China and Japan.
Our conclusions and recommendations are summarised at the end of our Report, and we submit them in the earnest hope that they will receive the full approval and support of His Majesty's Govern- ment. and that where action is recommended it may follow at the earliest possible date.
2. It was considered desirable that before visiting China we should return, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the visit paid to Great Britain in 1921-22 by the Japanese Business Men's Mission under the leadership of Baron Takuma Dan.
In Japan we had the honour of being received by H.I.M. the Emperor of Japan. The Japanese Government were also kind enough to act as one of our hosts. We desire to express our most grateful thanks to them and in particular to H. E. Baron Shidehara, the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the Japanese Foreign Office for their hospitality and the work which they did in co-ordinating our programme.
3. Our most grateful thanks are also due to the esteemed and generous Baron and Baroness Dan, whose never-failing hospitality did so much to make our visit to Japan one of the most memorable experiences of our lives. The kindness of Baron and Baroness Dan could not have been exceeded and was in the true tradition of Japanese hospitality. We shall always carry with us the happiest memories of them and we desire to place on record our deep appre- ciation of all they did for us and our most sincere wishes for their continued health and prosperity.
4. In China it was our privilege to be received by the President of the Chinese Republic and to be entertained by H.E. the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. C. T. Wang, H.E. the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Labour, Dr. K'ung, and H.E. the Minister of Rail- ways, Dr. Sun Fo. We thank them most sincerely for their kind- ness and hospitality of which we shall always have the most pleasant recollections.
¡
=
5
5. In Japan we visited the cities of Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe. In China we visited the cities of Nanking, Shanghai, Tientsin, Peiping (Peking), Harbin, Mukden, Dairen, Tsingtau and Canton. A party of the Mission also visited the city of Hankow, and we stayed in the Colony of Honkong. We desire to express our gratitude for the hospitality and consideration every- where shown to us by the officers of the Chinese and Japanese Governments, by the Governors of the provinces and prefectures, and by the Mayors and Corporations of the cities which we visited. Our thanks are also due to the Chambers of Commerce and Industry, to all Associations, Chinese, Japanese and British, which afforded us such useful assistance in our work and entertained us so liberally, and further to those who, both in China and Japan, granted us the privilege of seeing their works and factories. We also thank the Government of Hongkong for the reception and the help which they accorded to us.
6. We desire to place on record our gratitude to H.M. Minister in China and H.M. Chargé d'Affaires in Japan and to all Diplomatic, Consular and Commercial Diplomatic Officers in China and Japan for the hospitality and help which they gave to us during our visit.
7. To our many Chinese, Japanese and British hosts and hostesses we would convey our thanks for the hospitality and consideration which they most generously gave us. We are delighted to have met them and to have made so many personal friendships in the Far East.
8. We wish to thank the Department of Overseas Trade for releasing Mr. Louis Beale for service on the Mission and to express our high appreciation of his invaluable help and advice.
We desire to acknowledge our indebtedness to Mr. St. Quintin Hill who as Secretary has rendered to myself and to each member of the Mission untiring service and the greatest possible assistance, and we also desire to record our great appreciation of the valuable services rendered not only to us but also the Cotton Mission by Mr. F. A. Barnes, our Assistant Secretary.
17th March, 1931.
I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, Your obedient Servant, (Sgd.) ERNEST THOMPSON,
Chairman.
10375
A 3
195