referred to as another record year， eclipsing that of 1919. Volumeof trade， Customs revenue， and tonnage of shipping using the port，all established new figures. Although the gross value of the tradeof Shanghai which amounted to Hk. Tls. 84 1，000，000 and was anadvance of Hk. Tls. 73 ，000，000 over the 1919 record， seemed toindicate quite an unusual state of prosperity， yet actually during thegreater part of the year this was not the case. The year opened with agreat boom in trade， but by May it became evident that the foreignmarkets， already glutted in 1918， had reached the limit of their powersof absorption， and consequently exports began to decline， especiallysilk and tea.
Furthermore， after the Great War， many new firms， inexperiencedin Chinese trade， had been established， and large quantities of goodswere ordered from England and America， in excess of the legitimaterequirement of the China market. Under disturbed conditions inChina the demand for goods from the interior became weaker andbusiness at the end of the year was at a standstill. In consequence manyChinese dealers closed their doors and disappeared.
The summer months brought a serious commercial crisis， due tothe rapid fall in exchange. Chinese piece goods merchants had orderedlarge supplies when exchange stood at 8 shillings or ＄1.40 gold to thetael. When the goods arrived and they were called upon to pay forthem， the tael was only worth four shillings and sixpence or 89 goldcents.
There was a desire on the part of many of the Chinese merchantsthat the orders might be cancelled， and there were some threats ofrepudiation. The foreign Chambers of commerce naturally were notinclined to agree to the cancelling of contracts. The situation becameso serious that a good many of the Chinese merchants went intobankruptcy and large losses were sustained by the foreign merchants.
Notwithstanding this trade depression， optimistic views wereentertained in regard to the future， and it was significant that just atthis time the foundation stone of the new building of the Hongkongand Shanghai Banking Corporation was laid. It was the largest buildingenterprise undertaken in Shanghai up to that time， and the erectionof the proposed massive structure was made possible by the method，to which we have referred， of laying， as the foundation， enormousconcrete rafts.
A new bank was opened in September 1919—the Chinese-
American with a capital of ＄10，000，000.
At this time the Banque Industrielle de Chine was obliged to closeits doors and to suspend payment. There was an extended delay inwinding up its affairs， which entailed great hardship upon the creditors，especially those with limited incomes. Later the creditors of the Banquewere somewhat relieved by the news from Paris that the Banque was tobe reconstructed， and that the debts amounting to ￡14，000，000 wouldbe partly met by the use of the Boxer Indemnity Fund for this purpose.
The amount of this fund still due to France was ￡7，000，000.
A new company was formed， known as the Société Francaisde Gérance de la Banque Industrielle de Chine， with the object ofmanaging the business of the Banque Industrielle until the latter settledall claims of its creditors and recovered full liberty of action.
The Chinese opened the Chartered Stock and Produce Exchangeat No. 1 Szechuen Road， for convenience in business transactions.
Unfortunately this resulted in considerable gambling in stocks， andbrought about several financial crises.
Conference of British ChambersThe British Chambers of commerce of China and Hongkongheld their first joint conference on November 5th， 6th， and 7th， andSir John Jordan， H. B. M."s Minister to China， came from Peking topreside at the meetings. He was given a warm reception， not only bythe foreign community， but by the Chinese as well.
As a result of the conference， several resolutions were formulatedand sent to the British Government in regard to matters affectingcommercial relations between China and Great Britain.
Meeting of RatepayersAt the meeting of Ratepayers held on April 7th， 1920， severalimportant actions were taken. It was decided， in spite the largeexpenditure involved， to allow the further expansion of the ElectricityDepartment， and to raise the capital needed by another sale ofdebentures， adding considerably to the debt of the Municipality. TheCouncil received permission to borrow up to Tls. 4，800，000， of whichTls. 2，800，000 was to be used for the expansion of the ElectricityDepartment. The total debt of the Municipality at that time was thusraised to Tls. 18，847，500.
Mr. Edward C. Pearce， in an address delivered during the sameyear， pointed out that this was not quite as bad as it looked， as againstthis debt might be placed the assessed value of the land owned by theMunicipal Council amounting to Tls. 6，000，000， and the value ofbuildings amounting to ＄3，250，000， and the assets of the ElectricityDepartment valued at Tls. 12，870，000.
There had been some criticisms raised in regard to the increasedexpenditure of the Electricity Department， on the ground that itwas largely for “power” purposes， and that Shanghai should not aimat becoming a great manufacturing centre， but should abide by itsoriginal object， which was the development of commerce. The attempt，however， to prevent the increase of modern industries in Shanghaiwould have been similar to King Canute"s attempt to stay the incomingtide.
Another important resolution was that of the adoption of thereport of the special Vice committee， which had been appointedfor the study of the social evil in Shanghai. According to therecommendation， the number of licensed brothels in the InternationalSettlement was to be diminished gradually， until they were completelyabolished. On December 21st， at 8 p.m. the first drawing took placefor the closing of one-fifth of the brothels.