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Show GO ON CASH BASIS r. . ever, loans have been small, property sales have been light in comparison, and the street fair has become the occasion for sales to Chinese instead of sales by Chinese to foreigners. Though the Chinese merchant's volume vol-ume of business has in some instances in-stances been somewhat curtailed, as a result of his having had to operate on much shorter credits than he has been accustomed to, his net profits at the end of the year, through not having hav-ing been forced to sacrifice merchandise merchan-dise at a loss, have been materially Increased. It is said also that the Chinese business busi-ness men have come to see the advantages advan-tages of the new system, and that in all probability they will never go back to the old. f i 1 Chinese Merchants Forced to Change Methods. Restricted Credits Since War Began Puts Stop to Age-Old Custom. New York. The beneficial effects of restricted credits in China since the war started in 1914, which have forced the Chinese merchants to do business pretty much on a cash basis, were particularly noticeable in the unusually unusual-ly small number of failures on Chinese Chi-nese New Year's day, which is the annual settlement day in the Chinese commercial world. , x- According to Consul General George K. Anderson of Hongkong, banking interests in-terests in China have found that the demand for accommodations has fallen off tremendously during the last three years. Prior to the war ar.d from time im-memorial im-memorial this annual settlement day has entailed efforts of every sort on the part of the Chinese to raise motmy for liquidating their debts accumulated during the year. Frequently they have had to sell much of their stock in business at a great loss, even personal property as well, in order to raise sufficient funds to "save their face," as it Is called. An annual street fair for the sale of nil sorts of property, personal and otherwise, has been an old-established custom In Hongkong for generations, almost for centuries, while at the same time both foreign and domestic banks have placed large sums on accommodation. accommo-dation. In the last three years how- |