Company News and Views

$86,000,000 annually in imports
Japan has a foreign trade of $60,000,000 annually in exports and
$86,000,000 annually in imports. Of the export trade the principal
part, running from a fourth to a third, is with the United States. The
next largest part is with France, the next with Hongkong, the next
with China, and the next with Great Britain. But Great Britain”s
direct share is not more than a twelfth. Of the import trade the
principal part, almost one third, is with Great Britain. The United
States” share is about a twelfth, and that of France about one
twenty-fifth. The principal exports are RAW SILK (about one third of
the whole), SILK GOODS (about one tenth of the whole), TEA, coal,
copper, rice, and matches. The export of matches amounts to $2,500,000
annually. Characteristic exports, though they do not figure largely in
the total amount, are floor rugs, lacquered ware, porcelain ware,
fans, umbrellas, bronze ware, repousse work, paper ware and
papier-mache, fibre carpets, and camphor. There is also a large export
of fish, shellfish, cuttlefish, edible seaweed, and mushrooms to China
and other Asiatic countries. The chief import is RAW COTTON (almost
one fifth of the whole). Other important imports are sugar (although
she raises almost 100,000,000 pounds of sugar herself annually),
cotton yarn, cotton goods, woollen cloths, flannels and blankets,
kerosene oil, watches, and articles of iron and steel as above
enumerated. The fishing industry is a very important one and over
2,500,000 people are engaged in it. The number of fishing-boats is
about 400,000. The fish trade, which includes seaweed, is (when not
for home consumption) principally with China.

cities have been grandly supplemented by the enterprise of their
inhabitants
But the natural advantages of situation possessed by these great
cities have been grandly supplemented by the enterprise of their
inhabitants. GLASGOW is only a river port. For twenty miles below its
site the Clyde is naturally narrow, shallow, and shoal-encumbered. In
places it is naturally not more than fifteen inches deep. By the
expenditure of no less a sum than $60,000,000 this shallow stream has
been converted into a continuous harbour, lined on either side for
miles with wharves and docks, and easily capable of accommodating the
largest and finest merchant ships afloat. As a consequence of this
enterprise Glasgow has become the greatest ship-building port in the
world. No less than twenty shipyards–in efficiency and magnitude of
the very highest class–are to be found along the banks of the once
shallow, impassable Clyde, between Glasgow proper and the river”s
mouth.

the principal shall be paid; a certificate of stock is evidence that
the owner is a part owner in the company, not a creditor of the
company, and having no right to regain his money except by the sale of
the stock or the winding up of the company”s business
A bond is evidence of debt, specifying the interest and stating when
the principal shall be paid; a certificate of stock is evidence that
the owner is a part owner in the company, not a creditor of the
company, and having no right to regain his money except by the sale of
the stock or the winding up of the company”s business. Bonds issued by
stock companies and corporations are really mortgages upon their
resources. Such a bond is usually secured by a mortgage upon the
company”s plant, franchises, and assets, or some part thereof.
Corporate bonds can only be issued by the consent and direction of the
shareholders of the company or corporation.

they have no authority to act
Sometimes, indeed, persons pretend to be agents for others when really
they have no authority to act. When this is done, and the person for
whom they are pretending to act finds out what they are doing, then it
is his immediate duty to take such action as the circumstances require
to disown the acts of such pretenders. If this is not done he may be
bound by them. His action in adopting or approving is called the
RATIFYING of an agent”s act; and when this is done the agent”s action
is just as valid as though authority had been given to him to act in
the beginning. The principal”s conduct in thus ratifying an agent”s
acts relates back to the time when the agent first began to act.

Kemeta and Obesity Treatment Center Medical Group of Sacramento to Collaborate in Unique Weight Loss Study
Kemeta and Obesity Treatment Center Medical Group of Sacramento to Collaborate in Unique Weight Loss Study

person to another requesting that a certain sum of money be paid to
the person who calls, or to the bank or firm for whom he is acting
A COMMERCIAL DRAFT bears a close resemblance to a letter from one
person to another requesting that a certain sum of money be paid to
the person who calls, or to the bank or firm for whom he is acting.
For instance, the draft shown in the first illustration might be
worded something like this:

4. Write your name as you are accustomed to write it, no matter how it
is written on the face. If you are depositing the cheque write or
stamp ‘For Deposit’ or ‘Pay to ______BANK______,’ as may be the
custom, over your signature. This is hardly necessary if you are
taking the cheque yourself to the bank. A cheque with a simple or
blank indorsement on the back is payable to bearer, and if lost the
finder might succeed in collecting it; but if the words ‘For Deposit’
appear over the name the bank officials understand that the cheque is
intended to be deposited, and they will not cash it.

Australia is a continent not only in name but in fact. Its area,
including Tasmania, is almost 3,000,000 square miles, which is about
the area of the United States exclusive of Alaska, and only about one
fourth less than the area of the continent of Europe. Fully two fifths
of this area lie within the torrid zone, and of the rest, even in
Victoria, the part farthest from the equator, the climate is so warm
that it corresponds with that of Spain, southern France, and Italy.
But over so vast a territory great differences of climate must occur,
and consequently of products also. A general description of the
climate and products of Australia is therefore impossible. Yet there
are several characteristics which appertain to the whole continent.
The chief of these are (1) the great DRYNESS of the ATMOSPHERE–not
merely its lack of rain, but its absolute freedom from moisture; (2)
the remarkable INEQUALITY, or want of regularity, in the RAINFALL.
Occasionally the rainfall is excessive, but a more frequent and
serious cause of trouble is excessive drought. The continent on every
side has a low coast region, where the rainfall is heavier and the
temperature generally hotter than in the corresponding table-land
interior to it. But the vast table-land of the interior has
comparatively little rain, and indeed in some parts of it, especially
in the centre and west, the rainfall is so slight that the country is
practically a desert.

but the trade interests of Paris are general rather than special
Paris (2,536,834) is, of course, the chief trade centre of all France,
but the trade interests of Paris are general rather than special. The
manufactures that are most localised in Paris are those of articles of
luxury, such as jewellery, perfumery, gloves, fancy wares, novelties,
and fashionable boots and shoes. Paris is also a great financial
centre. MARSEILLES (442,000), one of the oldest cities in Europe, is
the great seaport of France. Its trade amounts to over $350,000,000
annually, and it ranks next after Hamburg among the great seaports of
central Europe. Its specialty is its great trade with the
Mediterranean and the East. The opening of the Suez Canal has been of
incalculable advantage to Marseilles. Next as shipping port comes
HAVRE (119,000), at the mouth of the Seine, with a total trade not far
short of that of Marseilles. Havre is in reality the port or ‘haven’
of Paris. It is the great depot for French imports from North and
South America. These comprise principally cotton, tobacco, wheat,
animal produce, and wool. Its import of South American wool is
enormous, for three fourths of the wool used in France now comes from
the region of the La Plata. Recently the Seine has been deepened and
now both Rouen and Paris may be considered seaports. By this means
Paris has direct water communication with London, and is, indeed, the
third seaport in the country. Next comes BORDEAUX (257,000), the chief
place of export for French wines and brandies. About twenty years ago
the wine industry of France suffered tremendous loss from the ravages
of the insect phylloxera. Over 4,000,000 acres of vineyard,
representing a value of $1,000,000,000, were wholly or partially
ruined by this terrible pest. The plague, however, has now been
stamped out, but nearly 2,000,000 acres of vineyards have been
permanently destroyed and have been devoted to potatoes and the
sugar-beet root. The result is that the production of wine in France
is now less than what is needed for home consumption, and over fifty
per cent. more wine is imported than is exported. The remaining great
shipping ports are DUNKERQUE (40,000) and BOULOGNE (37,500). CALAIS
(57,000) has a great passenger trade with England.