Palmer: Hello, Mr Tang, how are you？ It is nice to meet you again. Tang: How are you？ Mr Palmer．It&

Palmer: Hello, Mr Tang, how are you？ It is nice to meet you again.

Tang: How are you？ Mr Palmer．It's really a pleasure to see you here again．I do hope you have had a very enjoyable trip from London.

Palmer: I must confess that the air trip is really a long one．But, you see, the air-lines are very comfortable so that one does not feel tired at all the end of the journey.

Tang: Glad you have had a pleasant trip．I have to doubt you are comfortably settled and find things at the hotel satisfactory.

Palmer: Everything is perfect, thank you．Well, now, Mr Tang, if you don't mind, I'll talk shop with you directly.

Tang: Perfectly all right with me．In fact, we'd better talk over our business first and then have a chat afterwards．You wish to take up the subject of the Arbutus, don't you ？

Palmer: That's right．You see, Mr Tang, you have probably been advised of the serious damage done to the last consignment of 60 cases of Arbutus．Upon its arrival in London on board s．s．Coma, it was found, much to our regret, that about 50% of the cases were leaking．Closer inspection by the Health Officers showed that the contents were considered unfit for human consumption.

Tang: Just a minute, if you please, Mr Palmer．Have your people in London discovered what were the exact causes of the leakage？ It was rather a singular case, for thousands of tons of this product have been exported and this seems to be the only case of having been damaged en route.

Palmer: I am sorry I have to say it was not en route．It was definitely damaged prior to loading onto the s．s．Coma．You may think it a singular case, yet the fact remains that this has made it necessary for us to file a claim on you．Here, Mr．Tang, I have brought along with me the certificate issued by the London Health Officer．It speaks for itself．As to the causes, closer inspection and examination by our cargo handling people revealed that the leakage of juice was brought about by damaged tins．They were evidently broken through careless handling while being loaded into the ship's hold in Shanghai dock.

Tang: As I have said before, the whole business is most unfortunate．We have never come across such a case of damage during loading.

Palmer: I have to remind you that our terms are C.I．F London port．While we have full confidence in your Commodities Inspection Bureau in its capacity of quality inspection, this is a case which occured after their sampling and analysis at the works．And the broken tins through careless handling and deterioration of contents en route necessarily about this state of affairs．Now, Mr Tang, you are well aware that our business has just started this branch of activities and the losses thus sustained will be a blow to this department．I am sure you will think it fair on our part when we suggest that the total value of the parcel should be reduced by 50% and that you should give us an allowance by way of credit for the amount to be set against our future purchases of canned fruits from you.

Tang: To be fair to your company, I am directed by my Shanghai Branch to settle this issue with you amicably on condition that you give us a certificate issued by your Health Department．Now that this is available, I think everything will be in order.

Palmer: I am so glad to hear of your ready agreement．Your fairness in business dealings is really unsurpassed．Shall we send you a letter confirming this？

Tang: As soon as you send us a letter confirming this conversation, we'll send you a reply immediately.

Palmer: Thanks ever so much for your co-operation, Mr Tang．Good-bye.

Tang: Good-bye Mr Palmer．Come over here when you are through with your business and we'll have a friendly chat.