น
176
relative, who is now in restraint. One
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
GREAT BRITAIN AND RUSSIA IN THE FAR EAST.
his sons is living abroad; his nephew cannot return home; and upwards of thirty of his most influential subjects are in volun- tary exile. It will be seen therefore that His Majesty of Korea does not rest on a bed of roses. He entertains certain progressive ideas personally, but has constantly been baulked by his father and his Minister. He appears to be perpetually menaced with the loss of his throne, but through many vicissitudes has been allowed to retain it because any other government might be a change for the worse, and the jealousies of the Powers have so far saved the country from annexation. After having seen foreign troops of various nationalities in his capital, his Palace is now guarded by native soldiers who are trained under Russian officers. is stated, however, that these troops are not yet sufficiently skilled to properly perform the functions of royal guards, and it may be doubted whether they would be a very efficient protection in case of an attempted revolution, which is almost always on the cards. Even the King himself, though comparatively enlightened, is still saturated with Oriental ideas, as may be gathered from the following note in a recent issue of the Korean Independent:-" Memorials "have been addressed to the King of "Korea urging that everybody who had
"
C
**
"
any connection
It'
with the death of
誓
RC
The British and Russian Governments are
✔
designs in England, and much more 80 in China and India. That such remarks should have passed the Press Censor in Russia is somewhat remarkable at a time when it might well have been deemed advisable not to excite Chinese suspicion. Is it possible that Russia has become careless of Chinese opinion and dis- regardful of the good will of Great Britain? We hope that this is not the case. In any case such remarks as those above noted point to the absolute necessity for England to remain ever on guard, ready for what may befal, and equal to any crisis, however unexpected, however unfavourable.
Prince bein turbance made the end in his ca in some
Britis
would find escape did at Calcutta.
[March 11-1897.
to cause any serious die
nah
now would nd his
THE SHANGHAI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND THE LIGHT DUES QUESTION.
Having received a communication from the Hongkong Chamber of Commerce, en closing a copy of the light dues petition, the Committee of the Shanghai Chamber say that, while recognising the principle that light dues should only be levied on shipping for light-house purposes, -
they
cannot support any protest against the "action of the Hongkong Government until they are in possession of full in- "formation as to the reasons which actuated "the Government in levying the taxation "complained of." What malign influence can have induced the gentlemen composing the committee to place on record such a per- fectly idiotic minute? Do they expect that the Hongkong Government will humbly ad- dress them in justification of its conduct and will enlighten them as to the reasons that actuated it? And is there really any need for enlightenment? Every one knows that the reason which actuated the Government is that it is in need of funds. It is a simple question of principle that is at stake, namely, whether a tax should be imposed on shipping to swell the general revenue. The Shangha Committee while condemning such taxation as a rule, appear to think that in the case of Hongkong the Government may be able to plead extenuating circumstances, and that at all events it should not be condemned unheard. The Government is accordingly invited to make its defence, after which the Shanghai Chamber will decide the case The publication of a minute embodying such puerility is calculated to bring the Chamber into ridicule and contempt and we shall be surprised if the Committee do not hear more of it at the annual meeting.
both peacefully inclined, but the Russian Press and, a great portion of Russian officialdom are bellicose and aggressive. The recent diplomatic successes of Russia in the Far East have also had a rather dangerous effect on the Muscovite mind, tending to induce the belief that Russia is now the arbiter of the fate of both Europe and Asia, and that there is nothing she cannot ultimately secure by patience and the use of her vast resources, The Times correspondent at St. Petersburg says that probably no other people, if their newspapers rightly express the popular feeling, have been able to look back on the past year with such satisfaction as the Russians. Russia's ascendency in Europe is described as a guarantee of her mastery in Asia, so that all China is now reserved for the future Empire of the Czars. Prince ESPER OUKHTOMSKY, president of the Russo-Chinese Bank and a director of the Eastern Chinese Railway, has set himself the task of enlightening his countrymen on the 'inherent union and gradual confluence "of Russia with the East." According to the Suiet, not only China, but also Persia, Beloochistan, and even India are destined by Providence sooner or later to fall to the QUEEN, or with the military de- the possession of the Russian people. This sort of writing is eminently "monstration at the Palace in 1894, in-calculated to excite distrust of Russian
cluding the families and relatives of the offenders, should be slaughtered. The King has replied that the suggestions of the memorialists are quite reasonable.' What an impossible sort of monarch and impracticable a people the King of Korea and his subjects must be may well be imagined from this! The unspeakable Turk" is not more hopelessly out of the scope of reform than the unimprovable Korean. It is inevitable that he must, like his prototype in Eastern Europe, full under tutelage, and his ultimate fate may yet be the cause of disagreement. Up to the pre- sent moment the question has not greatly exercised Great Britain. China and Japan have long snarled at each other across the
MR. LOWDER AND MISS JACOB. peninsula, but now that the Great Bear has intruded his paw the Eastern rivals appear
Mr. LoWDER has at length made a com- The Meingoon Prince, whose name is once to bave slunk back. There is no occasion for more figuring in the newspapers, is a pre-pletely satisfactory retractation of and apo- England to wish to take a hand in this game. tender to the Throne of Burmah. A good logy for the charges he brought against Miss She has no immediate interests in Korea, and has evidently let it be known to Russia many years ago he was sent by the British JACOB, and he declares that he does so with- authorities to Calcutta for safe keeping. out the remotest wish or desire to influence that she has no intention of intervening at From Calcutta he escaped to Pondicherry, any action Miss JACOB has been or may be Seoul. The answer given by Mr. CURZON in where he placed himself under French pro- advised to take with a view to her more the House of Commons the other day in re-tection, and he was afterwards transferred complete vindication or to the bettering of ply to a question in reference to the reports to Saigon, where he has been living under her position pecuniarily. In fact the with- that Russian officers were drilling Korean official surveilance, exercised doubtless with drawal is made as handsomely as it could be troops, is clearly intended to show that the as little offence to his dignity as convenient, and the only remaining regret apart from British Government, have no objection to but it was apparently intended that the sur-the initial mistake of bringing the the fact. They would no doubt prefer to veilance should be effective, because our see the Koreans left to their own devices, Saigon contemporaries speak of his de- but they do not feel called upon to remon-parture as an escape and publish severe strate because the Korean Government have strictures on the officials whose negli been persuaded to employ Russian officers gence rendered it possible. When it to drill the royal guards. · · What may grow became known that the Prince had gone out of this fact it is hard to say It is cer telegraphic despatches were exchanged, the tainly the insertion of the thin end of the Semaine Coloniale states, between the British wedge of Muscovite influence in Korea, but Consul at Saigon and Bangkok, between considering that Russia is such a near Bangkok and London, between London and neighbour there is nothing unnatural or Paris, and between Paris and Saigon, from surprising in the fact that she should wish which our contemporary opines that it is to be beforehand with the other neighbours, desired to make a diplomatic affair out of and keep out China and Japan.
it. It is not likely, however, that the escape of the Prince will cause very serious uneasi ness to the British Governmenti Pretender to thrones are people whom it is well to keep under some measure of restraint in ord prevent their causing trouble, but little practical probability of the Meingoon
state
that the number of Han-
tea in t
opper cash
ributable to
20:
THE MEINGOON PRINCE.
C
is that the full and complete
harges ation
the most
now published was not made formal acquittal took place. It i extraordinary that after the of the trial of Mrs. CAREw Mr. L could have continued to entertain picions of any description against JACOB, but he now says that the publ tion of his first letter to Miss JACOR
has resulted in the communication: of facts which dicate the exis depth of dupl my mind un which I a unconscious dupe
also that
the statem
I have.
at the
ly dizentitled
able