October 1, 1898.]
in the background. The position taken up does not seem to be very logical, for if the co-operative policy is to be followed at all the Powers must be taken
as standing on an equal footing with regard to each other and cannot be expected to gauge the position of their respective representatives in the scale of precedence by consulting the Customs returns. Also the representative of a small but friendly or indifferent. Power might be less ob- jectionable as the channel of communication between the Municipal Council and the Chinese Authorities or Foreign Ministers than the representative of a greater Power
on
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT. MR, MAYES' OVERLAND JOURNEY FROM PEKING TO SHANGHAI,
(Daily Press, 26th September).
:-"The flatness
263
"must be looked to as the salvation which is to bring change and wealth all along this great artery of China. It would cross in its course all the limits of inland na- vigation of the whole river system of. Southern Chibli and of Hu-pei, which has its confluence at Tientsin; and it "would pass near the great enterpôts
"of the trade of Shan-i, Huai-lu in the North, and Huai Ching in the South." The railway, when made to Ching-Chiang-pu, will undoubtedly prove a potent factor in opening up North China, and will not only develop trade, but it will have great poli tical value in bringing Peking and the ancient southern capital of the Mings-
`anking-into constant communication. At the present moment China is governed
higher.
Her Britannic Majesty's Consular Service, A report made by Mr. S. F. MAYERS, of
on a journey made by him early this year overland from Peking to Shangliai has just been issued, and contains some very in. teresting information, the publication of which at the present moment is timely. The land journey of 900 miles, from Peking to Ching-Ching-pu, was accomplished on horschick, the baggage being conveyed in two carts. The journey for the most part whose sentiments were antagonistic towards
was across great plains the monotony of Great Britain and all things British. The which seems to have palled on the traveliers objection, as it scem3 to us, is not to the to au unusual extent, for Mr. MAYERS says, representative of this or that small Power in one part of his narrative :- holding the position of Senior Consul, but "of the plain seems to have entered into a bureaucracy of mandarins, whose in- "the very being of its inhabitants, and its sovereign remote from all scenes where he terests are all best served in keeping the to the Municipal Council having official
"winter bareness to have made their hearts could acquire a real knowledge, from per- relations with any but the British Consul,
despair of lending it attraction." If, sonal observation, of what is transpiring in We speak about our sphere of influence in the Yautsze Valley, and yet our influence however, the dreariness of the scenery is his wide domiuions. The railway any serve over Shanghai, the key of the position, great, the facilities it offers for the con-
to bring the Central Government into has been reducel nominally to the same
Struction of railways are correspondingly
nearer touch with the provinces and possibly level as that of Portugal. The French large. The railway from Tientsin to Pao-lead to reforms in the administracion. organ published at Shanghai recognises the ting-fa, which was the first stage of the
The country through which the line absurdity of the position, but says we have journey, is already far advanced, the only only ourselves to thank for it, and jeers at engineering difficulties being the making passes is not only populous but it has very what it terms the party of staunch Britons. of provision for the proper bridging of the varied productions, and the mineral re sources are great. In the hills to the west Whatever regrets England may entertain numerous creeks and canals. The earthworks
for the line were already carried far towards of Lui-li River, about 110 / from Tientsin, on account of her rash generosity, says our contemporary, she m-t remember the legal completion and this section will before long are mines of good anthracite coal, of which be ready for traffic. Mr. MAYERS says that some 200 tons a day are now brought down maxim that you cannot give and take back again. There is no doubt a good deal of the attitude of the natives was one of in- by pack animals. The coal costs one cash smug satisfaction
the part of the difference after they once made sure that per catty at the pit's mouth, but the trans- writer of the article, for France has there were no possibilities of gain hyport by mulepack to Lai-li-lio increases this her own concession which is distinctively sale of land or compensation for destroyed fivefold. The coal is preferred in Tientsiu An abortive excitement was at one to Tongshan coal although the price is French. It is only the French Consul graves.
A branch line from Lui-li-ho that is recoguised by the French Municipal-time raised by the gentry or local officials ity, whether he he senior or junior, but at
over imperillel feng-shui, but the heavy is being made to the mines, which when the same time in the Cosmopolitan Conces-hand of Peking was too near and soon put completed will enable the coal to be sold at sion France enjoys the same rights as other
a stop to all talk. The country people a much lower price on the Tientsin market. Powers, the French Consul, when he is the manifest little curiosity or appreciation of the From Paoting-fu, when the line is continued, senior, being the official mouthpiece of what work so far, but this apathy will no doubt it will no doubt pass through the large the iron horse screams and flourishing cities and towns of Cheng- we may term the British Municipality. The vanish when Echo de Chine supplies us on this point with his panting way across these dreary plains. ting-fu, Tzu-chow, Chang-te-fu, Wei-hui-fu, a little bit of almost forgotten history. Iu Mr. MAYERS considers that "the carry Kai-feng-fu, Kwai-te-fu, Tang Shan Hsien, 1854 the British Consul, the late Sir RUTHER-ing possibilities of this new line are Hsu-chow-fu, Chingho, &c. Tzu-chow, which great, and when શ continuntion is is a great wheat and timber ma.ket and the FORD ALCOCK, arranged with the French and
ultimately de south of Pasting-fu | centre of a rough earthenware manufacture, American Consuls that the French Conces-
these will be increased to sion and the British and American Settle-
an infinite is supplied with coal from the hills 40 li ments should form one single European
amount, if the actual road traffic may be distant, the cost being 400 cash per picul. taken as the best gauge."
Chang-te is a highly prosperous city, with a town open to all foreigners and admin- istered by an elective Council of seven
The trade in foreign goods at Paoting-fu population of over 100,000, and has a con- members. This arrangement, established is large and reaches the city by direct riversiderable trade in foreign goods. Silk is by the second Land Regulations of 1854 communication from Tientsin. There is a produced in the neighbourhood.and it is a and accepted by the Consulate-General great trade perpetually streaming over the centre for the distribution of cotton, hemp, of France, was
not of long duration. road, but in spite of this, and of the and wheat. The prices of all foreign goods enormous crops of cotton and grain raised are, however, very high, owing to the heavy In 1855, in consequence of the refusal
At in this region, the whole population, Mr. | tekin they are subjected to in transit. of the British and American military authorities to include the French
MAYERS tells us, presents an appearance of | Kaifeng the travelers found a very hostile bitterest poverty. In the opinion of mis-reception; the innkeepers all refused to sinaries who have been long resident in | take theu in, and the officials showed in-
tense anxiety to get rid of them. the province over population is the cause of this condition of things. The least failure city is a great trade centre, is very bustling of a crop means starvation for some of the and prosperous looking, with little waste thousands dependent upon it. There is ground, and walls hardly less imposing than never anything in hand. A good year only those of Peking. Large grain stores and suffices to make up for the inevitable lean silk shops line the principal, thoroughfare, year, and a great part of any little surplus and the flow of traffic is ceaseless. The the toilers may image to secure soon finds people of Kiangsu proved far more friendly than those of Honan, but the country does its way into the tax collector's hands. The system of taxation in North China seems to not appear to be so prosperous, and some have been to pile on duties to the cracking parts are infested with brigands. The re point, and it is a wonder that any foreign port made by Mr. MAYERS on his trip. goods at all can, so hampered, make their shows, however, that there is a fiue field for way into the interior, as they do in small foreign enterprise in the country which will quantities. Mr. MAYERS considers the bur- he traversed by the Tientsin-Ching-Chiang den of taxation to be most crushing, and, railway. That important obstacle to the unless relieved, it will continue to restrict development of tr de, the inland squeezes,” trade within comparatively small limits, will remain to be faced. Until the Chinese He goes on to say:-"An honest loed Government can be induced to abolish the administration could alone quadruple the lekin duties it is to be feared the progress prosparity of the people in a year, but in of trade will still continue tardy, in spite of "default of all hope of this the railway' all facilities of carriage.
quar-
ter in the lines of defence when Shanghai was invaded by the rebels, the Acting Consul-General for France declared the Land Regulations, in the passing of which he had taken part, nul and void so far as France was concerned, and he constituted for the French Concession an administration dis- tinct from that of the Settlement. Thus it would seem that the mistaken policy of Great Britain at that period not only des- troyed the distinctively British character of the British coucession, but was also ponsible for France's continued possession of a distictively French concession.
res-
An unusual incident-anique in the history of Shanghai-occurred in Union Church on Sunday morning, 18th September. The Rev. E. T. Williams was the preacher and when he had finished his sermon and before pronouncing the benediction, Mr. Edward Evans stood up Mr. and objected to the preacher's utterances. Williams, who had demonstrated in his sermon that the world was getting better, said nothing and concluded the service.--Union.
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