.
February 5, 1906.]
|
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT. criticism of his methods. They are to selves Imperialists, and those to whom assemble as directed, to say only the that name, as in the case of the PRIME things expected of them, and to come to a MINISTER himself, is a source of loathing. decision as autocratically dictated by him- The Cabinet indeed contains within itself self. With all his shrewdness and cunning, those two irreconcilable elements whose this official can be very simple at such times internal strife caused the destruction of as his eyes are covered by hoary prejudices. GLADSTONE's Cabinet in 1894, and which He would probably be called a "long-horned caused the amalgamation of two thitherto Tory" if he belonged to another race. In opposing elements, the Conservatives and the despatch referred to he seems, to be the Liberal Unionists, under whom clinging casting round for devices and forlorn hopes closely together the government of the like a hard-hunted for. He endeavours to Empire has since been carried on. Curiously revive the provincial jealousy which is just this combined party has fallen a victim as common in China as antipathy toward to similar elements of discord within the real foreigners. The Kwangtung men are party itself, though it is remarkable that to bestir themselves lest the Hunan and this new split is in no way coincident Hupeh folk should step in and put their with the former differences of the two faces to shame by doing the work and parties, but is actually at right angles taking the honour and glory and profits. with it. Adroitly the Liberal party took That would be, he points out, a calamity. advantage of this divergence of the two He goes on to hint that his obnoxious sections, and went to the country nominally taxation proposals are as unalterable as the on the question of Free Trade; actually Medean and Persian laws, that what he merely on the interpretation to be placed has said he has said, and that they are on the term, and whether the doctrine of lifted out of the field of discussion. That accepting a Protection more irksome than was scarcely a soothing preliminary to anything ever before known was to be his invitation to the people to take up accompanied by a process of cheapening shares. In Japan and Europe, says the and debasing, and accepted as a blessing Voice of the chariner, a railway is promoted to the working man at the expense of the in the morning and the capital all sub-nation at large, and destructive in the end scribed by evening, so convinced are those foreigners of the lucrativeness of such undertakings. This is indeed a desperate remedy for such an anti-foreign official to adopt, the holding up of the foreigner as a shining example to his constituents. More in keeping with his character is his later reference to the foreigner, whom he repre- sents as coveting this "absolute certainty of enormous profits," and whose wicked cleverness is such that His EXCELLENCY "cannot guarantee that foreigners will not be tempted to snatch it away from you." This irresistibly reminds us of a nursery scene, in which a captious child is induced to take its food by the maternal threat to give it to pussy. Viceroy SHUM's children are not quite so child-like, however. Yes, they reply (or will reply when the VICEROY abandons his habit of locking up those who express their opinion) yes. We realise all that. The railway will be a source of profit, and we know that foreigners are glad to invest their capital in railways. But we know also that foreigners retain control of the concerns they put their money in. They do not have to stand by like jackals while the official lion dines first. You ask us to pay the piper, and you tell us you must choose the tune.
|
THE NEW CABINET.
(Daily Press, 2nd February.) Naturally the formation of a new Gov- ernment at home, especially when accompanied by the almost romantic cir- cumstances under which Mr. BALFOUR resigned office, excites symathies through the whole British Empire, however slight may be the individual and personal interest involved. With the strife of parties, Liberal or Conservative, we, of course, in this little Island Colony have little to do; but the dispositions of the Cabinet over and above their mere party predilections may very seriously affect us, not only as
a Crown Colony, but as intimately effected by the home relations with China. The first is, of course, under the Colonial Office; the second has to say to H.M. Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. In both departments the new Government labours "under one grave source of weakness in being avowedly a coalition between the two extreme wings of the party, those who love to call them.
the
77
has boldly announced his intention of carry. ing on his office on the lines laid down by Lord LANSDOWNE; he is in fact the hope of the Imperialist section of the present Cabinet; but it is, of course, too early to judge, how much, or how little, this may portend. On the whole, it is likely that, notwithstanding the presence in the Govern ment of a wing whose avowed wishes ally them with the Little England party, the outside relations of the country will not undergo, for some time at least, any very marked change. The bolder and more straightforward policy pursued by the Unionist party when in office undeniably coincided with the wishes of the country at large. This was most conspicuous with re- spect to the alliance with France; France, for all the little causes of disunion, which now and then cropped up, has always been a favourite in England; and the attempt has always been made by the people at large to minimise any little cause of friction. On the whole, the French people have gladly responded, and both have learned by ex- perience how manifold more numerous were the occasions when both interests coincided than when they clashed. The alliance of France as naturally brings us into pleasant lines with the other Latin peoples, and this to his own interests. It was, of course, without requiring any sacrifice of their in- easy for the modern school of pinchbeck dependence of feeling on the part of any. Cobdenists to pose for the instant as the In one respect, and that the most important genuine metal, and this was rendered the in such an understanding, all are agreed. easier that the usual swing of the balance and that is in the overpowering desire for between the two parties was according to peace. Russia is momentarily stilled by What affects her the experience of over a century actually the course of events. due. The two superadded have caused most at the present juncture is the necessity a reversion quite as marked, though for putting in order her finances; this can in
AS opposite direction, that hardly be brought about unless by some that occurred in the General Election of amelioration of her internal affairs, and all 1895. Of what were the general issues that this tends to the same end. Whatever, then, determined the present election it is as yet may be the sentiments of individual mem- premature to speak; the short telegraphic bers, on the whole the situation tends summaries which are all we have to depend towards a continuation of our late policy. ou are by no means clear or consistent, and and this is probably the real reason that, even if they were, it is by no means notwithstanding a nominal reversal of the certain that either party has as yet hit on political aspect at home, which in ordinary grave the right solution. Returning, however, to circumstances would bętoken a the point from which we originally started, political danger, the change is looked it is plain that as concerns Hongkong, more upon without any grave symptoms of especially in connection with the develop apprehension. England has within the pre- ment of our interests in China, the two sent generation passed through far more most interesting figures are the two com- dangerous crises, and there is little reason paratively new men who represent the to apprehend that the sun of her prestige Colonial and Foreign Offices respectively. has as yet come within any measurable We use the term comparatively new distance of setting. advisedly, because neither Lord ELGIN nor Sir EDWARD GREY are in the wider sense unknown. Lord ELGIN was appointed during Lord RoSEBERY's short administra- tion in 1894 Viceroy of our greatest depen dency, Indin, but though appointed under a Liberal Government, the greater portion of his administration was passed under the Uniorist lead of Lord SALISBURY, and though not one of the great administrators who have set their mark indelibly on the great charge committed to their care, Lord ELGIN was able to retire with enhanced honour and reputation from a difficult post requiring the exercise of some of the highest qualities of statecraft. In his new office he will succeed such able and sympathetic predecessors as Mr. CHAMBERLAIN and Mr, LYTTELTON, and though to a certain extent the difficulties of the post will be thereby lessened, in others the comparison will tend | to show any personal weaknesses that may Sir EDWARD be inherent in the man. GREY, of course, stands on a pinnacle of his own; he has always more than the other members of his party claimed the right of his own convictions, and refused, when in the office of Under Secretary, to be led blindly even by bis exacting chief, the late Mr. GLADSTONE; and in the present instance
#1
J1
A QUESTION OF GENERAL
INTEREST,
#
(Daily Press, 3rd February.) A re good Bridge-players good for any. thing else? That is the question which, was echoed from with various answers, Great Britain by a recent mail delivery. Put in a less blunt phraseology, “Does aptitude for card-playing denote general intelligence?" the question is said by Mr. BASIL TOZER in The Monthly Review (Lon- don: JOHN MURRAY) to have evoked “ controversy almost as fierce as if some vital point to do with politics or religion had heen broached." It prompted him to write to a number of prominent people, asking for their opinions on the matter. Mr. F. G. AFLALO, editor of the Encyclopædia of Sport, very fairly admitted that he had given up card playing "before the modern cult of Bridge fell heavily on the land,”
“to condemn and that it was therefore easy a weakness which one is free of." But if his opinion were really wanted, it was that' good card players were not necessarily of more than average intelligence. Many clever people had been known for their devotion to cards; but most certainly