Desembe 12, 1908.]
CHINA OVERLANDR TADE REPORT.
AN UNFULFILLED TREATY OBLIGATION.
Thirty Years' War before their eyes, refrain interlude in the long drama which has left ed from becoming entangled in the strife, but little trace remaining; the Turk has, in and it would have been well if the Em-fact become a practically negligeable factor peror of Germany had shown the same in the problem, which still remains as it has reticence.
There was
a little of world. done for some three thousand years one of wide interest in the whole affair, nothing this unsolved riddles of the age. more, inf c', than the preliminary drawing of lots for first innings, that had it not been for the indiscrete announcement of the German Emperor that he int n led to back Austria, the affair would by this time have dwindled to a mere diplomatic contest. Unfortunately, most of the rulers concerned immediately were inexperienc d. and pricked their ears at the mere suggestion of a scrimmage. To their credit Wallachia and Greece kept cool; and Turkey allowed herself to be guided, but the PRINCE OF BULGARIA, tickled at the suggestion of a real crown, the Archduke FRANCIS FERDINAND, ambitious of posing as a monarch before his time, the not over wise King PETER of SERVIA with his rampage u son of a Cron Prince, and lastly the PRINCE OF MONTENEGRO, anxious to pose before his royal relations as a real monarch, already fancied themselves Ealadins in the new
1121-
There is no doubt that within the century, possibly within the next generation, the dominion of the Balkan Peninsula, by what- ever name it may at the time be called, will be one of the momentous issues to be tried
421
requires to be dredged before it is`navi gable to vessels. That is perfectly true, and Mr. A. R. Lows, who, as Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, visited the district a few years ago, expressed the opinion that it would probably hardly pay to dredge and canalise the East River as far as Waiohow to enable mod rate draught steamers to ply all the year round. But Mr. Lowe added : "The land on both sides is practically level and the
and little bridge work. A line 50 to 60 construction of a railway on an embankment would present no engineering difficulties miles long from Waiohow to Mirs Bay could be constructed at an extremely low cost and would be practically certain to pay and as from the opening date." For the Viceroy to an excuse for not opening the port, that the district is full of baudits and that brigandage is rife is simply a confession of territories uuder his juris liction; and it his impotence to maintain order within the
shows an extraordinary want of logical thought to be complaining in the very next foreigners f extraterritorial jurisdiction in sentence of the continued maintenance by
China.
(Daily Press, 9th December.) provided for the opening of five new Treaty The MACKAY Treaty, concluded in 1902,
ports, namely: Changsha, in Hunan; Wanhsien in Szechuen; Nganking in Anhui Waichow in Kwangtung; and Kongmoon in Kwangtung. Changsha and Kongmoon tervals something has been heard of the were opened in due course, and at long in- intention to open the port of Waichow which is situated on the East River, but postponed, and evidently, if the wishes of the opening of the port has been co stantly His Excellency the Viceroy of Cinton are res; ecte by the Wa-wu-pu in this matter, development of the East. Fortunately ago when, owing to the reluct nce of the the port never will be o enel. Fr years France and England, neither of whom had other Powers to accept interests
While provincial viceroys confess, outside
rticle VIII of the the preservation of MACKAY Treaty, it was seen that the open-
as His Excellency CHANG does, their in- peace. were able to persuade Russia and ing of Whichow was likely to be indefinitely ability to afford adequate security Italy to stand aloof, so that the danger of postponed, the Hongkong Chamber of to life and property, the idea of the the fire spreading was reduced within Coins.erce communicate with the British Powers relinquishing their extraterritorial comparatively narrow limits, but an
China Minister at Peking on the subject. His jurisdiction in pleasant feling of uncertainty, and a Excellency was
ia preposterous. reminded that a very
We trut that at Peking there obtains conviction that no promise, however appar.
con-iderable trade direct with ently binding, on the part of any one of the centered in
Canton among the officials a better appreciation of Walchow, and the Com-the benefits conferred on China by the Powers can in the present condition of semi-mittee of the Chamber expressed them- opening of treaty prts than is entertained panic be relied on from day to day, keeps the selves whole of Europe in a turmoil.
as being strongly of op ni u that in the viceregal yamen at Canton. We quite in the interests of this Colony the understand that the extension of extra- early opening of Waichow to foreign trade territorial jurisdiction is something which was a matter of pressing necessity. This wounds the pride of a sensitive nation, but in the present state of China extra-territorial urgency," wrote the Chairman (the Hon. Mr. E.A, HEWETT) "is intensified when we jurisdiction is indispensible, and instead of rem uber that when Hongkong is linked to kicking against the pricks, His Excellency · Canton by a lie of rail the fact that Wai- the Viceroy of Canton would be better chow is an open port will not only add advised to regard extra-territoriality as an largely to the trade of the Colony, but will incentive to such administrative and judicial serve as an additio al safeguard against reforms as will bring China iuto line in this competition arising through the development respect with the enlightened countries of the (hy improvements in water or railway world. When that is done the Powers will transit) of possible rival ports in our vicinity to the detrime it of this Colony and to British interests at large." A copy of this letter was sent to HE. the Officer Administering the Government (the Hon. Mr. F. H. MAY) who promised to transmit it to the Secretary of State and recommend the matter to the favourable consideration of His Maj sty's Government. Sir ERNEST SATOW wrote for further information in order that he might be prepared to bring the matter forward, should an opportunity offer and should His Majesty's Government approve. It is clear from the report our Canton correspondent sends us to-day that the opening of Waichow has again been urgel on the Chinese Government. But it seems very late in the day for the Grand Council to be inquiring int "the suita- bilits of Waichow as a Treaty Port." That, we may presume, was done before the Chinese Government agreel by Treaty to open the place. It is amusing to read the remove to other climes. The story has been objections the Vi eroy advances against the re-enacted in every are since, and the opening of the port. In the first place, His Balkan land has been the scene of contest Excellency states that Waichow is in close of Skyth, Sarmatian, an Hunn, each with proximity to Hongkong and could be turned its own peculiar characteristics as finxen, or into an important commercial centre, "but yellow, or swarthy indications prevailed. unfortunately there is very little produce in The powerful grip of the Roman Empire the district and the people are poor." Four was never able to weld into one the jarring years ago the Hongkong Chamber of Com- elemen's; and the contest as to who it is merce informed the British Minister that that shall finally hold the substantial prize as is well known, the Waichow district is of the championship remains still open for populous and wealthy, the country is fertile, the most redoubtable of the claimants and, if brought into more direct communical Ita conquest by the Ofmanlis, and its absorption, will no doubt be rapidly developed.'. tion in the Turkish empire, was but an Next, the Viceroy Bays
that the river
in the New Europe which is approaching It is hardly likely that any of the present Great Powers will stand by and quietly see it annexed by any other. It is at the same time hardly conceiveable that the present position within the peninsula itself contains the elements of stability. The present restless, ess of Servia, Bulgaria, and Mon tenegro is only the outcome of natural causes; each naturally seeking to advance its own individual interests; but althong tese simmerings and seethings may lead to grumblings and bickering, in the absence of any commanding mind, there is really nothing to cause alarm. When that in dividual in course of eveut does, however, arise then must come the inevitable struggle for the mastery of tho Peuinsula. Never from the rawn of history has it been the lot of the lands between the Danube and Cape Matapan to be inhabited by a homogeneous population. They have, in fact, been in all ages one of the back-washes of humanity. According to the ancient t le told by HERODOTUS, the strange lady of Hylava, half human, half monster, bore to Herculs three sons, and he who could draw the bow
left behind by the hero up to the head was
to inhabit the lead, while the others had to
be as ready to consent to the abolition of ext a-territoriality in China as they were t relinquish it in Japan nearly twelve years a 10.
CHINA AND OPIUM.
(Daily Press, 19th December.) We cannot find in the latest quarterly re- turus of the Imperial Maritime Customs any confirmation of the reports so frequently and confidently repeated that the anti-opium movement in China is still going strong. So far as the import of foreign opium is con- cernel during the third quarter of the pre- sent year the Customs returns go to show a considerably larger business than in the cor responding quarter of last year. From these returns we can forin no adequate idea of the move uent of native opium, but what little information they do afford doas not indicate. that the cultivation of the drug in China has been appreciably reduced. Taking first what the statistical tables in the Custome Gazette disclose in regard to the trade in native opium, during the third quarter of the present year, we note that at Ichang, where the import was entirely of native production, the returns show 2,558 piculs as compared with 1,811 in the corresponding quarter of lat year, while at Kukiang, where the import last year was 787 picul and this year 1,181, the increase is almost“ entirely in native opium. The same state. ment holds good with regard to Wahu*** where an increase of 404 picule is shown, of which 40) is in the native drug. At ́
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