533
to the making of a railway connecting Vehing with Tientsin, the fortified Port at the mouth of the Veiho-
The resent complications with France, and the fear of imminent attacks by the French on various points of the coast, and of internal rebellion, have doubtless done much to impress on the Chinese official mind the necessity of greater facilities for the transmission of intelligence and
stax
the
conveyance of troops and munitions of war to any part of
the
the vast Empire that might be threatened with foreign
invasion or
with domestic insurrection. Thus
the prospect of war which recently was considered dangerous, may prove ultimately, in its results, to have been favourable to the
of Trade and Commerce.
interests
5.
It should never be
forgotten, however, that the peace and progress of China appear at present to depend, in no slight
degree,
on one man, that is, on
Li Hungchang retaining his present
commanding.