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properly appointed vessels, greater safety would be secured for passengers and cargo, and the mere fact of a sufficient number of such vessels being constantly in evidence, moving up and down the river, would prove a deterrent to the trade of piracy which is now being carried on and would thereby necessitate the continuance of only a few gunboats on this duty.
The British Government have every right to make this demand. In principle the opening of the Inland Waterways of South China to foreign trade and navigation has already been conceded, while in practice, as is so widely known, the concession has been rendered of no effect. The grounds on which this demand should be made are therefore, first to secure us the reality of what has only been given, apparently, with intent to convert it into a sham and, secondly, that it is necessary to give security to trade, to the traders travelling, and to the natives who form their constituency. At the present moment the greatest sufferers from these perpetual piracies are the native traders who carry on business with the foreign merchants. That they should receive protection against lawless characters is of supreme importance, and it is the policy as well as the desire of the British merchants to