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of long standing and good record—Mr. HORSPOOL, Deputy Superintendent of Police, and Mr. SANGSTER, Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court--must also be noted. Mr. SANGSTER will be missed not only in the Civil Service but also as organist of St. John's Cathedral; a thorough musician, he had contributed for thirty-five years to the impressiveness of the services by his admirable playing, and it was with much regret that the
announcement of his resignation was received.
Within the last few weeks it seemed as though the close of the year might find England and America on the verge of war over a trumpery dispute about the frontier of British Guiana and Venezuela, as to which the United States appeared inclined to take a high hand, but at the moment more moderate councils secin to be in the ascendent. A fratricidal war between England and the great Republic would be of all things wost deplorable and most disas- | trous in its effect on trade, whatever the final result of the struggle might be. Ou the Continent of Europe the political at- mosphere is highly charged with elements of disturbance, and in the Far East the rival interests of Russia and Japan together with the ambitions of other powers render the position somewhat dangerous, but a peaceful solution of all the questions at stake may be looked for. Given peace between the nations the commercial outlook is bright, and in the hope that nothing may occur to mar the prospect we cordially wish our readers
A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR,
RAILWAYS IN CHINA.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
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66
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January 8, 1806
such an affair took place, brother officials would have der explanation. We look in vain sequent issues of the Peking Gaz
ub
any such indication, All Pekin been set a-talking about the cashiering of these two officials one a member of the Foreign Office, and the other of the Chun- wuch'u. It is late in the day to punish them for supposed offences committed last It is said that the year. two Ministers were removed from office. to enable the Edict of the 6th December on the Tientsin-Lukou-ch'iao railway to "be issued. Both officials had spoken out pretty freely regarding the inexpediency of railways, and their punishment will deter anyone from attempting to thwart the Imperial will." Progress is much to he desired, but if it is to be made only ar the whim of an autocrat, it may be doubted whether there will be much of it or whether it will continue. What we want to see is not spasmodic steps in the direction of reform merely out of sudden fancy or caprice, but a real and genuine disposition to embrace improvements out of a recogni- tion of their desirability and a conviction that by their adoption the country will be
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£6
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GREAT BRITAIN AND THE KOREAN QUESTION.
When, however, the longer sections of the proposed system of railways come to be con- sidered, the Imperial Authorities soon be- tray their lack of real- interest in the new method of communication. The line from Lukou-ch'ino to Hankow or other point on the Yangtsze, the first great section of the grand trunk line southwards, is to be left to private enterprise. The rich merchants and others are to be invited to find the funds for the prosecution of this work. Whether that line will prove remunerative or not is at present a matter of speculation. Properly managed we have no doubt it will, but whe- ther it will be properly managed is not so certain. The merchants are to be asked to subscribe the capital; the officials will undertake the management. This means it is to he feared, that the public are to provide the means of constructing the work, and the officials will have the fingering of the money. Knowing their officials as they do, we do not believe the mercantile classes will subscribé capital for railways in the nihingement of which official influence will be supreme,
Chinese capital is exceed ingly shy when invited out by the man- darins. Experience has taught the mer- chants that difficially managed commercial undertakings are non-productive to share-benefited. holders, no matter how lucrative the business, and they will only invest in the State Railways under pressure. To a certain extent, no doubt, the wealthy classes are squeezable, and it is possible for the Govern- ment to obtain a considerable amount in forced contributions under the guise of voluntary patriotic subscriptions. But unless there is pressure of sonie sort there will be little public money forth- The prospects of the railway in China can- conțing for the construction of railways, and not yet be called good, though an Imperial as foreigners are not to be permitted to Edict was issued on the 8th ult. ordering acquire any interest in them it is difficult the construction of the proposed line from to see from what sources the needed funds Tientsin to Lukou-ch'iao. This line, which for railway construction will be forthcoming. is to be a double one, will be 262 li or It is probable that the Government will be seventy-two miles in length, and it is es-thrown upon its own resources, with the timated it will cost £7,000 sterling per mile, result that only those lines will be made or a total sum of about Tls. 2,400,000. The which are considered imperative strategically rails are to be of 85lbs. so as to give great or those that promise to give exceptionally strength and admit of a high rate of speed good returns. This being the present temper on the track. The railway is to be con of the Government, and the native capitalists structed on the west side of the river l'eiho, being extremely distrustful of official pro- and its metropolitan terminus at Lukou-jects, the prospects of railway progress are, chiao, the so-called bridge of Marco Polo, as we intimated above, far from rosy. There is ten miles distant from the capital. The is still a large party among the officials who EMPEROR does not wish, we are informed are just as inveterately hostile to the in- by the Peking correspondent of our Shang-novation as ver, and though for the moment hai morning contemporary, to have the in- the advocates of the iron way have the floor, novation reach the gates of the capital, so it it is by no means certain that this concession is not to be allowed to approach nearer than to "barbarous views" will long be regarded ten miles, where neither the whistle nor the with favour. snort of the engines can break the Heavenly Nothing indeed can well be more un- calm of the Prohibited city. That the In- certain than the policy of the Peking perial Government are in earnest, however, Government as at present constituted. Just about the formation of this line is obvious at the moment it pleases them to have a enough, by the provision made for the funds railway laid from the capital to the port, wherewith to build it. One million taels is but the decision unfortunately seems to have to be provided by the Board of Revenue, been arrived at after an unusually arbitrary one million from the Yamen of the Northern exercise of the Imperial power. It will be Superintendency of Trade, and one million remembered that very recently two high borrowed by the Viceroy CHANG CHII-officials, Wang, a minister of the Tsung- TUNG, and which the Tsung-li Yamen have li yaren, and CHANG LIN, member taken over.
It will thus be seen that the of the Military Council, Lieut.-Governor line is to be paid for out of Government of Peking, and a Mauchu, both men of tried moneys, and it will undoubtedly be man- aged and controlled by the officials. Little as they know of railways, the Imperial Gov- ernment evidently have a shrewd belief that the line to the capital will yield a good return on capital, and they are determined to have it under their own control. The traffic over it, both of goods and passengers, must be enormous, and the cost of construc- tion, owing to the conformation of the - country, will be moderate.
very
"In June, 1894, we occupied a finer vant- "age-ground for settling the affairs of Asia to our liking than we could ever have "dreamed of which, from what looks un- commonly like perverse incapacity, we "threw away.
The tide flowed, but we "missed it" So says the writer of an article in Blackwood's Magazine, and the opportunity he refers to was that of stepping in to settle the affairs of Korea and prevent the collision between China and Japan. With what the writer of the article says as to the general failure of British diplomacy in China we most cordially agree, but we join issue with him on this particular point. Whether the attack made upon China by her smaller neighbour was ethically justifiable or not we need not pause to inquire, but in its results we hold it has been undoubtedly beneficial. The pity is that the war was not carried to its logical conclusion, that the Japanese standard was not hoisted over the Imperial palace at Peking, and that the opening up of China was not effected once The results achieved, however, for all. though they fall far short of what might have been desired, are of substantial value. The arrogance of China has been in some measure subdued, an extension of com- mercial privileges has been secured, and sundry political bubbles have been pricked. The exposure of England's diplomatic weak- ness has been painfully humiliating, it is true, but since the weakness was there it is well that it should have been exposed, in order that its causes may be removed and a new course entered upon. As to Ko the affairs of that turbulent and unfortun little kingdom are more likely to be factorily settled now than they would have ability and trustworthiness, were dismissed been had the task been undertaken before the war; the conditions of the case are now from office by the Emperor KWANG SU on the plea that during the late war they, as better understood and the influences at work Censors, spoke disparagingly of the Em- can be more accurately gauged, press-Dowager. According to the Peking, Sooner or later Japan and Chir correspondent of the Daily News, this was bound to come into collision the merest pretext, and no one in the had no object to serve capital believes it to have been the true forcibly defer the crisis, which reason for their disgrace. He adds:-"The have become more serious by "act has been unprecedented in the annals Quarrels between nations, like
of Chinese history. In ancient times, if between individuals, do not so often
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