November 30, 1903.]
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT,
THE SITUATION IN THE NORTH
Shih-lung, passing through Tang-tau-hia | is high time the colonists took the matter and Chan-ping. From Shih-lung or Shek- in hand'in grim earnest, with the full de loong it was to cross the river at Niu Shek. termination to press it to the earliest possi- tong, go on through the Liang family's ble conclusion. As Sir HENRY BLAKE village, Tang-ha, Tung-chung-tan, and intimated, it is not the wont of Britons to Shik-tse'an, where it would again cross the be laggards in the race for developments; river to Ta-tun-tsap and Siukai. From let us not incur such a reproach in Hong. thence, passing to the back of Sin-tang, it kong. would come out on the river and enter the Pwin-yu district at Nan-kang. From there, passing to the back of the Polo Temple and the Niushan Batteries, it would reach Wuyung, & market town, from which place it would be carried across the Sze-poi-ti to the south-cast corner of the city of Canton, having its terminus at the Tientsin Matow, the official wharf. The total length of this liue was said to be 350 l, or about 127 miles, Foreigners were not to be allowed to hold i shares in the undertaking, which was to be owned and managed by Chinese only. A, wave of reactionary feeling having set in at the capital, the question of railway construc- tion was hung up altogether for several years, and nothing further was attempted in this direction for some time.
we
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that difficulties seem to have arisen after the transfer of negotiations from 8. Peters- burg to the Far East-a result, it adds, easy to comprehend, since Viceroy ALEXIEFF'S councils are subject to in- fluences not so directly potential in S. Petersburg and since the statesinen of the central Government would naturally be willing to accept diplomatic responsibi lities from which fegotiators ou the distant scene might shrink. The Mail continues :-"Be that as
it may, "it does not appear that when Japan for- "mulated her proposals under the new con- ditions they were considered altogether acceptable, and some modification would seem to have then been made. It is for Russia's answer to that modification, ap- parently, that Japan is now waiting.
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Even supposing the answer to be generally favourable, there may be, and probably will be, some further delay. Nevertheless the final issue cannot be "much longer delayed. Japan appears to "be fully prepared for any eventuality, and "that she will stand to her guns rather "than accept any humiliating settlement
(Daily Press, 26th November.) Our Port Arthur correspondent, in his letter which published yesterday, announced that things have quieted down at the Russian port and that a peaceful issue of the Mauchurian question may now be expected. This is very satisfactory to hear and to set against other statements, such as that war, rough__not_immediate, eau only be postponed until spring. What is Russia's idea of the lines on which the settlement will be effected may be seen in our correspondent's letter. It is that Japanese operations in Corea will be interfered with as little as possible and that the demands of foreign trade in Manchuria will be satisfied as much as possible. This is Russia's idea, may be taken for granted." If this re- we say, that is of moderate Russia, the presents correctly the attitude of official country of the Tsar who is so passionate an Japan, (and the Mail is credited with know- adherent of peace, in Mr. BALFOUR's words.ing that better than any other non-Japanese That there are countless other Russians who paper) then it is obvious that, for hopes of are not at all passio ate advocates of peace à soon approaching peaceful issue to be must be admitted. The Far Eastern repre- | justified, Russia must be absolutely honest, seutatives of these less inild people are very as well as reasonable in tone, in her answer anxious to impress on Japan that her to the Island Empire. position in Corea is dependent on the good- will of Russia, which is hardly a position that a nation like Japan can tolerate.
lowever,
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THE
CONDITION OF QUEEN'S
COLLEGE.
(Daily Press, 20th November.) The report on Queen's College,!laid before the Legislative Council yesterday, reveals much that it is very necessary to know, if, as iSr HENEY BLAKE said in his farewell speech to the Council, our hopes for the stability of the Colony in the futter are to rest upon the education of the minds and character of the people. The great majority of the thousand boys at Queen's College are Chinese, with a number of Portuguese, In- dians, and Eurasians, and a very few Eng-
The next move was male near the end of the nineteenth century by foreign Syndi- cates, and in 1898, after lengthy negotia tious, concessions were granted by the Imperial Government at Peking to various syndicates to construct railways. The Bel- gian-American syn·licate obtained the right to make the railway from Hankow to Canton, and a British syndicate secured in September of that year the concession to construct a line from Canton to Kowloon, Beyond making the preliminary survey, and procuring reports and estimates, nothing has been done by this syndicate towards carrying their concession into effect. More than five years have elapsed, and while work on the Hankow-Canton section is pro- gressing steadily, not a single sod has been turned of the line to connect it with its se- wara terminus. The fact is being brought ominously home to us, and the recent com- pletion of the first section of another line from Canton to Samshui has painfully emphasised our backwardness in this great work of opening up South China. The line, it is true, presents some natural difficulties, but these are easily surmount- able by engineering science, and were well known when the concession was applied for. They certainly are not of a character to daunt any enterprising constructors, nor is the amount of capital required at all cal- culated to frighten fanciers. It is estima- ted that the total cost of the line will not greatly exceed a million sterling, and this ought to be readily obtainable in Londou. If the present syndicate are shy of the un- dertaking, fearing lest it should not at first yield a good interest on outlay, we make no doubt the Imperial Government, or the Colonial Government, with the sanction and assistance of Downilly Street, will come to the rescue either with the promise of a sub- sidy or guarantee, or will take over the work altogether, seeing its immense importance to this great naval depôt and centre of commerce. What Russia has done for the Trans-Siberian Railway, Germany for the railways in Shantang, for the benefit of Kiaochau, and France for the sake of con- The other aspect of the Northern crisis neoting Toukiu portsby rail with the Yunnan at present is where the relations between frontier, Great Britain can surely do for the Japan and Russia only are ecucerned. Of maintenance of the third port in the Empire, course, no peace settlemen of the Man its oce stronghold u the Far East But churia question can be expeted as long as in any case the railway must be male. Japaa and Russia are without a definite It is of paramount importance that understanding with regard to North China the line connecting Kowloon with Cantous and Corea alike. Nearly a fortnight ago should be made, made without delay, made the Japan Mail wrote that "we must be with British capital, and be under British getting very near the psychological moment control. There is no time to be lost; valu- in the negotiations between Russia and able years have been frittered away; and it Japan." The Yokohama journal points out' in reaching the upper classes "ought with
We are willing to believe that a large section, at least, of the responsible Russian authorities up North sincerely wishes to settle matters amica- bly, if this can be done without Russia having to withdraw too much. They are ready, it seems, to give foreign traders a certain amount of rights, though not all they ask for. But they will not evacuate Manchuria, being on this point at one with the war party. As the effort to make Rus- sia keep her promise seems now confined to ineffective China, any expectations of the withdrawal of the intruder, except after delish. feat in war, may be dismissed. The Chinese Foreign Office derived little comfort in its endeavour to find out what help China could expect in turning Russia out of Manchuria. One Minister at Peking practically told them that as they had sold Manchuria to Rus- sia they could not expect to be aided to get it back by force. There is little wonder that the stories of the forthcoming abandonment of Peking should have been revived. Ac- cording to what native officials in Shanghai say, there can be little doubt that a flight from Peking to Hsian (which is to be renamed Changan, the "City of Eternal Peace") is seriously being prepared for, and that the sovereignty of China will, after more than a thousand years' interval, once more repose in the capital of the TANG dynasty. The question, which is perhaps not considered in Peking, is whether the present dynasty would survive such an abject confession of failure.
The
It is plain, therefore, that Queen's College is an important instrument in de- termining this education of mind and character. This year a new method in con- ducting the examination was adopted by Messrs. A. M. THOMSON, E. A. IRVING (Inspector of Schools), and S. B. C. Ross. The former attempts to draw up the school in a graduated order of merit were aban- done, and the examiners set themselves to enquire whether the work of the school is laid upon the soundest possible lines. examination has hitherto been limited to the Upper School; but the examiners this year very truly remark that if it comes to a ch 2.ce between inspecting the Upper and Lower Schools, the latter (which is staffed by Chinese masters, principally, the lerst experienced taking the lowest classes) can less safely be neglected. The inspection lasted about a fortnight, and included the examination of individual boys, the inspec- tion of note-books, and a study of the masters' methods. The verdict of the examiners can hardly be regarded with much satisfaction, either by the Queen's College authorities or by the Colony ganer- ally. But it is eminently one requires to be heard. Mr. IRVING, in for- warding the report, on behalf of the Govern- ing Body of Queon's College, to the Colonial Secretary, says that it appears to that body that the teaching at the Collego should be so organised that a boy who has succeeded
which
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