Tae question of River Conservation has been again raised by the action of the French Council and of the Foreign Consuls, The former have had a plan prepared, secking to assimilate their Band line with that proposed by the Council of the Northern Settlements, and extending 60 as to include in its scope considerable portion of the Eastern suburbs. The Foreign Consuls havotried tore-aminate the Woosung bar question, by getting the bar surveyed and the report of the Dutch Engineers who have been engaged upon the work will be looked for with much interest, It will still remain to convince the Chinese that it is worth while dredging the bar at all; and, afterwards, those having authority in the matter that the plan proposed is a good one. However, as the gentlemen engaged are, we believe, competent, in the long run possibly some good will accrue. Their idea is reported to be, to make the river itself do the work; to deflect the current at Gough island entirely into the narrower channel, by means of fascines deposited at the mouth of the broader one, and thus create a flow which shall do its own work of digging through the bar. With the experience of the Settlement reach before our eyes, we have not much faith in the natural forces of the Hwangpoo; and should rather apprehend that any artificial obstructions will simply tend to narrow the one channel without improving the other. However, it is unfair to express an opinion in anticipation of the report which the Engineers purpose writing, we believe, after their return to Japan.
some years now since the Anglo-American Council came forward with a scheme for bunding the fronts of the two Settlements under its charge, but since that period comparatively little has been done towards carrying it out. Works have been undertaken in the neighbourhood of Howard's and the P.M. S. S. Co.'s wharves, and these have, we believe, been carried out in accordance with the original proposition. The main line of the wharves along the Hongkew side of the river has not been touched by the Council and it is only too evident, from the tone of the correspondence carried on between the Council and some at least of the proprietors of the wharves, that the latter are not duly impressed with the advisability of sinking purely selfish interests in view of public utility. It is scarcely necessary to say that, in a matter of this nature, the real interest of one is the interest of all. Many men will be disposed to accept this statement as a truism, who yet, when called on to put it in practice, would oppose their own lesser interests to the general well being. Along the front of the British Settlement, we would like to see some more not neglect this most important point, Meanwhile, an accurate survey of the present condition of the foreshore likely to be affected by any subsequent operations, is highly desirable. No available record is in existence of the condition of the Pootung side of the river. It might be possible, from scattered surveys, to arrive at some conclusions as to the changes in certain localities; but more than this is needed, In the same way, the foreshore of the Chinese suburbs is still more in need of accurate delineation. The effect of the various influences at work in deteriorating the water-way in front, can only be shown adequately by such means. We may go on arguing in the abstract for years with. out gaining much way, but the prac. tical exposition of the process which such a delineation would afford, would at once show the results of neglect, As a supplement to the Bund lines of the Settlements, and in order to take the fullest advantage of the present course of the river, some such plan is badly needed. activity displayed in the formation of the Bund line; and we would like to see this supplemented, now that the French Council have prepared their plans, by action south of the Yang-king-pang. Still, this would by no means render the whole scheme complete. Much damage has been dune within the last few years by the persistent encroachments of the Chinese in the CHINESE NEWSPAPERS, In is not easy to overestimate the aid which the cause of progress in Chiva is receiving from the Chinese news.
pers. The -diplomatist and the missionary have not effected in the last thirty years so much as the Press, if it be properly worked and directed, will effect in the next ten. The Chinese, as Namtow suburb, Their long, low jetties are admirably adapted to catch the silt moving about in the river; and this tendency is aggravated by the owners of timber-yards along the shore allowing their timber to lie on the mud flat, thereby collecting silt and causing permanent deposits. The junks have likewise a habit, to put an end to which no efforts seem to be: made, of discharging their ballast into the stream. All these things are, of course, in accordance with Chinese ideas, which allow every man the right of injuring the public interest. Trespass on private rights is, of course, resented by the individuals interested; but no one in China has an interest in public matters. The officials take only so much thought as may suffice to get them over their short term of office and it is an understood thing that intermeddling in such matters by private parties will only entail annoyance, and perhaps unlimited squeezes, or persecu~ tions of other sorts well known to Chinese mandarins. So junks goon discharging ballast into the river, and jetties get extended foot by foot till permanent damage is done to the flow of the river past the native suburbs, and consequently to the entire of the harbour below. We have always urged that Harbour Regulations to be effective must be imposed on native and foreign vessels alike, and we hope that any scheme drawn up with a practical result in view, will we all know, are eminently a reading people; and that they take very kindly to the newspaper is proved beyond a doubt. Though industrious and active, they enjoy Jong rests, and chat and gossip are necessary to their existence. We have only to listen to the babble of a tea-house to convince ourselves that the news of the day is discussed by native politicians with the liveliest ardour and the keenest interest, The author of the charming little book called " Our Neighbourhood," reviewed in our columns a short time ago, gives specimens of the conversation that circu. lates freely in the tea-houses and barbers' shops of Yokohama. Ifa Chinese scholar would transcribe the animated chat that we hear going on where Chinese most do congregate, we should gain an insight into their interior life that we do not at present possess. We should then discover how eager is their curiosity and how vivid their interest in all the topics of the hour. Of course, the ruling subject is money, and the various fluctuations of business form the staple of their talk; but they are alive to other subjects, and we are assured that the public mind only wants healthy stimulating to develope in all the multiform directions of intelligent enquiry. The best means of affording this stimulus is by giving them newspapers, and we shall be glad to see journals of all shades of politics and sentiments scattered over the provinces of this country. We know that the paper
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.