"No convention could be operative, that had been negotiated by myself, or the Representative of any Treaty Power, sin, handed, Fo n Chinn is "come Wo'be etlctive, must have been duly consid property, chan, he regulation of which,
ered andi accepted by all alike."—Such the sentence in Mr, Wade's despatch whic us the Shanghai telegraphic agent put it, "caused int ich astonishment" to the residents at Shanghai. Touching, as it does, a vital point in our policy towards hina, it becomes Worth while to examine at length the contention it sets up. In the opinion of almost every Englishman interested in the Chi trad, it 1s alike opposed to common sense fail experience; it is damaging to our pres! anid fatal to those just reforms which lone place our trade upon a fair footing. fair, that is, as much to China as to us.
i rds what we may term view of the question, Of the actual forei; trade with China, the proportion which is carried on under the British flag is very close on eighty per cent, of the whole. Tat is to say, our own interest is four times that of the remainder of the Western world. By what possible course -of reasoning Mr. Wade desires to impose upon himself the duty of tenderly caring for the trade of other nations, it is difficult to say. And yet more wonderful does his opinion appear when we fall back upon experience, which after all la a safer guide than theory. His assertion that no convention could: be sociated by himself si igle-handed oppose' to actual facts. Does Mr. Wade mean to assert that the convention which he assisted to draw up at the time of the signing of the Treaty of Tientsin, has been "inoperative" in the ordinary sense of the term? No thing sooner than do it, And as their ex. doubt there have been numerous infringe-periments on our peculiar temper in this ments, for which the absence of a determined respect have extended over a tolerably long policy'on our part is chiefly responsible. But space of time and have included a variety of to assert. that a convention drawn up by a items ranging from illegal trade exactions to single minister is "inoperative," as regards the murder of a consular officer, they are his own nationals, is to make an assertion so manifestly nonsensical that even quite justified in their conclusions, "They quite well that, if they once overstep the limits of our forbearance, a retribution swift and heavy will follow.—But no otic has ax yet explored those distant landmarke, and who in China troubles himself about the un< might secure, inasmuch as they would enjoy known and undiscoverable? An explosion of them under the favoured-nation clauses. Nor our wrath would doubtless be disastrous. But, do we by any means admit that, as regards fifteen years of immunity from irruption is our own action, "foreign trade in China i held to justify those who dwell on the sla common property.". No more mischievous of a volcano in building houses; and should and unstatesmanlike a dictum was ever put China be wiser than the other sous of men forth by a responsible official. The We have said that Mr. Wa experience of Western nations utterly will be fatal to reform. We cannot pos and entirely upsets it. Is, for instance, serve our own interests properly if we are foreign trade with America or France common trammelled by cares for those of others. We property Are the conventions between Great advocate no dog-in-the-manger policy. Let britain and those countries, regarding the privileges we can get be fally given to all i of wines or metals, common pro-comers, but let them be framed to meet our perty? As well say that trade with a leading own convenience. We want nothing that 's mercantile house is common property. Mr. antagonistic to the interests of others Wade has used a dictum of international law, probably do they want anything antagonistic which holds that to trade generally with a to ours. But let each do his best to develop country isan inherent right on the part of fair and healthy trade, This will be a far ite neighbours, to justify his contention that more effective ' ce-operative" policy than the the agreements as to details made by any one burlesque initiated under Lord Elgi country area matter of rightful concern to all. pices and carried out by his successors, to our Tu one but not the sense in which he own damage, in every case in which it was ign trade with Chiva i mon property. But the specific conditions applied, Mz, Wade is indeed given colleagues the clue for a grievance should which suit one country may be quite unsatis attempt independent action, hope that the united voice of the semmnolitiee dad it fie cities we desired factory ie another. We, for ood deal for pice is, 0] reas will be sufficient to force upon out due consideration of the on those matters were freely conceded, should be perfectly willing to allow watches and clarets to be imported under existing onions, French trad
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.