Evsnts in China drag their weary length along, and our relations in 1879 are in no better condition than they were in 1867. The London and China Express draws public attention to the disgraceful ease of the bulk Cadiz at Chinkiang, and gives n very succinct account of the manner in which the affair was gob up by an intermeddling Commissioner, and bow the usual result of "reference to Peking" had the usual ending of still further muddling a very simple and straightforward matter, The subsequent proceedings are on a par with what bad gone before. The bulk was compelled to move last November, under the promise given that in case it was found she had not been the offending cause, she was to be replaced in her former position. Since then a lot of quasi scientific experiments have been made bottles Lave been dropped into the river, surface floats and submerged floats have been sent over the ground, and all the paraphernalia whereby a very simple question can be complicated and made to assume a false importance have been made use of, with the result, we believe, of cluing what might have been apparent on the second inspection, namely, exonerating the Cadiz from any blame. Still the promise given that the Cudiz should return remains in abeyance, and she still lies on the North bank of the n practically out of the way of d any business, while the Chinkiang freights are permitted to go to her more favoured rival anchored under precisely similar conditions to those objected to in the case of the Cadiz. Bat if report say aright, the affair has not yet passed through the last phase of absurdity. The result of the bottles and floats has been duly made known at Peking, but the supreme Government there has, it is said, discovered a still more distant limbo, It has telegraphed to Mr. Hart to discover his view of the case! Now, plain men of common senso have been all along wondering what this Cadiz affair really hinged on. It was alleged by a Commissioner of Customs that the hulk was doing certain damage to the foreshore in front of the English Settlement; the fact of this damage was easily ascertainable if the allegation were correct. The situation was accordingly surveyed by competent authorities, who one and all decided against the Commissioner's allegation. It might have been expected that with the failure of his proofs, nothing more would have been beard of the matter, but the Commissioner was not to be baffled. He alleged that he could not complete his proofs of the damage unless the Cadiz were removed and the Customs were allowed to experiment in her absence. At attempt was made to move her at the height of the flood Jast summer, but the then Commissioner not liking the task of moving a hulk in the midst of the flood season, it was arranged that she should be moved as soon as the current subsided. This was done, on the understanding that if then no proof was to be found that her position was injurious, no farther objection would be made to her taking up her berth. After all these repented trials to obtain proof of her impos sibility, the matter still remained in statu quo. No one could be found to aver that any damage had been done. The way at Inst seemed clear, and it was confidently expected that the hulk Cadiz would reassume hor position, Again the affair is made to take © now aspect, and Mr, Hart is telegraphed to, Now we may reasonably enquire who is Mr. Hart and what is his position in this matter The matter of the Cadiz was assumed to rest on the evidence of facts. These facts have all turned out in her favour, and finding that argument any longer is futile, Mr. Hart is brought on the scene as a dens ex machind. We have before us a letter published in 1867 on this same subject, and signed under the pseudonym of " Civis Britannicus." We really see but little advance in the state of our relations during the twelve yenrs since elapsed. The readings of 1867 are sull needed to-day, and are apparently even more applicable to our present condition. The writer remarks, "Great Britain and France and Prussia ought to be able to conduct their own affairs direct with the Chinese Govern-g ment, without the inlersention of gobetiveens. Cannot our Minister manage the affairs of Hor Majesty's Government in China without reference to Mr. Hart or Mr. Burlingame? What
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.