During the Inat week many rumours have been current as to the likelihood of war between China and Japan arising out of the difficulty with regard to the Loochoo Ialands, We have, however, received no reliable information to warrant belief in these rumours, but the Japanese Minister arrived here yesterday from Peking, and the Chinese Minister, it is said, has been recalled from Tokio." Whether the movements of these high officials are the result of a breach of diplomatic negotintions is uncertain. There is no relishle information on the point, but it was asserted some time ago that both the Ministers had applied for and been granted leave of absence. Indeed so far as the Chinese Minister to Japan is concerned, it has often been reported that -ho had been recalled and that his successor had been appointed, Wo therefore place little weight on the movements of these officials alone as indicating that a rupture between China and Japan is imminent, But the arrived here yester-
n event of some importance, especially of the Japanese man-of-war Kongo Kan as her departure, with scaled orders, from Yokohama, gave cause for some excitement, and we take the following from the Japan Herald, which paper translates it from the Nichi Nichi Shimbun.
The departure of the Kongo Kan seems to have been connected with some very important affair. Even the officers, engineers and others on board, did not know where she was going, they being simply ordered to depart hurriedly. Extra provisions in the shape of 150 bags of rice, and large quantities of ammunition, &e., were taken on board, and everything arranged for a distant cruise, Hor fires wore lit of an early hour of the 4th, and she left at 1 p.m. It is widely rumoured in Yokohama that she is to proceed to Shanghai, but we (the correspondent) do not vouch for this. When, however, we see that Mr, Miyamoto, one of the Chief Secretaries of the Foreign Department, and Lieut, Sone of the Navy, who has recently returned from China, embarked on her at 11.a.m., and that many thousand pairs of "waraji (straw were taken by hor, we cat was not going on an ordinary cruis Writing on the same subject, the Herald says:—China's difficulty with' Russia was Japan's opportunity for the settlement of the Loochoo question. At one time it was confidently given out that General Grant's advice had been taken, and that the gran of Islands known as' the Loochoos ha been partitioned between the two Powers,—China taking those nearest to her own territory, and Japan those in proximity to hier own coast; but it would seem that the Chinese Cabinet has only been temporising until auch time as her Russian embarrass ment had some prospect of arrangement, and that now her attitude towards Japan has become decidedly hostile, so much s0 indeed, that war between the two countries "seems more probable than eace, unless some new solution of the isputé should develop itself. A rumour reaches us that the Japanese Minister has already left Peking, and in the absence of definite information as to what such a step signifies, conjecture can only be indulged in, Tt may mean a rupture of diplomatic relations, or that he is returning to Tokio to discuss the situation, or that he is awaiting at Tientsin the receipt of farther instructions, That something urgent and important is on the tapis is not to be questioned. The sudden despatch of the Kongo Kan, under secret orders, for China, is indicative of trouble being apprehended in that quarter: the Kongo Kan took despatches, and a number of officials to advise with the Minister and the officials of the Legation, who, if hostilities are really threatened,.will most likely be brought back by her. The relations between Japan and China have been much strained, and are now said to be critical indeed.
It is believed that China does not regard with a friendly eye the Japanese sottlements on Corean territory, and probably one of the first measures that the Japanese Government would hava to take, in the event of actual hostilities with China, would be that of despatching ships to fetch the Japanese settlers back, as the Corean Government not only would not protect them, but, under the instigation, or perhaps, even at the actual command of China, would aid in expelling the Japanese from the peninsula Under apprehension of possible war with China, no more gold or silver is to be disbursed from the Japanese Treasury to aid in sustaining the paper currency, and, except in payment for Krapp guns for fortifying the salient points.of the coast, and for such warlike stores as are con-lered indispensable, the Government's penditure abroad is to be curtailed within narrow limits,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.