'Tue correspondence between H.M. Con+ sul-General, and Doyen of the Consular body, and' Kung, 'Taotai, which we publish to-day is in every respect satisfactory. The Foreign Consuls when appealed to by the' Chamber of Commerce to represent to the Taotai the arbitrary and illegal proceedings of the Tea Guild in stopping trade, at once met and a dignified and proper letter was promptly sent into the city. It will be found in another column and speaks for itself. The Taotai, soon after receipt of it summoned the principal members of the ea Guild to his yamen, and, having reprimanded them, directed them to allow business in tea to be resumed, and carried on in the usual manner. We hope to learn soon that this has been done, and that what has occurred in this unfortunate matter has not affected the friendly relations between foreigners and natives which have generally prevailed in the trade, We are certain that foreign merchants will meet the tea dealers in a liberal spirit, in the negotiations for the arrangement of regulations for the insurance of teas in godowns on a basis which will work satisfactorily. The Chamber of Commerce and private merchants have already shown that they are. prepared to deal with the question in such a spirit, and we trust they will be met in the same way by the Tea Guild and its members, The sound good sense and conciliatory spirit shown by the Taotai in his reply, sets an example to both
followed. In these two excellent which we have every hope will characteristics the despatch of Kung Teaves nothing to be desired, and are assured that it will be fully appreciated by all foreigners and by his countrymen, including even the tea dealers, who, we should hope, see by this time the mistake into which their precipitancy led them.
THE' " PRIMUS" CASE, A tance space has been taken up in our columns in the last few days by the report of a series of cases which seem to the ordinary reader the most remarkable development of justice ever seen in Shanghai. The peculiarities of the cases are so many that we may be doing an injustice to the Court im question in characterising its proceedings as we have done. A ship belonging to Finland, but, Finland being a dependency of Russia, flying the Russian flag, arrives here with a mixed cargo from Antwerp, after an unusually long voyage; but there is no imputation whatever on the character
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.