An article, founded on informs which the Editor states had been ric sived in Tokio, giving the result of (he Hongkong opiam negotiations, appears in the Japan Mail, It says that no sort of preventive service is to be established in the Colony, and this louks very like the old trick of preparing the Hongkong public to hear something to ite disadvantage, by explaining that things might have been much worse than they are. We are then told that the arrangements, or Convention concluded between the Hongkong Government and China for the prevention of opiam smuggling vid the Colony, are very simple—they involve nothing more than the ce-operation of the Hongkong authorities." This is much the same way of putting the fact that the Hongkong authorities have been induced to agree to a Convention, of which all the advantages will go to China, as the same jou recent version of the tribute clause in the Parma Treaty. The Mail suid there bad been no recog tion of the suzerainty of China in Burmn, England hnd merely agreed to "a decennial passage of local pro-duco taking place from Burma te Peking. his the Chinese are at liberty to pnt any constrootion they please upon," The Buglish Foreign Office, it appears from what parsed Intely in Parliament, pat o different contraction upon it, for Sir James the Under-Seoretary, con this way—Bngland is to allow the highest authority in Burma to nue the ten yearly mi that la, will continue to send tribute to Peking decennially. It appears from explauationsgiven in some Indian papers that the ion is that a Burmese shall bear the tribute, but that does not for every Burmese ie us much 0 British subject asthe Bar! of Dufferin is, and the highest authority will as fully represent the Queen as his Lordship would, To return to the Hongkong Convention: we are told from Tokio that though its terms may not now be stated in detail, as they have not yet the sanction of the Hongkong ye Cvuncil, the gist of them is that the "local authorities undertake the Chinese Customs, and to be responsible that the traffic in opiam shall henceforth be entirely above board. In return for these concessions, the Chinese on their side consent to remove the restrictions at present existing with regard to the oarringe of foreign merchandise in juuke to Kuantung., They also agree to certain fiscal modifica. tions whioh are not yet publio property, but of which we are free to say that their effect will be to largely fa southewestern provinces of Chi Hongkong and Canton, and to effectually discount the advantages confer. red on the same trade vid Tongking by the recently concluded Franco-Chinese the terms of the Convention tarn out to be much less favourable to the Colony this vague communique wakes nugent is, we have heard, about to prohibit all carrying of opiam by night steamers, there can be no objection on the part of fuir traders, and the Viceroy of Kaangtuug is going to allow foreign goods to be imported in native june, bat this will make the goods linble to the foreign Customs duty, to avoid w was the reason of rheic being sent native craft, There is, we learn, very little probability of the blockade of Hongkong being given up. The "removal of the restrictions on the carriage of foreign merchandize in j Kuangtuyg" when put into p guage, is that the collect them is made as certain as a regula tion can make it, but the blockade question is left as it was. The facility. tion of the import of foreign goods into the South-West provinces only means that Lord Rosebery before leaving uffive instructed the Minister at Peking to try and got the West River opened and the residence of a Consular officer ab come large place on it permitted, We should like to know what advantages to thole trade the French obtained by their treaty which it is tow a feat of diplomney to got a discount on in our favour? 'I'he Han Chamber of Ca: in the Protest. which we published the other dri showed that their commercial interes hind been neglected by its frau and injured by the trouty and eve: body who had read it carefully had alrendy come to the same conclusion, If the Convention provides that the West River shall be oper yusly with the action which the Hon kong Government are to tuke for the prevention of smuggling, good and we! Bat we on nothing about that, and at present it seems us if every. thing bad been given to them which the Chinese asked,—short of the establish. mout of a Customs in Hongkong,—and this upon trust, This is not diplomacy; and we shall be surprised if it does not meet with severe criticism at home, and we trust the Hong. kong commanity will see that every interest of theirs is safeguarded, and as fall conces si obtained from the Chinese ne those the Culony grants, That great efforts huve been made to mask the true nature of the Parma Convention, is shown by the many different readings of the tribute clause which have been put forth in England, India, and Jupan. The latest attempt to draw off public attention is in the explanation that only its broad outlines have been agreed to, and that ite final settlement will take place at Peking. These "happy results," as the Japan Afail calls this Inst gil ing amoy of our interests, are attributed tothe diplomacy of the late Charge d'Afaires at Peking. So was the tribute-recognizing Burma treaty. Now is it not unfair to that gentleman, the greater part of whose offivinl career is we hope still before 1) that he should be saddled with Lord Rosebers's mistakes and weakness? Mr. O'Gonor, no doubt, simply did as he was told. But by and by when people, at home and in the Exst, seethe true nature of the happy results of Lord Rosebery's mischief, they will blame Mr. O'Gonor, the mere instrument of the Foreign Seoretary, and while the true author of them escapes, his subordinate may be a much abused man, For Mr, O'Conor's sake. itis to be regretted that the intelligence received at Tokio was not published before he left Japan.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.