Penang, 6th May, 1.43 p.m. coper has surrendered and is charged Messrs. Behn, Meyer's Chinese store-
with criminal breach of trust in connection with tin to the extent of $83,000.
He has been released on bail, $15,000.
(The Chinaman referred to is Lowcheng, who has been for four years with Messrs. Behn, Meyer and Ca." He -was formerly manager of Chenglee and Ca. It is believed. that the modus operandi was to receive tin into the store from other people. The stock would thus always come right, but the tin would not necessarily belong to Tue following is an extract from a Review of the Trade of India for. 1894-5, by J. EH. O'Conor, €.1.5. their report for 1894, "Tu their report for 1894 the then j State of trade from which recovery seemed Committee had to record a very depressed
ely to be slow and by no means immediate. It is gratifying to state, however, that notwithstanding' the war in the Further East, there has been'a decided improvement in' the trade, and more especially since the end of last year a better feeling has been apparent all round, and it is believed that the majority of well-managed mills have been working to a fair profit. The improvement. in. the condition of the: trade has not apparently been sufficiently marked to lead to the erection of new mills, only one mill having been added to the list of those in operation in India during the year 1893. There has, however, been an'increase of 73,819 spindles and 2,990 looms during the twelve months, showing that "extensions and improvements have not, been altogether a standstill. The increase in the number of looms is noteworthy as showing a tendency io bestow' greater attention to the requirements of the country itself, and therefore to place less dependence on the export trade in yarns.
The progress of the spinning and weaving industry in the last five years is shown in the table appended.
Year, Number Number Number of Mills. of Spindles. of Looms, 125 3,197,740 93,845 127 3,268,524 24,670 130 3,378,303 26,317 137 3,539,681 29,392 1 3,710,925 34,116
Ix a speech to his constituents at Southport on the 28th of March last, Mr. Curzon made the following remarks on Siam take the case of Siam; which, although it may not command much interest in this country, is yet a question in which, having been in the country, T have taken a deep interest. Coming back to England now some three years ago, and seeing already sufficiently clearly an indication of the danger impending in that country ventured to draw the attention of the then Liberal Government to the subject. But when I mentioned it I was pool hed in the House of Commons, and when my friend Lord Lamington raised it in the House of Lords, he was replied to by Lord Rosebery, who said he had no information on the subject. A little later on the late Government found how serious' it was. There was one moment when. they were almost on the verge of war with. France, and how critical that moment was those only who were cognisant of what passed have any idea. Lord Rosebery invented the idea of what was called 'a which was to settle the position of England and France in a very remote district on the upper waters of the river Mekong, and to constitute this buffer State he was prepared to give away two slices of British territory—one on the east'and the other on the west side of the river. Well, I always contended myself that the buffer State was an illusion and would -break down, and when later the geographical experts who were sent out to delimitate the State arrived on the spot they at once fell out. No agreement was possible, and the idea had to be abandoned. Since then we have come into power, and we have succeeded in coming toan agreement with France. While guaranteeing the principal, the wealthi and the most prosperous part of Siam in the course of that agreement, we have surrendered that one of. the tio strips of territory of which I have: before' spoken. which lies on the far side of this distant river, while we have retained the. other; and Yet, though: we succeeded where ho failed, though this is the limit and extent of our surrender to France, Lord Rosebery 1 goes about the count and talks of our having surrendered that he fought for. All I can. say is that if that is the i idea of continuity of policy it does nob give much confidence in the practice of that which is so amicably preached. (Cheers.)"
Tae London and China Express. of the. 10th ult., says:—The Paris papers announce that the. recall of M. Gerard, French Minister at Peking, and. that he would fill the duties of Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is officially contradicted.
Ture following notes are from the London cand. China. Express of the 10th ult.
In the Tea market business is but partially resumed at firm prices. The extra. ordinary plethora of money (almost unlendable) and the diminution in the, import of staple products -at this period of the year should keep markets firm, as, indeed, is now the: case. Export business is more extended to Russia, doubtless in view of the Coronation festivities.
The silver market has shown some im-B13-16d.'on goad demand, from China provement. "The price of bars has risen to
and a rise in the Indian Bazaar price. The Paris Mint.is inviting tenders. for the supply of £110,000 Silver, and. this is making the market firm in the.absence of. sales from New York, ' Following a decline in the Hongkong premium, the. value of Mexican dollars has fallen, and the nearest Ptice is 302d.
a new crew for the Collingtwood, in the The Grafton returning from taking out Mediterranean, is to be fitted for service on the China Station, relieving the Bdjay, which was commissioned at Devonport three years ago, Official orders to this effect were issued to the Chatham Dockyard an. thorities on the 8th inst... The Grafton is expected at Chatham on the 18th inst,, and she will imme a be fitted out for her new commission. The Edgar is to return to Devonport. She is-one of the Koyat Arthur, class, which has proved the most Successful type of raiser the world has yb produced, for each vessel of the type hus not only exceeded expectations,, but has improved with age.
At a meeting of the Anglo-Raigsian Liter ary Society held at the Luperial Institute, Mr. Owsiankin, of Vladivostock, delivered an address, descriptive of Siberia, its, his. tory, present position, and prospects, The president of the society, Mr. E. A, Cazalot, gave some interesting details with regard tothe tea trade between Russia and China, He said that Mr. Owsiankin was the de-ascendant of one of the enterprising merchants who went from Moscow to Gentral Siberia many year-ago, with caravans of goods, and brought back tea, At that time it was the only route by which tea. penetrated Russia from China, and tea was pro-
way. He was in Odessa twenty-five years hibited from entering Rassia la any other ago when the first cargo of tea came-in from China vid the Suez Canal.
No step has yet been taken on' the Mekong to carry out the ' Anglo-French Agreement of 15th January. British troops are still at Mongsin, which has become French. One curious episode is the deposition of the chief of Kiang Cheng, of which Mongsin is, or was, part. By a solemn notification, the Government of India has deprived him of all authority and: jutisdiction in any part of the Queen's dominions or in any sphere of influence of the British Crown. 'The offence of this potentate was that when a British force was sent' into Kiang Cheng before the recent Convention he straightway fled, and. could not be in: duced to hold any communication with British officers.
There is little further to add to the Bee Chinese Lear'. Basin teeth iculars already given: concerning the
to the applications in Germany states that
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.