We may fairly congratulate the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce on the activity ald @nergy it hias displayed of Into in dealing with current questions of importance, as' is evidenced by the letters published by us this week, ' 'I'he mitiutes of tite meetings are given, held on the 26th of August and on the 2nd instant. At the former meeting a special subject was dealt with—the memorial of the 'T'sungli Yaméti; a translation: of which appeared recently in our columns, 5 oni the suggested inittense of taxation on the' productions of Silk Filatures, etc. The Committee of the Chamber point otit "the ixitolérable burden that would be put on the Silk Filntures if the proposals of the T'sungli Yamen were adopted e. Throne and accepte by the Treaty Powers; aid it is, of course, rémémbére reaty of Shimonoseli all the' productions of foreign factories in China: are to stand, in' respect to taxation of -all "kinds, "upon the same footing and enjoy the same privileges and exemptions as merchandise imported by Japanese subjects into Olina while, by the most-favoured-nation' clause;' what applies Japanese applies to the subjects and citizens of all the Treaty Powers equally. Farther, the Chinese Government is now endeavoring to get the consent of the 'Vrétity 'Rowets to a' lnrgd- increase in the: tariff on imports; and the Powers will, of course; make use of the-relative negotiations to get a settlement of this question, and the.question of the duties to be charged on the output of the Cotton' Mills now iundet construction among other dispvtéd thsttera. Tt is satisfactory that we have Lord Sulisbut}'s asétitance' that: the- Chambers' of Commerce will be consulted before any definite settlement is come. to with China on the subject of the increase of the import tariff. No one meanwhile has seriously disputed the justice of China's request to be allowed to pro~ vide a remedy for her financial diffi, '9 culties in this manner.
The minutes of the second inepting: include " number of letters on the shbject of the sudden increase of 374° per cent in the cost of telegrams to Europe and America, It is a case in which reason is on one side and force on the other. The reason is all on the side of the Chambers of Commerce; the force is on the side of the 'Telegraph Companies. They virtually own that their tariff has only been kept dows hitherto by the competition of the Chinese limits, They have now succeeded' by vittuo of the pressure which the Russian Govetiiment can bring to hear whenever it likes on China, and by the unexplained: influence which the late Sir Johti Pender's Companies exercise on out oft, Foreign Office, in coercing the Chilieae' Telegraph Administration into joivilig their monopoly. Sir Claude MacDohald refuses to sign the convention, and telegraphs home, we must suppose, that it is Count Cassini who is pushing it. The Foreign Office sends to the Marquis of Tweedale and asks if it is all right—not a word is whispered on this matter to the Chambers of Coinmerce, The Marquis of Tweeddale says Qortainly," and the order goes to Sit Claude to sign.
In fact, the Foreigh Office need hardly have consulted the Eastern Extension Company at all, for it seems to have given Sir Clauds standing orders, if we. may judge by the Chefoo Fo¥eshore incident; fo agree, to whatever Count Cassint wants. The defence of the Tela: graph Companies, as contained "in their letter of the 11th of August, is unfortunately vitiated by the fact that is publicly known from their an reports and accounts, that they have been making very handsome profits oit the $2 rate. The bountiful concession of 15 instead of 10 letters, aid 5 instead of 3.figurés, to a word tarns out to be almost entirely illusory, as it only applies to telegrams written in plain language, "whilst the ten-letter and five-figure limit will remain in force for telegrams in code of précouterted language." To.the. very pertinent question of the Committee of the .*It would. however interest the Ghatnber to know why the increase of
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.