The Kachyen country is parcelled out into squares or tracts, and the character of the country and of the inhabitants of each square is well-known, various military and civil officers having,' for years past, been visiting different' parts either in a friendly manner, or to exact punishment for raids, Last open season many disputes on the Chinese horders were settled by Mr. Hertz from the Burmese side in association with the Sawbwa of the Chinese Shan State of Nantien, who was deputed for that purpose by the sub-Prefect of Momein. Matters have therefore been settling themselves to a certain extent, and no excuse can now be put forward for delaying the official delimitation of the frontier. It can hardly be denied that, with a settled boundary, and the consequent increased facilities for checking law-Tessness and crime among the hill-men, trade between China and Burma must improve, and it seems not a little strange that the Indian Government apparently cares 80 little about making the best of the splendid position that the annexation of Upper Burma has given them. By an almost bloodless expedition the hopes of Franco of forming compact Empire in Indo-China have been dashed to the ground, and, at the same time, our territories have been extended right up to Western China. The trade route is not a smooth one but it is far from being unimportant or impesctionble, From the last Administration port of Burma it appears that, for the triennial Pan ending with the 3ist of March, 1896, the percentage of increase of the trade with Western China was 134.61; the increase in imports was 230.07 per cent, and in exports 84.29 per cent. The trade in 1893-94 was 27 lakhs, in 1894-95 32 lakhs and in 1895-96 22 lakhs, but the 1894-95 trade was abnormal owing to the China-Japan war. Surely a trade which is carried on under such disadvantages, and ill shows such increase, is worth fostering. A noticeable feature is the falling-off'in the importation through this route of raw silk into Burma, and the explanation seems to be that most of this commodity now comes from the Straits Settlements. In 1894-95 China sent absolutely no raw silk to Burma direct, while in 1895-96 the value of the import was only Rs. 6,564, while the figures for the Straits Settlements are, 1894-95 Rs. 778,650 and 1895-96 Rs. 2,158,830. Is it not a probable explanation that such a valuable commodity as raw silk cannot safely be brought direct from China through fear of the lawless tribes on the frontier?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.