Ministers have now more cats than ever to curse the Peking correspondent of the Times. Tt was bad enough when he telegraphed that Lord Salisbury had insisted on the opening of Talienwan as a treaty srt as one of the conditions of the loan to hina; but now that he hss wired snnouneing the abandonment by Great Britain of this demand all the tst is in the fire. The Times in making the announcement deprecated the excitement which it foresaw would? result from the announcement, but it was of no a1 All the: Jingoes saw in the "abandonment" of-Talienwan- any act pusillanimity on-the part of Great. Britain, and the Radicals saw in the incident another. example of Lord.-Salisbury's policy of "bluster and - surrender." It has. been' in vain for sober-headed people to point' out that not one in twenty. thousand people who excite themselves' on. the subject know where Talienwan is or what: is its'value as a treaty port. - It is useless' to demonstrate that there is no. evidence whatever that the. Government have sacrificed any British interests, All. people know, or think they know, is that-Lord Salisbury! has cried:'* check." to Russia and-then haa' hastily. withdrawn the move.
'THE GOVERNMENT LIES LOW, Everybody. who hus any.influénce with: member of the Cabinet has' been indus-triensly trying to glean'from himvwhat the Government are doing.. But they. all'refuse? to be drawn. ° All. they- will say is that the'
otiations with regard; to. the: loan are: still in progress, and that it would be a breach of confidence to say.anything about them. 'They deny generally thet the atate: ments -of the" Ties correspondent accurately describe the. progress of the nego~ tiations, but..theydo not deny' that a proposal for the opening of Talignwan' has een made and withdrawn, and they all: agree'in deploring the mischief that is done" by these premature and unreliable disclosures. surrender" has attracted quite as much attention as it has here, and the result can hardly fail to embarrass tho'Government in their ions. 'Times, however, 3 I have indicated, has: never' shared the excitement' which it aroused "in others. This morning it mentions a Russian rumour to the effect that probably no' loan willie effected with either 'Russia or England, and it points out that no' Briti ain terests would. be' deeply prejudiced Chins failed to pay the indemnity,' and Japan remained in occupation'of Weihaiwei,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.