Ta1s morning's issue of the Echo de Chine, which is of course, " paper with strong Russian proclivities, has a paragraph headed " Manchuria," from its correspondent, which rend:
"The Russians are beginning to occupy militarily the provinces of Kirin and Heilnngchiang. Their Cossacks are posted at intervals of sixty (Iwenty miles) on the principal ronds, and the engineers are working all the time on the railway."
It is just as well, though it may be feere a little too Into in the day, that the Chinese should be reminded by a paper whose natural object is to farther the designs of Russia by every means in its power, that to grant Russia a concession for a railway moans to prepare. the way for " military wccupation by Cossack posts at intervals of twenty miles on all the principal roads, to be followed by actual annexation.
In the Times of the Bist of May last is a very: valunble article headed "Railways in China." The writer be-by likening. the Government of China to a shepherd's van that has been rusting for. years on Salisbury Plain. "It is potentially movable, because here are shafts and wheels; but y sudden application of outside power would probably result in pulling it to pieces, So great was the danger conceived to be that foreigners were content fora while to stand awaiting the generation of spontaneous impulse, When when nothing happened, they changed their minds and said that the risk was at least equal that it would fall to pieces as it stood; and all commenced pushing vehemently once." 'I'he result so far of all the pushing has been that there is a rnilway in actual operation, authorised eleven years ago by the Empress Dowager, from Peking to Tientsin and Shavhai By the Cassini Convention it was to ba continued to Kirin, where it was to mest the Russian lines. Phis programme has been changed. Russia carries her line to talienwan, China has arranged with the Hlougkong Bank to carry her line to Newchwang, with the idea of continuing it to Moukden; but Russia is doing her best to have this agreement cancelled, Only Russians are to be employed in what Russia claims as her sphere of interest, whatever England may say about open doors and equality of opportunities. Manchuria, in fact, ix lost, and it will be a feat if Sir Claude Macdonald saves Newchwang. 'I'he writer in the Times shows how important Newchwang is to our trade and that of the United States, and he goes on to say:—Mr. Balfour rejects the toria influence, admitting only that certain Powers may have spheres of interest' within the Chinese domain, With the example before us, however, in Manchuria, of what interest may be held to wean, England would be justified in regarding any extension of Russiaw enterprise towards the Yangtze with at least as much dislike as Russia has shown-to the extension of British enterprise north of the Great Wall. Yet the northern section of the great trank from Peking to Hankow is being ducted with funds supplied by the Russo-Chinese Bank; and negotiations are said to he in progress for its completion by a Russo-Prench-Belgian combination in which that bank would be a prominent figure!" Since this paragraph was written, Sheng, under pressure from the Throne, hua signed the contract giving the construction of the Lu-Han railway to the Russo-French-Belgian. combination in question, course, neither Belgium nor Russia has
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.