'23rd Jan.
Mr. A. R. Corgunoun writes from Kueichoufa on the Upper Yangtze, that unless we assert our right to maintain order in the Yangtze Valley, which by every right we claim as our sphere of influence, that too will slip away from us as the north of China has done and is doing. The jolley in which we are joining at eking is to weaken the authority of the Provincial Governments, and favour the concentration of all power in the hands of the Manchus at Peking, which means in the hands of Russia. For this reason we regret the withdrawal of the Hermione from Nanking as her presence there tended to strengthen the hands of Viceroy-Liu. Our position is becoming more and more precarious, and we want a Kitchener or a Noel with a free hand to straighten things out. There is little doubt that serious trouble may be anticipated in this Valley unless we stiffen up the Viceroys, and the public at home should understand that chaos in China may suit every other Power but ourselves and the United States. Lord Salisbury seems to be relying on some vague promise from Germany that she will not interfere with us in the Valley, and probably our Foreign Minister will endeavour, when Parliament meets, by some such assurance to quiet the public at home, unless the China party in the Commons are on the alert.
It is no longer a question, says Mr, Colquhoun, whether the proposed railway connecting Bars with the Yangtze through Yunnan will pay; it must be made, and as soon as possible, for the protection of our sphere of influence. Preparations should be made also for continuing it to the Tungting Lake and_to Hankow; so as to put the future Chicago of China—Shanghai being the New York—in railway connection with Burma. Unless everything possible is done to strengthen our moral hold on the Yangtze Valley, we may by and by find ourselves edged out of China altogether.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.