The future wf South Africa is at present involved in darkness, and I have no title to attempt to lift the veil, but surely I am sate in saying that with all these good results, this exhibition of admirable qualities which this war has elicited, with the determination of country to see the power of Great Britain paramount where it ought to be paramount, Wwe may look forward to that not distant peace which may have for its results in the first place the permanent quietening of all these hostile elements in South Africa, and may in the long run bring in their train the freedom, the justice, the equality, which has never in any nther part of the globe failed to follow the English flag, which has never in any other part of the glove failed to carey train industrial development, developnient of all the arts of peace, of business, of commerce, and that we may look forward to these blessings not as being wrang from us by the mixture of generosity and fear, but as granted under conditions which make them safe for all purposes to those who, however much they may now hate our name, however much they now desire the destruction of our power yet live, or their chitdres y yet live, rd this war as the hn of an era of prosperity to South Africa, and to Mok hack to the great war of 1899 not as the end of th liberties, but as the beginning of that now era in which true liberty, understood as equality for all men of the white races, and as a liberty under which everything that the Boors have valued in the shape of independence—personal independence shall be guaranteed to them with as much security, nay, more security than they could ever' liwo hoped for under the scarce-civilised rule which they desire to keep up.
An authority on Chinese polities who has just been at home on leave writes us: "What most struck me in England was this; there was not the faintest shadow of a ghost of interest taken in the Far East, though it was admitted that after the Transvaal difficulty is settled, there might be some attention revived in China." is therefore a relief to see that at least we are not forgotten by Sir E. Ashmead Bartlett. In a spe-ch to his constituents at Ecclesall in November he said With regard to the conduct of the foreign crisis which has been caused in Northern China by the persistent encroachment of. Russia, it is impossible as yet to pronounce a final judgment. There were signs of weakness in the initial stages of that difficulty, but it would be unfair to condemn before the whole story is known, and above all before the final resultsareeleae. (Hear, hear.) One thing only I will say, and that is that our interests in China are of the most far-reaching and vital character, and that it is absolutely essential for this country that the military and political control of Russia should be excluded, and effectually excluded, from Northern China. The English people are dever-mined that this shall be done, and they are confident in the foresight and courage of Her Majesty's Government to carry this' policy successfully through. (Cheers.) It is my conviction that we can only achieve this by rigidly maintaining the political and territorial indepen ce of hina. I believe that in such a policy the Government would have the warm snd effective support both of the United States and of tapen, and probably of the German Empire also. (Hear, hear.) I do not for one moment believe that any vague riot of influence over the Yangtzckiang Valley would be any real compensation for the occupation by Russia of Northera China, especially of the great province of Pechili. Such an occupation would give Russia control of the wealthy provinces and stalwart fighting material of Northern China, and would furnish Russia with irresistible leverage for the conquest of all China. (Hear, hear.) Next year will probably see some important developments in that quarter of the globe, and I repeat that the country looks to the Government to safeguard British interests there as effectively as they have done on the Nile and in South Africa. -(Cheers.)
We must find room for aa extract from the Overland Mail of the Ist ultimo in reference to the visit of the German Emperor to England and the Queen The New York Journal declares that it received the appended note from one of the Kaiser's suite after the Emperor had embarked on the Hohenzollern "Tam authorised on behalf of the Emperor, on the eve of his departure from England, to say that the visit of their Imperial Majesties has been a source of the deepest. pleasure to them, Not only has the visit to the Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales afforded keen delight, but the visit to Blenheim has i Majesties great satisfaction, while lenees of universal good-will of the English people have deeply impressed them.
"The Emperor, as well as his Ministers, is also pleased to testify to the friendly interest which he has always entertained towards the people of the United States of America, whose industrial progress and natiovel energy have long elicited his highest admiration and regard. If the visit of their Imperial Majesties to England has done aught to cement the fraternal relations between those peoples, it would be an additional cause of gratification to all."
It is now stated by the German Embassy in London that this message in the New Y Journal was not given to the representative of the paper as coming direct from the peror, At the same time it is admitted that the Emperor expressed his private delight with his visit to Eogland and also his goud-will towards America.
The following Money Market note is from the Economist of the 2nd ultimo Although there was at first some dispusition to cavil at the decision of the Bank directors to advance the official rate to 6 por cent, the propriety of that step is now gene-lly recognised. Its main recommendation that it normalises an abnormal situation. The fact that, at the beginning of the week, there was some doubt us to whether the Bank was going to give the market any discount facilities at all; its subsequent refusal to take bills from other than its own customers, except at I per cent above its published rate, and the raising by the joint-stock banks of their discount rates considerably above the official minimum, were all circumstances so out of the common as to © eneral feeling of anxiety and apprehension. The advance in the Bank rate has, however, now regu-lorised the position, with the result that, both in the money and the stock markets, there is rather more calmness and confidence, and that is the best justification of the measure that could be afforded. It proves,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.