The following is the text of a Lord Charles Beresford to the and Gateshend Chamber of Commerce.—"Tassure your Chamber that it xs tery great pleasure to visit Newcastle, I trust that the interest they showed in my address on China will manifest itself, after the termination of the present war, active attention tw great Brits the Far Cush, with which, E feel eon the ultimate prosperity and continuance of the Empire is closely Bound, If, through want of foresight, organisation, and enterprise, this country fails to maintain ite position in China, it can only be the beginning of the end. Nations, like individuals, cannot stand still. We pro-gross or we retrograde." Wanted—A few tore statesmen at home to say the same, We "ake the allowing remarkable statement from the Hongkon Duily Press of the 2nd inst, A Japunese firm in Washington turned out a 12,000-ton steel twin-screw steamer, the Arot Maru, which, according to the United States Consul at who reports the fact to the State Depart ment, ts equal in every respect, including cabin accommodations, to the hest lass of Atlantic steamships, " Material has been rdeved for two other steamers of the same size for the sume line; four more are under construction for another line, and altogether the new industry in Japan' appears to be Really the Ara Maru is a steamer of 6,060 tons uros, built a: Nagasaki for the N.Y.K.'s European service.
We have received Japan papers with dates from Yokohama to the 24th, Kobe the 26th, and Nagasaki the 28th ultimo Five Russian i. the Russia, Rurik, Dmitri Douskui, Ysadnik, and Zabyake, Jeff Nagasaki for Port Arthur ov the 26th The preparations for establishing Japan bank seem to he progressing.—Moji is to have an English weekly paper under the auspices of Mr. Hasegawa,—An international brewery is to he sturted near Moji.—Viscovnt Shinagawa died at Tokio on the 26th.—The Nagusal: i Press of the 28th ultimo says that the Austrian Lloyd steamer Archduke Franz Ferdinand, from Trieste to Yokohama rid Hongkong, ran aground on Saturday morning between the fons off Saratoga Spit, near Yokohama, Efforts were being made'to float her.—The steamer Survqa "Maru collided with an iceberg off Tokadu province and her hull was damazed.—In a letter dated the 24th ultimo the Tokio correspondent of the Nagasati Press says:—**'The Lower House has yrssed" a bill nem. con. imposing a heavy duty of 63 per cent ad valorem on salted and smoked salmon and herrings and fish manure imported from Saghalien waters. This is not to be wondered at, when the exclusive policy adopted by Russia in Sazhalien island is considered. Yesterday the Peers also passed the bill without the least opposition. One mem-her. who went to Russia with Marquis Yamagata years ago, tried to introduce a slight amendment, but his efforts were in vain, The House presented a similar temperament to that of the Lower House. If Russia were desirous of knowing the sentiment of the whole country, she could not have taken a better course. The unwonted alacrity shown by both Houses is welcomed by the public, and were there wanted a proof of the Diet having acted in accordance with popular feeling, it is furnished by the measure in question."—A Cutton-Spinning Trust, for the protection and promotion of that industry in Japan has been formed at Oxaka.—Japanese are endewouring to salve the Nara Maru, Bokhara, Humber, and New Formosa, and a Chinese man-of-war, sunk off the—The eruption of Mount is increasing in _foree.—Mr. Komura, Japanese Minister at Washington, has been transferred to St. Petersburg, replacing Mr, Hayashi, who succeeds Mr. Kato at London.—Mr. Kragh, of the Great Northern Telegraph Ca., is about to retire after thirty years' service at Nagasaki.
emall dinner was given to Mr. Justice Wilkinson at Yokohama on the 198th ule. by the members of the British Bar the Inns of Court Axsoci Viscount Nagaoka being in the cha Rudolf von Mann, azod 34, formerly in the employ of two breweries in Japan, blew out his brains at Yokohama on the 23rd. He had been unemployed fur some months,—Count Otani is recovering. Viscount Shinagawa is seriously ill. Prince Waldemar was expected to arrive at Yokohama on the 24th.—There was another big fire at Yokohama on the 23rd in which 300 to 400 houses were de—The performance of Cowen's Maiden, given by the Kobe Choral Society for the benefit of the South African War Fund, realised 515.80 ven. The Kobe Chronicle mentions that Mr. N. G. M nade his debut at this occasion, and "yave evidence of possessing a plea telegrams are from the 22nd February.
The widow is hal Mac} deal.
In the Chamber of De ties, during the discussion of the War t, General de Gulliffet, Minister of War, announced that, thanks to a slight modification invented by General Deloye, France will soon be in possession of a rifle superior to all those now existing.
Tux: following very important letter from Captain Mahan on the War in South 4 is reprinted by the Japan Mail Epiror or tue "New York Ties.
Sir,—Mr. Shearma Ment letter in your issue of the 17th instant upon the merits of the controversy between the nsvaal_and Great Britain, which hi ssued in the present war, does not mention one point of considerable importance in itself, but still more as illustrative of the Boers' ideas of justice.
When the population now known as the Uithmders were encouraged by the Boer Government to enter the Transvaal and to develop the gold fields, the period for naturalization, fixed by the law of 1882, was five years; but before the time came that the new comers could avail themselves of this right the law was, in 1890, changed, the period being extended to fourteen years, with further restrictions of method Which made the franchise still more illusory. Whether this was strictly ex post facto lation Fam net lawyer enough to know, but it is clearly a tielation of fair dealing and is wholly characteristic.
May I suggest to our citizens generally, and to the Boer sympathisers especially, the inadvisability of public meetings on this in? There are very many among us, myself certainly one, who feel as strongly in favour of Great Britain as others do of her opponents. Let us all be careful not to provoke one another by immoderate ion of opinion, to which public tend. Those on one side provoke retaliation on the other, Nay, they may make it necessary; for in the problems of the near future good understanding with Great Britain is too important for us to permit the impression that we are all against her here, and we nay find ourselves in the unseemly state of party divisions for against foreign States, as in the beg ing of this century between the French and British parties. I avail myself of this opportunity to say that, in my judy: ment, not only is the cause of Great Britain just, but to have failed to uphold it would have been to fail in national honour, AL'. Mau New York, 20th January, 1900, From telegrams to the Kobe Chronicle we learn that the Diet was closed on the 24th ult.—Prinee Waldemar arrived at Tokio on the 24th.—The Franz Ferdinand has been floated off undamaged.—M. Harbert has been banished for five years.—The Corean Government has sent a com: pany of the Pingyang garrison to Unsan.—Thousands of the Shantung natives are arming to resist the German guards sent to protect the railway operations.
A Teuxcram in the home papers dated Suez, the 28th of January, says Ruyby (s.), New York for Shanghai, arrived here leaky. Had urounded in gos ing through the Canal, She has had temporarily stopped by divers, who report that two blites are bent and several rivets started. Has been surveyed, and it was mended to discharge forehold to We take the follow ig from the London Leller of the 2nd ul It is known that several Englishmen in the Orange Free State, who had been commandeered, but refused to serve ayainst their own countrymen, have been shot in cold blood. The memory of one of them is enshrined in the following notice, which appeared under the head of Deuths" i the Times a few days ayo McLacmiax.—On Christmas Day, shot in the Market Square, Hurrismith, Orange Free State, South Afrien, for refusing to tight against his own countrymen, Jon McLacutas, jun., aged thirty, eldest. xon of John McLachlin, of Wandsworth, and grandson of the lite John McLachlan, of Lambeth."
The people who perpetrated this and imilar atrocities are the "sober, pious, and honest" farmers so dear to the hearts of some continental journalists, Tne Straits Times notices that Messrs, Hattenbach Bros. & Ca., of Singapore, have put the steamer Mi'fon on the berth there for London in defiance of the Conference. The Straits Times says that she is the first non-Conference steamer that has been put upon the home run in Singapore since the Conference was made, A Contuarorary says:—"' Lieutenant-Colonel Powell, of the Ist Gurkha Rifles, recently going' homo on leave, decided to travel across the Hindu Kush and the Trans-Caspian Railway to England, instend of by the ordinary route. He speaks in terms of the highest praise of the hospitality and cordiality he received at the hands of the Russian officials throughout the journey. Speaking of Russian work in Central Asin, Colonel Powell a 8 had a very great civilizing mission in Central Avia, which they were steadily carrying out, Coumerce was fast developing and the Trans-Caspian Railway was toa very large extent becoming a commercial one."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.