The. suggestions made from time to time in your columns during the past year have so evidently met with favour able consideration at postal headquarters that your correspondent would mention current disabilities, easily removable. In the first place we have but one steamer calling here regularly, the N. Y. K's nightly visit, For some'reacon neither "Nagato Maru," which pays us a fort-
the Shanghai office on the outward, nor the Chefoo office, on the return ship, use the opportunity to send our mail along. This "is specially when an International mail is involve though the mail for the Fleet is brought by the Japanese steamer. In the second place, where the International mail goes from Shanghai to Chefoo without calling here, the Naval authorities dispatch a gunboat' to meet it there. Too often she re-tums with the bags for the fleet only, leaving the shore mail to come overland.
It should not be too much to ask the staff of the Chefoo office to meet this exigency. The courtesy of the commanders of the gunboats is proverbial, so we can only, sume that some red tape necessity or something of that sort necessitates. the landing of bags and consequent del which involves the loss of the opportunity. But the difficulty cannot be insuperable.
OFFICIAL RECOGNITION NEEDED, One other matter of importance is that the British authorities should now insist that. the Chinese magistrates should now publicly and officially recognise the trans-for of territory. Until that is done they can always plead superior force to account for the foreigners' presence. And. this oficial recognition can best be made by handing over of the tax account books dealing with the land concerned. No other place will be so tory, and until these hooks are obtained trouble will only follow trouble. There will not be any more fighting, hut there is no ground to hope that the future holds no difficulties in store for the Government.
isth May.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.