British interests in China may conveniently be considered under three heads, historical, commercial, and spe-curative. Historically there is no country whose claim equals that which the events of the past century give to Great Britain, Japan hes a longer record by centuries, but it was asa "despised inferior, as the land of the women robbers. Russia too had intercourse with the Far East before Eng-
phical expression, But neither lishmen knew of it except as a gene of these head, and offered as her sole and exclusive property, she refused as such, and they are as they are to-day by virtue of her unselfishness. Historically, then, there is no other nation with any claim even approximating that of the British Empire for a voice in deciding the destiny of China.
Commercially she stands on even stronger ground. We quote from a recent article by a writer intima ately acquainted with China and her affairs:—* Our commercial and money interests far exceed those of all the rest of the world put together, and it is absurd for any foreigners to think that we are going to see them touched or diminished in one direction without securing an ample equivalent for the present and the future in another direction." It is unnecessary to go into figures to prove British supremacy in Eastern commercial affairs, Every day's list of arrivals and departures, every Customs return, every glance down the river shows the extent to which British interests have risen in China, It is we who have made the sacrifices by which alone the present position could have been achieved, sacrifices of which others have availed themselves bulges gleanivg ina feld the lock of energy is so exemplary and so success-to the full. Our German sie whose
whose gate was forced by our rifle bullets; the Dutch and Belgian houses that of late years have sprung up here owe to us their opportunity. France alone has fought side by side with us for her share, while her northern ally,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.