The con ch Germany sought to impose before agreeing to evacuation, no foreign Power should be allowed to occupy any points commanding the Yangtze River, either above or below Shanghai, would have been in direct conflict with our treaty rights in regard to Chusan; and the declaration of the German Ambassador, that. the condition was "not directed against: Great Britain," is obviously untrue. However, the condition has been withdrawn, and although we do not know the terms of the undertaking obtained by Germany China, yet according to German admissions it applies to the whole of China and not merely to the Yangtze provinces. It is therefore likely, if it has any effect at all, to bring Germany into conflict with Russia rather than Great Britain. And in any case the terms of the declaration do not in the least matter, since Lord Lansdowne has declared in' the plainest language that "His Majesty's Government are not a party to this arrangement and do not consider themselves affected by it." It is hoped, too, that the Foreign art rebuke to Prince Ching "duplicity" in denying the existence of the declaration to Germany we a good effect at Peking.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.