We spoke the other day of the ricshaman's honesty in returning things left in his ricsha. Here is a_case in point. On Monday night the present writer left a bundle of letters in a ricsha, and so to bed. One of the letters looked decidedly as if it might contain something worth having—for the rest, most riesha coolies in Shanghai are aware that letters may be worth "pinching" However, yesterday the coolie turned up at the house with a beaming smile and all the letters as left. It should be added that they were'not addressed to that house and that it is not too easy to find, so that the man might easily have forgotten which fare had left the packet behind. One more good mark for his confraternity. tosa PDail Eireann No possible good can come of giving vent, in this part of the world, fo the bitter thoughts which: must arise in every heart—Irish, we are convinced, not less than English—over Mr. De Valera's. strenuous attempts to wreck the treaty of peace. But it is difficult. to repress the thought that the counter-proposals that he has just. published have been hastily put together at the last moment, in view of the tremendous evidences. that have reached Dail Eireann since the Christmas holidays of Ireland's general desire for the ratification of the treaty. These counter-proposals, Mr. De Valera probably hopes, are sufficiently near: (Reuter describes them as " largely identical") the treaty to capture public support, when reinforced by his own passionate appeal to the curse of future generations, ete., etc. But they contain two important differences which he knows. perfectly well that Britain cannot accept, namely, no oath of allegiance and the subjection of Ulster to Dail Eireann. On this he manages: to get the meeting to adjourn, If before its reassembling he can get some show of support for his counter-proposals, he would endeavour to make it appear that Ireland was only too anxious for peace, that the difference between her and Britain was purely technical, but that a great bullying Power would hear naught of reason but desire only to set her heel on the necks of Ireland's people. It is an ingenious and ugly plot.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.