19th August, Ix opening his "Current Comment" in the. July issue of this "Journal," Mr. Foord explains that he devotes a considerable amount of the space of this number to a record of the speeches delivered at the banquet given by the members of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York to the visiting delegation of representative Filipinos, because of the great future importance of the Pacific. Bishop Potter, we ate told, quoted the audacious remark of a San Franciscan: " New York is the back door of the United States, and San Francisco is the front door." Mr, Foord con-ideas that thi is really an anticipation of the, time "when the Pacific will be the great central highway of the commerce of the world, as the Mediterranean was in ancient times, and the Aulantic became during the period of what we call modern history. Tt is something to have the acquisition of the Philippines lead the American people to a new conception of how closely their future is related to that of Eastern Asia, and how imm-asurably more important than any questions relating to the administration, present or future, of those islands themselves is the bearing of their possession on the capacity of the United States to discharge its responsibilities as the greatest of the Powers of the Pacific." Mr. Foord points out that the gist of Secretary Taft's speech, in which the Filipino representative agreed with him, was that "ninety per cent of the people in the Philippines need education in the most elementary principles of free institutions before they can be fit for self-government." It is noted that Count Cassini has represented to the Secretary of State the impropriety of the toast to the Japanese Navy at the recent annual dinner of the Association, in the presence of representatives of the diplomatic service and of the army of the United States, and of Prince Pu Lun. Mr. Foord says We are not advised of the reception which the representations of the Ambassador wore accorded by the Secretary of State, but to ordinary observation they. seem somewhat far-fetched. So far as the Chinese Prince is concerned, he must. have used his eyes and ears to very little purpose in his pri throughout the country if he failed to note the overwhelm ming preponderance of sentiment in favour of the cause of Japan. The proceedings of the annual dinner of the Association were somewhat carefully guarded against the intrusion of anything like offensive partisanship, and the outburst which followed the mention of the vietorious navy of Japan was one of those spontaneous manifestations which indicate the strength of, the feeling which had been held in tolerably complete sup pression throughout the rest of the evening. Count Cassini's six years' residence in {the country do not appear to have done much toward jing him to understand the character and ways of the an people, and he certainly never made a more maladroit protest against a characteristically American expression of [feeling than he did in taking exception to the closing demonstration of the annual dinner of the American Asiatic Association.
Mr, Foord's further comments deal with Prince Pu Lun's recognition, through Sir Chentung Liang Cheng, of the attentions paid him in New York; the Progress of the Perry Meworial Relief Fund, which has already reached the sum of $6,550, gold, to be devoted to the relief, not of the Perry memorial, but of the dependent widows and orphans of Japanese soldiers and sailors; and the roll of the Association, corrected to date. It fills five columns of small are the comparative values in gold dollars of the exports The following of the principal staples from the U.S. to China and Hongkong during the eleven months ending the 81st of May, 1903 and 1904:— go 906 13,203,390 1,770,020 280,667 1904...... 3,666,900 4,221,312 264,922
To Hongkong 1908...... 41,828 1,537,147 4,401,221 1904. 44,019 1,921,091 4,019,742 The following are the comparative values, also in* gold dollars, of the imports of tea and silk into the United States for the eleven months ending the 31st of May, 1902, 1908, and 1904 1902. 1903. 1904. Tea... 8,992,989 14,757,800 17,568,775 Raw Silk.38,943,872 46,671,758 41,001,923 A reprint follows of Mr. A. R. Colquhoun's article in tke July number of the " North American Review" on "China in Transformation and the War;" after which comes the detailed report of the dinner given on the 17th of June to the Filipino representatives by the New York Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Whitelaw Reid, Editor of the "N.Y. Tribune," in the chair. Among the guests were Bis-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.