(TranstateD From "Dex Ostastatiscue Ever since the year 1901 the subject of the payment of the war indemnity has come up from time to time. The Government has alwa; it should be paid in silver, whilst the Powers contended that it should be in gold. For the three years that have elapsed since the signing of the peace protocol, the Powers have only recei the payment under protest. During the last days, however, an agreement has been come to and the following telegram has been received Peking, 2ud July, 8.20 pu, "The Agreement relating to the rea justment in reference to the indemnity has been signed to-day by the ropresentatives of the Powers who signed the closing protocol in 1902, and likewise by Prince Ching.
The salient point of the new agreement is that the Chi Grovernment explicitly recognises the fact that it is a gold debt that has been incurred. The total amount of the war indemnity, as stipulated in the peace protocol of 190: reaches the sum of 450,000,000 H.K. Tis, to be calculated at a fixed rate. The Chinese have thus far, relying upon the fact of the sum being stated in silver, made the part payments in silver. The Powers have received those pa; ments under protest, and have insisted upon the additional payment, represeuting the difference between the gold demanded and the silver paid, together with the accumulated interest. Now at last China has acknowledged the justice of the demands made by the Powers and has promised to pay the amount in arrears to the Ist of January last; amounting in all to the round sum of Tls. 9,000,000. This amount is to be rendered by telegraph pro rata to the Powers within fifteen days. Furthermore China has at last declared herself willing, as already provided in the peace protocol of 1901, to modify the whole dus note handed at the time to the Doyen of the diplomatic corps in its individual paragraphs relating to each nation separately, 80 as to make it payable in gold. To the hew agreement is attached a table by whic the manner of the amorrisation may be seen, The payments provided for herein are to be made on the last of the mouth. China may, every half-year, deduct 4% interest onthe payments which she has made up to the last half-year, this being the rate of the interest which' was fixed Ly treaty on the whole amount. The payment of the monthly rates must be made on the basis of silver at the London rate, or in gold as may be the desire of the individual foreign Tu the latter case it is to be advices, ments. These drafts or advices Chiva is at liberty to procure in the public market at the most favourable rates,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.