Jan. 26, Tue only impression which the average man, foreign or Chinese, can have got from the telegrams of the past few days from Peking is uncertainty as to whether Yuan Shih-kai has or has not decided to Postpone his coronation. On Saturday morning there appearot to be no doubt of the fact, for a message from our own corres pondent informed us that on the previous day the Waichinopu had intimated to the Ministers of the Allied Powers that in consequence of the situation in Yan nan the ceremony had been definitely put off. On Monday morning, however, the first news of the day to strike the reader's Reuter that the Government bad Was an dntounbement by
not proclaimed a pdstponément and had made no statement beyond an intimation that the newspaper report that the Mondrshy was tobe established next month was incorrect. partial ex-be planation of this contradiction followed yesterday when' our own correspondent stated that the an. nouncement of riement made in Chinese re differed nae from that conveyed der stating thet no' date had the foreign Ministers, the one
been fixed, the other categorically ing forth that the ceremony would not for the tims being take place. Grouped together the effect of thees messages is for love confusing than when each ig rear separately and naturally we take our own correspondent's informa tion before that of anyone else. Even so, however, we are tilt left to speculate as to why Yuan Shih-kai should be leas definite in giving information to his own people than be is when giving it to the Legations and nobody can be surprised if the Chinese in Peking and elsewhere come to the conclusion that he has not really
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.