Fb, 18.
Wuen Mr. Bruce Baxter last wrote on this subject, in our issue of February 4, the £5,000,000 loan to Peking was, apparently, still in, the region of things to be. Since public disapproval of this egregious blunder began to be so strongly voiced by the North-China Daily News,"' the Legations have been curiously reticent in the matter. But there appears every reason to believe that the loan is practically a fait accompli, and according to the last Reuter telegram from Peking the four Ministers had actually asked the Group banks to make a preliminary advance to Peking of $7,000,000, notwithstanding that Peking's reply (we quote from Reuter who may be presumed to be officially informed) ''did not definitely accept supervision of disbandment of unnecessary troops.'' Now according to Mr. Bruce Baxter the position is even worse than was originally feared. It was at least to be supposed that the Powers were in earnest in demanding that the money should be applied to disbandment as far as it would go, under their supervision. Mr. Baxter tells us that "it is certain no preparation has been made by Peking for disbanding superfluous troops,'" and that nothing has been "'seen or heard of any organization by the Powers to supervise the disbandment''—which is surely proof presumptive, in a matter of so much importance, and on which public excitement was certain to be aroused, that no such organization exists. As the Ministries must have known that Peking's first demand would be for an advance to tide over New Year, and that, with its fears allayed on that score, its replies to awkward conditions would become proportionately more evasive and unsatisfactory, their negligence in thus casting away the one effective means of wringing consent from the officials is, to put it mildly, inexplicable.
It is no good crying over spilt milk or dollars given to Peking. The important part of Mr. Bruce Baxter's article, to which we would specially call attention, is that in which he shows how disbandment and disarmament—a real disbandment, not merely paper and brush work ''to please Peking and fool the foreignet"'—cetiid be secured without any
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.