10th November.
Lord. REDESDALE, has pointed out, ag.the: telegrams tell us, to the critics of the renewed Anglo-Japanese- Alliance;. that. one. of. the great, benefits of thab alliance is that it ensures: the maintenance of the Open Door in China, The Press at home is joyfully dilating on the vast opportunities opened: in China to all nations alike, without preferences' of any kind. Attention is drawn to the vast mineral and other _possib in. this: great- empire, possi lities. so far almost untouched, bus.'now placed freely at the disposal ofall'oomers, Here are the' mos} tempting openings for capital -and enterprises, China having at last realised the value of railways, the folly of neglecting to exploit ber mineral resources,: the desirability. of introducing industrial enterprises of all kinds. "And'as special concessions atid"rights and' spheres of influence are swept away by the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, it is. now a case in China of a fair field and-no.favour, 'These hopes and expectations seem: to be receiving. considerable shock, It is for China's. good..that we have. all been working so hard to secure the "open door, and now that "all opposition: from: outside "has: -been removed;-Dino Herself'is proceeding to shut it in our faces. The renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance having relieved China of all anxiety for the future, she considers it no longer, necessary to conciliate Foreign Powers. by granting them concessions. The: poly of complete obstruction seems;. as we have said before, to have been. definitely adopted at Peking, and not: only are all new applications for'concessions refused, but negotiations-which were in progress!are stopped; and a vigorous rodeayeut cee eae to cancel concessions which have- been heretofore made and. ratified, and to take back existing enterprises: into Chinese hands, 'The report which appeared in the'English columns of. the "Nanfangpao"~ on' Wednesday may not be accurate in all its details, but it indicates what an enlightened Chinese journalist: believes to- be-the condition at the present time at Peking. It says: "The British'Minister recently informed the Waiwupu thatjlately in the case "of the "'Tiéntsin, Ghinkiang, Chichou-Pukou, Soo-ton-Kowloon lines of railway, and in regard to the: mings:'in the- for pees of Gk H bts 5 Ch'u, Tai; and) wi eny in Chékia the desire and intention of to congtructi formieriand develop-the latter-herself, has greatly surprised him. If, the Minister declared, the Waiwap unabile; to chedle the agitation: te keep out foreign capital, he would notify his own Government to adopt Ye-medial! measures withguticon China: The language*he*employéd indicated that his decision was final."
Thiexpolicy of the Chinese Goyerns|: ment}ig suicidal and antiquated: I is suicidal, because the Chinese cai not dojthe work that they, arenow anxious to take. out' of foreigners' hands;: There'is, of course, plenty of in China, but the moneyed classesiwill not invest it..in. enters prisesvtinder the control of Chinese officials, The tricks that were played in New: York with the Canton-Hankow railway- justified, it must- be admitted)-.thie-determination of the Chinese to.buy back this concession. This was done with loud asseveration that the people of the provinces through which it passed would build the line themselves; but) the: money was not forthcoming and thuch- of is had to be borrowed from England after all..H. Hei Liang, the progressive but antiforeign Viceroy of. Szechuan, finding that an Anglo-Freich syndicate was proposing to build a railway from Chengtu to Hankow, and recognising the value of such a line to his province, announced his determination to. build it himself, and succeeded in collecting the magnificent sum of Tis, 440,000 for the pul With this sum he has built a college in which to educate the. men who are to be the engineers of.the line; and. when: they have learnt enough roset to work, the money-will all have been spent: The policy "is antiquated; for-it is-a-revival- of the old policy of seclusion which foreign ers have taken so many years in abolishing in these EasternKingdoms. The new cry' of "China "for thie Chinese" is-supposed to have been Plearnt: by the Chinese students in Japan; but in the first place there is Chink and Japan as to their progress ug." possible comparison: between" atid. tondittor "in the second place," Japan wt realising the value of the introduction of foreign capital,. whose-assistance: her rail: vayo and-abbier enterprises lire gladly welcoming. China cannot become, las-ghe? is anxious' to. become, a oreign Powers will, of course, gladly Japan' without "foreign aid. assist henitr i ie safeguards she thay"thia prevent her independence being in any way aitéd,\but'they* will not consent the "door they have assisted to An endeavour is being made to vé; ibtinderstood that the massacre at Lienchou was a purely local affair; but.there seems to be.no doubt that the® laxity with "which "thé+Governtient has dealt' with the boycott agitation in the South is partly responsible for it.: The latest advices received from Changsha show how cunningly and persistently the officials keep up the policy of obstruction in the provinces. Our readers know how the efforts of 'Mr. Bennertz to establish British trade on a firm footing in that open port have been persistently thwarted by the officials; the people, it must be' understood, have no' share in this opposition, Mr. Bennertz rettirned to Stiaghai defeated and. virtually ruined; but be was sent back by his friends here with more goods to sell, and no objection was made to' his taking them into Changsha and recom: mencing business. The Chinese merchants came to him anxious to trade, Suddenly, on the 29th' of October, notices appeared posted in all ube principal streets, without any official sea; stating that the proper quarter for foreign "trade was outside the city, and'that merchants' were not to deal with the' hong. of Mr. Benvertz, his Chinese-hong-name being mentioned.. There isnot-the least doubt that these posters'are the work of the officials; although there is no seal on them and itis-to be hoped that the British Consal. at Changsha has already-insisted: on-the~iésue of an oficial' proclamation' "repudiating them, and explaining "thab the proclamation of the 19th of August last which, though not very, clearly
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.