Oct, 12.
We commend to the melancholy interest of our readers the report of the looting and destruction of British bungalows at! Chungking sent to us to-da: the Chairman of the Br Chamber of Commerce in that city. Twelve of the bungalows will have to be completely rebuilt, of which three have but just been erected at a cost of Some Tls. 25,000. The destruction was utterly wanton. What, could not be carried off. was effectively wrecked.—And our, correspondent is satisfied that the guilty men were the militia-under the contro! of the local Defence Commissioner.
In contrast with this letter, the optimistic tone of our London telegram of October 6 describing the course of negotiations between General Yang Sen and British Consular Officials, is such as to cause sardonic smiles. The telegram speaks of "the unconditional return" of the steamers Wantung and Wanhsien: but as they had been spoiled by Yang. Sen's pirates beyond the possibility of repair by any Chinese on the Upper River, it may not unnaturally be concluded that they were returned because they were useless and as a sop to prevent another naval expedition. The telegram also says, "There likely to be a discontinuance, the future, of interference with British merchant shipping;" and "the habit of Chinese troops travelling on river steamers without payment will have to be discontinued." But a Hankow, letter of October 5 tells us that} the searching of vessels, both, ships and passengers, on the Upper River grows daily worse. Furthermore, on September 28, British) American and French steamers brought down river to Ichang a very large detachment, of Yang Sen's troops. When this news reached us on September 30 we scouted it as impossible. But we have since had unwell come proof that it was only too ne, difficult as it is to believe civilian authorities, while the negotiations with Yang Sen were incomplete, whatever fond hopes might be.entertained of their ultimate success."
Strong and well grounded obection has been raised by the British community of the Upper® Yangtze to any negotiation with Yang Sen and we have done our best to support it. We urged that Yang Sen should be publicly Jdeclared outlaw by the British Government, until he had made full restitution, 'There is no other way of bringing him and those like him to their senses, and of convincing these military marauders that their intolerable ways must be mended. We do not suppose there is the slightest' chance of any compensation for damage done to the two steamers, to property at Chungking and elsewhere. But it is possible to stop repetition of such outrages in the future by the public ostracism of the principal men guilty. With the name of Yang Sen should now be coupled that of the Defence Commissioner of Chungking.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.