The subject of the employment of Asiatic seamen on British ships has been thrashed out so thorough: ly and so often, and in the main to such little purpose, that it in surprising that the British Trades Union Conference, at its Inst meet ing, caryled a resolution calling for a bill to make it illegal to carry Asiatic crews on British ships west of Suez, There is no doubt that the Exypt tragedy some two yours ago did much to revive the matter, though it cannot be denied that much of the outery that was then made was with the best intentions, At the same time, one cannot help thinking that a technical matter of this sort, which already hay been investigated thoroughly, were better left alone by the trades unions at Home which, however well-informed they may consider themselves to bey have certainly laid themselves out to strong criticism by the form of the resolution they have passed. Carried into effect, their demands would mean, if nothing else, that cargoes of foodstufte and' other things which had been brought across the Indian ocean for transit to Europe would have to be transhipped at Suez to vessels manned by white seamen, or else that Suez would have to' be made a huge sort of labour depot, where Asiatic crews would replace Asiatic ones on ships proceeding to Europe, Such fan arrangement would be unthink and, in the very unlikely contingeney' of ied into effect, would increase the price of transport ud correlatively. the rota commodities, to fa tremendous extent, The Laseat may not be exactly the ideal seamen, but at any rate he is peculiarly suited to the conditions of many of his spheres of employment, and for the trades unions to suggest that he should wholly be eliminated from vessels west of Suez is carrying, zeal for their cause to an extent doth absurd and impracticable, Coxpirions on the Shanghai-Nanking Railway are slowly approaching normal again. Subscribers to the "North-China Daily News" served by this line should, therefore, be receiving their copies without undue delay. On the Shanghai-Hangchow line, on, the other hand, bridge repairs have still to be effected before a normal service can begin again. In the meantime papers are being tran mitted vid Ningpo to Hangchow and_ beyond, 1
AFren a three-cornered Midshipman Easy duel of some duration beween the Conservators of Mitcham Common, the Mitcham Urban District Council, and the Showmen' Guild, historic Mitcham Fair start ed on a fresh lease of life on the Jocal Common last month. Some mutterings of former controversies vere discernible in the speeches, but the children, who for weeks past had been collecting pence at shamelessly inadequate "grotters for the annual festival, were sub-Jimely indifferent to the susceptibilities of officialdom. "Everybody, sighed a stout lady affectionately eyeing the jumble of swings, stall and roundabouts—"everybody's look ing forward to this treat a'at thes? You must come down and see it once, else you're not right."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.