Sept. 30, THE despatch received to-day from Mr. Rodney Gilbert points to a deplorable lapse from the more promising line of policy' described in his letter published yesterday. For reasons which have yet'to be explained, it would seem that there has been a co1 plete change of the British offd view within twenty-four hours and a general weakening which can have nothing but the worst results. No one in his senses or' possessing a proper appreciation lof facts as they are could regard the original instructions given to Rear-Admiral Cameron for his) second expedition up the Gorges as aught but a blunder. To negotiate with a man guilty of open piracy, to require promises: that would never be kept and compensation that would never be paid, was mere lunacy. But Mr. Gilbert's message of September 24 indicated that there was now to be some improvement on these instructions and that Rear-[Admiral Cameron was' to make! [quite certain that there would be repetition of the Wanliu and Wanhsien affairs. Also, as regards Hankow waters, there to be no more Searching of British merchantmen nor impertinent "social calls" on gunboats.
Twenty-four hours later the whole picture is changed. Because the officers of the strs. Wanhsien and Wantung have been recovered—except for one unfortunately killed—and the ships themselves are being returned, certain official civilian circles deem it convenient to hold that the work of the Navy is at! jan end and that. Rear-Admiral Cameron's expedition must be nothing but a routine visit of the ordinary kind. In the same quarters, it is assumed that the situation at Chungking need not! cause any excessive anxiety and that because a few British remain there, with a price on their heads, there has been no evacuation.' And finally no explicit orders have been sent to the Cantonese that searching "of British merchantmen will not be tolerated nor does it seem to be considered that there is anything unreasonable in the fact of such searches. The volte-face is so complete, so utterly shortsighted, so fraught with danger to British) life and property on the Upper Yangtze that it would hardly be! credible, were we not only too! leertain that Mr. Gilbert would be positive of his facts before send-jing such a report. Nor, it must} be added, are the foreign community of Hankow likely to doubt ithe accuracy of his report:
Much has unfortunately been done already, or rather left un-'
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.