As was the ease last winter, suf ficient snow and moisture have fallen to water the winter wheat ind north Honan is like one great wheat field this spring, What " pity that constant military movements, with ever-changing battlefields and ing taxation, 30 grievously oppress what would be otherwise a most prosperous and happy people. For over ten months north Honan has been cut off from the markets of the north, The mer= chants of the three large centres, Changte, Weihaiwei and Huaiking have most of their trade tions with the north, and many hundreds have been robbed while trying to get through the fighting lines or over land to Peking or Tientsin, while others have lost their lives.
Many perishable commodities that are usually shipped to. the northern markets have been utterly wasted or sold at a great sacrifice. At the same time, these merchants, have to continue paying extra and special taxes to the troops who lay siege to their cities, usurp their railways, and plunder travellers attempting to cross overland.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.