The "Shanghai Journal of Commerce"'—not to be confused in any way with the Journal of the British Chamber of Commerce—has never yet proclaimed itself to be anything but a serious paper, but on Tuesday it came out with a distinctly humorous edition. We were told, firstly, that the Peking Consular Body—not the Ministers, be it noted—had decided on steps to ye taken for the protection of foreigners and foreign interests in the Yangtze Valley in the event fighting between the North and South. They are to organize a "defence army and navy."
The army wil! consist of one division of foreign troops under the commander of the French troops in China, with a military officer from the British Legation as second-in-command. Unfortunately, we are not told where this division is to come from. The naval force will, comprise 18 men-of-war under the joint control of the American Admiral commanding in Shanghai—which may mean the Admiral on the Yangtze—and the Japanese naval commander in Tsingtao.
These forces will be distributed about Sungkiang, Shanghai, Hankow, Ichang and other ports. Should, however, the war result in extended operations, involving a wider territory, its real business will commence, for then the allied: naval and military forces will be placed under one commander, who "will endeavour to stop the fighting by force of arms."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.