To the Editor of the "Norrm-Cutna Dainty News."
Sir,—"I have been young and now am old,'"' yet seldom have I seen so astonishingly inaccurate an assertion, uttered by a man occupying a responsible position, as that of the Chairman of the China Association, London. According to Reuter, Mr. David Landale—said, "The return of Weihaiwei should result in no hardship for those engaged in trade at that port, provided it was recognized as a Treaty Port and kept open to foreign trade."
The writer is not a merchant and is in no way interested in trade, and, as one of its oldest inhabitants, may fairly claim to be ina position to give an unbiassed opinion on Weihaiwei's prospects. That opinion is capable of concise expression. A fishing village the British found it, and to a fishing village it will tend to return. You may label a fishing village a "Treaty Port," but that will not make it a port!
A glance at the map will show that, geographically, the situation of Weihaiwei is most unfavourable, and it may be questioned whether the most irresponsible of optimists will have the hardihood to maintain that, as a Treaty Port with a Customs barrier, it has even a sporting chance in open com petition with Tsingtao and Chefoo—both these ports being nearer to the producing centres of the interior.
In a recent contribution to local papers I pointed out that the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.