"shortly after the Boxer Re. dollion, before the Peking-1 line was completed, set out with some friends, to travel from Peking to Hankow. Wo made practic. ally the same-route that the railway now covers, diverting only from Honanfu to' Kaifeng. In spite of all our own apprehenaione and those of our friends, we found very little visible antioreign feeling. There was naturally much curiosity at a yellow-haired—traveller passing through their villages in a sedan chair, but, except in Kaifeng itself, Nanking, Feb. 18.
Owing to the failure on the part of various shareholders in the China Merctants Steamship Navigation Ca, to register theraselves in time for the shareholders' meeting, Mr. Wang Beh-dun, Minister of Com manications and concurrently superintendent of the company, in special order to Mz. Chao Ti-chay, general manager, and to the board Of directors of the company yesterday; announced the suspension of the authority of the boned, pending igvortigation of its conduct by Mr Tm his order, the Communications Minister pointed out that not only' have nine-tenths of the shareholders failed to register themselves ordered by the Ministry, but that moat of the menibers of the Board of Directors and Supervisors have Tikewise failed to comply with his instructions. Such neglect of duty, Mr. Wang added, if not entirely due to. wilful disregard of his wishes, must be attributed to other reasons of which he is not yet cognizant. but which must be dis-Closed to him before constructive measures can be considered—Kuo Min.
Shareholders' Demands for Reforms Wednesday's Chinese papers contained a message which pur-Yorted to have been issued by' the Minister of Communications of the Nationalist Government, in official superviser of the China Merchants S.N, Ca, in connection with the demands of certain shareholders for reforms, which eared in the vernacular press on the previous The petition contained very strong statements as to supposed mismanagement of the company's affairs, and the-shareholders asked that the government should cause an me vestigation to be made and reforms introduced. The petitioners stated that, although the committee appointed by the government to reorganize the <ompany had been in. existence for over a year, no definite action had been taken, and they alleged that matters had gone from bad to worse.
It was alleged that few of the larger shareholders had seized all there were few cries against us. of the company's rights and sold The people bowed to us ax we passed and then rapidly rose to get look at the blonde traveller, who looked s0 different from them and who was 90 different. There has undoubtedly always been an unde: current of anti-foreign feeling, which was not evident in the large cition and which the individual probably seldom ex. perienced, for he wns treated, particularly in those days, with the utmost courtesy—but the feeling was there. The younger men, 25 years ago, were not without it, particularly some who have now become great leaders, They saw little hope of saving their country from foreign aggression extept they became anti-jut these ideas did not affect individual relationships at all and therefore had no superficial aspects, The Outer Significance Tt impossible for me to discuss current a8 I have been here only a few days.
The physical development ig immediately visible. The growth of factories and mills, the apparent prosperity of all classes ina city like Shanghai, the of roads and the mon:
spent in their upkeep, are indicative of a great physical The modernization of. China, the political and intellectual development that is bound to ae-company, or, at any rate, follow upon, physical developments such as we witness here, may be assumed. Tt will be interesting to visit the North and to see whether the pro-ress there has been as rapid and as full as it has been in this great city.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.