Peking, Sept, 15.
The Sino-Japanese Conference on Postal Affairs now being held in Peking is said to be a purely technical one, the object of which is to make arrangements, for mutual benefit, to facilitate postal relations between the two countries after the withdrawal of the Japan. ese post-offices, in pursuance of the resolution taken at the Washington Conference.
In the case of Japan the question of abolition of postal agencies in China assumes far more important and complicated aspects than in the case of other Powers concerned, and consequently its execution involves many technicalities which are by no means easy or simple.
For instance, the Japanese postal agencies to be abolished number 65, with 93 stamp agencies and 148 mail boxes, while the members of the staff in the service are 693. According to the statistics of 1920, 57,097,627 pieces of mail matter were handled by these 65 offices in that year. That is to say, over seven per cent, of the Chinese mails handled by the entire Chinese postal service in a year. The number of postal parcels handled by the Japanese offices in the same year amounted to 915,000, or 11 per cent. of those handled by the Chinese post-offices throughout China; and in the money order and savings bank services these Japanese post-offices transacted business "to the enormous extent of Y.91,286,400, or about 78 per cent. of that handled by the Chinese post-offices.
The above figures show clearly how seriously the abolition of these postal agencies will affect both foreigners and Chinese, especially Japanese, of whom there are some 400,000 living in the various places of China from, which the postal agencies are to be withdrawn.
Tt may be recalled that a Chinese delegate declared at the Washington Conference that China was maintaining and would continue to maintain relations with all foreign countries to meet all requirements. Placing full _confidence in this declaration of the Chinese delegation, the Powers interested in the question agreed to abolish their postal agencies in China on the condition, among other things, that China continuously should maintain efficient postal services. It is, therefore, of real concern to Japan to assured beforehand regarding the substantial arrangements to be adopted, after the withdrawal of the foreign postal agencies in China, by the Chinese -Postal Administration to furnish the same es and conveniences that hav e hitherto been enjoyed by foreigners through the foreign postal agencies in China.
As a matter of fact, there is an agreement between Japan and
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.