In the meantime, another conser-vane commission has sprung into existence, the object of which is to Improve the "Yungtingho on the [ground that the H.sho will automatic~ fly Become a navigable river again. Tt must also be borne in mind that the five per cent, surtax on the customs revenue for the temporary improvement of the Hatho Is still in force. Summing up, the Haiho is unnavigable, the port of Tientsin closed to [all practical intents and purposes, no Statement of accounts has been made public by the Haiho Improvement, Commission which has now been closed down, $4,000,000 hasbeen Wasted and thrown away, and strange it may seem, nobody seems to tive a "tuppenny" tube what happens to the Haiho or the port of Tientsin. Neither the local shipping fraternity or merchants, either foreign or Chinese, care' to take any drastic steps to try and remedy this unsatfsfactory state of affairs, and even the local consular body seems to be taking a laissez-faire attitude towards the whole unsatisfactory much 'The only people in Tientsin who are really interested in the improvement fof the Haiho are the Japanese, but even the Japanese say thet unless there is ce-operation and concerted faction among all members of the' Yocal consular body, nothing will be done. 'The British Bund, French Bund, ex-German Bund, the Hotung side of the river, and the Japanese ind, are to-day' devoid of shipping with the exception of the unsightly masts of the lighters and a few tugs. As for the Hatho itself it resembles, in some places, a stagnant lake, Lis waters can be likened to a plate Jot thick~very thick—pea soup.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.