June 14.
Though it is announced that final agreement has been reached between Great Britain and Japan in connection with questions relating to the British Concession in Tientsin, full details are-not yet available, and will not be until the agreement is definitely signed in a few days time. It is gathered, however, that the settlement with regard tothe silver in the British Concession, one of the main points at issue, involves that this, will be deposited in a bank in' the Concession, in an account under the joint signatures of the British and Japanese Consuls-General, though approximately £10,000 or ten per cent. of the amount will be allocated for famine and flood relief. It is reported that the agreement also covers policing and currency ques tions, but comment must necessarily be withheld' until details on these points are published. So an issue which has been hanging fire for well over a year has been brought to a successful conclusion: and another of those matters operating to deteriorate Anglo-Japanese relationships has been eliminated. If there is any criticism that so long a time has been taken in perfecting an arrangement suitable to both parties, the answer is that the whole question was' surrounded by difficulties which could only be surmounted by patient negotiation, and the necessity of protecting the interests of the Chinese National Government which were also involved in the matter. It is to be hoped that as a result of this agreement, and the one between France and Japan, which it is anticipated will be announced shortly, the Blockade of the two concessions will be finally lifted, and that a generally better atmosphere will result in the northern port.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.