Though it is announced that "final agreement has been reached between Great Bri tain 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 to the 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 questions, 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 Nationa 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 twd concessions will be finally lifted, and that a generally better atmosphere will result in the northern port.
Coincident with this development it is interesting to note that there is a movement afoot in the United States to seek for a better understanding with Japan. Since the denunciation of the U.S.-Japan trade agreement commerce between the two countries hi been carried on in the absence of a gon-trolling understanding. It speaks well for the statesmanship displayed on both sides of the Pacific that the situation did not deteriorare subsequent to the denunciation. If the preseat movement follows along the lines it is to bē hoped, in the interest of peace in the Pacific, that it will, it should be possible to bring aboitt an all-round improvement in the Pacific which would bring benefits to all concerned. There is every reason in the world why the Powers interested in the Pacific should work together with the intention of ensuring that this particular ocean shall live up to its name. They can only do so if there is mutual recognition of the fact fiat all concerned have undoubted rights this part of the world, and that those rights must be recognized by everyone.
That merely calls for the display of goodwill all round. This journal has repeatedly argued that a display of general good faith, and a real endeavour to understand the points of view of the various Powers interested in this part of the world are all that is necessary to secure the completest possible understanding. That is the only means whereby the peace and good order of the Pacific can be established and ensured. Many of the problems which are still outstanding are equally as complex as the question vt the Concessions in Tientsin, but they are also just as capable of solution if those concerned wholeheartedly devote their attention to the task. There is still much room for all round ce-operation, The disposal of the Tientsin issue marks a very definite step in the right direction, and it is to be hoped that the various Powers will be encouraged to seek the removal of other tants which do nothing but exacerbate a situation which has been extremely difficult for nearly three years past. It is to be hoped that the reopening of the Yangtze which has long been promised has been brought nearer by the Tientsin settlement, and that other hin-dronees to foreign trade will also be removed, for in these things lie the establishment and continuance of good relations all round
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.