New-York tribune., 1875-10-16
BRITISH AFFAIRS.
RELATIONS WITH CHINA.

ON Mr.. IRVING As MACBETH
lrRoM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRTBUNE'l
LONDON, Oct. 2.-It is a question OF days, perhaps
of hours only whether Great Britain is or is not to
60 to war with China The negotiations for the
punishment Of the murderers of Mr.. MaTgary have
dragged on for months the Chinese employing their
usual tactics of delay and evasion, till even MIR.
Wades patience has worn out, and the curses OF
British coonists begin TO be heard loud and deep all
the way from Hong Kong to DOwning-st. Mr. Wade,
however is man OF tiTmneSs well as OF discretion
He knows the Chinese better than most Europeans
who have known them longest. He has con-
WINGED even Ii Hung-Chung that he will not
put up with personal insult, that he cannot be
caioled by mere promises, aud that sort of re-
paration must be made for Mr.. Margary's murder.
The problem those slippery Orientas have lately
been at work upon is the old one to discover how
little England will accept and whether she really
means to fight if her inst demands are not complied
with. II China had single diplomatic agent In
Europe she would be left in no doubt the latter
point. There Is but one voice from every source
The notion that it may be necessary to fight has
made It's way but slowly as usual among an uni1n-
aginaiye people, not prone to anticipate dSagreeabe
necessities. But the first dispatch which clearly
foreshadowed the possibility of final refusal OF
reparatiOn the part of China cleared up The etua-
ton. Government and people We're of one mind.
Neither will hear of retreat both feel that the pres
tige of England is thing TO be maintained at all
costs There is gratifying absence, OF moderation,
of the old bullying tone which used TO be adopted
toward China. There is no iMpatience to hear that
Mr.. Wade has proceeded to eXtromities. 1t is but
few DAYS since it was generally believed-appar-
emily Mr.. Wade himself was Of opiniQn-that the
Chinese about TO make the necessary
concessions They appear to have pledged them
selves to everything, nearly everything, required
of them. They agreed in principle that the murder
should be punished But they took no steps to carry
out the aa1eemont. The Times correspondent tee-
graphcd from Shanghai on the 9th September that
the Chinese Government shun e.fectua peTforsnee
of the terms laid down at Tien-Tsin where the ne
gotiatious had been carried ON, and that Mr. Wade
would leave Peking the 18th Of October unless
satisfactory settlement were obtained The punish
1nent of the Yunnan officials, by whom or with
whose cOnnivance the murder of Mr. Margary was
perpetrated and the publication of foreign affairs in
the official Gazette were reported to be the CHEF
difficulties. The former needs no explanation. The
latter means that the Chinese Government is rs loath
as ever TO confess to its own subjects the extent
of the concessions it is compelled to mako 10
a foreign, power Prof Robert X. Douglas
explains in letter to The Tines that the
Peking Gazette is more than The london Gazette of
China. In IFS columns published all edcts issued
under the Imperial seal and all court announce
ments. But it excludes all mention of foreign at-
ing that foreigners and their concerns are beneath
the serious notice of the Son of Heaven and his ad-
visersr Such at any rate, is the inference drawn
by 500 out of 900 of the Chinese themselves. All
this Mr.. Wade understood; hence his insisting that
the Ireatv-perhaps other treaties also-shOuld APP
pear in this Gazctte; hence also tie hesitation OF
the Government to comply, for TO comply u.s. in Mr..
Douglass words to admit to the Chinese nation that
the Emperor has so far retreatcd from his lofty
10 troa
eicn Powers on other terms than as with feudatory
vassals.
Yesterday dispatch from a different source, COM
ing through Reuters agency dated Sept. 80 stated
that Mr. Wade has intimated to the Chinese Govern
ment that if his demands We're not complied with
by that day. the 30th he would leave Pcling. Ii Is
oonjectured that something has occurred to aeecl-
crate Mr.. Wades purpose and mOyements-some-
thing which makes it prudent to anticipate the day
originally fixed for the expiration of his ultllnaun'
Otherwise we must assume an errer IN the dispatch;
not an unfrequent occurrence with Reuters telc-
grams Both these and the special dispatches to
The Times are so brief that much more Is left TO COLI
lecture than ought tO be. Nothing could better
illustrate the occasional sluggiShness of the leading
iournal and its apparent indifference 20 nOmentous
news than the economy il practices at CRISIS IKE
this. BY way of compensation, however, IT seems to
have access to the Foreign Office information; so
much of which rs it thinks fit TO communicate to
the world is to be CLEANED, usual from its leading
article 1t amounts at present to no more than an
intimation that Mr.. Wade is acting on Instructions,
and that he will neither grant further delay, nor be
too rigid and exactng if, even at the last moment,
real concessions are offered him.
The Judgment of the Vanguard court-martial is a
sweeping condemnation of pretty much everybody
who had ANYTHING to do with the collision. From
Vice-Admiral Tarleton down to Ship-carpenter
Tddy, there was not an officer who seems to have
known his duty or to have done it. The court finds
specifically that the collision with the Iron Duke
was caused, first by the high rate of speed at
which the squadron of which the vessels formed
part was proceeding while in a fog; secondly by
Can't. Dawkns when leader of his division leaving
the deck of his ship before the evolution which was
being performed was completed, there were indi-
cations of foggy weather at the time; thirdly by
the unnecessary reduction of speed of the Vanguard
without signal from the Vicc-Admirsl in command
of the squadron. and without the Vanguard making
the proper signal to the Iron Duke; fourthy, by tho
increase OF speed of the Iron Duke during dense
fog, the speed being already high; filthy, by the
Iron Duke improperly sheering out of line sXthly,
by the want of any fog-sgnal on the part
of the Iron Duke. IL the first assignment
means anything, it means that the Admiral
was to blame for not slackening speed
when the fog came But it appears from the Ad-
mirals testimony That part OF the fault must be
charged TO the signal book. which he declares con-
tanned no signal by which he could communicate
with the other ships Of the fleet without risk OF CON
fusinC their captains. SO that has been pointed
out with considerable plainness Of speech by some
of the papeIs the verdict, broad as it is, must he
stretched 10 include in its the Lords OF the