New-York tribune., 1880-10-03
RUSSIA And CHINA.

|
Gates, exceedingly dlcult to get at the ac-
| tual truth concerning tie relations OF the
| belligcrents in Central Asia; SIMPLY because
Russian and Eastern diplOmatiSts keep their
| own counsel in a way from which Englsh
| and American leaders might gam a useful
hint. No newspaper reporter in St. Petersburg
! has dared to try to worm ont the facts Ill an
interview with Mellkoff or the Marquis
Tseng, as would have been done in Newly ork.
The information which has dribbled out Is,
much of it, evidently mere guess-work, or
cunningly devised rumOrs intended to have
! their effect on other Powers, probable
antagonists of Russia In the near fu-
ure. Throa shOut the progress OF the
Lwhole negotiations in st. Petersburg 1t has been
| Russian policy to represent China as snubbed
and threatened by the Car in manner
which. if true. is strangely at variance with
the fierce energy shown by the Chinese
| Government in their treatment OF Chung
| How and their prompt rcpudiatlon OF his
ccssion of cxorbitant Rus 'ian demands. For
instance, late advices from St. Peters
burg declare that Russia has decided to
transfer the negotiations to Pekin, insists
supon the conditions of the Livadian treaty,
" and also demands the possession of por-
.ton of Kuldja in which to establish
"securcly n colony of Drinzans, Russian
"suhiects threatened by the Chinese"
This. it must be remembered, is only the
Russian side of the story. The Chinese diplo-
| matist. Tseng, has no mOuthpece in Europe.
The Chinese papers on the other hand, give
uite another view of the case From their
statements it does not seem at all probable
that China is inclined to come down and eat
humble pie without struggle, The Hong
| Kopg Press states that Chang Chih-tung, au-
thor of a bitter political pamphlet on the Lii
vadan treaty, has Just been promoted by the
EMPEROR and that his promotion was in
! tended to show the hearty approval by
the Impcrial Council of his anti-foreign
belligerent policy. "The war party, headed
"by Prince Chun and the General Tso
"Tsungn (who holds in China very much the
same position and authority in military mat
ters that General Grant does here), " are still
"supreme in the Imperial Council" Colonel
Gordon arrived in Pellin, from England, in
tent on pacifying the Government. and The
North China Herald states that "his advice
"has induced the Grand Secretary, Iii Hung
"Chang, to listen to more moderate proposals."
This does not, after all, amount to much, as
the Grand Secretary always belonged to
the peace party. He and his brother
are. in fact the leaders of the
Moderates who are willing to patch up
peace with Russia on any terms rather than
begin a costly war. Unfortunately for the
chances of peace, however, the latest adj
vices from China state that the two brothers,
though still III power. are not in favor with the
Emperor. Marquis Tseng, the Ambassador to
the Car, was decidedly opposed to them in
notifies, and received his instructions from
the war party.
1t is certain that troops are being gradually
sent into Kuldja; 10000 regulars and as
many Kalmucks belonging to the militia
have quietly been dispatched to man
the outer posts, and are largely oflicered
bv Englishmen. Should the war once begin.
it would be matter of interminable dura-
ton. The hordes of hardy Mongoian Tartars
and Chinese which China could pour down
into the fertile bottoms of the Amoor are
countless The actual present fighting force
of China-on paper 5000 mems no more
an index to her real military resources than
was our standing army, when the civil war
began, to tho vast swarms who went up TO
battle from every hill and valley OF the
Union. The Russian Government knows this
fact too well to provoke war merely for the
sake of the prosperity safety of n colony
of Russian Drinzans in Kuldja. III the diff
Guilty is one of money, Russia would be much
more likely to risk war. Questions of human
ity are not held supreme in st. Petersburg.
General Skobeleff, who is operating to the
west of Kuldja, has by this time, too. fully
tested the difficulty of transporting troops and
provisions to the seat of operations. Ener-
getic Americans with their live systems of
railways, telegraphs, etc., can hardly con-
ceive the intolerable tardiness of movement
over the vast plains and mountain ranges be-
tween st. Petersburg and Central Asia,
where. as a recent traveller testified. 1t re-
| Qures three full months to accomplish dis
| tance of 1000 miles. 1900 miles OF which ia