The San Francisco call., 1898-01-02
BRITISH GOVERNMENT
 HAS EG APPREHETSf0E # OF NAR " WINTER.
Reudy to Act, but Content to Wdit and See Whether Russia Will Keep Faith and
 Eyacudte Port Arthur,

-: LONDON, Jan. 1.-The Admiralty to-day issued an official denial of the. reports that three of the Empress steamers have been requisitioned by the Admiralty, and also officially de- nied the statement that the naval re- serve of the China station had been called out.
 F The ingenuity displayed in manu- facturing, news from the far east is remarkable. F'ive-sixths of the state- ments can be safely labeled guess work. The British and Russian for .eign. offices are as dumb as oysters. and the German stream of conflicting communications in the semi official press shows they do not know which foot they are standing on. France is apparently in the dark. while the Mikadc has dissolved the Japanese Diet, in order that opinions should not be expressed. Under the circum- stances it is not strange that accurate information is difficult to secure.
 The known facts wholly corrobor- ated the statements cabled on Satur- day last that Great Britain is care fully watching the situation, biding her time, and will not fail to act
 
 laomept.
 <. It was pointed out in that dispatch that in well-informed circles the scare in the newspapers in regard to the East was at least premature, and that the members of the Government were evidently sincere in disclaiming the least alarm. This view of the case was practically reiterated by the Daily Graphic on Friday, which as- serted that there was every reason to believe the Russians would adhere to their pledge to evacuate Port Arthur at the end of the winter and that | therefore there was no grounds for complaint on the part of GreatBritain. | The Daily Graphic further pointed out l. that the British Government did not E regard the occupation of Kiaochau by l the Germans as calling for action be- l cause British interests were not 1 threatened. Both the foreign office i and the Admiralty, according to the Daily Graphic, were agreed on this point,
 | Evidently, apart from the question of the Chinese loan, the Korean ques-' | tion is more interesting for, Great l Britain at the present moment than | the. presence or the RuSSlanS and ] Germans at Port Arthur and Kiao- chau, principally because the Mar. i quis of Salisbury sees in the attempt to oust J. MeLeavy Brown, the Brit i ish Superintendent of Korean Cus- | toms, more serious scheme to over j throw Sir Robert Hart, the British Director of the Chinese Imperial Mar itime Customs. which has apparently been nipped in the bud. The sCabi- nets existence would be short if it permitted Russia to coerce. the Tsung Ii Yamen into dismissing the British head of the Chinese Customs.
 It. is. not known yet whether the British Government will approve of the i arrangements arrived at, according. to a cable dispatch from Picking, by 1 which Mr. McLeavy Brown and M. | Alexieff, the Russian agent in Korea, will work the Korean customs together. The British Ministers appear to be somewhat distrustful, so the warships ! of Great Britain which are at present at Chemulpo, the port of Seoul, in or der to give moral support to MT.