The herald., 1898-02-09

and. fortifying himself with glass Of
water and leaning his hands upon the
table which separated him from the
Opposition, began In plain, converse
tional tones, as II addressing Lord KIM
berly alone. The first announcement
which provoked Hear, heart" was that
before many months he hoped that their
efforts in Egypt would result In the cap
ture Of Khartoum.
When the premier reached the ques-
ton of China there was a murmur OF
expectancy. The pacific assurances ne
gave were received with evident approv-
al and relief. The marquis Of Salisbury
said: "I will not use word which seems
to CRATE on the mobiles ears, but may
say there is no effort which this country
would not make rather than lose our
treaty rights. At the same time no one
has evinced the slightest intention OF
abridging those rights.
I'm regard to the loan. 1t is true we
suggested as one of the conditions the
opening Of Talien Wan as a treaty port.
China made some objections, and finally,
as a compromise, l. on the nth ult., sug-
gested that the matter be left In abey-
ance until the railway reached Talien
wan when it should be opened as
treaty port Sir Claude Macdonald, the
British minister at Peking. replied the
next day that China accepted this, ana
since then 1 have heard nothing to the
contrary. The old question Of the loan
Is still the subject Of negotiation"
His lordship added: Il have received
spontaneous assurances from the Rus-
sian government that any port 1t opens
in China win be open to free commerce.
The statement of the marquis of sails
bury, 1t may be noted, confirms the ad-
vices Of the Associated Press made un-
der date Of February Sd.
Lord Salisbury said the concessions
the government has asked in return Tor
the Chinese loans were, without excep-
ton, directed toward increasing ana
freeing the trade with China, and con-
tained nothing Injurious to China her
self
Regarding the immediate opening of
Talien Wan," said his lordship, the Chi
nese council have informed us that 1t
would embarrass them very much For
reasons 1t Is not necessary to enter into
very closely, and for their own personal
comfort and well-being, they expressed
the desire that we should not insist upon
this proposal. Whereupon replied that
the proposal was not essential, though
we thought II advantageous. and / sug-
gested, as a compromise that the open
ing of Talien Wan be deferred until the
railroad had reached the port.
1T is obvious to any one knowing the
well that the country behind
Talien Wan Is practically worthless No
trade could arise until the railroad
reached the port. A few days afterward
Sir Claude Macdonald reported that the
was accepted as condition
of the loan, and since then have heard
no more about Talien Wan, but am
bound to say am not very much inter-
ested. as l recently received from Rus
sia written assurance that any port
she obtains leave to employ as an out
let for her commerce will be free port
for all the commerce of this country.
free port is much better than treaty
port, and thus. having ascertained that
Talien Wan was to be a free port, 1t in
terests us very little indeed to know
it will be a treaty port or not.
II may say that similar assurances
have been made us by the German gov
ernment respecting the territory II re-
Gently occupied. Indeed. the German
government went further and was more
nattering to us, for the German ambas
sador told me Germany had concluded
that our manner of dealing with such
things was better than hers. and that, in
this instance, at my rate, she intended
to initiate our methods. Regarding the
loan. hope in few days to lay the pa
per on the table dealing with 1t, but
warn the noble earl that information will
be exceedingly scanty when it appears.
Turning to India, Lord Salisbury de-
clared that the troubles with the Afri-
dis were not due to the occupation of the
Chitral nor to fanaticism, but to terror
at the approach of civilization. 1t was
only intended to occupy such additional
posts on the frontier as competent mill
tary authorities deem absolutely neces-
sary. The address was then adopted.
after which the house of lords adjourned.