New-York tribune., 1898-01-02
TALK OF LONDON TOWN.

London January /
GUESSWORK ABOUT THE FAR EAST.-The
ingenuity displayed in manufacturing news from
the far East is remarkable Five-sixths OF the
statements can safely be labelled 'euess"orh'
The British and Russian Foreign Offices are a
dumb as oysters. and the German stream OF coh-
nictng communications in the semi-oflclai press
shows they do not know there which loot uey arr
standing France Is apparently IN the udih'
while the Mlkado has dissolved the japanese Diet
in order that opinions should not be eNpfeSS''
Under the circumstances it Is not strange that A.
curate Information is difficult TO secure Ihe tho"
facts wholly corroborate the statements caoleu o."
Saturday last. namely that Great Britain Is care
fully watching the situation, bidng her TINE anu
will certainly not fail to act promptly and visor-
ously at the proper moment At the same tlme' II
was pointed out in well-informed circles that the
scare in the newspapers in regard to the Far East
was least premature. and that the members OF te
Government were evidently sincere IN diScldlnlhs
caIIv reiterated on Friday by THE Daily Graphic
which asserted that there was every reason 70 pc pc
lieve that the Russians would adhere TO ther pedge
to evacuate Port Arthur at the end OF ihe w Mieei'
and that therefore. there were no gfoIhuS lor CON, ~
Gp GTapbic" on further pointed out that the British Gov
ernfnent did not regard the occupation OF hlao-
han Rs 9' ane wefe not Threatened Both
Foreign once and the Admiralty. according 10
THE COREAN QUESTION.-Evdently. apart
from the question OF the Chinese loan. the Corean
question is more interesting for Great britain AT
the present moment than the questions OF Port
Arthur and Kiao-Chau, principally because the
MARQUIS OF Salisbury sees In the attempt 10 oust
7 McLeavy Brown the British Superintendent OF
Corean Customs, more serious scheme 10 over
turn Sir Robert Hart, the British Director OF Inc
Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs. which mas ap-
parently been npped in the bud The CaDihet : eN-
istence would be short II II permitted Russia 10
t-Ya (Chinesc EOTeign
into dismissng the British head Of the Chinese
customs IL Is not known yet whether the BIltsh
r,Ved AZ as reported In a cable dispatch from Pek-
me e' According Sc to which McLeavy Brown and NJ
4leSen; stoms re iose1her The British Ministers ap
near to be somewhat distrustfu. so the warshps
be ~ mort Of Seoul in order give moral support TO
Wr Brown. will remain there for the present
rur, CuINEsE IlOAN.--At present there is keen
interest in commercial circles over the outcome Of
,,e efforts OF Russia TO secure a Chinese loan on
the onerous terms announced by the feklhg cor
roenondent OF The Times" who said that the
chinese Government refused to place the likin dn-
-ar,ol revenues) under foreign control security
for the loan proposed by the Hong Kong and
shanghai Bank and asserted that unless the loan
c.oe nrocurable without this condition arrange
nonts would forthwith be made for a Russian
Guaranteed per cent loan OF 100000 taels to 3e
fssued at SO net. The security Tor thls loan woud
he tho land tax which would remain under Chinese
odministra tion. and China. In return, would give
Russia monopoly OF the railroads and mines north
of the Great Wall, open a port as a terminus or
Tho Trans-Siberian Railroad. and agree that Rus
sian should succeed Sir Robert Hart as Director
OF the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs. Inc
interest Is Increased by the equally strenuous en-
deavors OF the British in China 10 prevent Russa
from ootainng the loan and the rich concessions
which II seems 90 with It. II Is improbable the
British Government will see reason 70 rccede from
its previous refusal to guarantee China financial
aupport although territorial concessions are oered
apparently showing that Great Britains policy Is
not territorial ACKNOWLEDGEMENT but distinctly COM
mercial.
GERMANY AND GREAT BRITAIN-A diplomat.
talking over the alleged desire Of Germany to ar