The times., 1899-11-05
onr Chinese p Iicv.

The view of the current American policy
in China, presented by the London chron-
icle" on the authority.of its Washington
correspondent is worthy of attention. as
it not only seems to harmonic with the
I past course of our Government but may
nave been fortified originally by informa-
ton from a British source likely to be in
/ possession Of the facts.
According to the Chronicle the United
States has intimated 10 the leading powers
I interested, that it does not l9sk with favor
upon the suggestion that it should accept
port and a small sphere Of influence" on
the Chinese mainland. and abandon It's con
tention for the open door. under
the treaty rights which guarantee The
most favored nation" privileges to
its commerce everywhere throughout
the empire On the contrary, the State
Department is represented as having
stated plainly that this Government
considers its rights violated when
Russia or another nation takes pos
session Of and closes a Chinese pert 10
American merchants. through di5crimi-
mating tariff
The British understanding as TO what the
American Government intends to do liz the
circumstances. as the same is represented
in the Chronicle may be in advance of
the fact or may only indicate what Brit
ish official opinion regards as our proper
and obvious line of conduct However that
may be- the correspondent Of the journal
in question claims to have been reliably in
formed that the United States has request
ed written assurances that the provisions
Of its treaties shall be respected. and in
default Of such guarantees viii adopt
strong diplomatic measures. 1t will repre-
sent TO the imperial Government at Pekin
that American rights must be recognized
and protected, irrespective Of the conces-
sion Of ports or territory to foreign states.
This course would place the Tsung Ii va
men in a position 10 plead the American
veto as a reason for refusing grants or
leases" except with the proviso that no
change should thereby be worked to The
disadvantage Of our commerce.
II is plainly 10 BE- seen that if. aflerward.
a European or other power should insist
upon exclusive rights anywhere on the Chi
nese coast. the United States would at once
be placed in the first person. but not. we
may be sure, in the singular number; be-
cause our next step, naturally, would be
taken in double column of American and
British pennants. II is beautiful and in
strucJive thought which is created by OBJ
seryation Of the fact in natural history, that
evolution in the animal kingdom is produc-
ing marked identity Of character and func-
tions among genera formerly very dissim-
uIar Take the Eagle and the Lion for ex-
ample: Both have tails, and although one
is Of feathers and the other OF bone, the
principle is the same neither is adapted to
use as a door mat 1t may also be remarked
that both have extremely sharp claws,
which are growing to point in much the
same direction. and to look amazingly
alike. For the purposes Of migratory ac-
uviues in foreign environments. it is even
probable that. in course of time the laws
Of mutual attraction and elective affinity
may lead to the production Of a new and
alarming pseudo-rype combining the in
stincts and tendencies OF the two; and
scientists viii be apt to propose for it's
name the suggestive composite Of "AquiI-
leo" When that happens, look out for
hint