The Treaty with China arranged by Sir James Mackay was
signed at Pekin on September 5th. Signature had been delayed by the fear of the Imperial Government that under its clauses none of the surtax would be remitted to Pekin; but this was removed by an agreement, embodied in letters ex- plaining the Treaty, that a proportion of the surtax equivalent to the proportion received from " likin " might be remitted to the central power. The clauses abolishing the transit duties are so drastic that they cannot be evaded without a breach of Treaty; and their range is expressly declared to cover all the eighteen provinces of China and the three Eastern provinces. The Viceroys, we fancy, will keep faith, for they gain by the substitution of certain payments at the ports of entry instead of uncertain remittances from local Mandarins. It is the latter who will have to be watched with attentive eyes. The Treaty comes into operation on January let, 1904, but to make it effective all the Powers entitled to the " most-favoured-nation " treatment must by that date have assented to the surtax. There appears to be some doubt whether they will assent ; but Germany expresses pleasure, and it is probable that either the British or the Chinese Government has already ascertained the general sentiment. There is as usual much fear of bad faith ; but then that fear if acted on would stop all Treaties.
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