For some time there have been signs that Yen Hsi,shan,
the " model " Tuchun of Shansi, who is the partner of Feng Yu-hsiang in the Northern revolt against Nanking, intended to seize the Customs at Tientsin. - At last he has done it. He installed Mi. B. Lemix Sitiapson (who is well-known as an author under the name of Putnam Weale) as Commissioner in place of Colonel Hayley-Bell, Colonel HayleY-Bell; taking important documents with him, sought sanctuary in the British Consulate. What has happened is very serious. The Nanking .Government may conceivably blockade Tientsin, but as. the Times correspQndent points out, its means of doing so are small, and there would be great danger of a clash with foreign Powers. The impartial administration of the Customs by foreigners—with the consent of China, and in her interest —has been the one fixed spot in the changing scene of Chinese political life, and it is a sad prospect if that honourable service is to become the sport of rivalry. * * * *
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