On Monday the Times published an interesting article from its
Pekin correspondent on present conditions in Manchuria. The Japanese are showing great activity in railway con- struction, building new lines, and converting military lines to the standard gauge. They are faithfully fulfilling their obligations as regards evacuation and the withdrawal of military administration, and by April 15th next year the civil authority will be predominant except as concerns the rail- ways. The chief complaint is that hordes of Japanese un- desirables, men and women, are flocking into the country, and that the Japanese authorities find great difficulty in coping with them. At Niu-chwang, Mukden, and An-tong there are already eighteen thousand, mostly small pedlars. The chief problems in Manchuria are the establishment of the Chinese Customs, the dues from which are being at present collected by Japan, subject to an account later, and the opening of the Treaty ports. China seeks to interpret the Treaty provisions to mean that an area is to be set apart , for foreign use beside a city, instead of the city itself being I open to foreigners. Japan naturally declines to accept this preposterous interpretation. The Times correspondent argues that Britain, having large interests in Manchuria, should send experienced British officials there to watch developments.
