It is extremely difficult to determine the exact course of
events in regard to China. All that can be said with cer- tainty is that the Powers are still negotiating, but that out of the mist of notes and protocols and counter-proposals a policy seems gradually to be materialising. As things stand while we write, it looks as if the policy, when it does take definite shape, will be that set forth in the French Note. M. Delcasse's proposals are said to be as follows :—(1) The punishment of the guilty officials ; (2) interdiction of the intro- duction of arms and munitions of war into China ; (3) the payment of an indemnity to the Powers; (4) a sufficient Chinese guarantee for the future. The proposal further demands the maintenance of a sufficient Legation guard in Pekin, the demolition of the Taku forts, and the establishment of a line of communication between the sea-board and Pekin, Whether these proposals can actually be carried out, of course, remains to be 'seen, but at any rate there is nothing wild or per se unreasonable about them. It is stated that the French proposals have already received the support of Russia, and that America is also favourable, but the accounts of the policy favoured at Washington differ so much from day to day that it is difficult to feel any certainty as to the Presi- dent's action. For example, it was recently declared that America would stand out of the international imbroglio altogether, and merely insist that whatever territories were acquired by the Powers, America's trading rights should be fully respected.
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