Show I CHINAS TRADE CUSTOMS Lord Beresford made a very InterestIng interest-ing and rather significant speech at the Shanghai club before he sailed from China I was reported in the North China Herald and contains some passages pas-sages which may throw light upon his recent utterances in this country Referring to the position of other countries in China and their relative countres relatve position with Great Britain the admiral miral said J think we may bay without exaggeratIon exag-geratIon Kussia has got a very extensive exten-sive sphere of inlluence I think we i may say Germany has but the great i i British nation with 68 per cent of the I whole trade In its hands hasno sphere of influence and so far as the north Is concerned there Is no open door Is that the position we sre to remain in I think not My view of the future is that we should Induce the Chinese gov I eminent to allow British ofllcers to reorganize 1 re-organize their any I believe if their Y i > I f I army were properly organized it would be an ample security for the prosperity I of the cquntry and a benefit to all nations I I believe that one of the first things our government should do Is to endeavor I endeav-or to get a commercial alliance between our country Germany America and GermanJ Amerca Japan The foundation and object of II I such an alliance would be a fair field and no favor would be the integrity of i I China a it is and would be the open I door trade policy for all nations With I that and an adequate army for police purposes I believe this country would i go on and prosper Certainly I we do not do that we shall be driven out of the country or we shall have to fight in which ease we shall fight at a disadvantage dis-advantage and then not be able to recover re-cover what we had lost There are several reasons why Great Britain is desirous of establishing with the afd and consent of other nations the opendoor policy in China One is the lack of influence the British now have among the officials and the tradespeople of China Another is the growing influence of the czar and his complete partnership with LI Hung Chang whose reinstatement has proved that the government is behind him himI is plain that the dominant and military position of Russia in the north and the other is the absolutely effete I condition of the British government with regard to the 400000000 inhabitants inhabit-ants which they can in no way control con-trol while at any moment if the English Eng-lish put up stores or trade centers In the country they may be destroyed or burned and the government of Great Britain will have no control over those who do it Russians are said to be ignoring the customs altogether while other nations a held to a rigid accounting But with a perfect reorganization of the Chinese army under British officers cers there would be greater vigilance observed no doubt and the tariff restrictions re-strictions of China would also be enforced en-forced against Russia The admirals scheme is a good one if he can only make it work |