THE TIBETAN MISSION.

Evening Post, Volume LXVII, Issue 132, 4 June 1904, Page 9

THE TIBETAN MISSION.

Tho Miasion to Tibet arrived at Gyangtse on the 11th inst. It kid to clear its way, tho Laivuis, according to tho correspondent of Tho Times, holding a strong position at Red Idol Gorge, "whew? high and precipitous mountains hem in a winding river." 'Iho Tibetan artillery were shelled out of their positions with" a loss of two hundred men, and the Tibetans fled from the fortress of Gyangtso. Here tho Cluneso Resident, or Ambaii. and delegates from Lhafisa ivill meet Colonel Yoimgtuu-band, nnd it is possible that a, new treaty will be .signed. The Chinese Government is distinctly of opinidu that tho Litmus should yield, and neither the Indian Government nor our pwn wishes to bo forcod to march upon tho capital. Tho theocracy is now the only obstacle to peace 'I hi/. i» evident from tho language used in tho debate of Wednesday in tho Commons, wheu Mr. Brodrick moved a resolution authorising the payment from Indian revenue* «■£ any ex-p-Miscs incurred in protecting tho political Mission to Tibet. This was carried by a majority of 270 votes to 61— chiefly Nationaliflls — but tho, Secivlnrv for India and the Premier boch denied strongly that tho Government sought tiny territory in Tibet. They would regnrd the, annexation of that country, an id Mr. Balfour, ns a "great misfortun*,"' the Indian GowfAirnent being already overburdened with frontier responsibilities. The British Government wishes only tho independence of Tibet ; but then it must be independent of all European Powers iillke. Tho Government of Russia had declared Tibet to bo ouiaidis its "sphere of intlucnce," and the British Qovcrhment, accepting that assarnncj absolutely, desired, if Tibet would bclutvo but civilly, to leave her entirely alone. These assurances were acceptable to tho House. FRIENDLINESS TO RUSSIA. Tho debate was remarkable for « certain friendliness of tone towards Ru&sia unusual in hnglish debates. Lord George Hamilton, Intely Secretary for India, stilted distinctly that tho Rwsian Government, as a Government kept its «ng«genreiits; while Sir H. Fowler, who alf.o has boon Secretary for India, but is, of coukk\ a strong Liberal, appeared willing to conm tjO an agreement with St. Petersburg hs thorough and as strong as the one just concluded with Paris. I'he Premier did not di.vscnt, but, liko Lora George Hamilton, pointed out the' real obstacle iv tho way, which is not the Foreign OfHco at tit! Peler.dnu-g, but the (:xe**sivo freedom which the- Hystem of tho Umpire allow*, to its agents m Asiatic Russia. We believe this explanation to bo correct, .md wHcome with plca.Mne the signs in the Rw^utn prm that n modus viwndi with Great Britain woirld be well received ir> lUiKsiu. If it is to bo arranged, however, it must be hwd upon a policy unlike that whicn some, Rtusmu agents defend. They evidently think that tho hour hns arrived for the partition of China, and clnim for Russia the Northern provinces. That propotal would not be acceptable* either to Japan, or Great Britain, or France, or tho United States. TUB CHINESE ON THK RAND. Tho Pall Mnll Gazette of Wednesday publishes a very important letter from ita Capetown correspondent, who went from the Cnpe to Joiiannesburg in order to find out the real feeling there in regard to ' Chines*.* labour, declares that now that the actnul appearance of the yellow man is drawing near, public opinion is being greatly moved, and points out how what i vrtts before a "mow or los harmless growl his ripened into distinctly trenßoiiable utterances." The general 'public sentiment imist, ho insists, oc faced squarely. "It is this: The promises mndo to tho white men before the wnr have not been carried out. As a matter of fact, many of the Rand men who toi»k part in the campaign have been r*fvu«.'<i » U-turn of their positions th^y threw up to bear arms." The correspondent g'H's on to say that many white workers bclievu "thnt the capitalist* have deliberately dune all in tlieir power to difccourage the Kaffir, and lufvmg done so hnvi» represented that the mines cannot be worked without tire aid of tho Chinese. They further foi<ecu.vt that before the yellow men are six months on tho R«nd the small number of skilled workers will bt> paid off, since it is possible »to make the imitative and intelligent Chine* whnl the black man can uovor become — a skilled worker. They argue thnt in addition to saving about 50 per cent, of tho mino labourers' wages, the owners intend to g«t rid of the white worker root and branch. They further contend that the vast majority of tho ] whibo men arc solidly ngainit the importation of tho Chinese, and accit.se the capitalists of having gained apparent support bj' bribery and corruption." • "A TERRIBLE BLUNDER" | The Pall Mall correspondent in addi- | tion declares, iv regard to the public meeting culled to condemn the importation of Chinamen, that "it has never been denied that those who formed the opposition to tho original idea wore openly paid 15s a-pieco for their services." The Pall Mall correspondent ends up his very gloomy letter by n hint thut the Kaffirs are also greatly perturbed by tho near advent of Chines* labour, "if this letter had appeared in tho Daily News or tho «Stnr, it would naturally have been discounted ne "prejudiced. I Its appearance in the Pull Mall Gajielte, a paper strongly opposed to the agitation ag.rinst Chinese labour, rannol but bo rctrarded as significant. We rannot, of cou~r.su, take any responsibility for ita allegations, but wo feel sure that tho Pall Mnll would not have published the letter unle.ns it was fully convinced of tho trust worthiness and sincerity of its coi lcspoiitleiu. The, moro tho whole subject is diicussed the mor* convinced do wo become that a terrible blunder bus been committed by Lord Milner and the Home Government in allowing the iwo of inrVntuml Chinese lnbour in opposition to th« public opipuui of the whole Empire. Nothing but harm to the Empiie nnd to South Africa can coino of it. At the same tune, it be-

tomes daily clearer that the alternative, the greatly extended uw> of white labour in tho milieu uigi'd by Mi. Crihwell, among tho best of the exerts on tho &pot, is a perfectly piactical policy.