NOTE AND COMMENT.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4084, 23 June 1900, Page 4

NOTE AND COMMENT.

Some of those who accompanied the Premier on his recent tradi; Island' tour appear tonavo ■with the been impressed with the islands, idea, that New, .Zealand trade with the Fiji and other groups is falling off, and is being transferred to. Sydney. " Now, it is not a ! littjjfc remarkable to find . Sydney people almost simultaneously declaring that Now Zealand is absorbing tho Island trade. At a public function in Sydney tho other day, the Hon. Mr See (Colonial Treasurer) said, that ten years ago Sydney imported from the. Fiji Islands produce valued at £130,000 a-year, .while her chief rival in..the trade, .Now , Zealand, was-a, little ahead with an import of £156,000. Last year, however, tho trade of Sydney had fallen to £74,000, while that of'Now Zealand had increased to £365,000. During the ten years New South Wales received' from those islands produce to the value of £734,000, and. sent them NewSouth Wales, arid British .goods 'to tho value of £1,075,000,.whi1e. Now, Zealand 1 received from ‘tho Islands £2,500.000 worth of produce and exported; to them New Zealand 'arid British produce to the value of £1,350,000. Mr See went oil. to urge tho necessity of striving to I'ogain the Fiji trade, for Sydney, which Lord Beauchamp described as “the natural port for much of tho Island; trade.” The extraordinary efforts being made by Sydney to grasp this market may bo realised .'when it is noted that, despite the '.fact. of ’Now Zealand’s trade with Fiji being last year five, times greater than that of Sydney, tho latter port had by far the greater number of steamers engaged in Island commerce.. During that year fifty-two , vessels, with a tonnage of 46,000 tons, went to New South Wales from Fiji, while to Now Zealand there were only thirty vessels with a tonnage of 25,000 tons. From this it is apparent that tho shipping companies and' business men of Sydney are suffering monetary loss in order if possible to wrest the Island trade from this country. ’mere is, therefore, every justification for Mr Seddon’s solicitude on the subject, and Parliament will doubtless bear these facts in mind when the question of improving tho means of communication'.between New Zealand, and the Islands of the Pacific comes up for consideration.

The fact that the famous Chinese!Viceroy, Li Hung Chant;, lias hi hung been hastily summoned to cjiaxg. Pekin, is interpreted at Shanghai as meaning that the Mantchu party intend to negotiat'd with the Powers. The supposition may or may not be correct, but there can ho little doubt but that in the astute old statesman, whose aid is now enlisted by the Dowager-Empress, the Chinese posscssdhe most experienced and wiliest of diplomatists. “The Chinese Machiavclli” Li Hung was once entitled by Prince GortsohakofF, and in Russia the art of diplomacy is understood in its every possible phase. During over forty years Li Hung Chang has occupied some of tho highest official positions, and he has been of special and conspicuous service to his country in conducting negotiations with foreigjti Powers. He it was who was the mediator for fixing the indemnity for the murder of Mr Margery, who. was murdered in 1876, when exploring South Western China, Later on he negotiated important ' treaties with Peru aad Japan. For more than twenty years he was the Viceroy of the Metropolitan provinces of Pe-chi-li, arid as such was the actual ruler, or chief administrator, of the Chinese Empire. To him is mainly due the origin of the Chinese navy, and he was liberal-minded' enough to permit coal-mining by English companies, and was one of the promoters of tho China 'Merchants’ Steam Navigation Company. At the zenith of his power he came hear being a Chinese “Pooh Bah.” for ho is credited with having fulfilled, in his own person, the functions of a War Ministry, Marine Ministry, and Finance Ministry, to say nothing of numerous other offices. During the war with Japan Li Hung Chang fell upon evil days. Not only was he entrusted with the supreme charge of

the Chinese' forces, both naval and military, but he had also to finance the war. Wli cn the day of disaster carno bo was discredited, and, for a time, superseded: but when the peace negotiations had to be entered into, it was the resourceful and experienced LI who was sent for by the Emperor.

In 1836 the great statesman was sent to Europe to represent China his at'The coronation"' of the ■ .ronsiux! Czar, and the marked atteiisriiFArHiL'S. tion —shown him st St. ‘ ' “•v-rv;Petersburg, where tho entertaining. anti,,'if possible," cajoling or Asiatic.potentates is earned almost to a fine art, caused, considerable cUcp.o'.oii ui Loudon, -especially as - it was rumoured that Li favoured t he Russians to sue')- an extent that- ho Rad secretly agree'! to further,the spread of Muscovite inliucnc in China to theexclusion of that ol Cii'eat Britain. Made 'much of, both in Pa: - :-, and in London, as V,ell »s in the Russian capital, Li returned UTjns native country by way, cf the imicd States, where again he was the.subject of special ofiieial attentions. -Once back in Chinn, however. he cxpciv need the truth of the Biblical injunction to "put not your trust in princes,” for after a brief cccupanev of the po-u ; on of Foreign Secretary of the Empire. he was disgraced aml excluded from the Tsung-li-Yawen. This was in 1838, but at the close of that year, the Empress-Regent appointed him an Imperial Commissioner to report upon the disastrous floods which had wrought such havoc in the valley or the Hoang-ho. Such is a brief record c-f the career of cue of the- most, able and distinguhhod of Chinese! statesmen! V,'bother he wi": be able—if allowed to attempt the task-- to restore;order from chaos and to gave 4 he Dowager-Empress from tho fate of *t*riug her - sinister influence orokcu hv the Powers, remains to he soon. Specially interesting also will it he to notice whether the favour in which Li is pepubniy credited with regarding Russian :,ud G,-r- - interests will in'any .way affect,, bis conduct, for such, interest l ; might vwv possibly bo largely inimical to those of Great .Britain,