MAIL NEWS.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 262, 14 November 1901, Page 4

MAIL NEWS.

AFFAIRS IN CHINA. 1 (Per R.M.S. Sonoma at Auckland.) San Francisco, Oct. 24. 3 A despatch from Pekin says that a new j heir to the throne will be appointed when the Dowager Empress meets Prince Ching < and several Viceroys at Uniting, the capital of the province of Honan, where there is to be a general discussion of the affairs of the Empire. This news is believed to be authentic, as it was received from 1 Chinese officials. The present heir has proved to be dissipated and uncontrollable, moreover his father’s status as a banished prince makes his succession contrary to Chinese traditions. The candidate of the Empress is said to be Peitzi, a nephew of Prince Tuan, and who is intellectually weak. He participated in the Boxer aggressions, personally leading the attack on the French cathedral. The Reform faction disapproves of the selection, and suggests that the Powers oppose it if the Empress attempts to carry it out. The present heir to the throne is LuChun, a son of Prince Tuan. lie was born in 1884. About the middle of this year Prince Tuan was said to be fomenting an insurrection in Western Mongolia. He was last reported to be at Ulumski, in Turkestan, to which part of the world he had been banished as the result of the part he took in the Boxer uprising. A despatch from Pekin, dated October 9th, says Prince Ching has written to the Ministers of the Powers requesting the withdrawal from Pekin of the foreign business establishments. Ho says Pekin is not a treaty port, and foreign business houses have been illegally established. A controversy regarding the payment of octroi tax by foreign merchants appears to have precipitated the issuo. The foreign business community of Pekin, though small, is important. Its presence is essential to the comfort and convenience of the Legations. Foreign houses began to be located in Pekin in the eighties with the tacit consent of the Chinese. The Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Russo - Chineso banks established branches there. There is a hotel, and a few merchants have a footing. The Yokohama banks intend to establish branches, and there are many foreign shops, German predominating, which have trade with the Chinese. When the demands to bo included in the protocol were framed, Mr Conger proposed to include the opening of Pekin to foreign trade. The suggestion was favored by a majority of the Ministers, but so strongly opposed by the Russian Minister that the matter was [ dropped because of the necessity for unanimity. It is expected tho affair will ' now be compromised, China consenting ■ that reputable merchants may remain, and merchants and others being compelled by ! their respective Governments to pay duties. AFGHANISTAN AFFAIRS.

The news of the death of the Ameer of Afghanistan caused considerable excitement in various quarters. Tho press of St. Petersburg was unanimous concerning the situation in Afghanistan, and the Svelt expressed the thoughts of others voiced less openly. The paper demanded the occupation of Herat, and perhaps also oE other strategic points until Afghanistan is completely tranquilized. Tho moment was declared to bo propitious for a courageous advance, and it was asserted that England should not bo allowed to annex Afghanistan. “ Russia does not desire war against India,” the Svolt adds, “ since India would bring only annoyance, but Russia requires peace on her Central Asian frontiers. If Russia controlled Afghanistan peace with England would bo assured. All papers agreed that Russia must counteract British designs. A despatch from Simla, dated October 14, says :—“ A large Afghan force is assembled around Cabul, and is maintaining order. Ilabidullah Khan has appointed a special guard for each European in the country, directing that the guards shall answer with their lives for the safety of their charges. Tho Indian Government has postponed its usual movement to Calcutta, and Lord Curzon has indefinitely postponed his projected tour.” A despatch, dated October 17, states that tho new Ameer has increased the pay of tho Afghan soldiers, and promises a reduction of taxes on land. He is likely to spring into immediate popularity. The Afghans hope he will depart from the policy of his father and abolish the heavy impost on trade and Stato monopolies. The removal of transit duties and tho abolition of monopolies would cause an immense revival of trade between India and Afghanistan along the ancient caravan routes.

Another despatch states that Habidullah took the oath at Cabul on October 9, and announced the appointment of his throe brothers to headships of the army, revenue, and judicial departments. BIG ROBBERY.

A remarkable robbery was perpetrated in Chicago on October ‘2lst. Thieves tunnelled some distance, and then bored through a steel floor in order to reach their plunder, and succeeded in carrying off over 74,000 dollars worth of United States postage-stamps. If they had calculated a distance of six foot to the

west of tho point where they entered, they would undoubtedly have carried off nearly 40,000 dollars in cash and 800,000 in stamps. The postmaster in charge is responsible for the loss until an Act of Congress frees him from it. A horse and waggon were in waiting to carry away tho loot, and as yet no definite clues have been found as to the guilty parties. Tho robbery was discovered when the chief clerk of the Stamp Department opened the vault in the morning.