RELATIONS WITH CHINA.
A complete change has come over our relations with China. An outrage was committed by the Chinese upon some missionaries at Formosa, in defiance of treaty rights. The Vice-Consul at once called in the services of a gunboat, the commander of which very speedily exacted retribution. He made the Chinese pay for the property that had been destroyed, and the cost of the military stores that it was found necessary to expend in bringing them to their senses. Lord Clarendon has censured the commander of the gunboat, removed the vice-consul from his post, and returned the money, with an apology ! For the future we are to go to Pekin for redress or recompense in all such cases. The end of this will be that our treaty-rights will be lost. The Chinese Government has no means of enforcing its authority at every outport ; like an a^ed person, it has a torpid and sluggish circulation at the extremities ; and instead of having summary justice, as heretofore, we shall have such outrages left altogether without redress, or there will have to be a constant succession of China wars. Chinamen do not understand such " moderation." Their respect for us is sure to be lessened by it, and it will soon become unsafe for Englishmen in China to set foot beyond the settlements.
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Bibliographic details
Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 538, 29 June 1869, Page 4
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221RELATIONS WITH CHINA. Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 538, 29 June 1869, Page 4
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