records by £1,000,000. The increased duties sanctioned by the
Washington Conference will provide sufficient revenue to
liquidate the whole foreign and domestic floating debt in a very
few years, leaving the splendid salt surplus unencumbered for the
Government. The difficulty is not to provide money, but to find a
Government to which to entrust it. Nor is there any visible
prospect of the removal of this difficulty.

I venture to think _The Times_ would regard the difficulty as removed
if the Manchu Empire were restored.

As to the "splendid salt surplus," there are two telegrams from the
Peking correspondent to _The Times_ (of January 12th and 23rd,
respectively) showing what we gain by making the Peking Government
artificially bankrupt. The first telegram (sent on January 10th) is as
follows:--

Present conditions in China are aptly illustrated by what is
happening in one of the great salt revenue stations on the
Yangtsze, near Chinkiang. That portion of the Chinese fleet
faithful to the Central Government--the better half went over to
the Canton Government long ago--has dispatched a squadron of
gunboats to the salt station and notified Peking that if
$3,000,000 (about £400,000) arrears of pay were not immediately
forthcoming the amount would be forcibly recovered from the
revenue. Meanwhile the immense salt traffic on the Yangtsze has
been suspended. The Legations concerned have now sent an Identic
Note to the Government warning it of the necessity for
immediately securing the removal of the obstruction to the
traffic and to the operations of the foreign collectorate.