and have, at the same time, increased their sales in foreign markets 400 per cent.

While the list of articles of iron and steel is an extensive and elaborate one, and a decrease in imports has occurred in nearly all articles, it is practicable to point out a few of the more important manufactures to illustrate the great change that has taken place. Under the classification of "Ingots, Slabs, Billets and Bars of Steel" the importations in 1888 were 414,489,698 pounds, and in 1898 only 30,821,157 pounds. Wire rods, which in 1888 were imported to the extent of 270,939,550 pounds were in 1898, 39,601,639. The imports of chains in 1888 reached 2,065,787 pounds, while in 1898 they were only 176,346 pounds. Imports of tin plate, terne, plates and taggers tin amounted to 634,944,945 pounds in 1888, but in 1898 had fallen to 171,662,345 pounds. On the other hand the increase in exports of the leading articles of this character have been equally striking. The exports of bar iron in 1888 were but 1,508,426 pounds, but in 1898 had risen to 12,308,615 pounds. Our exports of cut nails in 1888 were 11,963,664 pounds, while in 1898 they reached 32,310,393 pounds; and wire nails which in 1888 were exported to the extent of 1,547,078 pounds only, in 1898 rounded out a total export of 22,894099 pounds. Our exports of wire in 1888 amounted to 12,734,195 pounds, but became 136,951,924 pounds in 1898. In 1888 locomotive engines were exported to the value of $407,014, while in 1898 the value of such engines exported was $3,883,719.

The people of all parts of the world seem to have developed a strong liking for our manufactures of iron and steel. In every country and in practically every island where articles suited to a civilized state are required, these American manufactures find ready purchasers.

The following table shows the value of imports and exports of manufactures of iron and steel into and from the United States since 1880, and it is interesting to note how nearly the figures have been reversed:

:

banking business throughout the country, and measures of administration. At the close of the convention an excursion will be made to Cripple Creek, and a day will be spent in viewing the wonders of the mining camp and the works in that vicinity.

A correspondent of the "Evening Post" of New York recently interviewed the veteran economist, Edward Atkinson, of Boston, upon the subject of war-revenue taxes. Mr. Atkinson said: "I think the war-revenue taxes have come to stay, subject, of course, to slight modifications. Few people were aware of the exact position of our national revenue before these war taxes were imposed. One of the compensations of the war will consist in public attention being almost universally called to this matter. Up to this date the entire national revenue has been collected indirectly from articles which enter into the common consumption of the masses of the people. This country forms no exception to a common rule. Whenever and wherever indirect taxes are depended upon for revenue they have in all cases gradually become limited to a few articles of practically universal consumption. Hence, taxes in many countries upon salt, the most necessary article for common use, resorted to in India and other countries where the people are very poor, because in no other way could a sufficient revenue be obtained from consumers. In Great Britain a large

part of the national revenues are collected from liquors and tobacco, the revenue from sugar having been unwillingly given up a few years ago, for the reason that no tax could be adjusted on sugar that did not give an indirect benefit to some branch of private interest. Therefore, Great Britain, for reasons of necessity and of policy, adopted a stamp tax, also an income tax, first as a temporary measure, finally as a permanent part of the system; and in addition Great Britain has lately adopted the estates duty in order to divide the burden of taxation in some measure and to put a larger share upon property. This country has formed no exception to this rule of the concentration of taxes.

"What are our prospective conditions? The normal expenses of the country have been for twenty years and more $5 per head. The outgo for pensions already granted cannot fail to be reduced probably in as large a measure as the additional pensions which will ensue after the present war is over will add to that element. When the war ends our system of taxation will be such that liquors, tobacco, sugar, miscellaneous permanent receipts, with stamp and succession taxes added, will yield a revenue of at least $6 per head, while the permanent expenditures of the country ought not and will not be increased from five dollars by more than the additional dollar. These revenue taxes are collected at the least expense; the expense of collecting the internal revenue being much less than the expense of collecting the customs revenues, even without giving any regard to the cost of building and maintaining customhouses, bonded warehouses, and the like. The revenue from the miscellaneous duties, whatever it may be, more or less, will therefore become a surplus. If the tariff shall then be reduced to a revenue basis with incidental protection in

place of the absurdity which nearly every man of common sense now recognizes, of imposing a tariff for protection with incidental revenue, this country will be out of debt in fifteen or twenty years."

was

The subscription to the recent government loan a remarkable witness not only of the confidence of the people in their government and of their patriotism, but also an evidence of the vast amount of capital there is in the country seeking safe investment. The amount asked for by the government was $200,000,000, and it was the purpose of the Treasury Department to favor the small investor. The total amount offered reached the enormous sum of $1,325,000,000, or nearly seven times the loan. About $90,000,000 of these bids were in sums of $500 or less. The bonds have already been quoted at a premium, reaching 105%.

A recent number of "The Independent » notes that on the seventh of May the Chinese Government completed its payment of indemnity to Japan. The event was particularly noticeable from the fact that the check given for the balance due, £11,008,857 (about $55,000,000) was the largest one ever drawn in the history of banking. There were two checks of the same amount, one for the transfer of the money from the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to China, and the other the payment by China to Japan. The transfer took place in the parlor of the Bank of England, at which several notable persons connected with the two governments and with the Bank of England were present.

Not the least interesting of the many adoptions of the name of Dewey now being made is that of the American Mail Steamship Co., which has just christened its first steamer the "Admiral Dewey." The vessels of the company are to be used in the trade between Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Jamaica, and will be in the service of the Boston Fruit Company. This company has heretofore conducted its business by the use of English vessels chartered for the trade. The "Admiral Dewey" is the first of four steamers to be built by the Cramps for the Boston company, all of which will be named for admirals of the navy of the United States. They will be of 2,000 tons register each, and of the highest rating of their class, and will furnish a weekly mail service between the American and West Indian ports. They will also be constructed for use as auxiliary cruisers. All four steamers are to have twin screws, and every modern appliance to secure speed and safety. Their dimensions will be as follows: Length, 280 feet; breadth, 36 feet; depth, 25 feet. They are to have ample passenger accommodations, and will be by far the best type of vessels ever built for the West Indian trade of this country. Their construction has demonstrated the facilities of the Cramps' shipyards for rapid and thorough work, as the keel of the "Admiral Dewey » was laid the last week of May and she was launched on the 18th of August. All readers of SELF CULTURE will wish success for this new enterprise of American merchants.

The volume of business through clearing houses has been for the week 11 per cent. larger than last year, and 30 per cent. larger than in 1892, and returns show increase outside New York as well as here. August, 1898, seems likely to much surpass any other August on record, and the tide is apparently rising. In spite of movement to some Ohio points, net receipts of money from the interior have been $1,750,000 for the week, and while commercial loans are large in legitimate branches and good paper is readily taken, no change in rates appears. Investments are strong, and the new Government 3 per cents. are quoted at 105%. Owing to the deduction of one large reported failure for $5,000,000 last week, which on further investigation proves to be not properly a failure, the returns for two weeks show liabilities of only $3,321,425, against $4,336,279 last year, $16,580,286 in 1896, $3,827,597 in 1895, and $3,489,315 in 1894. Manufacturing were $946,092 for the two weeks against $1,886,461 last year, and trading $2,190,169 against $2,142,029 last year. Failures for the week have been 154 in the United States against 223 last year, and 17 in Canada against 30 last year.-"Dun's Review (Aug. 20).

RECENT LITERATURE

United States bankruptcy law of 1898, uniform system; with marginal notes and index. Wash., D. C., Washington Law-Book Co., 1898. 30 p. O. pap., 50 c.

United States. Treasury Department. War revenue law of 1898; annotated by E. L. Heydecker and Fulton McMahon. Albany, N. Y., Matthew Bender, 1898. c. 8+167 p. O. hf. shp., net $1.50; shp., net $2.

Containing the text of the war revenue law approved June 13, 1898, with pertinent decisions under former acts. These have been collated from departmental rulings, where they apply to the present act. Many English decisions, statutes, and precedents under the British stamp act are also cited. A brief account of the origin of the system of stamp duties in Holland, 1624, is also given. Includes tables of cases, schedules of dutiable articles, index, and a bibliography, which is regarded as a special feature of the work.

Adams, H. C. Financial management of a war; reprinted from "Public debts." N. Y., Appleton, 1898. 105-142 p. O. pap., 25 c.

Our Trade with Cuba. National Geographic Mag. (May).

Future Industrial Operations in Cuba. Engineering Mag. (June).

Cuba, and its Value as a Colony. The Forum (June).

The Textile War between the North and the South. The Forum (June).

Commerce of the Philippine Islands. National Geographic Mag. (June).

War and Money: Some Lessons of 1862. Prof. J. L. Laughlin; Atlantic Monthly (July).

The National Arbitration (Labor) Law. F. J. Stinson; Int. Journal of Ethics (July).

Remedy for Depression in Cotton Industry. The Forum (July).

The U. S. Treasury Department. Hon. Lyman J. Gage. The Cosmopolitan (August).

FRIDAY, JULY 15.-The Spanish commander at Santiago surrendered to General Shafter; all that part of Cuba east of Acerraderos, Palma, and Sagua is also surrendered to the United States.... Between eight thousand and ten thousand officers and men are in open rebellion against General Toral, and have refused to lay down their arms; they are encouraged by Blanco, who has learned of the development of yellow fever among the American troops....Only twenty-three new cases of yellow fever were reported; the general type of the disease is mild, and the fever experts have full confidence in their ability to check its spread.... The "Harvard" arrived at Portsmouth with a thousand Spanish prisoners, of whom ten have died from malarial fever, which physicians pronounce not contagious.

SATURDAY, JULY 16.- The surrender of Santiago has been definitely settled.... Watson's squadron will not sail for Spain until the magazines have been replenished.... President McKinley has appointed the following commissioners to meet representatives from Canada for the purpose of adjusting the relations between the United States and Canada: Senator Fairbanks, of Indiana; Senator Gray, of Delaware; Representative Dingley, of Maine; John A. Kasson, of Iowa; and John W. Foster, of the District of Columbia....The Wellman expedition seeking the Pole reached Vardö on board the steam whaler "Fridjof ".... A dispatch from Paris says that Madrid advices are at total variance with the rumors of peace negotiations; the repatriation of the Santiago army is viewed with grave apprehensions in Madrid, because of the effect it will have on the population.

SUNDAY, JULY 17.-General Toral formally surrendered to General Shafter, and the Spanish troops at Santiago laid down their arms; the United States flag was hoisted over the palace in the fallen Spanish city....Santiago was sacked by the Spaniards before it was surrendered.... Distress is very great in Santiago, but there is little sickness, scarcely any yellow fever.... The war department will advertise to-day for bids for carrying the Spanish forces at Santiago back to Spain....A small gunboat and about 200 seamen left by Admiral Cervera have surrendered to General Shafter ....The monitors "Puritan," "Miantonomoh," and "Amphitrite" have been ordered to Porto Rican

waters.

MONDAY, JULY 18.- President McKinley issued a proclamation defining the methods that will be pursued in the government of Santiago....A customs office will be opened at Santiago to collect the revenues....General Greely has sent an expedition to reestablish the cable service to Porto Rico The advance expedition under General Miles, started for Porto Rico.... The condition of the troops around Santiago is reported to be excellent, and the bulk of them have been removed to healthy mountain camps.... Lieutenant Hobson exploded the mines in Santiago harbor, and Commodore Schley entered the bay and made a tour of inspection....The trial at Paris of Messrs. Zola and Perreux

was finished without contest and they were sentenced to one year's imprisonment and a fine of 3,000 francs each.

TUESDAY, JULY 19.-Cuban troops at Santiago are incensed because they were not allowed to take charge of or even to enter the city after its surrender....A sanitary inspection of Santiago is said to show that the city is a veritable pest-hole, with conditions ripe for a yellow fever epidemic.... The Spanish flag at Caimanera was hauled down on Monday. The transport steamer "Philadelphia » sailed from San Francisco for the Philippines with 1,300 men....Application has been made for authority to establish national banks at San Juan, Honolulu, and Manila.... The Swiss federal council has entered a protest against the advantages given to France by the reciprocity treaty with the United States and asks for the same advantages for Swiss goods....The coast catch of seals is estimated by the customs authorities of Victoria, B. C., to be over double that of last year, with a total of 10,581 skins.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20.-The government has awarded to the Spanish transatlantic company the contract for returning the surrendered Spanish troops from Santiago to Spain.... Three transports, carrying 4,000 troops, under General J. H. Wilson, left Charleston to join General Miles....A Paris paper has a report that Spain is sounding the United States as to the terms upon which it will agree to peace....Advices received at Victoria, B. C., state that Korea is about to open two new treaty ports and China contemplates opening a port near Canton.

THURSDAY, JULY 21.— - General Miles sailed from Santiago with a naval convoy for San Juan de Porto Rico; he will be joined by three monitors and more troops.... The proposed expedition under Commodore Watson to Spain has been temporarily abandoned.... The American troops now at Santiago will probably be brought north for a month's rest, while immunes" and fresh troops will take their places....General Leonard Wood, commander of the Rough Riders, has been designated as military governor of Santiago....The transports with the second Manila expedition arrived at their destination on the 16th and 17th inst.....Madrid advices say that Señor Sagasta has again offered to resign...The maritime authorities and the police of Havre will investigate the charge that sailors on the Bourgogne" seized one boat and drove off persons who tried to enter it.

FRIDAY, JULY 22.-A Madrid dispatch to a London paper says that Señor Sagasta states that the Spanish Government has already entered upon the preliminary stage of peace negotiations.... VicePresident Capote of the Cuban republic gave out a statement after a conference at the Junta, declaring that President McKinley's course regarding the government of Santiago was substantially in line with the policy of the Cuban government, and that there was no friction....Lieutenant Hobson, the hero of the "Merrimac," arrived at New York on the United States auxiliary cruiser "St. Paul"....England's

new naval programme provides for the building of four additional battleships, four cruisers, and twelve destroyers, bringing the total expenditure for new ships up to £15,000,000... The rebellion in southeastern China has not yet been subdued....Aguinaldo, leader of the Philippine insurgents, has declared a dictatorship and martial law over the islands.

SATURDAY, JULY 23.- The letter of complaint alleged to have been written by General Garcia to General Shafter turns out to be a forgery written by a newspaper correspondent.... The regulations forbidding the export of coal have been modified, and coal may now be shipped to any port not in Spanish possessions....A comprehensive bill providing for a number of important changes in the German army is being drafted by the ministers of war and finance.... The condition of the mad king of Bavaria has grown worse.

SUNDAY, JULY 24.-The American squadron for the invasion of Porto Rico has arrived off San Juan .... Four deaths and 396 new cases of fever of all classes is the record for Saturday at Santiago.... Rear-Admiral Dewey has, it is said, officially expressed to the navy department his opinion that the insurgents of the Philippines are more capable of self-government than are the insurgents of Cuba .... Great distress continues among the Spanish working classes at Barcelona and Malaga, and it is said that not a vessel is to be seen either at Cadiz or Barcelona.

MONDAY, JULY 25.- The United States troops began landing on the island of Porto Rico near Ponce, on the south coast....General Brooke arrived at Newport News on his way to Porto Rico ....Seven thousand Spaniards at Guantanamo surrendered.... Five hundred new cases of fever were reported by General Shafter; they are of a mild type....The situation in Madrid is becoming more critical daily; Sagasta's reliance is in the leaders of the army.. The situation in Manila is growing desperate; Aguinaldo has captured many Spanish officers and men.... Nineteen Austrian sailors of "La Bourgogne » were arraigned in Havre for cruelty and brutality at the collision, and six were held ....The Earl of Minto (formerly Viscount Melgund) was appointed governor-general of Canada, to succeed the Earl of Aberdeen.

TUESDAY, JULY 26.-Spain opened peace negotiations through M. Cambon, French ambassador at Washington.... Official reports of Admiral Sampson and other officers on the naval battle off Santiago were made public in Washington....General Miles's troops are landing at Guanica, fifteen miles west of Ponce, Porto Rico.... Twenty thousand Spanish troops in the Santiago district have surrendered....French officials have, after an investigation, exonerated the crew of "La Bourgogne" of charges of inhuman and cruel conduct in the recent disaster....The Canadians are much pleased with the appointment of the Earl of Minto as governor-general.... M. Zola's name has been dropped from the roll of the Legion of Honor.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27.- Further official reports on the destruction of Cervera's fleet were made public in Washington....General Shafter has 3,770 men of his command sick.... The Spanish troops at Caimanera, near Guantanamo, have surrendered

The Spanish troops in Porto Rico are being withdrawn from outlying towns and concentrated

at San Juan....The Anglo-American League in Great Britain made the Right Hon. James Bryce, M.P., chairman, and the Duke of Sutherland treasurer.

THURSDAY, JULY 28.- Ponce, Porto Rico, surrendered to the gunboat "Dixie "....General Brooke's Porto Rico expedition sailed from Newport News....A decision has been rendered in Chicago that the express companies must pay the stamp required to be affixed to receipts under the war-tax law.... The British court of inquiry made public, at Halifax, N. S., a decision exonerating the ship "Cromartyshire" and blaming the French liner "La Bourgogne" for the recent collision.... The revelations of Ernest T. Hooley concerning sums of money paid to English noblemen for the use of their names for business schemes may lead to legislation further protecting investors.... The French minister of marine has ordered a fresh inquiry into the loss of "La Bourgogne.»

FRIDAY, JULY 29.-In a dispatch to the Secretary of War from Port Ponce, General Miles says the Spanish retreat from that place was precipitous....The transport steamer "St. Paul," bearing the third battalion of the First South Dakota volunteers and the Minnesota and Colorado recruits, sailed for Manila from San Francisco....Sir Wilfrid Laurier announced that the Canadian-American conference would open in Quebec on August 23.

SATURDAY, JULY 30.- Spanish troops are being withdrawn toward San Juan....General Merritt has arrived at Manila. Admiral Dewey says that Aguinaldo has become so active that it will take a large force to suppress him and his followers.... Six hundred and ninety-six cases of fever have developed at Santiago since the last report, bringing the fever list up to 3,406; the total number sick is 4,279.... Twenty-nine cases of typhoid fever developed at Camp Alger.... All the troops for the second Porto Rico expedition from Newport News are now there.... Prince Bismarck died at Friedrichsruh.

SUNDAY, JULY 31.-The answer of the United States to Spain's peace proposals was received in Madrid....Admiral Dewey cables to Washington that Aguinaldo has assumed a defiant attitude.... General Merritt has arrived at Manila....General Miles, in a dispatch to the war department, tells of the enthusiastic reception given to the American army by the people of Porto Rico....Major-General Wade has been ordered to reënforce General Miles in Porto Rico, with fifteen regiments from Chickamauga....The battleship "Texas" arrived from Santiago and was sent to the navy yard for repairs.

MONDAY, AUGUST 1.--The American army in Porto Rico is advancing toward San Juan, and has occupied the town of Juana Diaz; Generals Brooke and Schwan have joined General Miles; the cruiser "Columbia" went ashore, but it is thought she will be floated.... The Spanish cabinet discussed the terms of peace for several hours, and sent a message to Washington, asking further explanation; Premier Sagasta said that some modifications of the original American demands had been obtained .... During July the Government's war expenses amounted to $30,000,000; since the war began $90,000,000 have been expended....Ambassador White conveyed President McKinley's message of condolence at Bismarck's death to the German foreign office; Bismarck will be buried in the Sachsenwald.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2.- The terms of peace, as proposed to Spain were officially announced in Washington; they include demands that Spain shall give up Cuba, Porto Rico, her other West Indian Islands, and one of the Ladrones, and that the United States shall hold Manila until a commission determines the future of the Philippines.... General Merritt has asked to have his army increased to 50,000 men.... The Emperor and Empress of Germany were present at the funeral services of Prince Bismarck at Friedrichsruh.... Bismarck's personal estate, it is said, amounted to 14,000,000 marks.... M. Hoshi, until recently Japanese minister at Washington, will, it is said, be given the foreign portfolio in the Japanese cabinet, now held by the premier Count Okuma.... Yung Wing, a graduate of Yale, is the man who has obtained the concession to build a Chinese railroad with $25,000,000 of English capital.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3-Spain's answer to the peace terms of the United States was presented in Washington by M. Cambon; it is understood that Spain concedes the main points, but some details are unsettled....All of the cavalry with Shafter's army has been ordered to return to the United States, and will go into camp at Montauk Point, L. I... General Miles, at last accounts, had 9,000 men in Porto Rico, and was awaiting reenforcements.... Emperor William II published an imperial rescript at Berlin, praising the great services of Bismarck to the German nation and vowing to protect and increase the Empire which he founded.... Hon. G. N. Curzon has stated his willingness to accept the post of viceroy of India.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4.- Arroyo was turned over to General Brooke by Lieutenant-Commander Wainwright, of the "Gloucester "; Lieutenant Wood, of the "Gloucester," with fifty marines and sailors, held it.... M. Cambon is said to have assured President McKinley that Spain will comply with the peace terms of the United States, but desires time to understand all of them.... The removal of General Shafter's army from Santiago to the United States is to begin at once.... Dispatches to London from Peking assert that England is getting shouldered out of China because Russia has bribed Chinese officials.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5.- The peace conferences in Madrid continue; some of the leaders who consulted with Premier Sagasta urged the necessity of convoking the Cortes at once; Marshal Campos says, in an interview, that it would be madness for Spain to reject President McKinley's conditions.... Captain Charles E. Clark, commanding the battleship "Oregon," which made the memorable run around Cape Horn, has broken down under the strain put upon him, and has been ordered home.... Twentythree deaths have occurred among the troops in Santiago in the last four days.... Owing to Russian aggression in China, fears of an Anglo-Russian war were expressed....Dr. Edward Bibbins Aveling, the English Socialist, died in London.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 6.-The Spanish cabinet has approved the basis of the reply to the conditions of peace proposed by the United States; the reply accepts the terms; it will be revised by the minister of foreign affairs before being finally approved by the Cabinet.... All the ships of Admiral Sampson's squadron not needed for blockade duty are to be ordered north.... General Shafter reported fourteen deaths in his army at Santiago

.. The English fleets have been put on a war

footing, prepared to sustain Lord Salisbury's stand with regard to Russia....There is much criticism of the arrangements for the funeral of Bismarck, and the Emperor is said to have shown great tact in the face of open rebuffs; the Prince's memoirs are not likely to be published before December.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 7.-The Queen-Regent has approved the reply to the American peace conditions, and it has been sent to Paris for transmission to President McKinley.......... The general advance of the various divisions of the American army in Porto Rico has begun....General Shafter reported nine deaths; the sick list now numbers 3,681....A dispatch from Shanghai says that Russia is practically in possession of New-Chwang.

MONDAY, AUGUST 8.-Spain's reply to the peace conditions offered by the United States was received by M. Cambon, the French ambassador

The United States has offered to parole the 1,300 Spanish naval prisoners taken at the destruction of Cervera's fleet, whenever Spain sends for them....General Shafter has sent a report to the War Department denying emphatically that he is responsible for the lack of provision made for the sick and wounded on the "Seneca" and the "Concho".... Adolph Sutro, ex-mayor of San Francisco, and builder of the Sutro tunnel, died in San Francisco.... Dr. James Hall, geologist of New York, died in North Bethlehem, N. H..... BrigadierGeneral John S. Poland died in Asheville, N. C.... It was reported that Prince Bismarck's Memoirs had been sent to London, where they would be distributed, to prevent official action to secure them by the German government....Georg Ebers, the novelist and Egyptologist, died near Munich.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9.--Our troops at Manila repulsed an attack by 3,000 Spaniards on the night of July 31; nine Americans were killed and fortyseven wounded.... The answer of Spain to the conditions imposed by America, on which peace may be secured, was presented to President McKinley.... The dispatch of reenforcements to Porto Rico has been stopped.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10.-A protocol embodying all the points of the American proposition in reply to Spain's overtures was drawn up in Washington....General Merritt's force in the Philippines is to be increased by the 7,000 troops now at San Francisco.... President Dole is to continue to exercise the functions of chief executive of Hawaii until Congress receives the report of the commission appointed to devise a form of government.... The British Foreign Office formally announced the appointment of George N. Curzon, until now the parliamentary secretary of the Foreign Office, as viceroy of India, in succession to the Earl of Elgin.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 11.-The Santiago sanitary report for the 9th instant says there were 2,043 fever cases, including 233 new ones; 327 fever cases returned to duty.... The Hawaiian commissioners appointed by President McKinley sailed from San Francisco for Honolulu.... The Chinese Foreign Office has given formal assent to the conditions demanded by Russia regarding the contract for the New-Chwang railroad extension loan, these conditions being in direct conflict with the contract, and designed as a blow at British concessions....The "Novoe Vremya," of St. Petersburg, praises the Marquis of Salisbury, for holding in check the "Russophobes" and says Russia is ready for action along the India frontier if Great Britain forces her to it.