her influence in Chinese territory and place her in a stronger position from which to insist upon her policy of open ports.

The news comes by cable that China has agreed to allow the control of the imperial maritime customs to be placed in the hands of a British subject "so long as the British trade with China exceeds that of any other powers." As the British trade is now reported to be nearly ten times as great as that of any other power, there is no immediate prospect of a change.

The sentence of Zola to a year's imprisonment and to the payment of a fine of $600 has been only the beginning of extraordinary proceedings in France, resulting from his trial.

Colonel Picquart, who has been a strong champion of ex-Captain Dreyfus, has been expelled from the French army without a pension, and he is also for three years to be constantly watched by the police.

Furthermore, the papers and the public men who have been conspicuous in their defence of Zola and of Dreyfus have been warned to cease their agitation. Even some of the foreign correspondents have received hints from the governmental authorities that if they are not more careful in their statements with regard to the Dreyfus case, they will be obliged to leave the country.

It is hard to believe that such a state of affairs can exist in a civilized country. The position of the French Government has been so clearly defined, however, by the French Premier, Monsieur Méline, that it is plain the French republic has for a time become almost a despotism, ruled by a tyrant known as the French army, which is, of course, the cause of all the trouble. In the Chamber of Deputies the other day Monsieur Méline remarked:

"After military justice civil justice has declared itself. It has proclaimed that the members of the court-martial were honest men, who obeyed their consciences. The Zola trial has ended the confusion made by those who presumed to put themselves above the laws of the country. Those who appeared in court were not there as subordinates of the Minister of War, but as individual witnesses under nobody's orders.

"Certain generals may have been led on too far, but they were led on by the defence. One general no doubt spoke a word too much, but remember the accusations that were flung in his face. They ascribed to officers hidden intentions to undermine our institutions, but the French army cannot be an army of one man. There is not a single officer capable of an attempt against the country, for our officers have other dreams."

From this speech it is plain that the French Government is exerting its power to crush the present movement in favor of Dreyfus. But those who have followed the Zola trial carefully and impartially are convinced that the Government will fail. What the result will be, no one can tell. But there are many who believe that one result will be a revolution ending in the overthrow of the republic.

This, however, is an extreme view.

No one really believes that Zola will be kept in prison for a year, even if he does go there. He himself has borne his sentence like a hero, and is willing to accept it without an appeal. His lawyer, however, and his friends will do their utmost to save him from suffering so gross an injustice.

Even if Zola were guilty of libelling the army, his intentions were so honorable and unselfish that any fair court of justice could not have failed to have acquitted him, or at most to have given him merely a nominal punishment.