problem of the revision of the Ili treaty on the existing Free Trade basis.
Bearing these factors in mind, there is no reason why British and Russian political interests in Outer China should not work sympathetically together. The writer is confident, from his experience, that no attempt is being made to extend the Siberian frontier southward by any really responsible Russian, either in Siberia or in St Petersburg. Nor does it appear reasonable to surmise that the annexation of any part of the inhospitable plateaus of Northern Outer China would ever pay Russia either directly or indirectly. In Southern Siberia, Russia has already found her geographical frontier. There is a danger, however, that she may acquire special economic privileges in Outer China, which, if once admitted, can be easily extended over that loosely governed and vast area of Outer China.
As to the future of the Mongols it would be futile to speculate. A race never very high in culture, even in the days of their imperial power, they have in the past century been crushed under the oppression of the Dragon Throne. By the geographical features of their country they naturally come under Chinese influence, but it is too early yet to say whether the gulf, which separates these primitive nomad tribes from the laborious cultured Chinaman, can ever be successfully bridged. The absorbing power of the "sons of Han" has always been a prominent feature in the history of the Middle Kingdom, and there is no reason why the two races should not ultimately merge.
Meanwhile the policy of crushing the Tartar nomad races of Outer China by violence is a policy
