It is announced from Tokio that the Manchurian ports of
An-tung and Ta-tung-kau will be opened to trade on May 1st, while the opening of Mukden will follow on June 1st. The news is interesting as the notification to the world of that result of the Russo-Japanese War which most concerns foreign peoples. Manchuria is to be free on equal terms to all nations for trade and travel. According to the Treaty of Portsmouth, the government of the province will pass into Chinese bands within the next two years, and it would seem as if Chinese troops were already in occupation. It lies with Japan to see that Chinas indolence and officialism do not neutralise the "open door" which has been so dearly purchased. It may be that in Manchuria the new movement in China will find an experimenting ground, and that the administration of the country under Japanese guidance may show the influence of those Western ideas which China professes herself anxious to absorb.
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