June 24, 1896.]
GERMANY AND LI HUNG-CHANG.
either for the sake of territorial concessions
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
wanted to get officers from Germany, America, and England, but it was only the first named that acceded to his applica tion. From Germany he got out fifty in- structors, but soon after their arrival CHANG was sent back to Wuchang, and his suc- cessor LIU KUN-YI would give the foreign in- structors few or no troops to drill, and so great that when one of them took a few men on to was the jealousy entertained towards them
one of the parade grounds the other day they were attacked and driven off by the Hunan troops, Mr. KRAUSE, the instructor, being rather seriously injured in the melec. Such is military reform in China.
es-
It is quite natural that the Germans should give LI HUNG-CHANG a flattering reception. He has always been friendly to Germany, and a great number of contracts have gone there from Tientsin. His Excellency, we have reason to believe, entertains a great admiration for German military science, which commenced from the capitulation of Sedan. He has never had any serious dis- agreement with the German Minister, and the course of politics between Peking and Berlin has run fairly smoothly. Moreover, Germany humbled France, a power never loved by China and that rendered itself
When the last mail left home it was particularly odious to Lt during the hosti-reported at Berlin that a Prussian officer, lities of 1884-5. The French never sought colonel LIEBERT, had accepted an appoint in old times to curry favour with Peking ment to reorganise the Chinese army, We or commercial privileges. Of late years, CHANG has engaged two officers to
are now informed by Reuter that Li Huso- however, the French Representatives appear tablish a military school on the German to have joined in the undignified scramble model. The establishment of a military school for contracts, and the result has certainly is a very different thing from the reor been unfortunate for all foreign interests in ganisation of the army, or the bringing into China, Germany has always had a very
one organisation of a number of separate commercial mind in her dealings with and independent provincial armies. The China and has consistently sought the former scheme is likely enough to be business advantage of her subjects. The
carried through, but the general reor- German manufactories have profited not
ganisation of the Chinese forces is still, a little in consequence, and the manu- facturers who are arranging the fêtes to the latest received issue of the N. C. Daily to all appearance, far distant. According with which to receive the Chinese Am- Nenes, the Peiyang new German-drilled bassador are no doubt animated by a
army, now under the command of YCAN lively sense of favours to come. It is very obvious, indeed, what are the reasons
SHIN-KAI, formerly Chinese Resident in prompting this grand reception of the Seoul, is being inspected by the newly misnamed "Bismarck of China." For our
appointed Assistant Grand Secretary, JUNG part we hope that when the venerable, who has been specially deputed by the Throne to go to Tientsin for that purpose. mandarin visits Great Britain no effort will If the inspection is favourable it is reported be made to afford him any extraordinary that a brigade from the Peking Field Force reception, which he neither merits nor,
will be organised on the same lines under probably, desires. The usual civilities accorded to special Ambassadors may be this it will be seen how limited the scope the command of JUNG LU himself. From conceded to L HUNG-CHANG, venal old of the reform in contemplation really is. humbug as he is, but it is sincerely to be Instead of placing the armies in all the hoped that no special honour will be done provinces under one uniform system of to him, or it will be at once interpreted into foreign instruction it is merely intended a readiness to kotow to the most contemptible to organise a brigade of the Peking Field Government (considering the vastness of Force on foreign lines. the country and the greatness of the popu lation) in the habitable globe.
L
MILITARY REFORM IN CHINA. There have of late been rather frequent references to the question of the reorganisa- tion of the Chinese army. The recent war with Japan demonstrated very plainly the necessity for reorganisation, and to the Western mind it seems passing strange that a country after suffering such a severe lesson should take no effective steps to place her- self on a footing of equality in military matters with her neighbours. China's desire for reform, however, such as it was, expended itself at the time in an extraordinary acti- vity in the manufacture of old-fashioned jingals, or "two man guns," the disasters sustained by the Chinese in the field being put down to the inferiority of the foreign weapons that had been adopted. As yet the Celestial Empire cannot be said to possess a national army. There are a number of provincial armies, each with its own orga- nisation and its own system of training, and no common arm has been adopted. Here and there a Viceroy more enlightened than the rest may take steps to give the troops under his command the advantage of foreign instruction, but there is no uniformity of purpose in the matter, and the same Viceroy will sometimes engage instructors from different countries trained in different schools. CHANG CHIH- TUNG, when Viceroy at Nanking lately,
THE PRAYA RECLAMATION,
Looking at the appearance of the foreshore at low tide from the new Reclamation to Pottinger Street, no one, we think, can accuse the colonists of impatience. They have waited and hoped, while the weeks and the months and the years rolled by, for the time when dry land would replace the fætid mud which every receding tide leaves to fester under their noses. They were aware that this was inevitable, that it was a part of the price that must be paid for the ex- tension of the sea frontage and for securing deep water along the Bund. Therefore they were resigned to the disagreeable, to the malarious, the insanitary odours that afflicted them, and bore them as an evil of temporary duration, which they had a right to hope would not be unnecessarily pro- longed. Has it been so prolonged? This is the question the pubic are asking, and to many it is an urgent one. The excellence of the work already completed is patent to all, and every credit must be given to the Engineer, Mr. BOWDLER, for the manner in which the Praya wall has been constructed and the roads laid out. But while this is freely conceded, and no murmur is raised as to the cost, the slow rate of progression in the reclamation of the second section is pain- fully apparent. Possibly the impatience of the public would be less pronounced if the existing condition of the foreshore were
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less noisome, less dangerous to health,
inconvenient to less there any need for this delay?
Is small craft.
Does it arise from the necessity for time to admit of the concrete blocks settling, to ensure solidity for the wall? Or is it due to the inability of the Government to procure a sufficient supply of earth for filling in pur- poses? Surely this is not so difficult a matter! Boats can be had in any num- ber to convey the earth, and there are plenty of spots where it can be procured without injuring any person's interests. The work should, if only from a sanitary point of view, be pushed on with all the rapidity possible. The Sanitary Board, as the custo dians of the public health, should see to this. There can be no doubt that every effluent tide leaves exposed a mass of putres- cent and decaying matter sufficient to germi- nate and spread disease in a serious degree. The medical faculty are, we understand, very pronounced on this subject, and con- sider that something should be done at önce to bring the nuisance to the earliest possible termination. A word to the wise is suffi-
cient. We trust Mr. BOWDLER will accept the hint in the way intended, and that he will act upon it promptly with a view to fill in the present malodorous and unsightly swamp with added expedition.
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II.
A contributor to the China Mail writes :- Speaking of the delay in the completion "of the Praya Reclamation, it must not be "forgotten that the Government stopped "the work for some time, at the request of "several large lot-holders, on the ground that the expense was proving to be too great a strain on the finances of the resi- dents." This is, we believe, altogether fallacious. In May, 1893, a petition for the postponement of the Reclamation, which of course could only refer to those sections on which work had not then been commenced, was presented to the Government, but the lot- holders concerned were not unanimous, and the reply to the petition was a direct and unconditional refusal. It is not to be supposed, therefore, that the request of several large lot-holders" can have had any influence whatever in delaying the work, as it would have been highly improper for the Government, after giving a public refusal to a public petition, to have quietly acceded to the same prayer when privately preferred. The petitioners never had any idea of advo- cating dawdling over work that had actually been taken in hand, a course that no one could find a word to say in favour of, as its results are altogether evil. The lot-holders therefore cannot be in any way blamed for the existing condition of affairs.
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THE SANITARY BOARD AND THE
CHINESE PETITION,
The Sanitary Board on Thursday dealt rather cavalierly with the Chinese petition with reference to the enforcement of the sanitary regulations. The petition was ad dressed, however, not to the Sanitary Board, but to the Registrar-General, and that official, in his capacity of Protector of Chinese, will no doubt deem it his duty to make further inquiry into the matter, and, if the com- plints of the petitioners be well founded, to again bring the matter before the Board. We profess to govern the Chinese with justice and consideration and when they come for- ward and with due respect represent that they are labouring under a grievance it is the duty of the departments concerned to investigate the alleged grievance in order to ascertain whether it be well founded, and not to dismiss it off-hand because all the rules