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THE DEATH OF YUNG LU.
(Daily Press, 18th April.) The death of YUNG LU removes one more of theold type of officials whose ignorance of the new world conditions prevailing throughout the globe have brought so much misery on their native countries. Without any pre- tence of statesmanship helyet possessed so much of the state craft that is often mistaken for it, that for many years he has not ouly preserved his own in the corrupt adminis tration of Peking, but has made himself sufficiently powerful to make his influence felt throughout China, and to become a factor which even the most influential of the Powers have felt themselves compelled to reckon with. That under the old con- ditions YUNG Lu might have materially altered the course of events in the Far East goes, we may say," without saying; that under the new he well nigh brought about the ruin of his country is equally incon
trovertible. Those new conditions YUNG Lu
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
but the power for mischief of both one and the other was at all times greatly ex- agger.ted, and even before the decease of the former was a practicably negligeable quantity.
[April 25, 1903.
THE FAMINE IN KWANGSI.
(Daily Press, 21st April.), We desire to draw the a' tention of our renders to the observations maile by His EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOE at the con ACTING LEGAL APPOINTMENTS, clusion of the meeting of the Legislative
(Daily Press, 18th April.).
has made consequent upon vacation leave In the acting appointments which he being granted to Sir W. M. GOODMAN, the Chief Justice, His Excellency the GOVERNOR has made a departure from a long establish- cd practice which does not meet with public approval. Hitherto, it has been the practice in the Colony when the Chief Justice has been away on vacation leave to appoint the Puisne Judge to act in his place but on the present occasion the claims of the Attorney-General to the honour have been preferred to those of the Puisne Judge. It has been stated that the appointment belongs to the Attorney-General as of right, which presumably means custom or home of the Attorney-General to be Lord precedent, (such as the appointment at Chief Justice) for we can find ro Colonial Office rule on regulation bearing on the ques- tion. These provide merely that every officer proceeding on leave must make adequate arrangements for the performance of his duties. In this case Sir W. GOODMAN proceeds on vacation leave, which carries full pay. There is no abatement of salary luring vacation leave, but the leave must be recorded under the Governor's hand, and the officer absenting himself must, with the concurrence or sanction of the GOVERNOR, have made such arrangements as may be necessary for the adequate discharge of his duties without cost to the public. The proper course to have followed therefore was for Sir W. GOODMAN to have asked Mr. JUSTICE WISE to perform his duties for the two months that he was taking leave, without any necessity of removing the Attorney-General and the Government a non-service man, thereby putting in the
dislocating both the judicial and legal departments. The criticisin which the acting appointments have evoked has been due not to any hostility to the gentlemen who have been honoured with the appoint- ments by H. E, the GOVERNOR, they and integrity-but it originates partly in the are both gentlemen of unquestioned ability high respect which is generally entertained for Mr. Justice WISE, whose long experience in the Colony no less than his proved ability as a Judge constitute the strongest possible claim to the honour of the acting appointment to the Chief Justiceship. It is, we have no doubt, disagreeable to all the gentlemen
we may without hesitanc say that his never had the ability to comprehend, and removal can only be looked upon as a relief to the country he so badly served. To residents in China who are able to measure the position of affairs, the furbodings of the home Press as to the immediate future seem strangely despondents and we can only attribute their lugubrious tone to a mistakeu view of the real power possessed by the late favourite of the EMPRESS DOWAGER In point of fact though YUNG LU's private sentiments up to the very end never underwent any change for the better, his ability for evil has been long a thing of the past. Even the Dowager TS'FHI with all the will has seen the neces sily of discarding him, and sorely against powerful current. Still the best wishers for China's prosperity and independence cannot but feel that a distinct load has been removed out of the way, and that there is now less friction in the way of the machine of State. In this respect present condition of affairs in China contrasts favourably with that prevail ing in Turkey. The Chinese in worldly affairs have never shown themselves blind to their own best interests; there are in China no questions of oppressed nationali- ties to complicate the question of reform; and the nation, though like all Oriental peoples, conservative to the backbone, has throughout its history shown a realy ability to take a practical grasp ofan altered position. The vast majority of the nation has become convinced that times have altered and the present system is not able to cope with the altered position, and a pressure, none the less real that it is silent has undoubtedly begun to assert itself even in the councils of Peking. The old school of which LI HUNG-CHANG, YUNG LU and SHENG KUNG- PAO were the most conspicuous examples bas no successors; new men and new ideas are forcing themselves to the front, and as each one of the old drops off, his place is filled by men of different calibre. We do not flatter ourselves that the new men are morally better than the old, or that their ingrained prejudices are powerful. They have, however, learned a good deal of the practical s side of the politics of the world, and there is, we believe, little chance of the old follies being repeated Nor, as we have aid before, are we disposed to place much mportance on the efforts of such dis- credited barbarians as Prince TUAN and TUNG FU-HSIANG. It is probable enough that they have had the secret connivance of both YUNG LU and the Dowager Ts'EHI,
her own desires has had to field to the too
concerned to find their names used in a
discussion of this kind in the public Press, but the present acting appointments invite criticism inasmuch as they constitute a departure from established practice, appear to us to be bad in principle and opposel to the letter and the spirit of the Colonial Office rules and regulations, "In general it may be stated" says Rule 70, "that his Majesty will be advised to regird more favourably appointments which are in the nature of pro- motions of meritorious public servants rather than appointments made in favour of persons new to the public service;" and again (Rule 73), "great weight must always be attached to local services and experience." In the best interests of the service, it is desirable that these regulations should be strictly
observed.
Mr. A. E, Alger has been elected President of the Shanghai Recreation Club in succession to Mr. Brodie A. Clark, who has resigned.
Council yesterday with reference to the famine which prevails in Kwangsi. Most
the crops in the province for three succes- people have been aware that the failure of sive seasons has produced widespread distress, but when once the appaling nature of the famine is realised we are "tonch of pature which makes the whole world kin" will produce a ready response to any appeal for funds which the meeting convened by His EXCELLENCY for Thursday may recommend. The Rev. I. L.. HESS, of Wuchow, who is the Chair. man of the American Alliance Mission in
sure that the
the province, has related to us some details of the shocking condition to which the population in the neighbourhood of Kwai- ping Lave been reduced. large numbers of people is that of absolute
The state of
starvation. Men who before the failure of
crops were in easy circumstances-even wealthy-bave had to dispose of their goods and chattels to provide food for their children. So pitiable is the plight of the people that in numberless instances they have even gold their wives or children, and deaths from sheer starvation are by no
means uncommon. The missionaries are doing whatever lies in their power to afford r lief, and up to the present they have receiveri from various sources a sum of between $2,000 and $3,000, but in the district of Kwaiping aloue a sum of not less than $12,000 is deemed necessary to sustain the famishing populace until the next harvest. At the meeting on Thursday Mr. Hess will doubtless supple ment these facts, and may also be able to tell us whether the provincial authorities and the wealthy people of the province have organised or intend organising any mea sures with a view to ameliorating the pitiable condition of the people. It is too often the case in the East that relief funds are promotel and assisted almost exclusively by foreigners, and it would encourage the generous impulses of the foreign resident if be could be assured that the wealthy men of Kwangsi and other provinces of China were doing their best o assist their famish- ing kinsfolk. An appeal of this nature, when the circumstances clearly show the necessity for it, is seldom made in any British community without securing a prompt and satisfactory response, and we have no doubt that the traditional generosity of all classes in Hongkong will be adequately maintained in the response to the appeal which will be made to the community in the curse of a few days.
(Daily Press, 24th April.) A very satisfactory feature of the speech delivered by HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVER
NOR yesterday at the meeting convened to in the Colony for the relief of the distress consider the desirability of raising a Fund
occasioned by the famine in Kwangsi was the announcement that the Tung Wa Hospital authorities had already sent sums amounting to about $4,000 to the afflicted districts to be expended in relieving the destitute. His EXCELLENCY has been at great pains to ascerinin that the distress in the province is of a very exceptional character, and has upon the information he has received dispatched with commend- able promptitude Mr. CLEMENTI As an almoner as well as an independent investiga-
tor in the interests of the Fund to which