400
ANTI-FOREIGN CHINESE
OFFICIALS.
(Daily Press, 20th June.)
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
dues on a nominally Government owned and controlled Railway. When the late Viceroy at Nanking, H. E. LIU K'WEN-I, arranged for the extention of the boundaries! We have recently had occision to refer to of the Foreign Settlements at Shanghai, the the disgraceful mismanagement of the pre-obsincle in the way was this same SHENG tended Imperial Telegraph Administration, SWAN-HWEI, in deference to whose controll- of China, which under the name of being ing influence in the Wusung Railway, a an Imperial service had really, according to huge gap was left in the middle of the true Chinese traditional custom, become a
amended Settlement, lest, as an evil family affair in the hands of that most conscience on the subject suggested, his reactionary of Chinese a Iministrators, mismanagement of the radway should SHENG KUNG-PAO, The animadversions become too apparent. Until the other day cast by us on the present service are re-
the management of the Wusung department peated in still stronger terms by the Times of the line had effectually shut off all correspondent, than whom no-one from municipal and public access to their line, practical experience is more competent to leaving only a sinall space for the admission speak. This SHENG KUNG-PAO, better of passengers. As a natural effect of this, perhaps known by his official name of SHENG sided by a prohibitory tariff, the traffic on SWAN-HWEI, which he bore before being the line was of the smallest, and hardly granted his present title, has not only been covered expenses. The new managemant of noted by the persistency with which he the line after its opening to Suchow, filled clings to the traditional spoils of office, and up SHENG'S diteb, which ad effectually the opposition he offers to every project of prevented access to the station and threw financial amendment, but has recently into the public road. This ditch, some become one of the chief instigators of the 14 ft. wide, had formed the boundary of the clamour for the restoration of "China's Settlement, up to which the Settlement Sovereigu Rights" which in certain cases,
Police had patrolled. On the other side of owing to her own internal weaknes, and the ditch on the railway property watched the persistent maladministration of SHENG a boly of a slightly improved native police. KUNG-PAO himself, and others of the same
As a fence had been put up along the new calibre, have dropped out of her hand. The boundary of the road the Settlement police latest complaint of his nature proceeding naturally patrolled the whole road, and one from the Chinese ox, is directly the work of day one of the municipal police was SHENG himself, and is addres-ed to the attacked by some International Telegraphie Conference, being held at Lisbon. Owing to the notorious maladministration of the native telegraphs, when Manchurian administration was as far as possible being handed back to China, the telegraphs, which had been necessarily worked under foreign supervision, remained tacitly under similar con:r.1. The Chinese Government had, in fact, no competent staff for the purpose, nor was any request made for the transfer, so things simply went on by their own vis inertia. A firm believer in the traditional doctrine that the
per-
quisites of office are the personal property of the holder, and must not be enquired into, SHENG KUNG-PAO is the champion of the old as opposed to the modern dogma of the responsibility of office. So this inter. ference with what he conceives to be his cwn personal monopoly has been grating heavily on his mind. That it was entirely due to his own maladministration, is, with officials of the SHENG type, and unfortunately they are still in the majority, no proper reply to his complaint. His were the telegraphs, and his he intended they should be for all time, and not the EMPEROR himself, or what in SHENG's wind was f far more con- sequence, the EMPRESS DOWAGER, even if she wished, which of course SHENG tok care by a judicious course of watering, she should not de, ad aur busi ess to enquire as to the m-thod in which they were con- ducted. This, it is hardly necessary to mention has been for all time the accepted rule of Government in China, and SHENG in constituting himself its special champion is only giving expression to the feelings of nine out of every ten of the ruling class.
Another nominal Government under. taking in which SHENG KUNG-PAO occupies a like position is the short line of railway from Shanghai to Wusung. As in the case of the Telegraphs, to say that SHENG is the leading, or sole spirit in the management, is to imply necessarily that it is bungled. Uufortunately the line forms part of the Nanking System, where the other day we had occasion to refer to the disastrous effects of this interference of implied private rights with the financial success of the Jailway in the imposition of private likin
of
the others who
[June 27, 1908. parties, who are patently trying to stir up the old strife, are for the most par: men, like SHENG KUNG-PAO, whose position in any other country than China would act as a deterrent. These men hal experience that it has been mainly owing to her own faithlessness and disregard of engagement that it has been necessary to take the ad- ministration of these things out of China's own hand-necessary for the carrying on of any intercourse whatever. Yet with all the lessons of the past we see a return to the old councils of Ĉauton in the old East India Company's days becoming, under evidently high inspiration from Peking, once more the order of the day.
Returning to the Shanghai incident it is no good sign for the future relations of Chias, that the man YUEN SHU-BUN who notoriously was the instigator of the Settle- meat riots two years ago, so far from meeting with disgrace, has at the instance of the DowAGER EMPRESS been promoted to high office, and has recently ben appoint. ed Governor of the important province of Shantung. So long as men who have abused their offices by such misdeeds in place of degradation, meet with high promotion, so long must we look upon the regeneration of China as a thing incipable of realisation.
THE CULT OF DEMOS.
"
is designated Municipal Socialism in England" and, after giving an exhaustive accouut of the manner in which socialistic principles have been adopted by various municipalities in that country treats in- cidentally of the whole subject of socialism both in England and France, and shows the danger of such a system if applied to the State.
(Daily Press, Jane 22nd.) An article of much interest at the present attempted to drag him off violently. The time on the subject of Socialism, appears in man, who was sufficiently powerful, the Revus des deux mondes from the pen of naturally resisted and mall the others Mr. PAUL DUBOIS, a well known and very relinquish their bold. When they attempt-able political writer. It deals with what ed to repeat the manœuvre a few days after the foreign policeman ble his whistle, with the result that three native policemen were run in and taken to the st ition, whence the next morning they were brought up before the Mixed Court. As the magistrate was not prepared to try the case, on his promise that they should appear the next day, they were allowed out." Of course, the affair having evidently been arrange 1 beforehand, the next day no appearance was made, notwithstanding the engagement of the magistrate, but three mounted men, armed, coinmenced, in defiance of all regulations, to patrol the neighbouring streets. As the foreign police have orders to arrest all armed natives marching through the foreign quarters, chase was immediately given nad one of the lot was captured and run in. A demand was made for his release which
The difficulty of arriving at any conclusion on the subject of Socialism is that the term is used with a great variety of meanings. For all that has been said about Socialism for years past it would be difficult to give any exact definition of what the term really means. The idea of very many is that Socialism is some recently discovered means of putting an end to all the evils of poverty -to low wages, to sweating, to unemploy ment, to the wretched surroundings of. the slums in which many have to pass their lives. This end appears so desirable that people are inclined to believe in any means, which have a plausible appearance of being likely to attain it; and the subject thus affor.is an endless to pro to the vast number of orators, the power speeches is the result of a appy ignoring
f whose
was refused, but the magistrate was given to understand that if the men whom he had engaged to app ar did surrender, the Coun- cil would consider the case of the other. The case was apparently one of these at, tempts which have lately become destructive of all good relations to "restore China's Sovereign Rights." Unfortunately for the continuance of good relations, these at- of all that can be said on the other side. tempts, so far from partaking of the nature The curious fact, however reinains that most of redressing wrongs, which woull be wil- of those who have actual knowledge of the liugly listened to, and if well founded pour and have taken an active part in righted, the new school partake of SHENG relieving them are opposed to the socialistic KUNG-PAO's methods, and take no account creed and are fully alive to ita practical of the corresponding rights of the others- futility, and indeed, to its danger. Those A question of patrolling fourteen feet along best conversant with the subject are aware one side of a municipal road in Shanghai that there will always be a large class whose has been made a pretence for encroaching condition it is impossible to improve for the on rights surrendered sixty-two years ago simple reason that they make no effort in that direction themselves; and that without under Imperial instructions, and in ac-
no artifical economic measures cordance with the Treaty of Nanking, and this of similar character are most of the other produce any permanent good. It will be claims put forward for the "restoration long before anything like unanimity will be of China's lapsed rights. The tile pre-arrived at on this road bearing of the sented to the Lisbon Conference is only one subject, but individual parts of the Socialist of a series, each one more preposterous than propaganda of a less sweeping character are the others. Unfortunately the intriguing already being accepted, and they may form a temptation to go to further and dangerous
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can