This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.
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time to ameliorate the condition of the natives, and the finances of Indo-China being generally in a precarious condition, it is evident that economies are necessary. The new Governor-General's first official act on arrival is calculated to effect economies in the most obvious way—reduction of the European officials, whose numbers are ridiculous. The suppression has been either carried out or is intended of the following functionaries: the Directors-General of Public Works, of Agriculture and Commerce, of Posts and Telegraphs, and of Education.
These Directors-General were invented by M. Doumer. They resided at Hanoi; and from there directed the various services in the different countries of the Indo-Chinese Union. The result of this centralization has been that the local agents of the Public Works and other services have often considered themselves quite independent of the provincial residents and only answerable to their own chiefs in Hanoi. The abolition of the Directors will, therefore, have the effect of rendering the Residents masters in their own provinces. It will also mean eventually a considerable saving, as each Director-General had gathered round him a considerable staff of "chefs" and "sous-chefs" and "chefs adjoints de cabinet," with assistants and clerks and copyists by the dozen. The present holders of these posts will doubtless have to be provided for in some way, and the saving will, therefore, not be manifested at once. The Director-General of Customs remains, but his provincial agents are henceforth to be under the control of the local Residents.
M. Klobukowski is carrying out the same policy of retrenchment in his own staff. Of the posts of "Directeur du Cabinet et du Personnel" and "Chef du Cabinet" the latter has been abolished, as has also the "Chef du Bureau Militaire." Economies are also being made in the "Bureau Politique" and other branches of the Government-General.
These reforms are naturally not regarded with much enthusiasm by some of the officials here, particularly as they also comprise the abolition or reduction of various extra allowances which have been drawn by functionaries, and predictions are made that no benefit will come of them, and that they will end in a return to the old system under a different name. But to an outsider it appears impossible to doubt that the Governor-General has ample justification for an attempt to reduce the extraordinarily swollen ranks of European bureaucracy in this country.
M. Klobukowski will probably leave here for Saigon in January. It is not yet known whether he intends to reside the greater part of the time there or in the northern capital.
I have, &c. (Signed) T. Ff. CARLISLE.
CHINA RAILWAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL,
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[October 8.]
SECTION 2.
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No. 1.
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Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received October 8.)
Rec? REC 23 DEC 08
(No. 160.) (Telegraphic.) P.
Peking, October 8, 1905. PEKING-HANKOW Railway. With reference to my telegram No. 153 of the 25th ultimo, I have the honour to report that the signature of the Redemption Loan Agreement took place this afternoon.
[1983 h-2]