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for your instructions, in again bringing the doings of the
Self Goverment Sockety to the serious notice of the Chi-
nese Government. This I did at an interview which I had
yesterday with Prince Ch'ing and all the Ministers of the
ai Tu Pu.
I told His Highness quite frankly that the state into
which China wasp drifting was causing the deepest concern
to all who had interests in the country. Since the inau-
Furation of the Regency there had been a perceptible wea-
kening of the Central Authority and a corresponding increase
in the powers olaimed and exercised by the Provincial Co-
vernmente.
Every case at present pending between the
British and Chinese Governments arose from the reluctance
of the latter to impose its authority upon the provinces.
The Shanghai Ningpo Railway affair and the Peking Syndicate
troubles in Honan, both of which I had just discussed with
His Highness, were illustrations of this grave defect in
the present system of administration.
Another still more flagrant instance of the usurpation
of authority was found in the action of the Self Government
Society