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officially engineered in the past. Twenty years ago the Hunanese were rabidly anti- foreign and Changsha, the capital of the province, was a forbidden city.
Various new secret societies have sprung into existence which mostly confine their activities to organised brigandage against the rich and official classes. The authorities are enrolling among the inhabitants small bands of military police for the preservation of order, and His Majesty's consul remarks that the general outlook at the end of the is, on the whole, not unpromising.
year
The finances of the provinces are, as might be expected, in a state of confusion. This, however, does not prevent the officials from drawing up ambitious schemes for public works and education involving very heavy expenditure, and very few of which seem likely to mature in the near future. Many changes have also been introduced in the judicial system, which has much deteriorated under the new régime. The judges are in most cases comparatively young men with a smattering of legal knowledge, but quite unacquainted with the practice of law and without the varied experience of the magistrates under the old system. In fact the administration of justice would appear to be the worst feature of the new Government, and His Majesty's consul at Changsha reports that in cases where British subjects were interested it has required months of unremitting pressure coupled with repeated protests against the procrastination or the bad faith of the authorities to bring the matter to a hearing Though further supported by clear and conclusive evidence, has at last extorted in each case a reluctant judgment for the plaintiff, all the consul's efforts to obtain the enforcement of a single one of the judgments have been fruitless.
pressure,
As already recorded in the case of other provinces, the elections in Hunan were met everywhere with indifference. Procrastination or absolute omission to prepare and transmit the draft registers of voters was universal. Prior to the polling much can- vassing took place on the part of candidates for election. The favourite device was to buy up as many as possible of the tickets, one of which was issued to each qualified elector, and distribute them amongst a number of men who were feasted liberally beforehand. Care, however, was taken to make no payment until after the election, when it could be ascertained whether they had voted for their employer or not. The tickets appear to have fetched high prices, and to have been freely disposed of; 5 dollars 2-piece was commonly paid, and the price rose as the date of the polling drew near. the first day of the elections fights between the factions of the rival candidates took place round the polling stations in a number of districts. The ballot-box with the voting papers was usually destroyed, and in several instances the polling station was wrecked as well.
On
Apart from political troubles, the general state of the province, owing to the excellence of the crops, is showing increasing signs of prosperity, and trade is largely in excess of the figure for the corresponding period of 1911 Steps are being taken to develop the mineral deposits in which this province is so rich, and which include coal, lead, tin, iron, copper, and gold. Various industrial undertakings and railways are also being mooted.
Ichang.
Robberies continue with great frequency in the country districts round Ichang. A serious rising occurred at Hsing Shan, in the Kueichou district, which took the local authorities over six weeks, and some 2,000 troops to quell. The rising was organised by the Red Lamp Society, who are strong on the Hupei-Szechuan border. The trouble began with some 300 to 400 men attacking the local gentry at Hang Hsien. The judge interfered and was killed, as was also his junior. The outlaws then openly declared against the officials. Some seventy soldiers, sent from Kueichou to crush the movement, were badly beaten, and an appeal was sent to Ichang for reinforcements. Four com- panies of infantry were dispatched, but by the time they arrived on the scene the numbers of the insurgents had increased to some 3,000 men, strongly entrenched in the bills. Further reinforcements with mountain guns had to be sent from Siangyang before the rebels were finally turned out of their strongholds.
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