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Commercial: the Native Customs.
forces available for war and military movements. They have also a service of police home work, composed of members of the ordinary population, who when on service status as soldiers but resume their civil character on withdrawing. These are ged and renewed at regular intervals so as to equalize the incidence of the Some such system must be adopted if it be desired to establish the country in gth.
Hen.
Now there are at present in Kuang-tung Province some 47,000 disciplined troops led under the old standing army (Lu Ying, or Army of the Green Standard) for the the upkeep of which costs about 2,150,000 taels. Any considerable addition to of which 520,000 taels are required per annum. keep
There are in addition 37,000 e forces would require very heavy additions to expenditure for which the Treasury is e unable to pay.
The work of the Native Customs at Canton is now under the supervision of the Imperial Maritime Customs, and matters appear to be working smoothly, although thes, whole of the system and administration has not yet completely come under the cort of the foreign staff, who are not at present sufficient to cope with the outdoor work of examination, &c. This is still carried on by the Hoppo's old staff, and though it is nominally under the control of the foreign staff, there has not been time to develop a satisfactory system of checks upon malpractices, which doubtless continue to exist.
The Tariff is gradually being assimilated to that of the Foreign Customs, and the result has been that many kinds of cargo formerly carried to and from Hong Kong in junks are now shipped by steamer. The import duties are the same for either way of shipment, and the steamers can in many cases offer better terms as regards freight. Waste silk and matting are the two principal exports thus affected.
Visit of Colonel Dessino to Canton.
Colonel Dessino, a Russian military officer, holding rank as Colonel de l'État Major, paid a visit to Canton at the end of February, He called upon the Governor and Tartar General, and for this purpose described himself as "Imperial Russian Commercial Commissioner for Kuang-tung." The object of his mission was, he said, to see what possible opening there might be for Russian commerce, hitherto non-existent in this Province.
The Kerosene Oil Trade.
Messrs. Arnhold, Karberg, and Co., agents for the Shell Transport and Trading Co., are now importing on their account large quantities of kerosene oil in bulk, which comes from Hongkong in a tank steamer, the "Sabine Rickmers," and is made up in tins in Canton.
Some anxiety is felt as regards trade prospects for this year; the customary rains have not yet fallen and it has been found impossible to plant the rice in many places where irrigation cannot be carried on. Fortunately this is possible in most parts of the Delta, but in the west and north of the province there are many districts which depend for water supply solely upon the rainfall, and anything approaching a rice famine would have a most serious effect upon the trade.
West River Steamers.
It is satisfactory to be able to record that the West River steamers " Nanning" and Sainam," which have been running at a loss ever since they were put on the river, made a profit of about 700 dollars as the result of their running during March. The improve- ment has been completely on account of cargo.
Health of the Port.
Cholera has been very prevalent among the Chinese during the past two months, and many deaths have been reported. Matters have now improved considerably. The foreign community have suffered heavily, there having been six deaths among them from this disease, and two more from acute dysentery with choleraic symptoms.
Army Reform (Confidential).
As a result of the instructions issued in October last from the Central Government respecting changes in the army, the Board of Reorganization and the Military Bureau have jointly made report to the Viceroy submitting certain proposals for the application of the new scheme to the forces of Kuang-tung Province. The following is the substance of their Report:-
We would point out with reference to this subject that in the organization of foreign armies there are two chief divisions, the standing army and the reserve-these constitute
go
On the other hand, if matters are allowed to continue in the present way we shall becoming increasingly helpless. All we can do, under present financial conditions, is remove from the army all useless persons, reform the discipline and proceed to the rgetic training and drilling of the forces now at our disposal. When by these means morale has been raised and a new organization introduced, it will be possible to remove ime-honoured abuses and malpractices.
After exhaustive inquiries and lengthy discussion with a view to the military irements of Kuang-tung Province, we now have the honour to submit the following posals:-
There should first be formad in Canton city a corps of infantry, one of artillery, and of engineers, to be posted at various stations and continue their training there. These ald constitute the nucleus of the new permanent force or standing army, should number 00 men, and be placed under the leadership of the Provincial General, who should Bain in quarters with them. They should be divided as follows:-
Infantry Artillery.. Engineers
The yearly expenses for such a force would be 430,000 taels.
Companies.
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A separate force of 15,000 men should be trained to form a reserve in six main sions, to be posted in detachments on the East, West, and North Rivers, and at the der stations of Chiu Chou, Lien Chou, and at Kao Chou and Ch'iung Chou. This e would cost yearly about 1,300,000 taels, and would be under the direction of the sent military authorities at the places where they are stationed.
For the command of these two corps, careful choice should be made among those of members of the present forces who have some knowledge of the use of fire-arros and lery, The selection should first be made from the Li Ying or Army of the Green ndard, and if that source is insufficient, officers can be borrowed from the Kiangnan Chiang Brigade or Yüan Shih K'ai's standing army. Students from the Hunan Chün Academy can be brought to Canton to establish colleges attached to the various aps, so that the officers can from time to time take up courses of study.
A separate pay Department should be instituted, so that the officers can devote selves solely to the training of the forces, and not have their attention diverted by
er matters.
The duty of the police force would, of course, be to see to the preservation of der. The Green Standard Army, rid of its worthless and decrepit members, can be verted into such a force which would number probably about 12,000 men.
We would beg your Excellency to submit these proposals to the Throne by emorial, and also to consult with the Tartar General respecting the question of ether the Banner Forces should be trained as a separate force or incorporated in the
army.
The above plan is intended to be carried out in conjunction with the reduction by
per cent, of the provincial forces and Braves, as ordered by Imperial Decree last year,
2 with the disbanding of the Irregulars specially enlisted in 1900.
M. Mandi and Count von Butler, agents for Messrs. Krupp and Sons, paid a donged visit to Canton during February. So far as can be ascertained they have not ¿ceeded in securing any contracts for the supply of arms.
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