>
193
2
penalty. The Junior Secretary of the Board of Communications, Chin Kung Shou, the Assistant Secretary, Wang Shou Chuch, are hereby dismissed from office for pursuing their own ends; and Ting Wei Chung, a Junior Secretary of the Board of the Interior, is dismissed from office in perpetuity.
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Extract from the " Official Gazette" of February 8, 1909.
MEMORIAL by the Grand Secretaries Sun Chia-nai and Na-tung reporting the result of their investigation into the charges against Ch'en-pi, President of the Board of Communications.
(Abstract translation.)
ON the 14th January an Imperial Decree was received directing the memorialists to make a full and impartial inquiry into charges of waste of public funds, jobbery, and corruption, which had been preferred against Ch'en-pi. In reverent obedience to the Imperial commands they at once proceeded with the inquiry, deputed officers from the Grand Secretariat, the Wai-wu Pu, and the Board of Civil Office to examine all records bearing on the case, and closely interrogated all persons in any way implicated in the charges. They then proceeded to detail the specific charges brought against Chien-pi, and the results of their inquiries into each :---
1. It is charged that the salaries of 1,900 taels paid monthly to Liang Shih-y, 800 taels to Kuan Mao-chün, and 600 taels cach to three other officers, in addition to their shares in the profits from railways and telegraphs, constitute a serious waste of public money.
The memorialists find that the statements with reference to these officers' salaries are approximately correct, Liang Shih-yi's remuneration being made up of 300 taels from the Board and 1,600 taels as Director of the Railway Bureau, Kuan Mao-chün drawing 800 taels as Associate Director of the Peking-Kalgan Railway, and the total salaries of the other officers named being about 340 taels a-month.
2. It is stated that out of ten high posts in the Board, to which salaries of 300 taels a-month are attached, four are held by officers holding other offices, and that the remainder either fail to attend to their duties at the Board for weeks and months together, or else merely go there every few days. The officers above referred to do not include officers on the regular staff drawing salaries of from 300 to 400 taels, or to officials from other Departments who also draw allowances from the Board.
The memorialists find that the first part of this statement is correct, appointments in the Board being held by the Vice-Governor of Shun-tien Fu, the Director of the Railway Bureau, the Manager of the Telephone Office, and an officer of the Peking- Hankow Railway. The statement with regard to officers failing to attend the office cannot be conclusively established, but as in many cases the receipts for salaries are signed by one officer on behalf of one or several others there are good grounds for concluding that the attendance is not regular. They also find that there is a lack of uniformity in the salaries paid to the heads of various Departaments, which vary from 300 taels down to 30 taels. The total number of officers in charge of various sections is over 110, and the monthly salaries of these officers, together with those of the Ministers of the Board, amount to a total of 17,000 to 18,000 taels.
3. It is charged that although there are already over 100 officers in the Board other officials are constantly transferred from the provinces or from other Departments to fill important posts, and that there are good grounds for suspecting improper influence in securing such appointments. Two instances of officers transferred to the Board and given unduly rapid promotion are quoted.
An examination of the records of the two officers roferred to has shown that the statements with reference to their unusually rapid promotion are correct.
4. Ch'en-pi is charged with having given an official appointment to the steward of his private residence.
The memorialists have examined the record of the man referred to, and find that he was not Ch'en-pi's own steward, but had acted in that capacity in a college of which
3
Ch'en-pi was the Director. There is reason to think, therefore, that this officer owed his appointment to improper influence.
5. It is charged that a certain Ting Wei-chung, who had heen dismissed from the Board of Punishments for incompetence, was appointed to a post in the Board by Ch'en-pi in return for private services, more especially in connection with the purchase. of a piece of land for the President.
It appears that Ting Wei-chung does not hold a post in the Board of Communica- tions, but it is a fact that he formerly received an appointment from Ch'en-pi to another position, and he acted as Ch'er-pi's agent in acquiring the piece of land referred to, which transaction appears to have been carried out in a somewhat high- handed manner.
6. Ch'en-pi is charged with having given a post to a timber merchant with whor he had had business relations, and who, when at Tien-tsin, had been convicted of some offence and sentenced to bambooing.
The man concerned has since died, and it has been found impossible to substan- tiate this charge,
7. It is charged that several new and unnecessary Departments have been established in the Board of Communications entailing the payment of salaries of several hundred taels to various officials serving no useful purpose.
The memorialists state the names of various Departments and sub-Departments in the Board, and state that in some cases it is difficult to see what their purpose can be. They instance the Postal and Shipping Departments, whose functions are in reality exercised in the one case by the Customs and the Revenue Council, and in the other by the Superintendent of Northern Trade.
8. Ch'en-pi is charged with having shown an undue preference for men from his own province, Fukhien, when distributing posts in the Board and other Departments.
It is found that twenty-nine posts in the Board of Communications are held by Fukhiencse, and whilst in other cases statistics are not always available on the Peking-Hankow Railway, out of 300 higher posts over seventy, including most of the highly paid appointments, are held by men from that province.
9. It is alleged that Ch'en-pi arranged with P'u-ting, President of the Board of Commerce, that each should find positions for the other's sons and nephews.
The memorialists find that a son of Chen-pi received a post in the Board of Commerce last year, whilst in the following month positions in the Board of Com- munications were given to a son and a nephew of P'u-t'ing. They consider these appointments somewhat open to suspicion.
10. A similar arrangement is alleged to have been made between Ch'en-pi and the Vice-President of the Board of Finance.
It appears that certain members of each official's family did receive appointments from the other, and there are some grounds for suspecting the existence of a mutual arrangement.
11. Chen-pi is charged with having given an appointment to an officer whom he knew to be incompetent, because the father of the officer in question was in charge of the Department to which Ch'en-pi's son was attached. The memorialists merely note that the appointment referred to was made.
12. He is also charged with giving an appointment to the son of the Min-Che Viceroy, Sung Shou, although he knew him to be incompetent, in order to gain favour with his fellow-provincials.
The memorialists find that the circumstances of the appointment are such as to suggest that it was made with the view above stated.
13. He is charged with taking secret commissions on foreign loans.
The memorialists find that during Ch'en-pi's tenure of office four foreign loans were raised: one of 1,000,000 taels from the Peking Syndicate, one of 1,000,000 taels from the Hong Kong and Shanghae Bank, one of 5,000,0001, from the Hong Kong and Shangliae Bank and the Banque de l'Indo-Chine, and one of 2,470,000 dollars from the South Manchurian Railway Company. All these loans were negotiated by Liang Shih-yi and other officers under the instructions of the three Ministers of the Board, and if there were any corrupt practices they were kept absolutely secret and no evidence is forthcoming.
14. It is stated that Ch'en-pi, who comes of a family possessing but little property, has accumulated a fortune of 1,000,000 tacls, the inanagement of which he intrusted to an official in the Board of Commerce named Li-chün. This man had been living in retirement for some years, but immediately after the death of the
ve
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.