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ransacked on the 20th October by its republican guard, whose pay was considerably in In Lin Tse IIsien a riot occurred about the same time, owing to students destroying the gods in the city temple. Towards the end of November a mutiny took place in the Manchu garrison in Tsing-chou fu. Operations have been carried on against the robbers in the Tsaochoufu and Yenchoufu districts, and the governor now claims that brigandage has been practically suppressed in this part of the province. The most notorious of the leaders was seized and executed in December, but two others remain to be captured, The newspapers have recently given accounts of brigandage in the Wutingfu district, north of the Yellow River, which is usually free from such troubles.
Disbandment of the troops is steadily proceeding, and is causing little trouble except for a mutiny at Chefoo in the beginning of January. This occurred on the 4th January, after nearly all the Manchurian troops had been paid off, and had handed over their arms to their commandant. A large number of them had gone on board the steamer, which was to take them to the north. Owing to some interference, and attempt to deprive them of a portion of their pay, the troops returned to shore, rushed the arsenal, overcame the guard, possessed themselves of rifles and ammunition, and started to hold up the traffic on the streets. They were soon joined by others anxious for possible loot. A force of 2,000 lu chun and 200 sailors from the cruiser "Haichi " were soon under arms and patrolled the streets, taking special care to safeguard the foreign quarter. Order was restored on the following day, and the mutinous troops shipped off to Dairen. There is some apprehension, however, of further trouble, owing to the disagreements between the commanding officers. A Japanese man-of-war is lying off Chefoo to watch developments.
In Shantung, as elsewhere, the elections for the Peking Assembly are resolving themselves mainly into a contest between the Kung Ho Tang and the Kuo Min Tang, the latter of which seems to be the more strongly organised. The bulk of the popula- tion, however, are quite uninterested, and the number of voters is very smail, the majority of the people being quite apathetic towards the new régime.
Chinkiang.
Robberies by disbanded troops in the neighbourhood of Chinkiang seem to have continued intermittently throughout the past few months, but the authorities are doing what they can to maintain order. His Majesty's consul asked for and obtained a guard for the district where the missionaries chiefly live, and this measure has proved effective in preventing further robberies in that quarter. The general reduction in the number of cases of serious crime is credited to the action of one Yangpiao, battalion commander in the 64th regiment, formerly a village bully in Hupei, who has now acquired a great reputation as a merciless hunter of bad characters. He has made a number of important arrests from time to time, and the accused, disbanded soldiers or civilians, have been put to death. Colonel Yang executed the condemned in several cases with his own hand, using a revolver.
The operations against brigands in the Hsuchoufu country have evidently been of good effect, the district of Pei Hsien being now comparatively free from robbers, and merchants are resuming their normal business there. A party of disbanded soldiers, mostly Tsingkiangpu men, left Hsüchoufu about the end of December for Chinkiang. Thence they were moved on in boats towed by launches until, on arriving at Shaopo, they broke out and looted all the launch stations at that place. They eventually reached their destination without further trouble and dispersed.
The primary elections for the Provincial and National Assemblies took place in December. For the National Assembly, Chinkiang is the centre of the third district, which contains an electorate of 612,341. The primary elections were, here as elsewhere, accompanied by every kind of fraud and trickery, but without disorder. The Kuomintang were again the most active party.
The condition of the Grand Canal within Kiangsu province is worse than it has been for many years.
Launch traffic on certain sections has been intermittent, and the movement of native boats impeded. His Majesty's consul at Chinkiang is endeavouring to rouse the local authorities to the seriousness of the matter.
Kiangsi.
The last quarter of 1912 passed, for the most part, uneventfully, as far as the province of Kiangsi was concerned. The flow of administrative reforms which
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