264
PROGRESS IN INDO-CHINA,
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
[October 1, 1898.
we are afraid that in spite of onr utmost exertions some of these may be mis- managed, and whereas Her Majesty the Em the administration since the reign of Tung Chi, press Dowager has twice successfully conducted
the Empire bequeathed to us by our ancestors, we therefore, reflecting on the importance of have repeatedly asked Her Majesty to again associate herself in the management of the affairs of the Empire and have at last succeeded in obtaining her consent. This is a great blessing to the subjects of the Empire.
a time by the town of Hanoi and could | and hardly have believed it possible. Saigon, (Daily Press, 27th September.)
he said, was a superb French town Hanoi has lately been en fete. The an- which excited the admiration of every nual session of the Colonial Council was stranger who visited it, but if Hanoi held, the foundations of a bridge over the continued to progress at its present rate Red River to carry the railway that is to it would in ten years' time, when rail- connect the city with China were laid, and
way trains crossed the bridge of which they there were reviews, balls, and various other had just laid the first stone, be the most in- festivities. Unfortunately the papers pub-portant French town in Indo-Chiun. We wish lish ouly scrappy descriptive reports, the
our French friends all success in the deve- speeches, which appear to have been of lopment of the magnificent country of which of prime political importance, being either not they are the masters and a speedy realisation reported at all (with the exception of one or
of their dreams of commercial prosperity, two of which the manuscript was no doubt
At the same time, while tendering our supplied) or only briefly summarised. The rivals and competitors all good wishes, Avenir du Tonkin, which is violently opposed it is the business of British capitalists and to the Governor-General, has a sarcastic the British Government to see that we note on the session of the Colonial Council, ourselves are
not left behind in "the which it styles a comedy. The concluding
pacific penetration of China by our raik sentences of this note are as follows:-" The
ways." "destinies of Indo-China are settled, and it
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appears we have no longer any reason to envy the English, for M. DoUMER has wisely compared the present organisation to that of India, which posses-es a Viceroy, like himself, assisted by a Council re- sembling that of Indo-China.' The ad- ministration of the French possessions in Indo-China is in fact being modelled on that of India, and apparently with a good deal of success, notwithstanding the carping of the local press, which would like a more democratic constitution. In opening the Council M. DOUMER introduced the general budget and dwelt on the advantages of the financial combination of the various component parts of the dominion, and said that the home Government was leaving more liberty to the local Government-General than had been known hitherto. Amongst the projects he recommended to the Council was the construction of railways. The general budget of Indo-China for 1899 amounts to $17 620,000 and the local bud gets are, Tonkin' $3,993,639, Aunam $1.845,835, Cochin-China $4,550,000, Cam- bodia $1,997,600, and Laos $692,531,] mak- ing a grand total of $30,699,604. On the revenue side of the general budget the principal items are customs dues $7,000,000 and indirect taxation and farms $10,094,000 while on the other side we find that the military expenditure amounts to $3,271,000, the expenditure in connection with the Customs revenue and farms to $4,185,000, posts and telegraphs $1,355,000. public works $3,490,000, and railways $724,000.
The bridge over the Red River, of which the foundation stone was laid by the Gover- nor-General with much ceremony, is to be 5,510 feet long and 26 feet wide and will afford accommodation for foot passengers and borse traffic as well as for the railway. It is to be of iron carried on masonry pillars, the spans being 246 feet and supported on the cantilever principle. The Mayor of Hanoi in requesting the Governor-Genera, to perform the ceremony of laying the stone expressed the opinjon that Hanoi was destined to become the great market, not only of Tonkin, but of the whole of Southern China. At a banquet the following evening the same iden was expressed by M. LACAZE, a former Mayor, who predicted that the work now iu- augurated would shortly make Hanoi "the principal centre of all the commercial "transactions, not only of Tonkin, but also "of those which we have a right to expect "from the pacific penetration of China" by "our railways." Admiral DE BEAUMONT said that ou returning to the Far East after an absence of twelve years he was astonished at the change he saw in all the countries he visited, but certainly he was quite un- prepared for the progress made iu so short
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CRISIS AT PEKING.
ALARMING REPORTS ABOUT THE
EMPEROR.
CAMPAIGN AGAINST CANTONESE REFORMERS.
KANG YU-WEI COMING TO HONGKONG.
THE ORIGIN OF THE CRISIS.
[SPECIAL TELEGRAMS TO THE
DAILY PRESS."]
C
SHANGHAI, 23rd September, 10,15 a.m. Fairly credible reports are in circulation that the Emperor has been murdered.
It is certain that the Empress Dowager assumes the Regency to-day.
↳ SHANGHAI, 23rd September, 9.11 p.m. The Taotai is trying to search all incoming steamers for Kang Yu-wei, who is accused of Pisoning the Emperor in collusion with Chang Yin-yuan. The latter was imprisoned to-day with the whole of his family at Peking.
Great excitement prevails at Peking. All the gates have been closed to-day.
The telegraphs are under official censorate.
SHANGHAI, 25th September. 7.12 p.m. Kang Yu-wei was taken yesterday from the Chungking at Woosung and transferred to a friendly steamer.
The Government declares that the Emperor is alive, but the Reformers continue to be pro- scribed, especially the Cantonese.
The Censor Sung Peb-la has been cashiered. Liang Chi-tsao. the ex-editor of the Chinese Progress, has been cashiered and his arrest ordered.
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Hsu Chien-ying, Wu Mao-ting, and Tuan Fang, the Directors of the Bureaux of Com merce, Agriculture, and Mechanics respectively, have been cashiered.
SHANGHAI, 26th September, 9.54 p.m. Kang Yu-wei leaves to-night by the P. & O. steamer Balluarat for Hongkong convoyed by H.M.S. Phæniz.
A private letter from Peking reports that Kang Yu-wei sent the Emperor a despatch advising the removal of the Empress-Dowager from Peking and the deportation of Li Hung chang to his native city. The Empress read this despatch. Hence the trouble.
Shanghai, 27th September. · It is now reported that H.M.S. Bonaventure is escorting the Ballaarat with Kang Yui-wei on board.
Yuug Lu, the Viceroy of Chihli, has gone Lurriedly to Peking, taking the seals with him. Yuan Shi-kai has been appointed Acting Viceroy.
THE EMPEROR'S EDICT RECALLING THE EMPRESS-DOWAGER TO POWER.
The following is the Edict issued by the Emperor on the 21st September placing the Government in the hands of the Empress
Dowager :-
Whereas there are at present many entangled and urgent public affairs calling for attention
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state in the Side Hall, and will go, together From this day forth we will attend to affairs. with all the high officials of the Empire, on the eighth day of the present moon (23rd September) to congratulate Her Majesty in the Adminis tration Palace.
Let the Board concerned take note and ar- range for the ceremony.
Respect this.
CHANG YIN-YUAN AND KANG YU-
WEI.
Chang Yin-yuan and Kang Yn-wei are both prominent members of the Reform party and are both natives of Kwangtung. Chang Yin- yuan was Minister to the United States in 1895, represented Cuina on the occasion of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and has since held various bigh appointments, his present one bei that of Senior President of the Board of Reue
Kang Yu-wei is a Secretary of the Board of Works and was recently appointed chief editor of the Chinese Progress, the Shanghai paper which has been constituted an official organ. The following Imperial decree of the 17th September is published by the N. C. Daily News, which received it by telegram:-We are sur- prised find that although we appointed Kaug Yu-wei chief editor of the official Chinese Pro- gress magazine at Shanghai, some time ago, the said Kaug Yu-wei is still staying at Peking. In our anxiety for the education of our sub- jects and the difficulty of procuring men of education and enlightenment to assist us in our work we were pleased to find in Kang Yo-wei a man of this calibre, and so as soon as he had an audience with us we at once com-
manded that he should undertake the direc tion of the magazine in question, as we were of opinion that newspapers were one of the most important instruments for educating officials and people, and our appointment of Kang Yu- wei showed our confidence in him to undertake an important office. He has now all the fands he requires for is work and we command that he make no father delay in going to Shanghai.
The deceased Emperor Kwang Su was born in 1871. He was the son of Prince Chun, the seventh brother of the Emperor Hien Feng.
He succeeded to the throue, at the death of the Emperor Tung Chi, on the 22nd January, 1875, and nominally assumed the Government in March, 1887. He was married on the 26th February, 1889, but has died without leaving issue.
SHANGHAI REPORTS.
Shangbai papers received on Wednesday con- tain various reports and telegrams on the crisis in Peking and the rumonred death of the Emperor. We take the following from the N. C. Daily News :-
Peking, 23rd September, Noon. H.I.M. the Emperor's illness is most serious and there are fears that it may be fatal.
An edict has been issned to-day depriving Kang Yu-wei of his rank and commanding his arrest and decapitation for treason.
Another edict orders the arrest and con- fiscation of the estates of Chang Yin-bnan, Senior Vice-President of the Board of Revenue and Co-President of the Bureau of Railways and Mines.
Later.
All day to-day the nine gates of Peking city have been filled with gendarmes and soldiers to search and arrest all suspicions characters en- tering or leaving the city gates.
Kang Kuang-jên, a younger brother of Kang Yu-wei, has been arrested and cast into the prisons of the Board of Punishments and will be executed within the next few hours by Imperial edict.
The Taungli Yamen has been notified by the Ministers of the various Treaty Powers of their intention to send gunboats up to Tientsin to protect their various subjects there.
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