IMPERIAL DECREIS.
-Peking, 11th October. THE MOST POWERFUL SUBJECT IN CHINA,
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY THESS AND
I, the Dowager Empress Tze-hai-tuan-yu etc., etagihereby acknowledge the receipt of the Grand Becretary Jang Lu's memorial report ing the date of his receipt of the Great Seal of Office appointing him Generalissimo of the ammies of Chihli province and the Peiyang Administration, and the consequent taking over of the said post by him. Now as the times are exceedingly critical the organising and dis. ciplining of armies is a matter of the first im- portance and to emphasise Jung Lu's post I am constrained to further appoint him Imperial High Commissioner with supreme command over the Yi Army Corps, under General Lung Ch'ing (at Newchwang and Shanhaikuan); the Kansu Army Corps, under General Tang Fa-bsiang (just inside the Great Wall); the Wuyi Army corps, under General Nieh Sze-ch'êng, Pro- vincial Commander-in-chief of Chihli (at Eutai, sonth of the Tongshau colliery); the New Army Corps, under the expectant Vice President of a Board, Yuan Shih-kai (at Hsiaochan, near Tientsin), and the various corps, military and naval, in the Peiyang Administration. This will place the forces around Peking under the command of a single-head, and the said Jung Im having been given such a highly responsible post is expected to use every effort in personally attending to the welfare and good discipline of his troops so that they may form a powerful army at the call of the Throne.
Note: This gives Jung Lu the power of life and death over the highest general to the lowest soldier in the ranks under him, by virtue of which he may execute first and report after wards the matter to the Empress Dowager.]
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THE CABOlished goVERNORSHIPS.
I, the Empress-Dowager, Tze-hai-tuan-yu, etc., etc., hereby issue this decree: The posts of Governors of Kuangtung, Hupeh, and Yun- nan have already been abolished and all their duties amalgamated with those of the Viceroys concerned. It is my desire, however, to know whether such a stop is feasible or not, and therefore I command, the Grand Council and the Six Boards to deliberate over the question and immediately report thereon to me.
Is
THE MURDER OF CHANG YIN-HUAN.
[October 29, 1808.
ain
Emperor is confined in a small building on an island in the midst of the large deep lake the Ewo, of Empress's Palace, from which the bridges connecting with the shore have been out away. But still a great many people in the capital regard his chances of being alive as extremely remote.-China Gazette.
Poking, 12th October. It is reported from a reliable quarter in Peking that the Empress Dowager has, after all, compassed the death of Chang Yin-huan in spite of the appeal for mercy on his behalf by the British and Japanese Ministers. It is stated that Chang's death had always been in THE REBELLIOUS MOVEMENTS IN tended, so that even while leaving the Western gate of the capital there was in Chang's train, consisting of himself in a mule litter, two ser- vants and a cook, and a guard of ten soldiers under a captain, an extra man, a ranner belong- ing to the Board of Punishments, càrrying on his person Chang's death warrant.
This warrant was to be execnted at a distance from Peking where the victim would not be known, so that his death by strangulation would not excite the people, and the news would be prevented from getting to Peking: But the runner apparently was impatient and executed his orders when only four days journey from Peking. Another reason was that one of Chang's body servants managed to escape the fate destined for his master and the three servants, and hence the news of the un- fortunate official's death. Only a few persons, outside of the Empress-Dowager's advisers, know of this and no one dares to talk openly of it at present.-N. C. Daily News,
ANTI-FOREIGN FEELING AT
WUHU.
Our correspondent writes under date October 11th Various inflammatory placards have been posted throughout the Settlement, the Catholic Church being used as a bill-hoarding among other places. The placards call upon the people to rise and rid themselves of the hated foreigner, to burn down all foreign houses, and to destroy the French Church build ings, particularly the Cathedral. The usual anti-foreign invectives are written with a liberal pen all through the placard.
The foreign community of Wuhu does not feel in the least alarmed, but they are fully prepared for any contingency that may arise.
H.M.S. Eek was at Wuhu on the 6th iut., and the Algerine is at Hankow,-Mercury.
THE SUPPRESSION OF NEWS- PAPERS IN CHINA.
Note: It would, of course, be to the ad- vantage, pecuniarily speaking, of the various Boards to retain these Governorships, for. perhaps not generally known that all the high provincial authorities, taotais, prefects, and district magistrates have to pay a large amount, quarterly, according to the fatness of the posts, to each of the six Boards, including the secretaries in them. It is therefore probably a foregone.conclusion that these three Governor-editors concerned are composed of the dregs of ships will be restored.]
· PROSCRIPTION OF SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS.
I, the Empress-Dowager, Tze-hsi-tuan-yu, etc., etc., hereby issue the following decree There has always been a law forbidding the es. tablishment of societies of any sort, but of late it appears that a number of officials, gentry, and literati have been in the habit of joining secret societies and banded associations, regardless of their reputations. These societies declare that their primary object is to exhort people to do good but as a matter of fact their object is to band together for the purpose of disturbing the peace. The danger through it is indeed great. The Governors and Viceroys of provinces are there fore commanded to diligently search for these rs- Bociations, arrest the members, and punish them
The following translation of an Imperial decree is published by the NO. Daily News :-- As newspapers only serve to excite the masses to subvert the present order of things and the
the literary classes, no good can be served by the continuation of such dangerous instruments and we hereby command the entire suppres- sion and sealing up of all newspapers published within the Empire, while the editors con. nected with them are to be arrested and punished with the utmost severity of the law.
CHINA.
We take the following notes from the Shang, hai Mercury 1----
THE REBELLION IN SOUTH CHINA. The extra precautions which officials are en- joined to take with regard to secret societies. and the wiping out of their members indicates very clearly that the Empress-Dowager tears the rebellion of Kwangtung is assuming tration-such as is left of it after the honey. proportions beyond the present military adminis combing of unscrupulous heads of departments. Already the rebels are moving northwards, and Hongkong advices received to-day show that vast quantities of arms have found their way. into. Canton from Hongkong.
A MAN WHO SHOULD KNOW.
In a recent interview which a representative of this paper had with Capt. Ellis of the notori- ous steamer Pasig (now Abbey), that gentleman, who can speak with the voice of authority on the illicit firearms trade, said he knew that the Hongkong police were not quite so smart as they thought they were. He is right. They are vigilant, but they must get up very, early to surprise a Chinamanin anything. Firearms have been pouring into Canton from Hongkong and all round Swatow there are thousands of men armed with cheap Belgian and German weapons which may not be so well finished as the pro- ducts of Westley-Richards' or Colt's Armouries, yet are quite good enough for the rebels, and the bullets get there all the same.
WHERE THE STRINGS ARE PULLED, Macao, as our representative learned during a brief stay in the pleasant little peninsula, is a most important centre of rebel organization. The Portuguese authorities know it well enought but consider it no business of theirs-besides, 1, pays; and in Hongkong there is just as much energy displayed, which the British authorities know full well, but only spasmodically, just for the sake of appearances, endeavour to put down. Canton, of course, is the hot-bed-of insurrection.
UNREST AT SWATOW.
At Swatow, we are oredibly informed, the officials are practically prisoners in their Yamens. It is absurd to expect that such edicts as deal with the crushing of secret so- cieties can be enacted in the Swatow region; at any rate, unless supported by a very powerful force, and where this force is to come from is not quite clear. The soldiers are all discon- tented and it is feared by their officers that they will fraternise with the rebels; and these apprehensions are not without reason to sup. port them.
IN HUNAN
In Hunan there is much uneasiness over the
recent executions, and money is rolling in secretly to support a campaign against the present party in power, to march to Peking and to foment a general rising. The Hunanese malcontents have expressed their willingness to aid the Kwangse and Kwangtung rebels by men, arms, and supplies if they march through
if they cou
THE LU-HAN RAILWAY,
Though it is now nearly four months since the contract for the La-Han Railway with the so-called Belgian Syndicate was signed, the first instalment of the loan, which was due a month after the signing of the document, has never been paid over, and there does not seem to be any immediate prospect of its passing out of the hands of its present custodians into those of the ting to their respective responsibilities as | Syndicate. In our opinion the loan will never be Hunan Province. chiefs and followers. The property, if any, of put upon the European market in the present such societies is also to be sealed up and costate of affairs in the Far East, for if it were fiscated to government, and the high authorities are expected to do this duty in a perfectly im partial spirit so that the members of these trai. torous societies may tremble and be afraid! Let this ediot be published far and wide.
[Note: The fate meted out to chiefs of secret societies is summary execution, while the least responsible are banished into perpetual exile, This decree will be a grand harvest to the reno- tionists and corrupt mandarins and their under lings. N. C. Daily News,
We hear of a letter received by the Austra lian mail on Saturday only being delivered on Monday morning. ·
there is no doubt whatever as to its disastrous collapse.-- China Gazette.
THE MINISEKS DEMAND AUDI- ENCE WITH THE EMPEROR.
We learn that the Foreign Ministers in Peking, more particularly the British, German and Japanese, are pressing the Taungli Yamen for an audience with the Emperor if he is alive. But up to the present all their efforts have been ineffectual, every species of evasion and cajolery being interposed by the Manchu element to the Ambassadors' demands. y
Many people in Peking now believe that the
The removal of Chang Chih-tung at this time is a very serious step and it may followed by a general rising in North Hunan as the Viceroy is one peonliarly able to dsal with any internal trouble.
YU MAN-TZU.
In Szechuen, the desperado Yn Man tau has raised his standard and is collecting a large force. It is true he is anti-foreign in his views, but it is highly probable that he will throw his lot if he is able to join forces with the re- bels of the two Kwangs. His avowed object is plunder, preferably foreign property, but he has hitherto displayed a refreshing impartiality in his attentions, and has already subdued a vers large tract of country.
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