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"CHINA'S CORRUPT ADMINIS. TRATION.
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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND who fester about every yamen in the Empire, | and for the payment of whom there is made no provision, but who are none the less (Daily Press, 10th May.)
expected to live on their post. Notoriously Within the last ten years nothing was the Empire rings with the corruption of more common in obituaries of distinguished these hangers-on, who, deprived of any Naval Officers than to find a notice some title of office, yet possess the avenues to thing like the following:- Distinguished every yamen. It needs little experience of Himself in an attack on a fleet of pirate human nature to forecast the result. Now janks in Blue Moon Bay off the coast of it is from these pariahs of Chinese society Fukien, in reward for which service he was that the ranks of the pirates and salt promoted to the command of H.M.8. smugglers are recruited, and the methods of Periwinkle." Although in the interests of the yamens are closely followed in their our own commerce when the trade along organisations. They, too, have their grada- the China coast was mostly carried on in tions of ranks, their chiefs and their ailing schooners with small crews, and the secretaries; their subordinate officials, their pirates who swarmed along the shores and police and their guards. They also have an about the numerous inlets were never loth admirably organised detective body whose to capture a foreign vessel when they could especial business it is to intermingle with take her at a disadvantage, much of the the more quietly disposed in the tea-shops. early work of the British fleet in China They have their regular meeting places in waters was concerned with the policing of the shops and gambling dens, and the un- the coast; with the general advent of fortunate who has once incurred their steamers, it was found possible to throw ou enmity is sure sooner or later to be enticed the Chinese Government this duty. The into one these, where he will find
drawn into some duty
quarrel, was accepted, though never with a himself
on the face of it looks simple good grace, and although the coast pirate which is now seldom a inennce to foreign trade, enough and affords little or no in many of his old haunts he still flourishes to its reason, but the end is nearly and under conditions too which point to always the same; and if the victim es- more or less connivance on the part of the cape with his life it is at the expense life of ter- local officials. Such, of course, has been of leading afterwards the rule in China ever since the days of the ror. For the same reason no one who has exemplary, if somewhat hazy, "YAO and ever become compromised can ever again SЯÜN”, and such doubtless will be the case return to honest ways, but finds himself at till the advent of the Chinese representative every turn beset by these instigators of of the supposititious St. Tibb, whoever he new crime. These things are all perfectly may be. The old proverb in the West states well known to the officials, as are also the that a kingdom divided against itself cannot leaders personally, but such is the amount stand, and here, as in everything else, of terror inspired that they are permitted to Cliinese practice has from the very begin- move about openly, no official being bold nings of history mocked the feeble lore of enough to prefer a charge; and in case of Europe. In fact for twenty centuries at his being arrested on any other charge, a lenst China has discovered a way of uniting way of escape is always found: either he is under the gis of imperial government the actually acquitted of the crime, however
he finds menns opposite principles of order and disorder; heinous, or
through and by a process of mechanical welding, the connivance of his associates, always the secret of which has become hereditary to be found amongst the underlings in the official hierarchy, the state still sur- of the courts, to effect his escape. To such vives. It is true that the life is not a very an extent has this organisation been vigorous one, and only gives evidence of carried, that even in the outlying portions its existence at the extremities of the of the Foreign Settlements at Shanghai, branches, but to the passer-by who does not regularly patrolled by large armed not care to dismount and view the hollow-bodies of foreign police, the roads have ness of the trunk, the tree looks fairly vigorous; and unless attacked by some unexpected danger fro.u without, and with the assistance of a new prop from time to time charitably fixed under the more dangerous branches, inay continue to outwardly exhibit a presentable greenness.
We spoke lately of the manner in which the Kiangsu administration, or certain of its officers, contrived to reconcile in the administration of the Salt
Gabelle the seemingly incompatible demands of virtuous disinterestedness and personal pro- fit and how Peking, in its virtuous indignation at being choused of the direct proceeds of the same Salt Gabelle, contrived still adhering to the dictates of the ancient sages, to draw its own share of the proceeds- But ancient and profitable for those immedi. ately concerned as may be this principle of sponge and squeeze, for the empire at large it is the acme of extravagance." Doubtless the Court at Peking has not to go to the expense of a Chancellor of the Exchequer, nor has it to keep up an Auditor General with a score of assistants; nor have the provincials interested to give account of the income and expenditure of their districts. In lieu of keeping a staff of regularly appointed and paid subordinates they have, however, to employ an irregular staff of secretaries, writers, thief catchers, jailers, and all the numerous army of bangers-on
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becoine practically impassible at night; and those lately who have inadvertently essayed to pass have found the ways guarded by armed men, who have not hesitated to stop them till they have produced sufficient proof that they were not connected with any preven. tive service. Mysterious shots, too, are not unfrequently heard by residents, who, how. ever, such is the general state of terrorism, think it wiser not to excite dauger by en- quinag too curiously into the circumstances. Recently cases of mysterious murders, generally of natives, though now and then of a belated foreigner, are reported to the police; but the result is ever the saine, and except in the most exceptional case no clue as to the victim or his assailants is over discoverable. In the case of a native the Chihien, as in duty bound by the rules of his office, appears the next day to hold au inquest, but some reason for discontinuing the enquiry is nearly always found. Now these facts are notorious, though for many reasons we hear comparatively little of them. The Customs River Pulice, whose more especial duty it is to prevent smuggling on the Hwangpu, are utterly helpless. By a rare chance they may succeed in capturing a boat with the forbidden article, in which case the loss is made good by native in- surance offices, who make no secret of their business; in hearly every case the crews, warned beforehand by their regular spies,
[May 14, 1906. succeed in escaping scatheless, while the police by distinct orders from the Chinese official in head control of the Customs at the port are strictly forbidden to use fire- arms. Now, although it is only right to state that smuggling has in all ages, owing partly to the want of any efficient protective organisation, been rampant in China, it is also the case that within the last year, and markedly since the present officials have been appointed, that it has so far enlarged its operations as to have become an actoal danger. The remarkable thing about it all is that while these things are not denied by the Chinese authorities" themselves, it is to the very men under whose jurisdiction this very dangerous condition of affairs · bas grown up that we owe most of the recent complaints against the introduction of foreign capital, and the hardships to which China has to submit in not being permitted to exercise her own methods of jurisdiction over foreign residents.
CHINA, TIBET, and GREAT .
BRITAIN.
(Daily Press, 11th May.) Peking just now is evidently in no amiable mood, and because it is so, it seems to have made up its mind to vent its spleen on its best friends. If there was one thing more than another with respect to which Peking should naturally have the least occasion for dissatisfaction, it was the convention with Tibet, wherein, without any pressure from Chinn, Britain reserved all rights which at any time she might have had, or even conceived she might have had. In fact except to ensure for the future n decent amount of ordinary civility, and prevent outside busybodies from meddling in what did not in the least concern them, Britain was all along, and still is, perfectly content to let Tibet just go along as she likes ; and be subject or independent of China just as the two can arrange. From the time of the Mongol Empire China bas always made a pretence of suzerainty over Tibet. In 1720 KANGHI sent an Arined force to Lhasas to restore order there, owing to its being in a state of civil war, and ever since until recently China has exercised a commanding influence in the councils of the State. Some │ten or twelve years ago Tibet finding that the other so-called tributary states were shaking off their dependence, thought she would like to follow the fashion; but not being skilled in the diplomacy of the world contrived to get into hot water with both China and Britain. This might have passed, but that Tibet then tried her 'prentice hand at modern intrigue, and invle up to Russie, who, equally inept, listen d to her; aud bence much grief and many internal wailings. That was finished by a British army going to Lhassa, and (as Britain did not really want to hurt 'fivet) returning again without having sacked a single temple, or killed anyone except, in the field. She inflicted a nominal fiue, aud afterwards reduced this a› much that even 'l'ihet, poor as she is, could not find in ber heart to say it was too much; and after all this England went back, and did not even stipulate for resident minister, but told China that she would look on with complacence if she (China) were to re-establish her suzerainty as of old. It required, în fact, all the wrong-headed ingenuity of Young Chins to discover any ground for quarrelling over a convention scrupulously worded in order not to afford a single point of offence. It was, of course, convenient for China so forget that in the very first instance, when complaint of Tibet's unfriendliness came to be made, it was to China that
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