The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-05-16
CHINESE GOVERNMENT.
THE MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC AZ
FAIRS IN THE VILLAGES.
No Regularly Elected Onicers to Look
After the Interests Of the People
No Restrictions

A recent writer in the North China
Herald of Shanghai describes the man.
ner in which local self-government
works in China. Every Chinese vii
lage is a kind of little p~rincipality by
itself-the theory in regard to the head
men or village elders being hat they
are chosen by their fellow-townsmen
and confirmed in their position by the
district magistrate. In some regions
this Is actually done, and for the good
conduct of the head men in their Office
the leading landowners are required to
become security. They are not neces-
sarily the oldest men in the village,
neither are they necessarily the wealth
lest men, although it is probable that
every family Of property will in some
way be represented among them. They
are not necessarily men of literary
attainments, although this may be the
case with "A few. In those regions
where the method of selection is most
loose the number of head men has no
necessary relation TO the size of the viii
lage; the position is not hereditary,
neither is there any fixed time of serv-
ice. A man may act in this capacity at
one time and refuse Or neglect to do so
at another.
The head men are not formally
chosen nor formally deposed. They
drop into their places by a kind OF nat
ural selection. The qualities which fit
a villager to act as head man are the
same which contribute to success in any
line of business. He must be a practi-
cal man who has some native ability,
acquainted with the ways of the world,
as well as able and willing to devote
upon occasion an indefinite amount OF
time and attention to the affairs which
NAV be put in his charge. The duties
and functions are many and various.
They may be classified as those which
have relation to the government of the
district, such as taxation; those which
relate to the village, such as repairs of
the wall, fairs and temples, and those
which concern private individuals, and
are brought to the notice Of the head
men as being the persons best able to
n them. It Is noteworthy that
the government Of China, while In
theory more or less despotic, places no
practical restriction upon the right of
free assemblage by the people for the
consideration of their own affairs. The
people Of any village can, IL they
choose, meet every day in the year.
There is no government censor present.,
and no restrictions upon liberty OF de-
bate. The people can say what they
like, and the local magistrate neither
knows nor cares what Is said. There Is
In every village unceasing supply of
matters which do not belong to the pub
lie, but which must be adjusted by some
man or men who are In the habit of
t~ransacting business, and who not only
know what is to be lone but know how
to do it. There are always Chinese who
like to engage in these matters, such as
the adjustment of domestic quarrels
and differences between neighbors and
the like. The head men of the village
will be frequently called upon for serv-
ices of this sort. But such labors, oner-
Gus as they often are, will be acknowl-
edged only by the thanks of those in
terested and a participation in the in
evitablc feast.