The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1894-12-07
POLITICS In CHINA.
There Is Much Corruption Among
High Officials.
Scandals That Approach Very Close 20 the
= Doors of the imperial Palace
Office Obtained Through
/ bribery.


is SO general that it has ceased to ex-
cite any comment among those who
;;rc familiar with the workings of that
bureaucratic system, so perfect In
theory. SO lamentably deficient in
practice. 1t is generally believed by
foreigners, however, that the emperor
;.nd the highest officials. like the vice
roy. Ii lung Chang, are not to be in
cl;ldcd among the class Of corrupt
ollicch0lderS: but a recent incident
aeryes to show that the young emperor
has not escaped this detilement that
taints all parts of the Chinese public
aarvice. This incident, says Shang-
i:.i letter in the New York Tribune, is
the appointment of q new taOtai OF
shanghai For months there have
been rumors of n change in this i'm
exactly the facts. Recently the Pc
king Gazette came out with the notice
that January II last "Lu PehYang is
appointed taotai OF the soo-Sung Tai
circuit i! may be necessary to state
that though this gazette appeared
few days ago. it really represented the
Official acts Of the emperor and the
heads of the different boards for Jan
u;.ry II. There are no reporters in
China eager to send out appointments
- telegraph the day they are made.
Three or four months is the usual time
consumed in getting any official action
before the public in the pages of the
court organ.
The circuit mentioned includes
Shanghai which. by reason of the
large foreign settlement and the great
increase OF foreign trade. has become Il
very important place. Usually such an
Office IS filled from number of minor
officials who are designated as lex
nrctant taotais" Those who know
The pull" Of each candidate can de-
tcrmirc pretty accurately who will be
Tie lucky one to win coveted Office.
Bnt IN ibis case all the calculations of
expert, were upset by the naming of a
Inun who was not only not included
among the expectant officials, but who
vas unknown to any mandarins. The
Gazette throws 10 light on the secret
OF this outsiders appointment, but
diplomatic gossip declares that he Sc
cured the place by bribing one OF the
cmpcI or S favJrite cunuchs.
enc may imagine the rage of the old
Nictroy Liu, of Marking, in whose
province shanghai is located, when he
heard that the man he had recommend
cd na been turned down" to make
W. f3r tlle protege Of a palace eunuch.
u, LA j. {. diplomat to his finger tips.
Sc received the new taotai with great
, r".Gony, and suggested in his court
i,-,o WY that the post was one which
required Great experience, because of
liz ne. Sitv Of constant association
with foreigners. The proper thing for
the now ulicial to have done was to re-
T,r that he was sensible of this, and,
therefore. relied on The viceroy to aid
him. ana also to suggest an expert
encei deputy. Instead Of this polite
reply, the new taotai answered that he
was aware CT the difficulties, but he
fancicd he could meet and overcome
t..cm without asking anyone's aid. The
Oh viccroy would have enjoyed order
i1r thc upStlrt to receive q hundred
Liows of dae bamboo, but he dared
make 10 manifestation of anger.
Some light on the corrupt purchase
os oii;:i~l posts is shown by case in
the +:.loe issue of the Peking Gazette,
M.t:uh records the appointment of the
h.ang-.ai taotai. 1t records the inves-
t,-'Ation by an imperial censor of the
81 tT"rc OF securing the place of literary
S.,':i~l examiner by "a metropolitan
'-t>;,.I Curiously enough he adopted
~, c;ncly the same method as that of
Ia. taotai-that is, he bribed u palace
"ailuch. The latter agreed to use his
n.!irence as well as that of several of
lis companions, but he stipulated that
rNt>:, must be given for certain amounts
u each. and that these notes must be
e;.=hcl at a certain bookstore when the
applicant received his commission.
Tmg-W ci-Chih. the man who yearned
10 Ge examiner. had his ambition ONLY
partly @ratiiied. as. he secured only
snail c,iamincrship at Shensi. instead
OF the important post at Szcchuen.
which he applied for. So he refused to
pay the palace cunuchs. When they
c.lnae with their notes to the book
st"re they We're CURLY told by the pro-
rii ter that Ting had left no money,
and that he had said he did not pro-
pose 10 be hl3cl1mailed. This made the
en;'uchs furious. and they raised such
& comrnotiCn that the police were
c:.lltl. The bookseller, fearing public
iiy- h,1t up his shop and tried to bury
l.i.r,- + anil the storm should blow
ovr-, Int q censor who witnessed the
after began an investigation that re-
sai, IN lnaay damaging facts. Then
liz li-.,l rp.ssl the throne to appoint
co'4pi .s;;-,ion Of inquiry.
Three high officials were selected.
and the result Of their work shows the
p2c' liar methods by which the ear of
great personagcs is reached. Ting. it
was shown. lusted after the post of
s,rc.irl examiner of s'zcchucn during
tt examinations held in honor of the
eva .,res:s s:oyya,Ser's sixtieth birthday.
lie SAW tyva friend. who recommended
lin TO the Bookseller The latter
:~reed to more the machinery. He
ls]ecw a seize: master, whose friend was
I. l-licr. ANA t1l' ,IallOf was on terms
q Intimacy wien barber in tie palace.
a:.a the barber knew eunucl. whose
out s were to examine the cmperor's
foo before it was taken from the
kitchen to the imperial table. The
tunnch w:s reached by this circuitous
cAain OF people, but he failed to accom-
p!i ! what he promised. Instead of
as IN tr tho o,.cI,;,> :, 4 e..
Naie'l i. enc Of the most lucrative in
ti,a empire. he obtained only the post
IT Saenai which carries with it some
hoSicr out precious little coin. Hence
his refusal to pay and the resulting
scandal.