The St. Johns herald., 1894-11-01
POLITICS IN CHINA.
There Is Much Corruption Among
 High Officials.
Scandals That Approach Very Close to the ~ssr Doors of tho Imperial Palace Office Obtained Through
 Bribery.


 cite any comment among those who are familiar with the workings of that bureaucratic system, so perfect in theory, so lamentably deficient in practice, It is generally believed by foreigners, however, that the emperor and the highest officials, like the vice roy, Li Hung Chang, are not to be in- cluded among the class of corrupt oficeholders; but recent incident serves to show that the young emperor has not escaped this deflement that taints all parts of the Chinese public service This incident, says Shang- hai letter in the New York Tribune, is the appointment of a new taotai of Shanghai For months there have been rumors of a change in this i'm portant official place, but no one knew exactly the facts. Recently the Pe- king Gazette came out with the notice that January Il last ''Lu Peh-Yang is appointed taotai of the Soo-Sung Tai circuit" It 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- uary Il. There are no reporters in China eager to send out appointments by 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 a very important place. Usually such an office is filled from number of minor officials who are designated as sex pectant taotais." Those who know the pull" of each candidate can de- termine pretty accurately who will be the lucky one to win a coveted office. But in this case all the calculations of experts were upset by the naming of man who was not only not included among the expectant officials, but who was unknown to any mandarins. The Gazette throws no light on the secret of this outsiders appointment, but diplomatic gossip declares that he se- cured the place by bribing one of the emperor's favorite eunuchs.
 One may imagine the rage of the old Viceroy Liu, of Ranking, in whose province Shanghai is located, when he heard that the man he had recommend ed had been turned down" to make way for the protege of a palace eunuch. But Liu is diplomat to his finger tips. He received the new taotai with great ceremony, and suggested in his court Hest way that the post was one which required great experience, because of the necessity of constant association with foreigners. The proper thing for the new official to have done was to re- ply that he was sensible of this, and, therefore, relied on the vicerOy to aid him, and also to suggest an expert enced deputy. Instead of this polite reply, the new taotai answered that he was aware of the difficulties, but he fancied he could meet and overcome them without asking anyone's aid. The old viceroy would have enjoyed order ing the upstart to receive hundred blows of the bamboo, but he dared make no manifestation of anger.
 Some light on the corrupt purchase of official posts is shown by case in the same issue of the Pelring Gazette, which records the appointment of the Shanghai taotai, It records the inves- tigation by an imperial censor of the charge of securing the place of literary special examiner by a metropolitan official. Curiously enough he adopted precisely the same method as that of the taotai-that is, he bribed a palace eunuch. The latter agreed to use his influence as well as that of several of his companions, but he stipulated that notes must be given for certain amounts to each, and that these notes must be cashed at a certain bookstore when the applicant received his commission. Ting Wei-Chih, the man who yearned to be examiner, had his ambition only partly gratifed, as he secured only a small examinership at Shensi, instead of the important post at Szechuen, which he applied for. So he refused to pay the palace eunuchs. When they came with their notes to the book store they were curtly told by the pro prietor that Ting had left no money, and that he had said he did not pro- pose to be blaclkmailed. This made the eunuchs furious. and they raised such a commotion that the police were called. The bookseller, fearing public ity, shut up his shop and tried to bury himself until the storm should blow over, but censor who witnessed the affair began an investigation that re- suited in many damaging facts. Then he called upon the throne to appoint a commission of inquiry.
 Three high officials were selected, and the result of their work shows the peculiar methods by which the ear of great perSonages is reached. Ting, it was shown, lusted after the post of special examiner of SzechUcn during the examinations held in honor of the empress Gowager's sixtieth birthday. He saw two friends. who recommended him to the bookseller. The latter agreed to move the machinery. He