The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1896-03-21


4 of the Heir Apparent, which being
mainly honrary. and important only as
marks of imperial favor, need not be
considered here.
The burden Of responsibility thus
placed upon him Is almost beyond be-
lief. at the same time he was allowed
an almost limitless range Of opportunity
for the exercise of his powers His
greatest task was confronted when he
accepted the post of Superintendent of
Coast Defence for the northern half or
the empire. There he was practically
forced to play the role of creator. Every
thing had to be built up from the
foundation. And the only limitation TO
the opportunity of the superintendent
was his own exceedingly limited knowl-
edge of modern military and naval sys-
TENS, the total absence OF trained subor-
dinates. qualified to aid and advise him.
and the fact that although the ALLOW,
ances Of funds placed within his con-
troll for these purposes were Of enormous
extent, stu they were exhaustlble
Ii MET OBSTACLES AT EVERY
TURN.
That Ii Hung Chang accomplished
anything of moment in the circumstan-
ces Is evidence Of almost superhuman
versatility of talent. In addition to tho
unparalleled complexities OF his task he
was hanpered, interrered with, and de-
ceived on every hand. His native subor-
dinates were often ignorant. stlpersti
tious, prejudiced and dishonest. MANY
OF the foreigners with whom he had To
deal were honest and uncandid almost
beyond belief
a lew instances will probably he OF
interest. Only those are recited which
came within the immediate knowledge
oil MI. Holcombe. The viceroy having
paced machinery I'm the IIai Ping coal
mines. high official at Picking appealed
10 me throne asking that the mines
nlsht be closed, and tho viceruy held
gully and punished for sacrileEc, since
the extraction of coal by machinery dis
turbed the bones of the emperor's an
cestors in the imperial cemetery. snne
forty miles distant from the mines An
other Official once besought the empetor
10 command LII to cease all his mod rn
innovations and to report himself for
punishment, as the introduction by him
OF Iortcign arts anr appliances had nm
uouhtedly angcred the imperial dragon.
5ious .uusi's me unusually heavy and
obstructive rains of that summer or
large consignment OF heavy gums
bought In England, three exploded uno,
oeihE iired the first time, killing and
wouhaing nearly forty Chimes soldiers
examination proved that all the guns
,,aia peeh ulshonestly constructed, and
were worthless and dangerous mos,
serious charge was in consequence
Drought against The viceroy OF pelt!nr
Two french naval officers were en-
gagged Tor term of five years, nj cnor-
| nous salaries to instruct Chinese Young
men IN naval matters, and aid In the de-
Velopm5nt of a Chinese navy. But thcv
made such preposterous demands ms 10
| tneir rank and authority as rendered
| lnelr employment out OF the quest lon
| me viceroy appealed to the French dip
| lomatic and consular authorities. but
without result. lie then sought TO reach
Il compromise by which their contra ct {
might be cancelled upon payment of a
moderate sum. but was informed by the
| french authorities that tile contract
| would be surrendered onlv upon pay
ment OF the full sum promised for five
years service. The discussion dragged
on for nearly two years the French ot!i-
GERS doing nothing beyond drawing their
| salaries. whsn the viccrov Disguised
and weary, paid the full amount claim
ed, besides homeward travelling OK
penses. lhc late Admiral Shureldt was
invited In 1850 TO go TO TicntsIn and take
entire charge of the Organization and
development Of the Chinese navy. He
accepted. reaching Ticntsin In the sum
mer of 1881 Shortly after his arrival
he was waited upon by foreign subor-
dinate OF the viceroy. who proposed Il
partnership and division OF the spells,
with frank warning that, If his offer
WAS IeluScu, IrotNlnE SnOulQ come OF CnS
Admiral's visit to China Admiral Shu-
| fe!dt showed the visitor 10 the door.
! HIS threat was made good. and nothing
came Of the viceroy's offer.
| 1t must not be assumed that Ii WAS
| eXclu sMely surrounded by men who
were either entirely ignorant. selfish. or
corrupt. While there were far too many
| OF such about him, he stil had Il large
number OF devoted, unseltish assistants.
Had this not been the case. no substan-
| tial progress would have been possible
| and, what was OF equally vital impor-
lance. lie was nearly always fully sus-
tanned In essential points by the author
| tiles at Peking. There is no reason to
believe that Ii ever lost the confidence
and approval of the Emperor and Cabi-
net, excepting possibly, for short time
during the recent war with JAPAN.
OF necessity the failures of Ii Hung
Chang have been many, and some of
them serious. Yet the wonder Is that
he met with any degree of success: and
no prophet would have been found suf-
ficiently ventureSome, quarter OF
century ago, to predict the trtansforma
ton which Ii. almost sinCle-handed. has
wrought in the attitude of his people to-
wards modern Ideas. and the amount
of practical progress made by them.
II will do no harm to say that the
adoption of modern ways and imple-
ments has not always been devoid of III
liorous results. Mr.. Holcombe declares
that he will not soon forget one instance
of this The vceroy had provided him
sale f,Nili tor hon a IF