The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-19
DEATH OF PRINCE KUNG.
He Was First President of she
Tsung-li-Yamen.


From the London Daily Graphic.
Reuters telegram from Picking states
that Prince Kung. president of the Tsung-
u-Yamea. died on May l.
While Ii Hung Chang is the Chinese
statesman who is best known in foreign
countries, his reputation in his own land
never stood as high as that of Prince
Kung. BY birth and experience of state
affairs, Prince Kungs position in his own
country was unrivalied. He was the sixth
and only surviving son of the Emperor Tao
Kwang, and consequently the Oldest repre-
sentative of the dynasty. Yih-sin 10 give
him his personal name, was~born in 1882
The prlpcely title of Kung was conferred
upon him in 1850 by his brother, the Emper-
or Hien-fung. When only % years of age,
he made his appearance in public affairs
as member of the commission which tried
and sentenced Keying the minister who
signed the treaty of Marking. In 1853 he
became a member of the colonial board
and after the Anglo-French war with Chi
ma was appointed plenipotentiary to nego-
tate terms of peace. On this ocea sion he
displayed conspicuous tact and resource,
and although he was not able to secure
concessions from the victors, he made
scout fight to spare his country unneces-
sary humiliation. One result of the treaty
OF peace was the establishment of the
Tsuug-ii-Yamen, or board of foreign af-
fairs, of which Kung became first presi-
dent. This post he held from 1861 until
1884, when by an intrigue, in which the En-
press Dowager and Prince Chun, father of
the reigning Emperor took the principal
part, he was abruptly dismissed from all
mis- offices and placed in a sort of honora-
BILE confinement Meanwhile he had dis
charged the duties of president of the inn
perial Clan court and had received the til
tie of Iching Wang or prime minister.
For ten years Prince Kung remained in
retirement, but after the disasters of the
late war with Japan he was recalled to
the Emperor's councils and was again
appointed president of the Tsung-l-Ya-
men. He has since done his best to repair
the damaged prestige of China, out with
little success. In the Tsung-h- Yamen he
represented most strongly the Anglophile
sentimental as against Ii Hung Chang, who
advocated closer relations with Russia.
When the Russian government made its
recent demand for Port Arthur, Prince
Kung proposed to the Tsung-li-
that Northern China should be abandoned
to Russia, and that the Emperor should
seek an English protectorate for the re-
mainder of his empire, with the seat of
government transferred to Marking. This
proposal fell through, probably because
Sir Claude Macdonald was unable to as
sure the council that England would TN
dertake the suggested protectorate.
Prince Kung was a statesman of nigh
character, prudent and reasonable, with
conservative tendency to progress. The
energy he displayed in his early years
became relaxed under the influence of a
deep pessimism produced by the misfor-
tunes of his country. His acuteness and his
practical common sense were illustrated
by a remark he once made to Sir Ruther-
ford Alcock. "If," ne said, you could
only relieve us of opium and mission
aries there need be no more trouble in
China" Prince Kung married the daugh~,
ter of Kweilaug, a noble Manchu, who
took a prominent part in the wars and
treaties of 1912 and 1860 His eldest son
Kung Beileh was a great fayorite of the
Empress-Motner, and three years ago was
much talked of as a candidate for the
throne in the event of the deposition of his
cousin, the present emperor.