New-York tribune., 1900-07-29
POWER OF THE VICEROYS.
GOVERNMENT OF CHINESE PROVINCES
IN RELATION TO THE CROWN.
n The Saturday Review.

Excluding Manchuria, Mongolia and the Cen
tral Asian dominions, China is divided INTO
eighteen provinces. At the head of each is
Governor, and in several cases two or three are
grouped together under still higher official,
whose proper title is Governor-General, but who
is more often spoken of as Viceroy. The most
important ViceroyaltieS are the three that lie in
the basin of the Yang-tse, having their mead
quarters at Nanlng, Wu-Chang and ChenS-Tu,
respectively. The first, presided over at present
by Liu Kun vi, controls the three provinces of
/ Kiang-Su, AnhWei and Kiang-Se; the second,
with the well known Chang Chih Tung at its
head, controls the two central provinces OF Hoo
Pc and Hoo Man. and the third controls the
large and wealthy province of SZe-Chuen, the
head of which is a Manchu named Kwei Chun.
OF almost equal Importance is the viceroyalty
of Canton, the head of which is Ii Hung
Chang, controlling the two provinces of Quang-
Tung and Quang-Se. These eight provinces con-
tain population of over two hundred million
and contribute three-fourths of the revenue of
the empire.
| For all purposes of internal administration the
various provincial governments practically
/ independent. Each collects it's own revenue,
pays its own army and civil service, and in the
/ riVerine and SeabOard provinces maintains a
fotiIla of war vessels and constructs coast de-
fences The administration of justice is left in
| the hands of the ordinary officials who COM
bine this with their other functions The dis
/ trict magistrate for instance, who is the lowest
official in the provincial scale is at once col
lectOr of revenue, judge, coroner, head of police
| and public prosecutor, and he may on occasions
be required to take the field in person against
rebels. The same functions may ran 10 the
lot of any official in the scale up to the ViCeroy
/ himself ANY officer is supposed to be capable
| of undertaking any public duty whatsoever.
/ Death sentences require in ordinary clrcum-
stances to be ratified from Peking, but each
Viceroy or Governor is armed with eXtraordi-
nary powers which he may use at discretion IN
/ times of public danger and which enable him
to deal out summary justice at the shortest
notice He is invested, in fact. with share
of that absolute and autocratic power which is
inherent in the central Government, to whom
. however he remains responsible. The charge OF
! each Governor is to maintain peace and order
within his own bounds So long as he does that
and carries the government in accordance
/ with the established rules, the central Govern
ment does not interfere with him. He is not
concerned with what may be going on in
neighbOring province nor bound to spend his
resources in its defence Special orders, 6 OF
to assist. but the safety of his own province is
his first charge and any steps ne may take
will be subordinated to that paramount con-
sideraton.
IMPERIAL POWER OVER OFFICIALS.
The principal hold which the Peking Govern
ment has over the provincial officials is the
right of appointment and dismissal All ott-
cials hold the office during the pleasure of the
! Crown, and be dismissed at any time with
! or without reason assigned. No instance has
been known of an official, however highly
placed refusing to lay down office and hand
over the seals to his successor at the bidding
of the Emperor or Empress. This power 1t
should seem, is sufficient to insure prompt
| obedience to any orders from the Court, but ii
is checked by the fact that the successor to a
/ ViCeroy or Governor so removed must be Sc
lected from among the regular members OF the
| Civil Service. who are all imbued with the same
| traditions of government and the same bu-
/ reaucratiC spirit. The Crown has never vent
ured to put into high office mere creature of
its own, one who has not regularly entered
/ the service by some recognized channel and
risen through the ranks. Such attempt
| would undoubtedly raise a storm of Indignation
throughout the whole of the country such as no
government could face.
This leads to say a word to the mode
in which the official ranks are Tecruited-a syS-
tern which has perhaps as much as anything
else contributed the general stability and
moderation of the Government and prevented
/ it from degenerating into a military dictator
/ ship Entrance to office is obtained, is gen
orally known, by a system of public examina-
tons open to the humbleSt we'll the high
been admitted by pur4hase, but only to junior
/ rank All practically have to begin at the foot
of the ladder and work their way up, and all
the high posts in the provinces and nearly all
those in Peking filled with men who have
so risen. Admission is free to Manchus and
to Chinese alike. and until recent years there
has been TO preference shown in selection.
STATUS OF THE BUREAUCRACY
rtauCracy which stands in d middle position be-
tween the Crown and the people. Springing on
the hand from the multitude and looking on
the other hand to the Crown, they are friendly
to both. As governing the people they are the
=. recognized medium for the redress of grievances
and for formulating fresh legislation. As a
whole. they carry on the government of China
check, and a very efficient check on the
VagarieS of the autOcratlc power of the Emperor
At the same time the relations between them
and The Imperial house have for many wears
been thoroughly cordial. There is no question OF
their loyalty to the dynasty. and on the other
To l1 f l