The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-08-01
POWER OF THE VIcERoYs.
Government Of Chinese Provinces in
Rn1atioD IN tbp Grown

| Wv Vi 1LiiANcN wv lliSN-9 III
Relation to the Crown.
Excluding Manchuria. Mongolia and
| the Central Asian dominions, China is
divided into eighteen provinces. At the
head of each Ia q governor and In seve-
raj cares two or three are grouped to-
gether under a still higher official,
whose proper title Is governor general
but who is more often spoken Of as vice.
roy. The most important vlceroyalties
are the three that lie In the basin of the
Yang-tse, having their headquarters at
Marking Wu-Chang and Cheng-Tu, re-
spectively, The first, presided over at
present by Liu Kun vi. controls the
| three provinces of Kiang-Su, Anhwie
and Kiang-Se; the second, with the well
known Chang Chih Tung at its head.
controls the two central provinces Of
Hoo-Pe and Hoo-Nan, 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 at the head of which Is Ii
Hung Chang, controlling the two prov
inces Of QuangTung and Quang-Se.
These eight provinces contain a popu-
lation OF over two hundred million and
contribute three-fourths Of the revenue
of the empire,
For all purposes of internal admins
tration the various provincial govern
ments are practically Independent.
Each collects it's own revenue, pays its
own army and civil service, and in the
riverne and seaboard provinces main
tains a f1otilla of war vessels and con-
structs coast defences. The admins
tration of justice is left in the hands of
the ordinary officials, who combine this
with their other functions. The dis
trict magistrate, for instance, who is
the lowest official In the provincial
scale, is at once collector Of revenue
Judge, coroner, head of police and pub
lie prosecutor, and he may on occasions
be required to take the field In person
against rebels. The same functions
may fall to the lot Of any official in the
official scale up to the viceroy himself
Any officer Is supposed to be capable Of
undertaking any public duty whatsoev-
er. Death sentences require in ordina-
ry circumstances to be ratified from
Picking, but each viceroy or governor is
armed with extraordinary powers which
he may use at discretion in times of
public danger, and which enable him to
deal out summary justice at the short
est notice. He is invested, In fact with
a share of that absolute and autocratic
power which is inherent in the central
government to whom, however, he re-
mains responsible. The charge of each
governor is to maintain peace and or
der within his own bounds So long as
he does that and carries on the govern
ment In accordance with the estab-
lished rules, the central government
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, of course, may be sent
from Picking directing him to assist but
the safety of his own province is his |
first charge, and any steps he may take
will be subordinated to that paramount |
The principal hold which the Peking |
government has over the provincial ofIl- |
cials is the right of appointment and |
dismissal. All officials hold the office !
during the pleasure Of the crown and I
can 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 Of
fee and hand over the seals to his sue
aessor at the bidding of the emperor or
This power, 1t should seem, Is
sufficient TO insure prompt obedience to
any orders from the court, but it is
checked by the fact that the successor
10 a viceroy or governor so removed
must be selected from among the regu-
ar members Of the civil service, who