Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-24
POWER OF The vICEROYS
GOVERNMENT OF caINEsn PROV
1NcEs IN RELATION TO CROWN.
Leading vice Ro3altisf and the Men
who AdninisteH Their Affairs
Methods of Rafsine Revenue.


Excluding ManchuTia, Mongolia and the
Central Asian don1inions, China Is divided
into eighteen provinces. At the head Of
each is a governor. land in several cases
two or three are grouped together under
a stin 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 head
quarters at Marking, Wu-Chang and
Cheng-Tu, respectively. The first, presid-
ed over at present by Liu Kun VI, controls
the three provinces OF Kiang-Su. Anhwei
and Ra1sss: tine second n1 With sne well,
trolls the two central provinces Of Hope
and Hoo-Nan. and the third controls the
large and wealthy province OF 6ze-Chuen,
the head OF which Is q Manchu named Kwei
Chun- OF almost equal importance Is the
viceroyaity Of Canton, at the head Of which
Is Ii Hung Chang, controlling the two
provinces Of Quang-Tung and Quans-Se.
These eight provinces contain a population
Of over two hundred million and contribute
three-fourths of the revenue of the en-
pire. .s-t -
Are Practically Independent.
For all purposes Of internal administra-
ton the various provincial governments are
practically Independent Each collects its
own revenue, pays its own army and civil
service, and In the riverine and seaboard
provinces maintains a fotilla Of war YES
sells and constructs coast defenses. The adj
ministration of justice Is left In the hands
Of the ordinary officials. who combine this
with their other functions. The district
magistrate, for instance. who is the lowest
official In the provincial scale. is at once
collector 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 func-
fa11 fn IA lnt Of Role In,
the scale uD to the ytceroy himself. Any
officer is supposed to be capable Of under
taking any public duty whatsoever. Death
sentences require in ordinary circumstances
to be ratified from Pekin but each vice.
roy or governor is armed with extra or binary
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 gov
eminent. 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 on the government In accordance
with the established rules. the central gov
eminent 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 defense. Special
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 consideration.
The principal. hold which the Pekin gov
eminent has over the provincial officials is
the right Of appointment a1d dismissal All
officials hold the office during the pleasure
Of the crown. and can be, dismissed at any
time, with or without reason assigned. No
instance has been known Of an Official how
ever highly placed. refusing to lay down
Office and hand over the seals to his success
sor at the bidding OF hssemperor or en-
4 oh<SxlA
Gent to insure prompt obedience to any
orders from the court, but 1t La checked by
the fact that the SUCCESSOR to a viceroy or
governor so removed must be selected from
among the regular members Of the civil
service, who are all imbusd with the same
traditions Of government and the same bu-
reaucratic spirit. The crown has never ven
tured to put into high office q mere creature
OF Its own. or one who has not regularly
entered the service by some recognized
channel and risen through, the ranks Such
an attempt would undoubtedly raise a storm
Of Indignation throughout the whole OF the
country such as no government could face
Recruiting the OmeiaI Ranks.
This leads us to say a word as to the
mode In which the official ranks are re-
cruited-a system which has perhaps as
much as anything else contributed to the
general stability and moderation of the gov
eminent and prevented 1t from degenerating
office Is obtained. as Is generally known.
by a system Of public examinations open to
the humbest as well the highest. Within
recent years certain number have been
admitted by purchase 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 Pekin are filled with
men who lave risen. Admission is free
to Manchus and to Chinese alike. and until
recent years there has been no preference
shown In selection.
The great body Of officials thus forms q
bureaucracy which stands In q middle po-
sition between the crown and the people.
Spffnging on the one hand from the multi
tude and looking on the other hand to the
crown. they are friendly to both As gov
erning the people they are the recognised
medium for the redress Of grievances and
for formulating fresh legislation. AS
whole they carry on the government Of
China. both provincial and central and they
constitute check. and a very efficient
check, on the vagaries- OF the autocratic
power OF the emperor. At the same time
the relations between them and the impe-
rial house have for many years been thor
oughfy cordial. There. Is no question of
their loyalty to the dynasty. and on the
other hand advice rendered by the great
viceroys and governors has carried the
greatest weight with thu central govern
ment. Until the unhappy events Of the last
few years the distinction between Manchus
and Cinnamon seemed to be disappearing,
anu even yet II cannot De doubted that at
the present moment a, Manchu- emperor Ia
the only one who would command general
recognition. -
Central and Provisional Governments.
The relations between the central and pro-
vtsional governments are we'll illustrated by
the system Of finance The Pekin govern
ment has no revenues peculiarly its own,
but s dependent on the sums It can draw
from the provinces. The imperial maritime
customs revenue may be deemed an ex-
ception. but even that Is received in the
first instance by the provincial treasures
and in any case the whole OF 1t is now
pledged to foreign bondholders. The money
for the support of the Manehu troops. as
well as for the support Of the imperial
household itself. must be drawn from the
provinces. The customary practice has hith-
erto been for the boa9d- Of revenue in Pc
kin. which has nominal feontrol- over the
finances OF the enpiref tosfndent annually
for such sums as werenfeduIred for the use
of the central government. IS certain amount
being assessed on each province according
to its supposed meanX atd 50 long as the
amount did not vary greatly from year to
year 1t was paid with reasonable punctual-
ffy hut moro ANIL ~ M 9Sked for