El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-04-11
P8ES.5EIT of
GHIHA UNABLE
T0GET FUNDS
Serious Financial Crisis Con
tinues to Threaten the
New Republic.
NO TAXES PAID;
MEANS DIFFICULT
DEKIN, China, April 11.-That Yuan
Shi-kais government is faced with

/ EA1N, China, April 11.-That Yuan
Shi-kafs government is faced with
serious financial crisis is the
opinion Of a substantial body of for
elgnSrs IN Fekin and the treaty ports
OF emma, These men predict foreign
J financial control or a foreign public
, debt commission. The difficulty of the
situatlQn IS that the president and his
SQpporters are, up to the present, una
PIE 70 OBTAIN money from the provinces
Tor the administrative requirements of
the central government. A letter to the
presIdent from the tutah military gov
ernOr) OF Human, accompanying a re-
/ mlItance OF 100000, contains an inter
esunS statement of the case from a
/ PfactlcaI Chinese point of view. Tang
Hsiang-ming, the tutah, says:
OF late the country has been in q
turmoil Of civil strife and frontier trou-
bles, and scarcely a day has passed
without some military operations. At
ter your eXcellency suppressed the in
ternal troubles and made peaceful set
Elements with the powers, the first
tnlng Ihat attracted your attention was
the financial administration. Foreign
loans have been reSOrted to to relieve
the country'S financial embarrassment
but owing to the fact that the terms
OF the foreign syndicates were too
marsh, some patriotic people have sug-
SeSted ways OF collecting taxes while
others proposed a retrenchment policy.
But all these speciOus words and theO-
RES can do no real good to the country.
During this critical period there
seems to be hardly any remedy for the
countrys financial troubles.
We are in duty bound to relieve the
embarrassment of the government. If
the provinces do not help, national
bankruptcy will result and the nation
viii lose its independence. And if the
nation is obliterated, how could the
province Of Human exist alone? here
by remit the sum of $500 900 (Mexican)
to the government.
TT should be borne in mind that the
financial condition of Human is quite
different from that of other provinces.
It would be easy for other provinces to
raise double the amount Our remit
display our patriotism and anxiety
over the situation.
(Signed) Tang Hsiang- ming"
Is An Exceptional Gift.
This gift, as it might be called. from
the province Of Human, small as 1t is. is
exceptional As rule little or moth
ing can be got from the provinces; they
are, on the contrary, continually call
ing upon the central government for
assistance the Tutuhs threatening that
rebellion. OF brigandage and lOoting
that viii implicate the government
with foreigners, will result unless the
assistance is forthcOming-
Can Collect No Taxes.
sorganizatiOn throughout the
country prevents the government from
collecting taxes on western lines from
the provinces as a whole, while active
opposition, which will last. it is said
as. long as Yuan Shi-kai remains presi-
dent would otherwise present in the
southern provinces, the institution Of a
new western system. But the greatest
difficulty is believed by foreigners here
in Pekin to be the lack throughout
the nation of capable men, possessing
the character and intelligence neceS-
Sary to build up modern system out
of the corrupt and antiquted eastern
one which the country knows.
ReFerfR to Old Custom.
Yuan Shi-kais government has fallen
back on the old Manchu system of Civ
ing the governor formerly the vice
roy) orders to send to the capital GER
tain definite amounts, leaving the gov
ernOr to collect as he can sufficient
above the required sum to pay his prov
ince's expenses, including the cost of
his provincial army, and what sums he
chooses to take as his own personal
compensation. But even this plan hith-
erto has failed, for the central govern
prestige and power which the Manchus
held, feeble as they were.
Except where foreigners are given
control. or a measure of it, as in the
case Of the extensive salt tax. the
salt gabeue, the government is able to
collect little in the way of revenues.
Yuan Shi-kat might employ more for
eigners and put them in authority, but
the men Immediately around him, as
well as he himself, have given cOntin-
ued proofs of their unwillingness TO
authority 10 lOEGAEACLS.
OPpOsitfOn to. Foreigners.
The men in high positions round the
president are all Of the old school, al
most every one having been high Off
orally understood in China that it was
the Chinese and not the Manchus who
most opposed the entry of the foreign
er. The opposition to foreigners now
ever, exists not only in the presidents
palace. Whenever the presidential gov
eminent negotiates with foreigners, in
making loans. granting concessions, or
any other business in which there might
be squeeze" or the surrender Of au-
thOrity in any form. a noisy opposition
rises. And in view of the feebleneSS OF
the government and the danger OF en-
plOying the army, such eXcttementS
have to be curbed and controlled by
The danger of them has
been shown in very recent years, the
Szechuan outbreak, which was the be-
ginning of the anti-Manchu rebellion
having been created on the cutlery
against the Bukwan railway contract
Seeks Another Loan.
In desperation the government Is
now endeavoring to obtain another
large loan from the quintuDle group OF
commposed of French, Ger
man, British, Japanese and Russian
banks, supported by their respective
governments. 1t will be remembered
that last years 100000 pounds loan
was the cause of a considerable out
break among parliamentary members 1
against yuan Shi-kai and was one oL
the prominent causes of the rebellion OF
asst summer. Feeling that Yuan's gov
eminent is too disorganlzed and un-
stable to trust with another large loan ]
the quintupIe legations are requiring
The banks to stipulate what amounts
10 foreign control of China's finances /
Tor period of, it is stated. 90 years /
Is a condition Of any further exten- |
3ive borrowing
Up to the present the government 1
las refused this condition. and is get,
ing along as best it can with small /
oaDs at high interest, parts of which /
Ire sometimes taken out in arms am
nunition and other necessities Of the 1
Sometimes railway and otn-
n concessions are granted for such un- |
,ortroIed loans Rut IT is believed /
hat the day Of reckoning will soon i