The Goldfield news and weekly tribune. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1911-1947, 1914-04-18

APhAA ~
Shi-Kai's government is faced with a
serious financial crisis is the opinion
of a substantial body of foreigners
in Picking and the Treaty Ports OF
China. These men predict foreign
financial control or a foreign pubic
debt commission. The difficulty OF
the situation is that the president and
his supporters are, up to the present,
unable to obtain money from the
provinces for the administrative re-
quirements of the central govern
ment. A letter to the president from
the Tutuh military governor) OF
Human, accompanying a remittance
of $500, 900, contains an interesting
statement of the case from a prac-
teal Chinese point of view. Tang
Hsiang-ming, the Tutuh, says:
"Of late the country has been in
a turmoil of civil strife and frontier
troubles, and scarcely a day has
passed without some military opera
tions. After your excellency sup
DlcSoCu III llltClhdl oupiSo INV
made peaceful settlements with the
powers, the first thing that attracted
your attention was the financial ad-
ministration. Foreign loans have
been resorted to to relieve the cOun-
try's financial embarrassment, but
owing to the fact that the terms of
the foreign syndicates were too
harsh, some patriotic people have
suggested ways of collecting taxes
while others proposed a retrench-
ment policy. But all these s~pecious
words and theories can do no real
good to the country.
During this critical period there
seems to be hardly any remedy for
the country's financial troubles.
When l read the documents from the
central government stating it's finan-
cial difficulties and the orders of
your excelleDcy, ] gave vent to my
grief in sobs and tears, like every
one else who has the sense of pa
triotism.
I'VE are in duty bound to relieve
the embarrassment of the govern
ment. If the provinces do not help,
national bankruptcy will result and
the nation will lose it's independence.
and if the nation is ~Obliterated how
could the province of Human exist
alone? l hereby remit the sum of
100000 (Mexican) to the govern
ment.
1T should be borne in mind that
the financial condition of Human Is
quite different from that of other
provinces. 1t would be easy for other
provinces to raise double the amount.
Our remittance, though not large. is
sufficient to display our patriotism
and anxiety over the situation.
"(Signed) TANG HSIANG-MING."
This gift, as it might be called,
from the province of Human, small
as it is, is exceptional. AS a rule lit
tie or nothing can be got from the
provinces; they are, on the contrary,
continually calling upon the central
government for assistance, the Tut,
ruhs threatening that rebellion, or
brigandage and footing that will i'm
plicate the government with foreign
ers, will result unless the assistance
is forthcoming.
The president and his supporters,
by employing the army, succeeded in
suppressing the rebellion of last sum-
mer; but they have not been able to
stamp out the elements of disorder.
Indeed, in order to do this they would
have to abolish the army itself-a
m%ercenary situation, as the frontier
fighting and the recent rebellions
have shown, lacking discipline and
not yet developed above the idea that
the privilege of soldiers is the right
to plumber. Yet the president has
not the power to disband several hun
dred thousand men in arms.
DISCRIMINATION 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 re-
mains president-would otherwise
present, in the southern provinces,
the institution of a new western sys-
tenn. But the greatest difficulty is
believed by foreigners here in Picking
to be the lack throughout the nation
of capable men, possessing the char
acter and intelligence necessary 20
build up a modern system out of the