(8) Postscript memorial from Li Hung-chang praying for the remission of the penalties fo which certain of the authorities at Tientsin had rendered themselves liable by their failure in the first instance to apprehend the thieves who robbed a money-shop in the Tan-chieh outside that city in the month of September last. More than half of the criminals concerned have now been captured and executed. Granted by Rescript.
January 15th.—(1) A Decree. The Court of Censors memorialise on behalf of Ho Chin-show, Prefect of Yang-chow in Kiangsu, who requests that the number of officials on committees of deliberation may be extended. When the State, in the case of matters of great importance directs the high officers of the Court to deliberate together, the expectation is that their en-tumes will result in the unanimous adoption of a plan of action, and the individuals composing this deliberative committee will of course be [guided] by fixed rules. That, the memorialist stiggests, officers of high low degree should deliberate together, is a procedure that has not hitherto been recognised. Should any officials in the Capital or the provinces, or any high officers in retirement at their homes, have views upon the subject that is now under deliberation, they are at liberty either to submit a memorial themselves, or to request [com-potent officers] to do s0, in which they may openly speak out the truth. The request for the extension of committees of deliberation need not be taken into consideration.
(2) Ting Pao-chen memorialises to the effect that the spirits of Li Ping, his son, and the Tartar General Yang Ssit, worship-oats certain temple in the town of Kuan sion in Szechuen, have repeatedly miracniously intervened in averting calamities, and requests that their names may be recorded and tablets granted in their honour. {n the summer of the fourth year of Kwang Hisii, the waters of the river having risen to. an unusual height, the officials and people of the district prayed to these deities, who immediately caused the waters to subside into their natural courses, thus removing the danger and securing a year of abundance and prosperity, an act traly worthy of gratitude, Rescript: Let the Imperial Gollege of Inscriptions reverently prepare three tablets to be suspended in the temple by Ting Pao-chen, and let the Board of Ceremonies deliberate and report as to the propriety of the recording of their names.
(3) Memorial from Ming Hsun, Superintendent of Imperial Manufactories at Naning, reporting the completion of numerous orders for silk, satin, and other fabrics to be supplied for the chief indent for the year 1878. These fabrics include 280 pieces of satin ordered by the Board of Revenue, and 891 pieces of the same material ordered by the office of the Privy Purse, together with 500 pieces of fine linen of various colours, and 50 handkerchiefs ordered by the same department, as well as various other orders, for the execution of which a sum of Tls. 40,000 was granted by the Governor-General of the Two Kiang.
The report of the rehearing of an appeal case, and a long memorial from the Censor Ko Ching suggesting means for the amelia oration of the condition of the Tsung shih, or lineal descendants of the Imperial an: vestry, occupy the remainder of this day
lin Tae presents memorials on behalf of January 16th.—(1) A Decree. The Han-
the Compiler Wang Yen-k'an and others, and the shu-chi-shih, or Bachelor, Sheng Yii respectively. The Court of Transmission also presents a memorial on behalf of Chang Chih-tung, Groom of the Library. Let these papers be handed over to the committee of high officers now sitting, who will take their contents into consideration together with the other matters upon which. they are deliberating.
(2) Memorial from the Censor T'ien Han-chih, pointing out certain abuses that exist in the courts of department and district magistrates, notoriously in certain districts in the province of Chihli. These abuses he divides into four categories,.viz., (1) The purchase of the privilege of serving warrants; (2) the extortion of cart-hire by the people serving these warrants from those upon whom they are served; (3) fees to underlings which are demanded before a case can come into Court, that are made compulsory on the parties interested, who are prevented even from abandoning their suit until these demands are satisfied; (4) "arbitration fees" so-called, which are exacted from litigants who have decided to compromise their case, and are not allowed to file a petition to that effect in the Court until the underlings are feed.
(8) Ming Hsun reports the completion of an order for thirty pieces of flowered yellow silk, and fifteen pieces of plain yellow silk to be used in: the preparation of cases for the Veritable Record" and slips to be pasted on each volume.
The rehearing of an uninteresting appeal case from Shantung, announcements from the out-going and incoming Superintendents of Imperial Manufactories at Soochow, of their retirement from and assumption of office respectively, with a return of salt duties transmitted to Peking by Li Hung-chang, occupy the remainder of this day's Gazette.
January 17th.—(Court Circular.) The Governor of Shun-tien Fu reports a fall of snow in the capital to the depth of an inch and upwards.
(2) A Decree. Wu Yuan-ping memorial-isos requesting that a record of the administrative acts of a deceased Governor-General may be drawn up by the State] a Historiographer's Office, and that memorial temples may be specially erected in his honour. Shen Pao-cheng, Governor-General of the Two Kiang provinces, deceased, commenced his [provincial career] as prefect of Kiukiang, from whence he was transferred to the prefecture of Kuang Hain in that province, When the Canton rebels overspread the Empire like birds of prey, he held the city against them, and raised the blockade by hard fighting. He was then appointed taotai of the Chi, Nan, Kan, Ning circuits in Kiangsi, and assisted in the organisation of militia in that province. In the year 1862 he was appointed Governor of Kiangsi. He was honoured with the special appreciation of two Emperors and strove with all strength to repay the confidence that was reposed in him. When the Canton rebels had concentrated their energies for a descent upon Kiangsi, Shea Pao-chen; availed himself of the opportunities afforded to keep them out and exterminate them, obtaining victories over them in a success sion of battles, thus securing the safety of the province fo an extent that was truly considerable. Afterwards, he gave his mind and energies to the organisation of navy, which he was the first to reduce to asyséem. [While Acting Governor of Fuhkien] he was still more unsparing in the labour he brought to bear upon the pacific cation of the Formosa aborigines and the development of the resources of the country, while he unostentatiously suppressed the evils from internal disorder that prevailed. When he came to be Governor-General of the Two Kiang, ho devoted himself with sincerity of purpose and true energy to the work of administrative reform, thereby mercifully protecting the vital interests of the common people, walking in the same paths as he did when Governor of Kiangsi, His meritorious actions are indeed made manifest to all, and We direct that they be placed on record in the State Historiographer's office. We also sanction the erection of special sacrificial temples in his honour at Nanking, and in the other provinces in which he established a reputation for himself, that his loyalty and devotion may be made manifest.
(2) Further prayers for snow are ordered to be held on the 20th inst. His Majesty will take part in the ceremony.
(8) Joint memorial from Tso Tsung-Wang, Governor General of Shensi and Kansu, and Yang Ch'ang-chun, As Administrator, recently appointed Financial Commissioner' of Kansu. They would humbly observe that Kansu is an important region from the fact of its being a frontier province, and military organisation is one of the chief considerations there to be kept in view. Order having now been restored, it becomes necessary to withdraw the irregulars that were enrolled for purposes of defence, that the regular troops may be restored, the numbers of whom should be reduced in the interests of econo. my. The memorialists were engaged yore ago in the reduction of the forces in fuhkien and Chekiang, and the increase of the pay of those retained, and the measures they then adopted were attended with so fair an amount of success that the military system of these two provinces was undoubiedly improved thereby. On the arrival of the memorialist Ol'ang-chun in Shensi last winter, the memorialist Tsung-tang Pointed out to His Majesty the necessity for adopting certain modifications in the military organisation of Kansu, and begged that Yang Ch'ang-chun might be allowed to take the management of these reforms in consultation with himself. This request was grante@ by decree, and the memorialists now beg respectfully to observe that regular troops are established as a precaution st emergencies, and for the protection frontier; hence, the question of their strength or weakness is one of special importance. The Empire has maintained standing] army for over two hundred yess, at a [large] annual cost to the exchequer, and the fact that, during the recent operations, the standing army has been of no service whatever, is attributable to the excess of their numbers and the poorness of their pay. Now, the value of troops lies in their efficiency rather than in their numbers, and to discover their capacity for fighting, the point that must be considered is the efficiency of their drill, and this efficiency depends upon whether they are sufficiently paid or not, When soldiers are hungry and exhausted by want, their domestic concerns occupy their attention, to the exclusion of their military duties, and permission to get a living by other means cannot be refused them. The consequence is that their aims and interests are divided, their bodil energies are exhausted [by other work], and they lose their dexterity from want of practice. Officers and men are not familiar with each other, so that, to say nothing about "driving" them against. an enemy, it is almost impossible to get them to attend their drills with regularity. They are, i fact, regular soldiers in name, but in reality they differ in no way from' idle common people, and, like destructive insects, cumber the ground. The feebleness and laxity of military administration in other provinces, though attributable to more than one abuse, arises chiefly from excess of numbers and poorness of pay, which prevents diligence in the holding of drills. Originally, the pay allowed had a higher value than afterwards, and so, as it was not broken up into different portions [by
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.