May 15th.—(1) A memorial from Li Han-chang, Governor-General of the Hu-kuang provinces, submitting a report on the capacity of an expectant Taotai whose ter of probation has expired. There is a standing order to the effect that when Taotais or Prefects are sent to a province on probation, the Governor-General and Governor ut che province to which they are sent shall, at the expiration of one year from the date of their arrival, report on their respective capacities and recommend them for appointments to busy posts, or the reverse, as the case may be. Chang Pao-hsien, the Taotai on probation who is the subject of this report, is sixty years of ay: and a native of Ch'iian-shu Hsien in t province of Anhui. He commenced his career as a salaried licentiate, and subsequently obtained the degrees of chie jew and chin skil, when he was created a Magistrateby selection, In the third year of Hsien Feng, he obtained the appoilstiuent of Police Magistrate in Peking, and in the following year was appointed Mayistrate of the Wursi district in Kiangsu.~ Me w: presented at Court, and was then tr ferred by Imperial decree we a district in Shansi, In the 5th year of Hsien Fong, he was joint examiner at the exaniuation for the decree of provincial graduate, and at the close of that year went into mourning for his mother. His mourning expired in the 8th year of Hsien Feng, and he was then appointed to the province of Féng-Yien to await selection there. After a year's service in that province, he was committed to the Board for the bestowal of the highest marks of distinction in consideration of his services in connection with judicial work, and in the following year was appointed acting sub-Prefect of Nin: titan Chow. In the Ist year of Chih he went into mourning for his father, and in consequence of his native place being invested by the rebels, obtained permission to go through his' period of mourning at Chieh-chow in Shansi, A decree was then issued alluding in most flattering terms to his services, and the Governor of Shansi was instructed to keep him in mind and give him employment. In reply, the Governor reported very favourably of his honesty and energy, stating that he had been employed in the organisation of train-bands, Having purchased the grade of Prefect, he was sent to Kiangsu to be employed on special duty in that province, and in the 4th year of Tung Chih was appointed first acting Magistrate of Vau-yang, and afterwards acting Magistrate of the Wu district. Having done good service in connection with the transport of grain by sea, he was recommended by the then Governor-General, Li Hung-chang, for a Prefecture, and after having been employed in other capacities, visited Peking in the 11th year of Pung Chih (1872), and, after presenta ion at Court, was ordered to be retained in Kiangsu and presented with one of the first vacancies, In 1878 he purchased the grade of Taotai, and was transferred to jupeb, where he has now completed his year of probation. The memorialist con-Siders him competent to take charge of a post assigned to the category of fan, or busy.—Rescript: Let the Board of Givil Ellice take note.
May 16th.—(1) A number of District Magistrates in Shantung, who have failed to make yood the amount of the balances standing against them on giving over charge of their respective posts, are to be proceeded ayainst with the utmost severity, and the amounts they owe recovered from them.
(2) The following officers are called upon to vacate their posts and come to Peking that they may be presented at Court:—The Taotais of the K'ai, Kuei, Ch'én, Hell cixeuit in Honan, and the Kao, Lien Gireuit in Kuangtung; the Prefects of Pao-ching Fu and Hong-chow Fu and Ch'én-chow Fa in Hunan, and the Prefect of Tsun-yi Fu in Kueichow.
(8) Memorial from the director-General that the fleet kiang P'u and started on their way northwards, having passed the fast sluice on the 2nd of April, or twenty-three days earlier than th got through last year. all, were divided into ten sq carried a gross total of 125,100 piculs. The portion of the Canal known as the Ssu Yun-ho, which they have to pass, contains numerous shoals, which it has hitherto been the custom to dredge as occasion demands. Above the Ssu-chien section there are six sluices which are opened or shut as circumstances dictate Officers have already been sent ahead, provided with funds, to sce to the clearing of the stream from obstructions, ete., but as the fleet has passed up somewhat earlier than usual this season, the memorialist has sent up some more officers to assist in making ready for their approach, (4) The same officer applies, on behalf of the Grain Intendant of Chakiaus, for a further extension of the usu: period of delay allowed for the submit the accounts and returns for the past These have been particularly complic places, and the necessity of drawing careful distinctions between different classes of land, etc.—Granted by Rescript.
(5) Li Hung-chang reports that the period of the freshet known as the ling hsun has passed on the Yung-ting River without mishap. Previous to the time at which this freshet generally comes down, officers and soldiers were posted along the banks to be in readiness to prevent accidents, and the Intendant of River Works now reports thatthe freshetscame down somewhat earlier than usual this year. In the beginning of March, the ice began to break up, and the water rose daily, until it had reached to a height of from eight to thirteen feet above the ordinary level, with a current of varying velocity. Precautions were taken to strengthen all the weak points, numbers of soldiers being employed in filling bags with sand and ramming them down where it was necessary, with the result that no mishap occurred. The freshet lasted a month, by hich time the ice had all disappeared and the water had returned to its ordinary level.
The remainder of this day's Gazette is occupied by an uninteresting account, from the Governor-General of the Hu Kuang provinees, of the capture of two men who had been guilty of stealing plough oxen from a farmer as he was driving the beasts home, from market, and wounding him when he attempted to resist their action, They have been sentenced to decapitation with exposure of the head.
'May 17th.—(1) The following appointments are announced:—Prefect of Eh' ching Fu, Yunnan, Yeh Ving-chieh SEFEAS; Tootal of the K'ai, Kuei, Ch'én, Hsii Circuit in Honan, Ni Wéen-w" 8 CIR; Taotai of the Kao Lien Circuit Kuangtung, Ying Chien $EEiff; Prefect of Hong-chou Fu, Hunan, Liu Yeh BEE; Prefect of Ch'éu-chow Fu, Wen Huan, RBs Prefect of Tsun-yi Fu, Kueichow, Hsit Shang-hua Ye (2) Memorial from Ting Pao-cheng, Acting Governor-General of Szechuen, in reply to the decree issued at the instance of th High Committee of Princes and Mini on the 6th March, ordering the provincial Governments to consider ways and means for raising fands for military expenditure, and the" exercise of economy in the channels of expenditare, On receipt of this Aecree the memorialist, whose natural duty and that of those associated with him is to exercise strict economy, particularly at a time like the present, referred the question at once to the iperintendents of the departments charged with the organisation of funds for military purposes, and the audit and return of accounts respectively. These oticers now report that, sino the militar operations carried on in Szechuen in the 108 year of Hsien Feng, irregulars were enlisted repeated occasions, and though the numbers of these irregulars were constantly being reduced, additions were also frequently made, the enlistments in fact being in excess of the reductions, So much so hat in the years 1868 and 1869 there were more that 60,000 irregulars in the employ of the Government of Szechuen, the maintenance of whom cost upwards of thi millions taels per annum. Their numbers were reduced by Wu T'ang, the late Governor-General, so that in 1877 the force amounted to some 15,000 men, for whose maintenance an annual expenditure hundred thousand taels was necessary. Funds were so scarce, however, {that it impossible to meet this all with ity. On the suiccesthe memnvriflist ty the post of governor-General, he was fully alive to the poverty of the province, and the disastrous {ctivet [of tion] on the people. Bat a is aciug so wide an area owing to the remission of taxes in somd/as Szechuen, bordering, moreover, on the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.