BEE is appointed Reader of the Grand Secretariat, (2) A decree acknowledging the receipt of a memorial from the guardians of the Yung-chi-k'u, or Treasury for the issue of funds for expenditure in connection with the Imperial Mausolea, reporting that their debts have accumulated to over is. 70,000 exclusive of earlier loans, and requesting that the Tls. 60,000 earlier borrowed ma be considered as regular expenditure [and the debt cancelled]; also that a sum of Pls. 80,000 may be supplied them from the rents on lands in Chihli for the maintenance of the banner corps, in order to clear off later debts. Jung Yi and Ching Jui, the Guardians of this Treasury, are to be censured for their temerity in submitting 80 ill-advised a proposal, involving as it does the repudiation of the early loan and a further appropriation of Tls. 80,000 to pay off Inter obligations, and their request is refused. The Governor-General of Chihli is, however, directed to pay the rents due by the province to the treasury in question.
(8) Ching Vu, Financial Commissioner of Fuhkien, reports that he assumed charge of his duties on the 18th August.
(No other documents of importance.)
september 25th.—The following are the passages selected from the Four Books as the subjects for the first course at the examination for provincial graduate now being conducted in Peking 1.—Tail Kung said—Suppose the ease of aman extensively conferring benefits on the people, and able to assist all, what would Fou say of him? Might he be called per-Feetly virtuous?" The Master said, " Why speak only of virtue in connection with him? Must he not have the qualities of a save (See Legge's Classics, Vol. 1., 2.—His virtue was tI osage; hisd prune; his Legge's Classics, Vol. IL., p. 248.)
£—Suhject for verse composition. "The lines to be five characters in length, and eight of every sixteen lines to rhyme with the character [fff Ching. suburbs may Lo seen afar frets that success th ral (2) A decree directing Sung Ching, mander-in-chief in Szechuen, and.' Ting-kuei, General of the Ho-pei Brig to be committed to the Board for the termination of distinguished rewards in recognition of the service they have rendered in averting dangers that threatened the embankments of the Yellow River.
(3) Memorial from Shen Pao-cheng, Governor-General of the Two Kiang, submitting his views on a proposal of the Superintendents of the Imperial Granaries at Peking and T'ungchow, that a certain portion of the annual grant for the transport of grain by the Canal sould be applied to the restoration of the Canal itself, and that a portion of the tribute grain should hereafter be forwarded by the Canal route. commences by recognising the utility of the Canal, and the importance of maintain it in proper order. Formerly, millions of taels were annually spent in its presorvation, for the yalid reason that this important highway was indispensable as far as the Imperial Granaries were concerned, in consequence of the dangers and wncertainties of the sea route. The present financial condition of the Empire will, however, bear no comparison with that of former years sororal provinces have to be laid under contribution to provide the expenses of transport, and if these were in a position to come forward with the necessary funds, one great effort might put the Canal into so thorough and' lasting a condition of repair that the annual expenditure required to maintain its efficiency might not be spent in vain. If, as is at present the system pursued, the Canal is repaired each year solely with a view to the transport of grain for that single year, apart altogether from the question whether the necessary funds are for coming or no, the defects are increasing daily with such rapidity, that it will be impossible to maintain' it permanently even in its present condition. He then proceeds to give his reasons for this conclusion, considering seriatim each proposal brought forward by the Superintendent of the Granaries. The first of these is that each province interested in the grain transport should be called upon to provide a given amount of the transport funds it is compelled to supply for the maintenance and repair of the Canal. 'To apply this prupesal to the region in the jurisdiction of Nanking, a large deficit was shown by every district, in some cases of several Ines of taels, in others of several thousands, owing' fo the expense of transhipment, dredging, etc., etc., in the years 1875 and 1876, when the grain was despatched northwards. In the following year, -by the exercise of the most rigid economy, a saving of Tls. 20,000 was made and the money devoted to the relief of the sufferers in Shansi and Honan, and this saving was effected by the temporary resumption of the sea transport. In Kiangsu, also, there isan annal deficit in the exponditire on account of transport, and large appropriations have to be mad from other eoccunts to make it good, so that any attempt to set apart a certain amount of the transport grant for the repairs of the Canal would not only interfere with the due carrying out of the river transport, but would also put a stop to the transport by sea, The province of Anhui, which is also interested in the grain transport, has a surplus each year, out of its annual grant, but out of this surplus the levies for the pay of the troops in the capital, supplementary military levies, and the pay of the provincial troops, have to be provided; and so far from an actual balance existing it is difficult to make the surplus meet the calls for its application, The people cannot bear the extra Durden that an appropr i the Canal would ent the capital would meet with denunciation {ico the Board of Revenne}, and the in-ction of [severe] penalties. the only way, therefore, of raising the requisite amount 18 to reduce the number of irregular troops in the provinces. As long as prosperous years continue, this might be done, but reverse would be the signal for the starting up of hosts of bad characters, and the experiment would be a dangerous one, The second proposal of the Superintendents is to the effect that the provinees of Chekiang and Kiangsu should send by the Canal route some hundreds of thousands of piculs of the tribute rice that at present is shipped by sea; that Anhui should send a certain amount also on the next occasion; and that extra vessels should be hired. It is with great difficulty that Kiangsu is able to provide funds for the sea route oven, and if she be called upon to abandon a comparatively economical line for a much more costly one, where, it may be asked, are the funds to come stricken condition than Kiangeu, 'The junks from? Anhui is' in a still more poverty-
aden with the Kiangpeh tribute rice had not all crossed the Yellow River oven in August last, and it is impossible to say when they will get back after discharging their cargoes, a good half of them will be frozen n and rot, and the junk owners have the experience of former essays to convince them of the danger of attempting to return by sea.
The third proposal that the Superintendonts put forward is that the condition of the Canal should be ascertained throughout its length by careful inspection, and proposals submitted for the dredging and repair thereof. Memorialist has not travelled along the whole length of the Canal, and is not therefore in a position to go into this question in detail, but are going from general grounds, he comes to the conclusion that the Canal route was only adopted under the compulsion of circumstances, In the Han and Tang dynasties, the capital of the Empire was Ch'ang-an_in Shensi, and, in the Sung dynasty, K'ai-feng Fu; so that if the transport by Canal had then been abandoned, there was no alternative to fall back on, But it was retained in the face of risks and dangers oft repeated, to the embarrassment and suffering of' officials and people, and, in the end, granaries had to be erected half way, and' the grain forwarded when opportunity offered. By this means accidents from carelessness, mistakes, or otherwise, were rarer. In the Yuan dynasty (when Peking was the capital), the sea route alone was used, and so through. out this dynasty no river disasters"
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.