POLITICAL JOTTINGS IN CHINA. brated his fifty-ninth birthday on the An Imperial Deciee recently pub-18th inst:, and a reign of over forty years. Yished stated that Ung Tung Ho, the! There is certainly no more respected Grand Tutor of the Emperor, and sovereign on the Continent, nor one President of the Board of Revenue,! whose rule has been more difficult or etc., etc., was granted two months' leave. more benign. His empire is made up It was also stated that his services and of a number of States of different nation-advice were of great value to the! alities and different interests, whose Pmperor, and special privileges were jealousies have often threatened to accorded to facilitate his speedy return break the bond that holds them to Peking. Ung Tung Ho arrived at/ together, which is only kept entire Shanghai early in the week and left by the personal influence of the again after a short interval for his family Emperor. The deadliest blow was dealt home near Soochow. i him when Germany tore away a The memorial from the Board of i part of his German subjects; for as Admiralty on the subject of railways was long as they were a majority he could to be sent in to the Government on Tues-better control the jarring Magyars and day, the 20th August, and it will be a Slavs who can only be persuaded to month probably before any definite work together by the fear that in redecision is arrived at and Decree issued volting from the rule of Austria they in regard to the recommendations made. may fall into a worse state under Ung Tung Ho's attitude is still one} Russia. he menace of Russian attack of decided opposition to railways, but which has been held over Austro-Hun-this arises in a great measure from the gary ever since the dissolution of the fact that he would havetheresponsibility former Triple Alliance drains the empire of finding a large part of the neces-of its resources and subjects it to an sary funds thrown upon him, and has almost intolerable strain; for by com-strong objection to being placed in} mon cousent—which may turn out to that position. Seeing that the ques-be as mistaken ascommonprophecysometion is so rapidly coming to a head, he times does,—it is on Austria that the prefers to be out of the way at the first blow in the coming European war is critical moment, so that if railways to fall. The future of so heterogeneous are sanctioned and are afterwards conan empire it is very difficult to forecast. demned, he will be able to say that he It will hold together during the life of always opposed them, and was absent Francis Joseph, who is so thoroughly from Peking when the final decision was and justly beloved by all his peoples, made, and is therefore not responsible. and the fact that it was not apparently His absence greatly weakens the anti-weakened by the doubtful present made railways party, and shows that Ung it by the Berlin Congress, the govern-'Tung Ho sees clearly that the definite ment of Bosnia and Herzegovina, shews decision to proceed with railways will that there is still great vitality in it. speedily be made.
Prince Bismarck would like, it would The reports already published of the seem, to direct it still farther to the names of officials appointed to the rail-south-east; for there are still some way department are all premature, no Germans in Austria that he would like appointments having been made as yet. to take in, and he could reward Italy There is a very general feeling in the with the Trentino. With the war cloud North that the Viceroy Li's health is hanging over him, and the presence steadily weakening, and that his life is now a very uncertain one. If he should die, or retire from ill-health, it is very probable that he would be succeeded by the Marquis Tseng in the civil part of his office, a general being given the independent command of the army there. Tseng Kuo-chuan will be kept at Nanking as long as he lives and Chang Chih-tung, being a native of Chihli, cannot become Viceroy of that province.
The removal of Chang Chih-tung from Canton will make a great difference to matters in the South, and the regressive schemes which he had in d will probably be dropped by his ged successor, which will make some difference to Hongkong.
The actual commencement of a railway at Hankow towards Peking will soon be a fact, and this will tend to give a stimulus to enterprise at Shang-of his great recent sorrow, the death of the Crown Prince, Francis Joseph can hardly have had so happy a birthday as he deserves. At least he has the satisfaction of knowing that he has the universal love of his subjects, and the universal admiration of the rest of Europe. The Austrian community in Shanghai celebrated the day with a banquet at which the acting Austrian Hungarian Consul-General, Mr. Bichler, presided, and in which the convives fully represented the feelings of their fellow-countrymen at home in their hearty devotion to the Emperor-King.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.