The Governor of Shantung submits estimates for the proposed Yellow River works in his province, and requests that the Board of Revenue may be ordered to provide the necessary funds. 'The most urgent of these works, and therefore the first to be proceeded with, are:—-The raising and strengthening of the embankments and dykes on both sides of the river, the construction of floodgates on the north bank' of the river below Chu-ho, for carrying off the water in the freshet seasons, and the excave of canals between the dykes aad embankment for the purpose of draining off the surplus waters into the T'uhai river. Memorialist proposes that these works should be spread over a period of two years, in view of the difficulty of raising the necessary funds to meet the enor mous outlay required by works of this mag-nitride. The channel by which the river enters the sea being now somewhat deeper than previously, it has been decided commence operations on the 24th February. From Hanchiayuan to the'sea board, embankments will be constructed on both sides of the river to confine the water and prevent its spreading out, so that the euro rent may still have a considerable velocity when it reaches the sea, As soon as this section, over 30 li in length, is completed, men will be stationed at different points along the embankment to watch over its safety. Hitherto the main cause of disaster has been the silting up of the bed of the river by deposits brought down by the current; the dredging away of the accumulations of silt, and the construction of embankments to confine the water and so increase the scour of the stream, are therefore in reality mutually auxibary measures. A couple of dredgers, costing Tls. 18,000 each, were procured from Shanghai last year as an experiment, and proved so successful that memorialist intends to order eight more. The funds required for this year's operations amount to Tls. 2,885,000 odd, including a sum of Tls. 233,400 which was appropriated last year for work on the embankments, but never forwarded. The work consequently has not been done yet, and the amount has been included inthe schedule for this year, leaving a balance of Tle. 2,647,000 odd to be provided by the Board. As it is most important that operations should be begun at once, and funds are urgently required for this purpose, memorialist. suggests that, in order to prevent the delay that must necossati'y occur before the amount can be raised' and transmitted by the several provincial governments, the Board should be called upon to provide i the meantim® a certain sum cut of its own revenues. As regards the works left to be carried out next year at an estimated cost of over Tls. 1,400,000, it is quite impossible to hazard any opinion as yet when ther the present increase in the height of the embankments will enable them to withstand the force of the stream, and render further additions unnecessary. The rapidity of the current varies so according to the season-of the year, that it would be better to wait until'the autumn freshets are over before coming to any decision on this point.—Reseript already published.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.