24th Aug. Twn death on Saturday morning of BLE. Chang-yao, Governor of Shantung, in middle life, is a serious blow to the State, Of the eighteen provinces into which China proper is divided, exclude ing Formosa and the New Dominion, there are fifteen which have Governors-General, or Viceroys as we call them, over them, and only three, Honan, Shantung, and Shansi, in which the Governor is the highest authority. Of these three independent Governorships, Shantung is the most important, and Chang-yao was already almost of viceregal rank, and was mentioned as the most likely candidate for the next vacant Viceroyalty. As he was only a Chili man by adoption, a precedent would no doubt have been found to enable him to become the successor of H.E. Li Hung-chang himself, notwithstanding the rule that no one can hold any office of importance in his own province. The only objection to him on the part of the literary class was that he came into the service of the State by purchase, but this proved no bar to his employment by the Throne. In Mr. Jordan's invaluable List of the Higher Metropolitan and Provincial Authorities of China his services are stated as under Commander-in-Chief, Kuangtung.
Assistant Admistrator New Dominion Oct. '81. Governor Kuangsi July '85.
Governor Shantung June '86. Took office July '86. Assistant Director Board of Admiralty June '88. Governor, as officials go ili China, He Chang-yao was an exceptional,
Spent enormous sums of money on the allow River without, so far as can be seen, doing any permanent good, but without any of the money finding its way into his own pocket. Though a rough, uneducated soldier, he was the most clean-handed of Chinese high officials, standing in this respect on a level with the present Viceroy of the Two Kuang. Those who have read from time to time the letters of our correspondent at Chinanfu will remember that Chang-yao's dealings with the missionaries were strictly after the manner of his kind. He evaded their requests as long as he possibly could, passing them on to his subordinates, who in turn passed them back was seriously ill came in the letter of our Tientsin correspondent of the 17th, which appeared in our columns on Saturday morning, and in which it was mentioned that the Viceroy had despoichet his own medical adviser, Dr. irwin, to attend the Governor, an attention which shows how highly Chang-yao was valued by Li Hung-chang. Tt was only the other day that our Chinanfu. correspondent mentioned Chang-yao's having just sent' out six hundred copies of the recent Imperial Decree in favour of religious toleration; and it was only on Saturday that we gave a summary of the Governor's report on the Nanyang squadron; a report which' we have no doubt is thoroughly well-founded, though its author's only qualification for forming an opinion on naval matters was his appointment three' years ago to tie Board of Admiralty." It was obviously, however, a report which would be anything but displeasing to his patron, Hung-chang.
His death will seem a serious loss to the State because it appears that the Cabinet has very few names on its list of possible Viceroys. The recent aplutment of Li Han-chang and Liu un-yi, both old men who might bel fairly considered to have served their time, shows how few are, in the opinion of the Cabinet, the available candidates for the highest provincial offices; and the man who probably stood first on the list has now been prematurely removed by death. It is quite possible that our late Taotai, Kung Chao-yuan, who has risen rapidly through the Judicial Commissionership of Chekian, to the Treasurership of Szechuan, will be selected to succeed Chang-yao.' He has the recommendation in the Viceroy Li's eyes of being an Anhui man,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.