The memorialist, Chang Chih-tung, Vieeroy of the Hukuang provinces, begs to acknowledge receipt, through the Grand Council, of an Imperial decree stating that Some' persons had, on the 11th of May last, denounced Sheng Hsuan-huai, Vice-President of the C-urf of Revision, and Director-General of Railways, of misconduct, on the ground that he intended to mortgage the godowns and landed property of the China Merchants' Steam Navi gation Company, situated on the Yangkin: pang, in Shanghai, as security fora for. loan in favour of the coal mine: opened in the district of Pinghsi province of Kiangsi. As this is a m serious accusation and the act of mortgaging such a large and important portion of the assets of the China Merchants' Ca. for the purpose of procuring additional funds to prosecute work in single, petty district like Pinghsiang, may be fraught with a dangerous precedent and may do considerable harm in the future, Chang Chih-tung, Viceroy of the provinces of Hunan and Hupeh, is hereby commanded to carefully examine the said charges and to report truthfully to us in the matter. 'The said Viceroy shall also warn the said Director-General Sheng, in the meantime, not. to act. recklessly but to be careful' how he makes promises which would open the way to future misrepresentations and fraud. A copy of the ssid denunciatory memorial is hereby ordered to be forwarded to the id Viceroy to guide him in his investiga-
In reply to the above the memorialist begs to state that it 1s a matter of note, that the strength and power of Western countries have been mainly derived from railways, steamships, guns and arms, and these depend upon factories and' iron foundries, which again have to rely for their eficiency solely on good coal from which to produce coke. Now when m monalist first obtained Imperial permission to establish the Hanyang Ironworks and factories he experienced considerable difficulty in fixing on suitable coal fields to supply the said works, although men were dispatched everywhere to find them, Subsequently he was informed, upon careful. investigation, that the coal fields situated in the district of Pinzhsiang, province of Kiangsi, were just suited for the production of superior coke, and he at once deputed agents to purchase the coke made there. This, however, was manufactured on a very small scale owing to the limited number of mines at work. Still, for years, he has been compelled to purchase this coke at great expense, owing to the culties of transport. and the secluded nation of the mines; but there was no help for it, as coke is the sine que non for the smelting of iron ore and the manufucturing of good steel.
In May 1898 memorialist in conjunction with the said Director-General Sheng presented a joint memorial asking permission of the Throne to purchase machinery, lay a railway and sink new shafts at' the Pinghsiang coal mines, it-being proposed to follow on the same lines as the Ki colliery which prohibited other comme syndicates from exploiting the said vicinity, ax well as the miscellaneous and promis: cuons sinking of shafts by petty proprietors of land in Pinghsiang, This was because it was understood that the entire output in coxl and coke from Pinghsiang would be required for the Ironworks, ete, at Hanyang. Memorialist is glad to state that the Imperial consent was given to the above proposals; which is on record, Now in mining for coal if there is no foreign machinery it is impossible to sink shafts deep underground where the best coal lies and from which excellent coke is obtained, while without using foreign furnaces it i9 impossible to purify ire ore for the manufacture of pure steel. Moreover, if we do not lay a railway connecting: the mines with a proper port there would be no means of readily transporting the output at the mines to the points of requirement. In fact the proposed railway, machine shops, furnaces and the Pinghsiung: mines are all mutually dependent upon one another, and the project is indeed an important and great. undertaking, which would further do its work in keeping our wealth in our own country.
Moreover, coal is one of the principal items urgently needed by such an institution as the China Merchants' S. N. Ca. Owing to the inability of the Kaiping colliery supply, last year, all the coal needed by that Company, the latter was compelled to purchase from abroad no less than Tls. 200,000 worth—a needless expense dis to the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.