(1) In our desire to encourage reform' for the benefit of our people and Empi we would fix upon the minds of all the primary importance of abolishing all attempts, at covering up faults and the use of deception. This should be the starting point of all reforms. We therefore enjoined upon our various Boards and yamens to stop all old practices of obstruction with the object of preventing papers on reform. and improvement from reaching the Throne on the Because of breach" of etiquette, ete. pretence of their being revolutionary or
Subsequently the Board of Rites tried this game by refusing to hand up to us the memorial of their Secretary, Wang Chao, with the result that we made an example of Huai T'a-pu and hi colleagues, the. other President and Vi Presidents of the said Board, as a warning to others similarly inclined. We then further commanded the Court of Censors and other yamens to send up to us without, delay all memorials and papers as they successively arrived, and not to wait for their turn of duty at Court to do so, for we felt certain that, if we are to inaugurate reforms in the government of the Empire, we needed to have placed before us the suggestions and recommendations evolved by clear-headed, far-sighted, and talented men to select from and to guide us in our task. For this have we thrown open the doors and given all liberty to speak their minis to us. Now, apprehending from what we have observed, that many of our officials, high and low, are still bound by the habits of ancient practices and custom within which they think they are still held as within a hedge, and so dare not venture upon the new privileges we have bestowed upon all around, we feel it incumbent upon us, therefore, to issue this decree and once more explain to all the new era we have inaugurated and to further command that it is our will that all memorials and papers received by yamens for transmission to the Throne shall be handed to us within the next twenty-four hours, and that should it be discovered that any secretaries or secretary ofa yamen should dare to prevent the writers of memorials from sending in their papers or, perhaps, refuse to receive such papers for transmission to us, the Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the yamnén concerned shall be held responsible and will be expected to severely denounce the guilty secretaries or secretary to the Phrone. Negligence in this respect we are determined shall not be forgi Finally, we command that our previous decrees, dated the 15th of the 6th moon (Grd August) and 16th, 17th, 19th, and 24th clys of the 7th moon (Ist, 2nd, 4th, and 9th September) and the present decree, all of which embody our intentions in regard to our preliminary steps at reform, shall be copied out by each yamen and posted in the great hall where every one may see and learn knowledge and so that noone may henceforth dare to contradict our will. We do this in our sincere desire to abolish all attempts at deception and falsehood among our servants.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.