It is now two months since General Yuan hil-kai took charge of the Governor's Office, and it seems to be understood that he ix tobe not merely the actin ruler of the yet uncounted tuilligns of this ancient province. He upon evi day ands full many mes over, The Boxer business is far fron being at an end, although somenthis followers vere sinzuine Jimit beyond which it would by no means figure. Butit is t melancholy fact e those who know the res! ennditions of the di turbed districts, that the Boxers hav the least suppressed, but only temporarily repressed. In many places there are still "eaunps" drilling with more or less publicity and with the firm expectation that some time the second month" "or in the third month" there is to be a general risi For outbreaks of this sort it is popularly supposed that the Chinese Constitution Las kindly made provision. "Every two hundred sind fifty years a small revalutio and every five hinidred years " great revoli= tion", although none of these ex are in any proper sense revolution ments, It is impossible to say what relation the perpetual ug may have to the adlministr Laitiirs. What se are sutliciently in of is that there does not appear to be any firm grip upon the situation either in this province or in Cnilli. Troops are scattered all about as they have been for many months. They are frequently ordered hither and yon with imperative urgency, as if much depended upon celerity, but s0 fur as is visible not particular ever comes of it, most pressing duty in the restor civil order is the rigorous arrest of the principal Jers, and their condign punishment, every sensible person has been remark for some months. But it is at just point that the practice of the higher authorities fails, Both in Shantung and in Chibli it is the rule that (a piece of fatuous folly as se inflame the leaders themselves {their followers), sometimes sent to the provineial capital whence they return with certificate of good with a feather an to make their previous 1 official. There is 2 ease of thi a few mil i. d the effect of the sudden midnig! sub-leader three days wzo, has been to to threaten to gather his forces and release the captive, or at least to take vengeance on those who gave information to. the soldiers who made the arrest. Wy there i nat a i mall thy men take tended to Junaa runners pat ape send worl ahead, "ud extort: money reward lowing the m nied, to escape. The regular soldiers on the other hand sre strangers, and find it very difficult secure any one to be eves and ears for them. There has already been so much dawdling over these indispensable arrests of prominent Boxers, that every one of them lias had time to juin the Buers in Pretor he been thus mindel. them, many of the cli fatuated wi n of time when they shall their innings as in the palmy d: Hsien exercised his big-sword troops in front of his yanacn as a specimen of how the thin: ought to be done. The irrepressible and universal belief that this Manchu worth: to return, is perhaps zradlually passing Te was because it denote the beginning eral risi 1 the extinction of all it was so much hoped considered i€is hard to that the situation hus in any material pect improved during the past two mouths, have issu et proclamations inf people that by saking autumn wheat one every infor inter months it will' be fit for " d_ will produce spring whea', It will be interesting to watelt this agricultural a. Very few Chinese in this whole region can remember a year in which autumn wheat was not planted, and this year thousands refitse to plant any spring wheat—the seed for which can with some extra trouble be obtained—because for their while life time the ever done <0! this region have been who offer to distriint to any that have been pillaged, regardless of sect, four sttings of (small) cash to exch adult, and half us much fora child. The object of this is to torefend any claime for compensation for the grievous outrage to which the Christian Is ye been everywhere subjected, the amour of damages stistained alrendy amount foftaels, This th paid all claims resources, and others for his prompte bitterly cold one, to match it. th February
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.