According to a Peking dispatch H.E. Wang Chih-chun, Governor-designate of Kuangsi, who, as may perhaps be recalled by readers of these columns, was appointed by the Empress Dowager at his own recommendation, having declared at a recent Imperial audience his ability to suppress the Kuangsi Rebellion by the end of the current year, came very near to being again shelved owing to a strong denunciatory memorial by over half-1-dozen Censors. Governor-desizmite Wang was denounced as incapable and anything but a man of determination or physical courage. The Empress Dowager, it is reported, came very near to being influenced by this memorial of the Censors, and countermanding Governor Wang's "appointment, but she was eventually persuaded to hold on t" her firs:. decision by the specious arguments of the notorious ex-Boxer partisan, Ch'én Pih, the present Governor of Peking, who for interested motives of Lis own cham-piened the denounced officer's cause and brought the latter triumphantly out of his predicament. Naturally this enraged the Censors and they turned on the Governor of Peking the full vials of their wrath, and this time drew up a memorial, signed by more than double their previous number, that is to say, fifteen of them, accusing Ch*én Pih of a number of very serous and grave crimes, amongst which was that of surreptitiously accepting heavy bribes from applicants for promotion or office, as the case may be, in return for whic Ch'én Pih used his influence—an extensive one in reactionary circles in the C.pita!—on their behalf, "thereby introducing into the public service " number of incapab!" and ignorant men who become in time a per-! fect disgrace to the Stare, because by reason of his avarice and cov -tousness, he could not prevent himself from dyeing his fingers with the taint of filthy lucas," Indord, one charg", that of Ch'én Pih's son receiving certain specified bribes on behalf of his parent, was brought home the accused by the Censors, in consequence of which the Empress Dowager could not get out of appointing some on "to investigate matters", although had she her wish and Ch'én Péh's accusers been less in number and influence she would have been more than glad to suppress the memorial against one of her favourite. But there are more ways than one for killing a ext, and so reactionary was selected to investigate a rexctionary's conduct." In other words, the notorious Lu Ch'uan-lin his been chosen to investigate the charges against Ch'én Pih, with what result has not transpired. In the meantime, oh-dien' to fri"ndly hints from the Pekins Governor's Yamé1 Gorvernor-designate Wang left at "nce for his new post, arriving at Shanghai en route four days ayo,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.