Changsha, Nov. 24.
T'av Yen-kai has fallen. He has handed over all official seals he was wielding, has left the official residence and has retired to his private house in the northeast quarter of the city. The actual down-fall in such a short time of one who was so warmly welcomed but a sort time since would in itself be an astonishing thing.
But the reason of the downfall is even more astonishing than the fact of it. The one allegation which hag emerged into light of day is financial dishonesty. A month or two since, Mr. Bland challenged his readers to name 20 men who have administered finances during the 10 years or so of the Republic with entire honesty. One might find it difficult to get 20 honest names. But I, at least. knowing quite a good deal of the internal doings of Mr. T'an's two previous administrations, <honld have had no hesitation in naming hina ae one honest man vio has twice administered public moneys and each time left office poorer' than he was when ko took office. For the past six "oaths, 1 hay once more had the oppor'uniti watching Mr. Tan, and there has been no visible chanze a his style of living and acting. It is quite unthinkable to hold that Mr. T'an has changed from a money-giving official to a money-grasping tran. On both the first and second administrations, there were associates of Mr. T'an who left office richer that they were when they tonk office—indeed that would apply to almost the whole of such men. should doubt whether there were 20 cases to the contrary. But to-day Mr. Tan is said to be unable to say what has happened to the public moneys he and his associates have been handling since the exit of Chang Chin-yao.
It is an interesting thing that Chang Chin-yao himself never failed to produce well balanced statements of accounts. No one was paid any money without handing back a receipt (I am not so sure that. the reverse of that statement would hold good. At any rate I can vouch for the truth that one man first gave a receipt in full for silver dollars and was thereupon paid in paper currency worth about one sixth of the amount alleged to have been received.)
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.