The attempted famine relief campaign in this city did nvt achieve any great success for several reasons.
Firstly, the Magistrate Mr. Li, now superseded, was one of the opium smoking, gambling type who not only did not subscribe a cash himself, on grounds that he had subscribed last year, but would not even put out proclamations informing the people and urging them to help. Secondly, the official notification which came to him stated that the sum expected to be raised was $500 from each small city, 8600 from each medium-sized, and $700 from each large one. He called a meeting of the heads of the department and laid this before them and they accepted the apportionment of $700. There are 10 departments and this meant that a body like the Chamber of Commerce for instance was only due to pay 870, 2a miserable sum.
Subscription lists were banded out to the city representatives on the 2ist and a meeting was held on March 1 to receive the lists and subscriptions. The representatives all turned up, for the meeting was held in the military yamen, but apart from the lists taken by the churches not a single one came back, not one single cash in mone; nothing but words promise excuses, after the so-called week of effort. The three churches turned in $749 and the military yamen 8400, and that was the sum total. An indignant protest against the slackness of wealthy men in face of so much suffering resulted in an emergency meeting at which the city fathers promised to put their backs into it and get something done.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.