There is a great difference _between the circumstances of this part of the country this year and jast. Last year the poorer people were facing a winter of famine as the results of the floods, but this year has been a year of plenty. The June wheat harvest was good and so have been the autumn crops of kaoliang, millet, beans, ete. Prices of flour are still high but this may partly be accounted for by the amount of grain being exported and partly by the debasing of the copper coinage by the introduction of the two cent and five cent pieces which have brought the rate of exchange up to 182 coppers for ai dollar.
Another great cause for rejoice ing, in the Mamu and Yji-cheng dis tricts especially, is that the intolerable burden of the infamous 1 Chitin troops has been removed, and Governor Feng's soldiers have taken their place. No more are the villages robbed of their produce or forced to buy bags of morphine pills. An inquiry now of any of the ordinary people as to how these present troops compare with the others is taken as a joke. "Why! there is no comparison. Those fellows were robbing and oppressing the people all the time and. afforded not the slightest degree of protection from bandits, being rather hand-in-glove with them. These present soldiers never appear on the streets unless they have business, and everything is bought and sold at a just rate." On a visit to Mamw a few days ago I was told for the first time in several years that there is now no kidnapping going on round there just now.
It takes time to clean up a district. where robbers have been ae customed to rule the roost. for a long time, and there are still large bands operating east of Hsiain and north of Yungcheng, but General Li's troops are out after them and it is evident that the bandits will get no peace as long as they remain in his jurisdiction.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.