1 Tō-Aō-Dō-bun Kwai hō-koku for April, 1909, p. 3.

2 The transliteration of Chinese sounds in this paper follows the Hirth system as outlined in the Syllabary of Chinese Sounds (by Prof. Friedrich Hirth), in the Carnegie Institution of Washington publication No. 54, Research in China, vol. 1, pt. 2, pp. 511-528.

3 Tō-A, etc., April, 1909, pp. 5-6.

4 Ibid., May, 1909, p. 15.

5 Ibid., pp. 7-14.

6 Kei-zai se-kai, extra No. 3, 1902, pp. 1-123.

7 Tō-A, etc., April, 1909, pp. 5-6.

8 Tō-A, etc., May, 1909, pp. 7-14; January, 1904, p. 64; etc.

9 Waseda gaku-hō, March 1, 1905, pp. 9-20. Tō-A, etc., September, 1905, p. 1 ff.; December, p. 23; May, 1909, pp. 12-13, 20; November, 13-34. This last reference contains an explanation as to why there was so much less resistance than had been expected of the old scholars to the new educational system. Also, ibid., December, 15-44.

10 This scheme of school-system was largely adopted from the Japanese, but, in some instances, the Chinese system gives more hours per week and longer courses of study than the Japanese. It is needless to say that the system has not yet been completely put into practice, schools of the lowest and highest graces particularly being still very deficient.

11 Waseda gaku-hō, March 1, 1905, pp. 9-20. Tō-A. etc., September, 1905, P. 1 ff., December, p. 23; May, 1909, pp. 12-13, 20; November, 13-34. Also, Ibid., December, 15-44.

12 “The reason that other nations are rich and strong is: that by governing by constitutions and deciding by public discussion, they acquaint all the people with their financial and political conditions, so that the higher and lower classes share the same life and the officials and people act as one body. We, also, shall promulgate a constitution, uniting the sovereign rights in the hands of the emperor and deciding all affairs of government by public opinion, and shall thereby establish an eternal foundation of the state.”—An imperial edict 7th month, 13th day (lunar calendar), 1906. Tō-A, etc., May, 1909, p. 19.

“At this critical time, the existence of the empire may be maintained only by the common effort of the government and the people, … . national progress may be stimulated and national efficiency secured only by the diligence and mutual correction of the officials and commoners ….” From an imperial edict August 27, 1908, granting outlines of the constitution, etc., to be promulgated nine years hence. Ibid., September, 1908, p. 1.

For similar expressions in memorials and edicts, see ibid., July, 1904, p. 40; October, 1904. pp. 20-25; July 1907, p. 32; etc.

13 Ibid., July, 1904, p. 40; March, 1905, pp. 57-58; etc.

14 Their departure was delayed by an accident that occurred at the Peking depot. They were away from China during the first half of 1906.

15 Ibid., May, 1907, p. 17.

16 Ibid., p. 19.

17 Ibid., August, 1907, p. 27; February 15, 1910, p. 21.

18 Ibid., July, 1907, p. 83; August, 1907, p. 24 ff.; May, 1909, p. 20; June, 1909, Pp. 30-41

19 A highly satisfactory account of the historical development of the more important offices of the Chinese Empire has been published by Dr. Unokichi Hattori, in his valuable Shin-koku tsü-kō, vols. 1 and 2, Tokyo, 1905. Cf, in Pang-p'ing's article in Waseda gaku-hō or August, 1903.

20 This change had been made in one or two boards a few years before, but was now made universal.

21 It is impossible in this limited space to describe the character of the remodelling of these boards now at last effected. Mayors' work, referred to below, has been a useful guide to students of the Chinese government under the old régime; it will before many years become necessary to have as valuable a compendium of the official organization of the new régime.

22 Tō-A., etc., March, 1909, pp. 12-13.

23 Of these, may be mentioned the department of the imperial household (Tsung-jan fu), the college of literature (Han-lin yüan), the bureau of taxation (Shui-wu ch'u,) the military council (Kün-tzï ch'u), the court of revision (Tali yüan), and the censorate (Tu-ch'a yüan). The Han-lin yüan has recently been slightly reorganized. See Tō-A., etc., December, 1909, p. 53.

The offices of the old régime are explained in W. F. Mayers' The Chinese Government: a Manual of Chinese Titles, etc., Shanghai, 1878, part ii. Also see Morse, H. S., The Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire, New York, etc, 1908, pp. 53–59 Google Scholar.

24 It being beyond the purpose of this paper to discuss the practical politics of the court of Peking, we refrain from making extended references to the more important personages in the Chinese government. For the probable reasons for the downfall of Tuan Fang, see Tō- A, etc., January 15, 1910, pp. 36 ff.

25 Tō-A., etc., September, 1908, pp. 1-10.

26 Ibid., pp. 10-16; October, 1908, p. 53; July 1909, p. 15 ff.; August, 1900, p. 18 ff.; October, 1909, p. 53 ff.

27 The Japanese constitution provides that the houses of the diet may present addresses to the emperor, but it has no special clauses for the impeachment of cabinet ministers. The right of addressing the throne may perhaps be used for that purpose.

28 The first day of the Chinese lunar year falls somewhere between January 21 and February 19 of the Gregorian calendar.

29 Promulgated January 1, 1909. See Tō-A, etc., February, 1909, p. 41 ff.; April, p. 56.

30 A real university and a peers' school, among other things, are also contemplated.

31 See Li Kia-kü's views on the codes to be framed, Tō-A, etc., October, 1909, pp. 60-01.

32 The establishment of law courts has thus far been one of the least encouraging features of the new régime. Except two or three, most of the provinces have shown lack of both zeal and men in this most important work.

33 On January 11, 1909. See Tō-A., etc., February, pp. 33-40.

34 Ibid., October, 1908, p. 41; January 15, 1910, p. 22.

35 That the emperor of Japan takes the supreme command of her army and navy, though he naturally does not personally see the detail of their management, contributes powerfully to the unity and strength of her military forces. It is not strange that China has adopted the same idea. Cf. Ta Shóu's memorial, Tō-A, etc., October, 1908, p. 35. The practical difficulty of this measure in China, where the most efficient armies have for many years been provincial armies, will be considerable.

36 See ibid., August, 1907, p. 29; August, 1908, pp. 18, 50; September, pp. 10-15; December, p. 48; March, 1909, pp. 41, 66. It could not be expected that the abolition of the distinction of legal status between the two races would also do away with the sentimental difference between them. A keen rivalry prevails at this moment between Manchu and Chinese politicians in Peking, and it constitutes one of the deterrent features of practical politics militating against the success of the new régime.

37 This measure has thus far been perhaps the most enthusiastically executed and most promising of success of all the proposed measures of reform. Ibid., September, 1908, p. 52; February, p. 70; April, pp. 52, 56, etc.

38 Ibid., August, 1909, pp. 5-8; January 15, 1910, pp. 32-36. At the end of 1908, the aggregate of the financial obligations of China to foreigners was as follows: 15 loans relating to the Japanese and Boxer wars, £115,353,590; 12 loans relating to railways, £18,100,000; 3 other loans, £5,103,489; total, £138,-557,079, or 923,713,860 taels. Of this sum, about 700,000,000 taels, involving interest charges of about 30,000,000 taels, were owed by the central government. There are some other provincial loans not included in the above aggregate.

39 Koku-min shin-bun, December 25, 1909.

40 Tō-A, etc., November 1909, p. 76.

41 It was provided that all transactions in property should require stamps at the following rates: For property under 1000 taels of market value, a stamp of 0.02 tael: for property under 10,000 taels of market value, a stamp of 0.10 tacl; and for property above 10,000 taels of market value, a stamp of 1.00 tael. A stamp of one tael was required in registering each case of the inheiritance of properties. Ibid., July, 1908, pp. 23-24; January, 15, 1910, pp. 22, 36, 45.

42 Thus far the financial reports rendered by the provinces show deficits in nearly all cases. Ibid., January 15, 1910, p. 52.

43 For this plan, see ibid., February, 1909, pp. 33-40; January t5, 1910, pp. 22-44.

44 For example, the financial reports of the provinces for 1909 are said to contain many discrepancies from their normal accounts expected from the provinces, owing in some instances to the authorities who have made questional uses of public funds. The financial commissioner of Kansu failed to make any report, and has been dismissed from the office. In the Peking government, there is as yet no central exchequer, each board having barely succeeded in consolidating its own accounts.

45 Tō-A, etc., November, 1909, p. 76.

45a The critical condition of the finances has at last aroused some Chinese to action. A rumor was current in China a few months ago that the Powers would discuss at the Hague the desirability of instituting an international commission to take over the management of the Chinese government finances. The negotiations then going on regarding further immense loans for China for the building of new railways and for the “neutralization” of some old ones, and the published interview of Secretary Knox explaining the motive of tho American government in this movement, tended strongly to confirm the ominous rumor just referred to. Many patriotic Chinese in Tientsin then conceived the heroic idea of preventing the crisis that seemed so imminent by freeing the government from financial obligations incident upon the Chinese-Japanese and Boxer wars, amounting probably to seven hundred million taels, by means of voluntary contributions made by all the people in the country. The provinces were appealed to, and all have responded with wonderful readiness. Correlated associations have been organized to persuade all the citizens in the twenty-two provinces, high and low, young and old, to contribute to the general fund according to a definite system. Whether this colossal movement will succeed will be observed with lively interest by all friends of China. Tō-A etc., January 30, 1910, pp. 26-30.

46 Ibid., April, 1909, pp. 8-46.

47 Ibid., August, 1908, pp. 16-44.

48 Ibid., August, 1908, pp. 13-15; September, 1909, pp. 41-46; November, 1909, pp. 49-61.

49 This law applies to the smaller local districts called ch'öng, chön, and hiang,—the ch'öng being the seat of the government of the larger divisions, fut 'ing, chóu, and hién, and chön being now defined as a community with more than 50,000 inhabitants, and the hiang, with less. The law of self-government for the t'ing, chóu, and hién, will soon be promulgated.

50 Soldiers, policemen, religious teachers, and students.

51 These provisions closely resemble those in the law of the shi, chō, and son, of Japan, of 1888, amended in 1889, 1898, and 1900. Gen-kō hō-rei shuran, compiled by the Bureau of Records of the Cabinet, Japan, 1907, vol. 1, part 5, pp. 29-76.

52 Ibid.

53 Ibid.

54 Ibid.

55 Ibid.

56 The Japanese law provides for a further appeal to the court of administrative law or to the minister of home affairs. Ibid.

57 By the old system are meant the historic institutions of pau and kia (groups of houses and families for mutual protection and exhortation), hiang-chöng and tsu-chöng (respectively, village and clan heads), hiang-yo (rules for the moral conduct of the villagers), etc.

58 Tō-A, etc., June, 1909, pp. 23-25.

59 Pending the taking of an accurate census, the school statistics and the returns of the rice-tax to Peking from the province are made the basis for the assigning the number of members to its assembly. The following are the numbers thus assigned: Chï-li, 140; Kiang-ning, 55; Kiang-su, 66; An-hui, 83; Hu-pe, 80; Hu-nan, 82; Shan-tung, 100; Ho-nan, 96; Shan-si, 86; Shen-si, 63; Kan-su, 43; Sin-kiang, 30; Szï-ch'uan, 105; Kwang-tung, 91; Kwang-si, 57; Yun-nan, 68; Kui-chóu, 39; Föng-t'ien, 50; Ki-lin, 30; and Héi-lung-kiang, 30.

60 According to the information already received, the ratios between the total population and the primary voters, and between the latter and the assembly members, are as follows:

The great disparity of the ratios in the different provinces are noticeable. Tō A, etc., November, 1909, pp. 75-76.

A comparison of these provisions regarding the qualifications of the candidate and of the voter with the corresponding provisions in the Japanese law (of 1899)in relation to the city (Fu) or prefectural (Ken) assembly is instructive. Japan requires a property qualification of the voter—three yen or more of direct national tax, and a higher one of the candidates—ten yen or more, while in the Chinese law, the qualification for the voter is varied in a most interesting manner, and the candidate needs no property qualification. See Gen-kō etc. vol. 1, pt. 5, pp. 1-10.

61 These provisions are absent in the Japanese law.

62 Occasions for suspensions are: when the assembly has acted beyond its rights and did not heed the admonition of the governor, when its resolution is in violation of law, and when its conduct is disorderly beyond the control of its president. The following constitute reasons for dissolution: when the resolution of the assembly implies disrespect to the emperor, when it jeopardizes the peace of the state, when the assembly does not obey an order for suspension or does not change its attitude after repeated suspensions, and when the majority of the members do not respond to repeated orders of convocation.

These specifications do not obtain in the Japanese law.

63, 64, 65 These provisions also are not found in the Japanese law.

Altogether the Chinese law of the provincial assembly is several degrees more liberal than the Japanese law of the city and prefectural assemblies.

66 It was decided to postpone until 1912 the opening of the assembly of this distant province, where the ethnic elements are heterogeneous, education is meagre and qualified voters are relative few. Tō-A, etc., July, 1909, p. 33.

67 The London Times, November 23, 1909.

68 Tō-A, etc., April, 1909, pp. 57-59; May, pp. 31-38; November, pp. 30-46 65-67; January 15, 1910, pp. 1-9, January 30, pp. 1-12; Koku-min shin-bun for December, 16; Man-shu nichi-nichi shin-bun for November 18.

69 Tō-A, etc., January 15, 1910, p. 49, February 15, pp. 21-26. These enthusiasts would have the diet convened in a couple of years, but their first petition of January 16 was met by a courteous but firm declination by the regent to shorten the period of preparation.

70 These questions were: the appointment and transfer of the viceroy or governor; international questions of railways and mines; copper currency; and public and private schools of law and politics. Ibid., December, 1909, p. 54.

71 Finding that the provincial assembly had no right to discuss diplomatic questions, the matter of the railway loan was discussed no further, but was taken up as the sole subject of discussion by the specially organized railway council. Koku-min shin-bun for December 25, 1909; To-A, etc., January 15, 1910, pp. 25-28.

72 This superseded the tentative plan published on July 22, 1908.

73 The learned scholars are, however, selected in the first instance, not by the their own class, but by high officials of the central aud provincial government and by ministers accredited to foreign countries. The number of the members representing each of the seven classes that return the hundred members, and the number of men recommended to the throne for its final selection by each of the last four of these classes, are as follows: (1) Titled members of the imperial family—16 out of the whole class; (2) hereditary nobles—12out of the whole class; (3) chiefs of the dependencies—14 out of the whole class; (4) Untitled members of the imperial family—6 out of the 60 recommended; (5) government scholars— 32 out of the 160 recommended; (G) learned scholars— 10 out of the 30 recommended; (7) wealthy gentry—10 out of the men elected by their peers in the provinces, no province allowing more than twenty wealthy men to take part in the election, and each province electing one-tenth of the number of its qualified wealthy voters.

74 Reasons for suspension and dissolution are similar to those that are stated in the law for the provincial assembly. A suspension should not exceed fifteen days.

75 Mr. Ta Shóu, in his able report on his studies of the political institutions of Japan, whither he was sent as an investigating commissioner, advocates the well-known theory of the late Prince Ito, himself the framer and commentator of the Japanese constitution, that the system of combining all sovereignty in the hands of the emperor and yet conducting the actual business of government through regular constitutional organs would at once relieve the emperor from the direct responsibility of government, and obviate the danger of the dynastic revolution. Tō-A, etc., October, 1908, pp. 32-33. The existing system in China, when a constitution is grafted on it, will be found to fall far short of this ideal state of an “indirect government.”

76 Tō-A., etc., January 15, 1910, pp. 22, 50.