GRAND SECRETARY KANG YI.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 163, 11 July 1900, Page 5

GRAND SECRETARY KANG VI.

The Peking Government has- sent Kang Vi to Nanking with a view to the Intimidation of the Viceroy, whose offence was that he took- means to maintain order in his province. This Is not the first special mission on which Kang VI has visited Nanking, and so important were his movements, considered on the previous occasion that Mr Bax-Ironside, British Charge d'Affaires at Peking, made particular mention of the matter In his reports to the Marquis of Salisbury. "Kang Yl," wrote Mr Bax-Iron-side, "is a Manehu who has held high office in Peking ever since the war with Japan. He Is the Minister considered to have been chiefly responsible for the coup d'etat of last September (1898), and for the execution without trial of the six reformers. His position as a trusted adviser of the Empress Dowager, his reputation for Conservatism and incorruptibility, and his undoubted ability, combine to render him one of the most powerful of the present Peking officials." As Imperial High Commissioner he was expected to make things uncomfortable for Liv Kun Vi, the Viceroy of the Liang Chiang Provinces. He was understood to have it In charge to devise some means of Increasing the revenue, to check peculation, to reorganise th evolunteer or trainband system, to inspect the local defence, and review the troops. He was also expected to bring back with him to Peking 2,000,000 taels. Kang'Yi fully satisfied the expectations of the Empress Dowager. He hit upon various devices for the Increase of the Imperial revenue by nearly 2,000,000 taels, which is close upon 50 per cent, of what had hitherto been remitted. Provincial officials found that their perquisites would have to be handed over in future to the Imperial Government, certain colleges were suppressed, and retrenchment was established In the arsenal and In various other directions. The

army was Inspected and found to be iv good order. Iv order to ensure the military capacity of the officers in charge of the troops Kang Vi Very generously presented each commandant with a copy of a book compiled by himself, and entitled "Chiang Ping Shlli lao," or "The Ten Maxims for Commanding Troops." It does not detract from ■ the good intentions of the Commissioner that, as an authority puts It, "the work treats only of the warlike methods practised in the Han, Tang, and Ming dynasties"—that is to say, any date between 208 B.C. and 1643 of the Christian era. THE " MANCHUS. It was particularly noted above of Kang Vi that he was a Manchu, and the matter is interesting as bearing on the political condition of China. The policy of the Mauchus, ever since they lost the military.prestige which enabled them, about 3,000,000 in number, to govern 400,000,000, has been to keep the people in Ignorance. Any attempt at reform is regarded as dangerous, especially if it should Include the adoption of foreign customs and the encouragement of foreign trade. It was for this reason that the reform movement of Kang Yu'Wel was so promptly stopped a couple of year 3 ago by the coup d'etat which resulted iv the defeat of'the reformers, the practical deposition of the Emperor, and the return of the Empress Dowager to power. Since then, whenever important political posts became vacant they were filled with Mauchus. How rapidly .the change was made is shown by the fact' that before the coup d'etat only 13 of the 62 viceroys, governors, treasurers, and judges of the 18 provinces and the New Dominion were Manchus; three months later the 13 had become 24: On one occasion each of the throe additions to the Tsung-li-Yumen was a Manchu, and similar instances frequently occur. It is not that the Manchus are superior in capacity, and intelligence to the Chinese; In fact, the contrary is the case. They refuse to see good in anything new or foreign. They are reactionaries in politics, and very, few of them can claim the' "incorruptibility" attributed to Kang Yi.