CHINA'S NEW ERA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 59, 18 June 1910, Page 12

CHINA'S NEW ERA.

OPENING SESSIONS OF HER PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURES. (By Dr. .Morrison, in the London Times). The inauguration of the Provincial Assemblies on October 14 was the mosi innportant event in China during the J last year. As in the case of opium suppression, different degrees of thoroughness have characterised the new departure, hut 'the general result has more than fulfilled expectations. ... in the twenty-one provinces preparations differing in degree in different (provinces had been made for the election. In some, notably in -Shan-Tung, Shansi and Yunnan, the electorates were prepared and educated by lecturers sent throughout the province, and this practice will, before the next election, be extended to all the provinces. The number of electors who exercised the right of voting varied in different provinces. There was considerable apathy; there was the mistrust inevitable m ;in imperfectly educated country. So trace of anti-Christian prejudice marked any of the elections, and native Christians exercised freely the right of voting. . . The session occupied forty days, from the first of the ninth to the tenth of the tenth wioon —i.e., October 14 to .November 22. But in the case of Chihli and one or two other provinces the sittings were extended to fifty days. Rules of procedure followed Western lines, each subject having to be submitted to "three readings. De-oates. were open to the ipulblic by the presentation of tickets issued by members. Tables and chairs were set apart for the reporters of the local newspapers, and the proceedings were duly recorciea. In Shan-Tunk province 119,549 voters recorded their votes. They sent to the Assembly 103 members, the senior member of the capital Chinanfu, being the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce. The Governor himsrelf submitted a number of subjects for discussion, viz., "Local self-government: How should it be inaugurated"; "Education: What •lines should it jfollow?" (and similar questions regarding police, trade and industry, land taxation and standardisation of weights and measures. Proceedings throughout were conducted with excellent good sense, and anybody seeing the orderly discussion of these grave gentry would think that the Assembly had been in existence for years. In Manchuria, in Moukden -province, 52,679 men exercised their rights of voting. Of the 50 members elected, 26 had some official 'rank, 42 had literary degrees, and four had studied in Japan. Subjects similar to those in Shan-Tung were discussed, emphasis being laid upon the prohibition of opium, the improvement of agriculture—especially of wheat and beans—the reorganisation of land and other taxes, the development of trade and the reform of currency.

In Chihli province, since the new buildings were not yet ready, the Assembly held its opening meetings in the Memorial Temple of Li Hung Chang. There were present at the opening 140 members. Among subjects discussed was the interesting one of development of instruction in the easy , writing of Chinese characters.

In Chansi province the Assembly was a conspicuous success. During a recent journey to Taiyuanfu and Hsianfu while the assemblies were in session 1 was much impressed with the serious spirit with which the members of the assemblies in these two cities had entered upon their duties. In Shansi 90 members were elected. The president, Liang Shansi, is one of the most distinguished scholars in the province. In his opening address the president paid a graceful compliment to England, where his son is being educated, speaking of her as "the friend of China and the Mother of Parliaments." Much of the work of the Assembly was given to tne subject of opium suppression. Led by the progressive ,Ting Pao-chaun, the present Governor, Shansi is foremost among the provinces of China in its campaign against opium. In no other province has the cultivation of the poppy been so entirely suppressed. The Provincial Assembly unanimously approved this course, and unanimously resolved to oppose the continued entry of the drug fr6m adjoining 'provinces. In Hsianfu, that historical capital of China to which the court fled' in 1900, the Assembly was opened with eclat by the Governor, an amiable old Manchu, who submitted a grave dissertation on constitutional government, a subject on which he could speak with the complete detachment due to entire ignorance. While the Provincial Assembly of Kansuh .province was meeting in the'capital, the Viceroy, Sseng Yun, was on his way back to Pekin, having been removed from office for "opposing the Imperial will" by memorialising the throne that the time had not yet come for granting the province a representative assembly. In Nanking the foreign consuls were present at the opening ceremony, and were struck with the orderly and impressive manner with which the proceedings were conducted. The subjects discussed embraced currency reform, the taking of the census, railway extension, reclamation of waste lands, river dredging, agriculture and afforestation, opium prohibition, stamp duty, questions of likin, of standardisation of weights and measures, and the formation of a society for spreading among the people a knowledge of the principles of constitutional government.

Of 105 members elected in Szeehuan province the greater number were either holders of official rank or graduates under the old system of examination. Six only were elected under the property qualification. A large percentage of the members, including the President, Pu Tien-chun, were students who had returned from Japan. No other Assembly was more free in its criticisms of the authorities. Early in its proceedings the Assembly had a constitutional struggle with the Viceroy as to its rights. The Assembly won the day and thereby gained "reatly in prestige. Chinese spectators°admi'red the independent manner isi which the members discussed questions affecting the interests of the province, the finest and richest in the Chinese Empire. Among subjects discussed were the eradication of superstition, the abandonment of foot-binding, the prevention of disputes between Christian converts ami non-Christians, the establishment oi trade banks, and the need for unrvcrsa!, education. The Viceroy of Szeehuan is the well-known Bannennan, Chao Erhhsun, who was the first Viceroy of Man-. churia after the reorganisation. Hpace forbids a reference to each of the assemblies, but the "dignity and o-race" which marked the proceedings; fn Foo-Chow and the "excellent repute" of the President of the Canton Assembly must be noted. In the latter provinces there was friction as to the forms of address between the Assembly and the higher provincial authorities, but it is remarkable how few have been these differences and how easily and amicably they have .been adjusted. Among other subjects discussed in Canton were the suppression of gambling, the reform of prisons and the abolition of the old system of police and yamen runners. To conclude. A study of the reports •of the proceedings so far available of the first session of the provincial as-

semblies supports the contention that the throne has been justified in granting the subjects of the empire a limited right of speech through their chosen representatives. The programmes of debate have been strictly in accordance with the Imperial edict, and the proceedings have been marked with dignity and decorum. The net result justifies the declaration made by a high authority, who has been given special opportunity of forming a judgment, that the "members have fulfilled their appointed task of working in harmony with the executive authorities in' the interests of their respective provinces." The franchise is a limited one. Males of not less than twenty-five years of age are qualified to elect members in their own provinces if they belong to one oi the five categories: (1) Those who have completed three years' service in educational or other work conducive to the public good; (2) those who have graduatated in China or abroad from senoors oi a certain standing; (3) those who have certain degrees under the old system of examinations; (4) civil officials of the seventh rank and higher, and military officials of thfi fifth rank and higher; (5) those who have property to the value of not-less than .iOOOdol. Opium smoking and "turbulent or law-breaking persons,'' illiterates and certain other categories are not allowed to vote.

Any native of a province who has attained the age of thirty, and one thirty years old not a native of the province who has lived in the province at least ten years is eligible for election as a member of the Assembly.