Kirin, and on the Ussuri. It is not contended that these troops are yet as carefully trained as the model corps of Li, but they probably possess superior fighting qualities. Leaving a wide margin for exaggeration, there is the important fact that China now has one strong army to defend her capital against attack from the sea, and another to oppose any assault by land from the Amour and Russian Manchuria. This really means a complete revolution in the military position of China. It is unnecessary to go into details on the subject of the garrisons in Central Asia and on the southern frontiers. In both quarters China has important interests to consider and defend, but they are not to be compared with those in the north. She has rightly commenced her task of improvement where it was most needed, and although she has not done all that she could have done, and will yet have to accomplish, she is already strong where she was weak, and could now render a good account of herself against a first-class opponent. The desire to reform the army is keenly and honestly felt in the highest circles of Chinese life, but the difficulty in adapting the old organisations of the Banner and Green Flag armies to modern requirements is very great and perhaps insuperable. In some things China has made great progress, and in others she has hardly advanced at all. It is much to be feared that she has few competent and honest officers, and that she does not possess even one general. That China should enjoy a superior organisation and a more formidable military force than she does will be admitted when it is stated on good authority that her total war expenditure, including the pay of the provincial garrisons, does not fall short of twenty millions sterling.

With regard to her navy, China has in less than twenty years made enormous progress. She has purchased some excellent vessels, she has built some useful arsenals and repairing docks, her guns have not burst, and her navy in tonnage, armament, and being generally up to date, comes sixth among the fleets of the world. The weak point is connected with her officers and the fighting capacity of their crews. If they will do their duty, China possesses a navy which completes the defensive power of the country, and would give it besides opportunities of assuming the offensive in more than one quarter. When it is remembered how short a period has elapsed since China only possessed antiquated sailing junks, it will be allowed that the progress made has been little short of marvellous.

The revenue of the Empire is the last branch of the great subject of the government of this curious country and people that need claim our attention. There is great difficulty in arriving at any conclusion as to what the gross total may be. In the first place the bulk of the revenue raised in each province is spent on local administration, and only a small portion is sent to Pekin for the requirements of the central government. Much of the revenue also is raised in grain, and much of the proportion handed over to the Pekin Treasury is in kind. It is not surprising to find that the estimates vary from twenty to one hundred millions sterling. A recent return states that the revenue received at Pekin now amounts to twenty-two millions sterling in silver and between four and five millions in grain. With this sum the Emperor has to pay his Court, the Pekin administration, the navy, the disciplined troops (not the Green Flag or local Bannermen), and to purchase arms, as well as to provide for special contingencies. Accepting this figure as correct, there seems no valid reason to summarily reject the higher sum of one hundred millions as the total contribution of the people of China to their government. There

need also be no hesitation in saying that neither the people nor their government get the value of this large sum of money. Much of it is wasted for want of system, a great deal more is devoted to the benefit of corrupt officials, and even the balance is assigned to many purposes that are no longer suitable to the age or the national requirements.

The revenue derived from foreign customs, which are collected by a large staff of European officials, first organised thirty years ago, and ably controlled from almost the beginning by Sir Robert Hart, exceeds five millions sterling now that the lekin is paid as part of the import duty. It provides the central government with a certain and increasing source of income, which enables it to meet pressing liabilities and to offer a specific guarantee for the payment of interest on any loans that it may raise in the European markets. Let it be noted to her credit that China has not turned her opportunities of borrowing money to undue account, like her neighbour Japan. Her pride, or perhaps a shrewd perception that the time will come when she can borrow money at a very much lower interest than is now expected, has prevented her incurring permanent liabilities for the sake of a temporary gain. A single year's income from customs alone would wipe out the total indebtedness of China, whereas the debt of Japan is several times as great as its whole revenue. The financial strength of China arises from the magnitude of its revenues and its freedom from indebtedness. Its financial weakness consists in the want of system with regard to the provincial revenue, and in the fact that the central executive has to defray all the substantial burdens of the Empire out of that portion of the taxes which reaches Pekin. It is not to be expected that any material improvement in these points can be effected until the means of communication have been greatly improved between the capital and the provincial seats of government.

The facts that have been recorded will perhaps have the effect of showing that the larger place which has been conceded to China in the family of nations of recent years is deserved on the whole by the condition of that country and the character of its government. Whether the work is satisfactorily performed in every department of the administration or not, the rulers of China have at all times set themselves in earnest to the task of governing that vast country, and they have fairly faced the many problems arising from it. In China the raison d'être of the government is the benefit of the people. The daily work of the Emperor and his advisers is the discharge of the complicated and overwhelming business of the realm, which is mainly decided within the walls of the Imperial Palace at Pekin. Everything is conducted in an orderly manner and in strict accordance with what experience has shown to be politic and expedient. The meanest offender in China receives the same consideration as an accused viceroy at the hands of the whole hierarchy of Chinese judges until his sentence is finally pronounced or approved by the Emperor on the throne. In the busy hive of Chinese life none work harder than the bureaucrats at Pekin, and it must not be supposed that the drier duties of administration are not enlivened by discussions on la haute politique and diplomatic finesse. A service that has in our time produced such subtle minds as Li Hung Chang and the Marquis Tseng is not to be assigned a low place among the official systems of the age. This is not the place to discuss the bearings of Chinese policy in its relations with foreign countries, but it may be said that that policy will be based on the same solid facts as

underlie the structure of its government. It will be only a transitory phase, due to some passing apprehension, if it loses the national characteristics of confidence, persistency, and indifference to external opinion. The policy of China can never be one altogether agreeable to the contemplation of the interested foreigner. There must always be something in its nature akin to the Monroe doctrine, which, if enforced, would make the United States an unpleasant neighbour. But if we on our side are willing to make allowances for the position and traditions of the Chinese Emperor and his executive, there should be no difficulty in maintaining harmonious relations between England and China. In dealing with China we have some assurance that we are treating with a strong and stable government, for the weakness of China is more on the surface than at the core, and there is always a guarantee of durability when the institutions of a country are to be performing their expected functions. To this much credit the government of China can, without exaggeration, lay claim, and on that ground alone it is entitled to our respect.