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and support on the plea, inter alia, that they were fighting " to make China safe for democracy." Tested by the terms of the provisional constitution, neither the Peking nor the Canton Parliament was a legal body, and the military Government of the South could have no claim to constituted authority. But whatever the legal aspects of the dispute, the result of this dis- sension in the ranks of the mandarinate was to produce a chronic condition of civil war, or rather of widespread brigandage and unrest, throughout the country, and to nullify the efforts of the genuine progressives and patriots for securing reform.

Immediately after the revolution of 1911, the executive author- ity in each province was assumed by the local military command- ers (Tutuhs) in most cases natives of the province. Generally speaking, the administration remained as before, in the hands of the bureaucracy, minus such control as the central Government had hitherto exercised. Under the dictatorship of Yuan (1913-6) that control was partially reestablished, and to a certain extent the provincial and local administrations became once more re- sponsible, if not subject, to the central Government. In May 1913, President Yuan denned and promulgated by mandate the conditions under which the official systems of provinces, districts and circuits were to be administered, reestablishing the supreme authority of the civil, as opposed to the military, mandarinate. The provincial assemblies were suppressed, and the position of district magistrates strengthened. But after the death of Yuan no further attempts at centralization of the Gov- ernment were possible, and as the result of widespread disorders the administration passed rapidly from the civil to the military mandarins. The Tuchuns (as the military governors came then to be called) gradually usurped all the important functions of administrative authority; and even in those provinces (e.g. Chihli and Kwangtung) where the civil governor has continued to function as the chief executive, his policy and proceedings have conformed generally to those of his military colleague. According to the provisions of the permanent constitution advocated by the southern parliamentarians, the provincial administration is to consist of a civil governor, a military gover- nor, an intendant (the Taotai of the old regime), a district magis- trate, and four heads of departments general affairs, interior, education and commerce; but it is evident that, failing means to control the autocratic power of the military chieftains, no con- stitution can avail to secure uniformity of administration on these, or any other, lines.

As matters stand, the executive authority of the central Government is provisionally vested in a premier, nominated by the President, and a Cabinet of nine ministers, nominated by the premier. The Chinese names of the ministries have been changed since the abolition of the monarchy, but their general composi- tion and functions remain practically the same. The nine minis- tries control respectively foreign affairs, home affairs, finance, army, navy, justice, education, commerce and communications. There are five subsidiary departments, dealing respectively with Mongolia and Tibet, railways, telegraphs, audit and cus- toms; to most of the ministries and departments a number of foreign advisers and technical experts have been attached.

The Civil Service. Much of the political unrest and disorganization which have prevailed of recent years in China is ascribable to the suddenness with which the ancient system of classical examinations for the public service was abolished by the Manchu Government in 1906, and to the subsequent failure of the republican administration to replace it by any practical and authoritative scheme which shall ensure the continuity of the competitive principle. Under the new system of examination introduced in 1906 by ordeV of the Empress Dowager, candidates for the civil service were required to display some knowledge of western science in addition to the Chinese classics. During the first four years of the republic, the system was even more rapidly modernized, the classics and philosophy being abandoned in favour of modern history, geography, law and science. But under the dictatorship of Yuan Shih-k'ai, this process was re- versed and knowledge of the classics restored to its pride of place in the official curriculum. The general disorganization of public affairs and internal disorders prevalent since 1916 prevented the adoption of any comprehensive system applicable to, and accepted by, the whole nation ; nevertheless, the holding of office remains the chief highroad to wealth and distinction in China, and the

number of aspirants to position under the Government is probably greater to-day than at any previous period in the history of the country. In those provinces where the authority of the central Government is recognized, the system now in force requires all candidates to be possessed of a diploma or high-school certificate. There are two classes of examination, one for those who aspire to important posts under the central Government and the other for clerkships and minor posts in the provinces. Under the re- public the ancient rule which precluded mandarins from holding high offices in their native province, or for a period exceeding three years, has been abolished.

Justice. Towards the close of the Manchu reign, with a view to removing the stigma of barbarism attaching to the Chinese ad- ministration of justice, and thus to inducing the consent of the Powers to the abolition of the foreigners' extra-territorial rights, the Chinese Government was advised to compile a provisional criminal code, abolishing the torture and flogging of prisoners and certain barbarous methods of inflicting the death penalty. This new code, based on the continental model, was promulgated in 1912, the first year of the republic ; it embodied most of the legislation inspired by western ideals of humanitarianism. But like many other changes prescribed at this period from Peking, it remained without ap- preciable effect upon the administration of justice in the provincial Yamens, partly because the disordered condition of the country pre- cluded any prospect of systematic reform in this direction, and partly because lack of funds prevented the provision of the courts, prisons, reformatories, and asylums which the code prescribed. It remained therefore to all intents and purposes a dead letter. Since then, the preparation of another new criminal code has been under- taken, part of which was published in 1918; and with the assistance of Japanese advisers, civil and communal codes have been drafted, providing for the imaginary needs of many non-existent conditions. The new system, as laid down in these codes, provides for officials with purely judiciary powers, for judges functioning respectively in the High Court of Justice at Peking, in provincial high courts, metropolitan courts and courts of First Instance, but generally speaking these judges and courts, like trial by jury and the scheme of prison reform promulgated by the Minister of Justice in 1912, have remained pious aspirations on paper, and must continue to be un- attainable so long as the central Government lacks not only the authority but the men and the funds required to carry them into effect. According to a statement 'published by the Ministry of Justice in 1913, 689 new courts of justice had then been established and 13 model gaols provided; nevertheless, in most provinces the district officials remain, as before, charged with judicial functions, and the administration of justice, as far as the masses are concerned, is practically the same as that which obtained under the old regime. The widespread brigandage and continual struggles for supremacy between rival Tuchuns, which became chronic conditions in most provinces after 1916, forbade all hope of effecting any general and permanent reform of the judicial system sufficient to justify the Chinese Government's aspirations in the matter of the abolition of extra-territoriality.

_ Defence. As the result of the political disorganization prevailing since the death of Yuan Shih-k'ai, the Chinese army, as a national defence organization, practically ceased to exist, but the troops actually serving under one or other of the 22 Tuchuns (military governors) are probably more numerous to-day than at any per'od of the Manchus" rule. The number of these irregular and undis- ciplined forces was estimated by Chu Chi-chien (northern delegate at the Shanghai peace conference in 1919) at 1 ,290,657 men of whom 540,344 were supposed to be under the orders of the central Govern- ment ; but, as the result of the political conditions and the strife of factions at the capital, the majority of the forces stationed in the metropolitan province and in Manchuria owed their allegiance to their respective Tuchuns, and even to the President in his individual capacity, rather than to the Ministry of War. In the words of a Chinese writer, 1 " the army has acquired provincial associations and lost its national character " ; moreover, " in the absence of discipline among the inadequately paid troops, it is sometimes impossible to distinguish between the soldiers and the brigands whom they are expected to suppress." The inability of the central Government to collect its revenues from the provinces, and therewith to make due provision for the payment and control of a national army, has led to the creation of independent provincial forces, which have not only held the metropolitan administration to ransom, but levied tribute on the country at large. The disbandment of these forces is generally recognized in China to be a measure imperatively necessary, as a preliminary to the restoration of normal conditions.

Finance. In Nov. 1912, prior to the conclusion of the organiza- tion loan of 1913, a board of audit was established at Peking, with foreign expert assistance, to audit the revenues and expenditure of the central and provincial Governments; nevertheless, the only re- liable information available up to June 1921 on the subject of national finance were the published returns of the Inspectorate General of Customs and the revenue totals of the salt gabelle, col- lected under foreign supervision. The purely pro forma budgets,

1 See S. G. Cheng, Modern China.