The Daily News of Wednesday republishes from the China Mail
an account of an interview with the reformer, Yang-su- wei, which is well worth reading. The reformer was admitted to intimate conversation with the Emperor, and found him, though much afraid of the Empress-Dowager, perfectly con- vinced that the only hope for China was the adoption of Western methods, the removal of all conservative Mandarins, and the appointment of young Ministers and Governors in their place. The reformer laid before his Majesty—always, be it remembered, kneeling at some distance on the cushions not reserved for the great—a definite plan for superseding the Tsung-li-Yamen and great officials by twelve Ministers, and controlling the Governors by appointing in each two Governments a Legislative Council, with powers over finance and other subjects. The Emperor, apparently, neither accepted nor rejected this pro- posal, but he strongly favoured the total abolition of the examinations in Chinese classics, and, as will be remembered, actually issued a decree to that effect, which was obeyed, the students immediately proceeding to purchase the necessary books. This decree was the first one cancelled by the Dowager. Empress. A puzzle remains to be explained. Whence did this weak lad, shut up in his Palace, and watched even while he gave audience, derive the revolutionary ideas which, it is clear, governed him before he talked with Yang-su-wei ? Was it from Japanese acquaintance, or one of the doctors, or is there some enlightened woman in the Palace ?
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