"'The Government was not fair. It was all for itself. It didn't have good ministers. The heads of different Boards in Peking were corrupt. First the Empress-Dowager, when she was alive--just as she did--everybody did. They squeezed. Every position was bought in China, every official position--all the Viceroys and Taotais. It was like this. If you are the Prime Minister I come to you with so much money and want this job. You say "All right." You take the money from me and another person gives a little more and you accept my money just the same, and his too. They left the good men without jobs, and put in the crooked people. That is the reason of the Revolution. They wanted to be treated fairly. Everybody has an opportunity or should have, but so long as the Manchu rules, the Regent rules--in fact, no one can get a chance except those who pay their money.' "'Why are the Manchu princes and high officials so inefficient?' "'The Manchus do not want to study. They are so grand, they lose their heads--they think they are, any way. The old Manchus were not like that--that is, the Manchus got bad about eighty years ago. Before that they were all capable men and fair in their judgment. They do not want to know anything at all now; they are so conceited, and you cannot talk to them.' "'What is the chief source of their inefficiency--does it lie in their characters, training, or habits?' "'Training, of course. Everybody praises them, you see. All they want is pleasure. The young princes in the Royal family think only of pleasure. The Regent did not want to study when he was a boy, nor his brothers. His father used to be very furious, but, of course, his mother took his part, and instead of sending him to school she sent him to play. Another thing, of course, the Regent himself is weak-minded. He has not any character at all. I say this from personal experience. I have talked many times with him.' "'How are they brought up in the palace and what is the influence of this upon their views about government?' [Illustration: WHAT REMAINS OF HANKOW'S MAIN RIVER GATEWAY. The scene of the Revolutionists' last stand in Hankow. The ruins above are part of the Temple of the Dragon King.] {293}