The new spirit astir in China was manifested in the early months of 1906 by the sending of a large Commission of carefully chosen men to the United States and Europe, for observations that would be helpful toward reforms in their own country. It was headed by two High Commissioners of distinction, Tai Hung-chi and Tuan Fang, and they were attended by thirty-five scholars and functionaries of note. They received much attention during their stay of five weeks in the United States, and were placed by the Government under the special charge of Professor J. W. Jenks. Writing subsequently of their mission Professor Jenks said: "The purpose of the commission is, primarily, to make such a study of the political institutions of the various countries visited that they will be able, on their return, to offer valuable suggestions for the improvement of their own. There is even serious talk among the high officials in China of some form of a constitution. In consequence, the commissioners are as eager to learn regarding the working of some of our institutions as regarding their form of organization. Inasmuch as political reform necessarily involves social reform, even as a condition precedent, the commission is devoting special attention to the study of education, in universities and schools, and to methods of social amelioration, in prisons and asylums for the insane and the poor. They, however, are not neglecting the study of our large manufacturing plants, and have clearly in mind, also, the improvement of the industrial conditions of China. It is a matter of peculiar interest that the Empress-Dowager charged them to inquire especially into the education of girls in the United States, since she hoped, on their return, to be able to found a school for the education of the daughters of the princes." CHINA: A. D. 1906. Sixty cities being opened to foreign settlement. A memorandum on the subject of the foreign settlements at the open ports of China, prepared by the Chinese Secretary of the American Legation at Peking, was transmitted to the State Department at Washington in December, 1906. It conveyed the following information: