HISTORY
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15th, 1859, that it "is always connected with some fatal pestilence,
or some discreditable internal squab- ble. So much so that the name of this noisy, bustling, quarrelsome, discontended and insalubrious little island may not unaptly be used for an euphonious synonym for a place not mentionable in polite society."
After the Treaties of Tientsin, 1858, and Peking, 1860, a new and more hopeful era dawned. Diplomatic relations were now established at Peking, and the open- ing of China to western influence was now accepted. Kowloon as far as Boundary Street became part of the Colony, together with Stonecutters Island, in 1860. Missonary activity was definitely allowed, with the right of residence, to the various Christian churches. The chief result of these more settled conditions, as far as Hong Kong was concerned, was the increasing migra- tion of Chinese families into the Colony, and during this formative period, 1858-1882, Hong Kong became two communities, Chinese and foreign, each making an essential contribution to the Colony's development, and yet each holding studiously aloof from the other. There followed naturally new problems in the organiza- tion of the social life of the Colony. The attempt to give the Chinese their own administration based on respect for Chinese customs broke down, and gradually the principle was adopted that the law must be equally binding on all. Under Western influence the Chinese themselves took the initiative in changing their customs. Thus in connexion with the much criticised Muitsai custom, the Chinese in 1878 formed the Po Leung Kuk to combat the kidnapping of women and girls. Again in 1872 the Tung Wah Hospital was established by the Chinese to care for the indigent sick and dying and to meet criticism that they were left to die without attention. Much care was now given to the question
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