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had sufficient common sense assuming that they may be devoid of consideration of English susceptibilities and oblivious to the advantage of British protection to have changed their front when they saw how the questionable policy of the Russo-Danish protectorate complicated matters. Ho A-mei, the chairman of the company, has gone the wrong way about the negotiations as well as the initiation of the company; and this is all the more to be regretted in that it is the first move in this direction made ostensibly with native co-operation, in this part of South China. We should not be surprised if the difficulty were met by the Chinese Government purchasing the entire line and working it themselves." This turned out to be a prediction of what happened at a later date.
Another project promoted by Ho A-mei was a modern water works for Canton. A prospectus was issued in 1882.
The party of progress supported the scheme but gentry opposition eventually forced its abandonment. The report of its collapse stated that those with large capital were only looking for a quick profit and the scheme did not promise that. However, there was support, the report says, from "a few residents and shopkeepers who have received enlightenment from Hongkong and are willing to embark on any enterprise led by Ho A-mei, and several hundred shops and houses pledge support.”
In spite of the abandonment of the scheme, its promoters were praised: "Mr. Ho Kwan-shan (this was one of Ho A-mei's official names) and the party he represented deserve great credit, and it is to be hoped they will not relax their efforts."
The progressive and conservative attitudes in Canton were discussed in a Hongkong newspaper article in 1882. It noted the spirit of progress moving in Canton and attributed this to the influence of residents who had lived abroad or at Hongkong and had been influenced by foreign ideas and ways.
In a somewhat superior attitude the writer noted that those Chinese who had seen "the fruit of a higher civilisation and the benefits of modern industrial appliances have done a great deal to