July 16, 1896. |-
Naturally we are wishing to invite sympathy elsewhere also, and various members of our Committee are writing to friends at Hongkong and elsewhere, hoping that active help would come from there also..
Of course Hongkong will choose the channel for its own charities; but if it should be a con- venience to send them through Kobe, the Kobe Committee would willingly bear the expense and responsibility of administration.----Yours truly,
WM. AWDRY,
Bishop. Under instructions from H.E. the Governor Mr. C. C. Platt, His Excellency's Private Sec- retary, forwards us the subjoined letter for publication, with an intimation that all subscrip- tions should be forwarded to Mr. Jackson, and it has been proposed that, with the concurrence of the donors, such subscriptions should be sent to the Kobe Relief Committee for distribution:-
Kobe, Japan,
1st July, 1896. Sir-I beg to lay before Your Excellency the following brief statement of the great disaster which visited part of this country on the 15th June last, and in behalf of the com- mittee, of which I have the honour to be Secre- tary and Treasury, respectfully to ask Your Excellency's distinguished co-operation in our plans for relief, in such a way as may seem to Your Excellency advisable and feasible. -
The newspapers of Hongkong have doubtless had full reports of the damage to life and property caused by this exceptionally severe tidal wave. It is not, therefore, necessary to take up Your Excellency's time with detailed statements, but an official summary of the damage, as far as ascertained, places the loss of life at about 28,000; the number of wounded at 4,400; the number of houses destroyed, in whole or in part, at 7,000; and the survivors who are left more or less destitute at 75,000. So wide- spread is the devastation that even the suffering and loss of life caused by the great earthquake of 1891 cannot equal the present record.
•
The foreign residents of Japan have promptly subscribed to the relief of the sufferers. At this port the Kobe Chronicle, at present under the editorial management of T. Cowen, Esq., was the first to make a public appeal, but on the 25th ult. a public meeting was called, at which it was unanimously resolved to entrust the work of raising funds, and of disbursing the same, to a committee, which was then elected (with power to add to its number). This committee at present is composed of the following members:→→→
· R. von Krencki, Esq., H.L.G.M's Consul, Chair- man, A. C. Sim, Esq., A. De Ath, Esq., T. Lenz, Esq., C. P. Hall, Esq., Rev. J..L. Atkinson, Right Rev. Bishop Awdry, J. S. Happer; Esq., Secretary and Treasurer.
In view of past experience, the sentiment of this public meeting was decidedy opposed to entrusting the funds which might be raised to the Japanese authorities for disbursal, and in electing our committee it was understood that careful, personal supervision should be exer- cised by us in the distribution of the funds.
Three members of the above committee were actively and personally engaged in distributing funds raised for the relief of the 1891 earth- quake sufferers, and we feel that the experience then gained will be most valuable to us in the discharge of our present trust.
Since the committee was organized we have collected $5,000 from this community, but the reports which reach us day by day from the scene of the disaster convince us that large ́as this sum is in comparison with the size and wealth of our community, it is only a small amount compared to what is needed adequately to relieve the auffering.
Present necessities are being met by the Japanese authorities, but since rice and mulberry fields have been laid waste, fishing boats and nets broken or washed away, and houses more or less completely wrecked, it will be many months before the survivors will be in a posi- tion to earn their living once again. We, there- fore, have thought it best to appeal to the sister communities of the East, namely, Nagasaki, Shanghai, and Hongkong, with the hope that the same generous spirit which actuated them in 1891 will once again lead them to come to the aid of the sufferers.
?
To Your Excellency, therefore, we beg to present this application, with the hope that in
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT. some way Your Excellency may be able to interest the community at Hongkong, and while we do not for a moment wish to seek recognition as the only channel through which relief may be sent, yet we feel that our experience and our organization warrant us in stating that any funds which may be sent through us will be carefully and scrupulously applied to the object for which the funds were donated.—I am, sir, your obedient servant,
J. S. HAPPER, Sec, and Treasurer,
(56 Kobe.) To His Excellency Sir William Robinson, K.C.M.G., F.R.G.S., Governor, Hongkong Mr. Jackson begs to acknowledge with thanks the following donations to the above fund :—
H.E: Sir William Robinson, K.C.M.G. $50 Mr. Thomas Jackson Rt. Rev. Bishop Burdon Shewan, Tomes & Co... Dodwell, Carlill & Co.
Gilman & Co.
Reise & Co.
50 50
100
100
Siemssen & Co.
100
David Sassoon, Sons & Co...
100
E. D. Bassoon & Co.
.100
Arnhold, Karberg & Co.
100
Jardinė, Matheson & Co.
100
Melchers & Co.
100
100
Holiday, Wise & Co.
100
100
Bradley & Co.
100
Carlowitz & Co.
100
W. Meyerink & Co.
100.
Gibb, Livingston & Co.
501
Stolterfoht & Hagen
50
Noronha & Co.
25
Sander & Co.
25
S. J. David & Co.
50
Hongkong & Whampoa Dock Co.
50
Douglas Lapraik & Co.
50
Lauts, Wegener & Co.
25
25
25
25
50
25
Mr. V. H. Deacon Mr. R. Marten
Mr. H. A. Ritchie
Mr. Ho Tung
Mr. W. G. Humphreys W. C. H. H...
Hongkong Daily Press
Mr. D. Warres Smith Captain Hall
Meyer & Co.
1
10 ·
25
10
10
100
Harling, Buschmann and Menzell
50
Grossmann & Co.
50
Linstead and Davis
25
25
25
25
25
M. S. Sassoon & Co....
Kruse & Co.
H. Skött & Co. Turner, & Co.
W. R. Loxley & Co.... Scheele & Co. Jobson & Co. Wieler & Co.
"
C. J. Gaupp & Co.
Mr. Ho Fook
25
Mr. A. B. Johnson Mr. M. J. D. Stephens Mr. W Tarn
Mr. A.H. Chinoy
15 10.
Mr. J. V. Jorge
Lane, Crawford and Co.
¿
John D. Humphreys and Son...
100 100
Chater and Mody...
Brandao and Co....
Mr. W. Powell
J. J. dos Remedios and Co. Hughes and Hough Carmichael and Co. A. G. de Champeaux Hon. E. R. Belilios, C.M.G. A Friend
E. Niedhardt
Denison and Ram Hon. Ho Kai
G. C. Anderson
Heuermann, Herbst and Co. J. Maclehose
11
C. H. Grace... More and Seimund, Burnie and Goddard
*North Briton Mr. Lau Wai Chuen Mr. W. Lysaught Mr. J. R. Michael Mr. Wong Yue Chune Mr. Ringhie
10
10
10
10.
..10
Total.........$3,230
CORRES ONDENCE
[We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents.]
THE DOCK COMPANY.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE “DAILY PRESS.” SIE, Mr. Kramer at the meeting of the 22nd ultimo did not attempt to justify the re- tention by the Directors of the $3,500 which they have received as an addition to their fees for the latter half of 1895. He admitted that the so-called Resolution of the 25th February last was no Resolution at all. He insisted that it was merely "an expression of opinion," and the legal adviser of the Directors said that it was not intended to be a Resolution. This · seems to me to be a complete change of front on the part of the Directors. The so-called Résolution was solemnly moved and seconded as a Resolution at the meeting of the 25th February. It was put to the meeting by the Chairman as a Resolution and it was, as a Re- solution, declared by the Chairman to be carried. In the circular of the 7th March, issued no doubt under the instructions of the Directors, it was alleged that the Resolution was passed on the 25th February and in his opening speech of the 22nd ultimo the Chairman described it as Resolution. I have it on the best authority, and indeed Mr. Kramer practically admitted, that the Directors have received the $3,500- supposed to have been voted to them by the so-called Resolution. It seems impossible to escape from the conclusion that it was in... tended as a Resolution, that it was treated and acted upon by the Directors as a Resolution, and that they only admit that it was not à Resolution when they are forced to make the admission.
But now the Directors take up a most ex- traordinary position. They say in effect :-- "The so-called Resolution was no Resolution at all. It was never intended to be a Resolu- tion. It was merely an expression of opinion. Under this expression of opinion, we have, in direct violation of the Articles of Association, received a sum of $3,500. We have paid ourselves at double the contract rate and we now ask you to alter the contract for the future, without regard to the fact that we have. violated it in the past. The fact that we have, without authority, doubled our fees is not relevant to the question whether our fees shall be doubled. We intend to keep what we have got, unless we are com- pelled to refund it. It will probably not be worth the while of any shareholder to bring the . - matter into Court; and we hope that if the sum which we have mistakenly received is brought.. into the next half-yearly accounts and those · accounts are passed by the shareholders, that will amount to a ratification of this erroneous transaction. We are backed up by the majority of the shareholders, and whether it is right or wrong to retain this money we intend to retain it unless we are compelled to give it up.'
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It is scarcely necessary to point out that an invalid payment of this description cannot be ratified by any general meeting of shareholders. It is scarcely necessary to point out that the Directors are in a false position and that they ought to retire from such a position as soon as possible. This is not a question of so many dollars. It is not a ques-- tion of so many cents per share. It is a ques- tion of principle-a question of rig
and if the Directors see, as they must this time, that they have been in the wrong" why do they not make the only amends which it is possible for them now to make ?—I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Hongkong, 9th July, 1896.
J. F. REECE:
THE FLOGGING COMMITTEE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE "DAILY PRES BIR,-As one who has had some experience in the infliction of floggings elsewhere, will you allow me to thoroughly endorse your marks on the report of the recent Flogging Committee, which remarks indeed do not my opinion go far enough. The su that Committee that this form of should be inflicted on the "little- principle is so radically opposed
ordinary principles of humanity which