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any harbour facilities in Formosa, where large steamers can load in safety through- out the year, Amoy, as the nearest port, "and with its splendid shipping facilities, "should be able to hold its own, always provided that the Chinese Imperial "Maritime Customs continue the enlightened policy they promptly adopted when the island was transferred, and permit Formosa teas in transitu to be stored here under "bond."
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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
September 10, 1896.
receive money orders by telegraph it would | are afraid, therefore, that there is little be an equal advantage to be able to convey extenuation to be found for the Japanese. grain by railway and by steamers plying on No doubt there were Jawless band the inland waters. This argument has been Chinese who were a menace to the peace advanced in the foreign press times without the country, but in the operations for their number and it is encouraging to see it applied suppression the officers concerned acted so directly by the Governor of Hunan indiscreetly, carrying fire and sword into per as regards telegraphs. With Hupan, the most fectly peaceful villages. That the Japanese exclusive province of the empire, invaded Government and the higher authorities, both by this foreign innovation, the prospect of civil and military, disapprove of what was further progress in the opening up of the done and deeply regret the slur thrown on country becomes somewhat brighter. The the character of the army by the misconduct great obstacle to the construction of railways of a swall section of it there can be no doubt; lies now, not so much in the opposition of and we may take it for granted that every the Government or people to the innovation effort will be made to avoid similar mistakes itself, for the principle has already been in future. After the exposure of the faulty formally approved, but in the want of con- methods and unreliable personnel that have fidence in the honesty of the officials and been employed we may expect to see the the consequent difficulty of raising the pacification of the island proceed now on necessary funds, and the disinclination of more intelligent and humane lines, with the the Government to admit foreign capital and result that in a short time Formosa will be. foreign control in the administration of the come a prosperous colony and its inhabitants lines. A country that has freely adopted peaceful and contented. As regards the late the telegraph, however, cannot long remain occurrences, however, it would unfortunately without railways. Even the greed and seem that there was little or no exaggeration peculation of the native officials will have in the first accounts that were published. to give way in the face of imperative necessity.
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THE INCREASED TELEGRAPH
CHARGES.
THE JAPANÈSE IN FORMOSA.
Mr. J. HENNINGSEN, the Shanghai Mana- An interesting report by Mr. J. W. DAVID-ger of the Cable,Companies, in one of his letters to the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce with reference to the recent increase in telegraph charges, expresses his surprise that the fact of the Telegraph Com- panies having for a long series of years, and with great loss to themselves. been com pelled to collect their gold charges at more or less insufficient silver equivalents, should now be advanced as an argument why they should continue to do so ad infinitum, while such is not the case with, for instance, the Steamer Companies and other similar concerns, who have been compelled to adopt exactly the same measure as now adopted. by the Telegraph Companies, without, as far as Mr. HENNINGSEN is aware, having been called to account by the Committee of the Chamber for so doing. To this the Chair- man of the Chamber replies:-"It would serve no useful purpose to occupy time in discussing the similarity or otherwise of your position with that of 'Steamer Com-
On the other hand, Mr. QUINN, the Cousul at Nagasaki, says "A great impetus to Nagasaki trade is likely to be given by "the favourable position this port holds in proximity to Formosa. Several Japanese steam lines are already started, and it is possible that the tea, camphor, and sugar "of Formosa may soon all be sent here for transhipment instead of to Amoy as formerly." The latter view seems the more likely to prove correct. As Formosa becomes assimilated to Japan, and with com- munication by steamer, it seems reasonable to suppose that goods for transhipment should gravitate to a Japanese rather than to à Chi- nese port, especially as the Japanese port would prove more convenient to the Pacific liners, which carry 63 per cent. of the total quan- tity of tea shipped at Amoy. These vessels have for the most part to call at Nagasaki as one of their regular way ports, and if the Formosa tea were taken there for tranship-sox of a visit to the disturbed districts in ment they would be saved the delay and Formosa will be found in another column. expense involved in calling at Amoy, Unfortunately it does not completely excul- which they only visit during the tea season. pate the Japanese from the charges of Under these circumstances there seems
wanton cruelty and oppression that have little reason to doubt that in the course of a been brought against them. Mr. DAVID- few years Nagasaki will succeed in divert- sox was not in the island at the time the ing the Formosa tea trade altogether from rebellion · broke out and was therefore per- Amoy, and that the prosperity of the latter sonally unacquainted with the circumstances will suffer proportionately. We can only that preceded it and, as is alleged, gave rise hope that with the adoption of a more en- to it. He is therefore dependent on informa- lightened policy by the Chinese Government tion gathered after the event, whereas other as regards taxation Amoy may be able to win Europeans in the south of the island, who back her own proper trade, and so make up for | were in close touch with the affected the loss of the Formosa trade. Mr. GARD-districts, and who were in some cases eye- NER says the Amoy tea districts are amongst witnesses of the acts of cruelty that are the finest in the world, and with the en-alleged to have gonded the people into lightened methods of cultivation adopted iu | rebellion, speak of their own knowledge. India, Ceylon, and Japan, and such limited In the case of Tsan-e-tun, one of the destroyed taxation as exists in those countries, they villages, Mr. DAVIDSON gives both the could be restored to prosperity, and, with Chinese and Japanese accounts of the cir- cheap labour, excellent water communica- cumstances under which the village was tion, and a magnificent harbour, need fear destroyed, and says the reader can choose no rival.
for himself, but he says that to him it seems very improbable that Japanese who were being huuted and killed at every oppor- tunity would deliberately increase the extreme danger of their position by arous- ing the hostility of a whole village by entering a perfectly peaceful community and killing right and left without provoci. tion. But the argument from probability cuts both ways, and in the present case it seems to tell more against the Japanese position than that of the Chinese. When the savage instincts of a body of men are aroused and let loose, killing right and left is the direction they naturally take, and men in that frame of mind do not stop to deliberate as to the remote consequences to themselves, but act like wild beasts on the impulse of the moment. And unfortunately it would seem that the men in this and some
instances were other
badly officered, and several officers are, according to the be tried by court- Japanese press, to martial for cowardice. Soldiers to a great extent take their tone from their officers, and cowardice and cruelty often go together. On the other hand, if we are to go on the argument of probability, it seems im- probable that the helpless Chinese villagers should wantonly arouse the hostility of troops who had them at their mercy. We
THE TELEGRAPH IN HUNAN,” The telegraph is at last to be introduced into Hunan. The work of construction has already been commenced without exciting any opposition and it is anticipated that it will be completed without difficulty. In the proclamation by the Governor of the province, setting out the advantages of the new means of communication, a very strong argument is advanced, When the pro- vince was visited by famine last winter and the sufferers were in the utmost distress and in urgent need of food and assistance, owing to the lack of funds in the provincial ex- chequer, it was necessary to send special mes- sengers overland to Hankow and from thence despatch messages to the various provinces appealing for aid to relieve the distress. Within ten days of the despatch of the messages money came flowing in by telegraph from all parts of the country as far as Hankow, but there the money orders had to stop. The journey to and from Hankow occupied half a month each way, so that a whole month was lost. Even the Hunanese must see that the telegraph would have been an advantage under such circumstances. But if it be an advantage to be able to
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套装
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panies and other similar concerns,' and "the Committee will therefore not follow you "in the many lines of controversy such argu-
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sufficient
mezts might lead to." It might be pointed out that though some Steamer Companies have succeeded in maintaining rates at a re- munerative figure freights generally were never so low as they are at this moment. Moreover, if we admit Mr. HENNINGSEN'S premises, it might possibly be argued that the Chamber of Commerce had neglected its duty in not protesting against such con- binations as the Shipping Conference, but that would not constitute any justification for the recent great increase in the rates charged by the Telegraph Com- panies. As a matter of fact, however, outside the Chamber of Commerce there have been many protests against the policy of the Shipping Conference, not 80 much because they prevent rates falling to a ruinous figure, but because their scale does not work equitably all round. Moreover, the Shipping Conference does not maintain its position by virtue of an absolute monopoly, but because it offers shippers, in return for higher rates than
· outside steamers. would be given to extra advantages in the shape of a constant and ample supply of tonnage, in the slack as well as in the busy season, and the com- petition of outside steamers keeps it i
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Some