April 22, 1897.
THE SHANGHAI MUNICIPAL COUNCIL AND THE WHEEL- BARROW STRIKE.
The mistake made by the Municipal Council of Shanghai in surrendering to the wheelbarrow coolies when the latter | made a show of violence is the same as would have been made in Hongkong on the occasion of the cargo coolies strike had not the firmness of H.E. Sir WILLIAM
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
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"should not say a word about it, but when | round the island, or round a considerable I think of the wheelbarrow-men hauling | portion of it, a bicycle corps would be able to "their loads through the streets; when I render very good service in the event of an "see them in the hot weather with their attempted landing by an enemy on the south «false eyebrows kept on to prevent them side of Hongkong. In ten years' time pro- from being blinded by the swent from their bably every soldier in the British army will foreheads, when I remember that they be a trained bicyclist, and the proposed road have been paying something like 8 per round the island near sea level will then be "cent., more or less, upon their income, recognised as a military necessity. It "while most of us have been paying 8 per be objected that the military use of
cent. upon one item of our expenditure, I bicycle is too doubtful to enter serio My cannot help thinking that to have singled into the calculations of to-day. Be it so; "them out at this particular time for an but even taking things as they are we con- "increase of 50 per cent. is a piece of petty tend that a level road round the island
tyranny on the part of this community would be of material advantage to the
gar "which is totally unworthy of it." Mr. AL- rison in the case of threatened invasion, as FORD, in reply,, urged that the wheelbarrows it would facilitate the movement of troops were a nuisance, As a matter of fact they and guns from point to point along the south appear to be a necessary nuisance, being side. It is not specially on military grounds, used for the transport of merchandise, but however, that the community desires to that is a point it is unnecessary to go into. see the road made, but on grounds of general Mr. ALFORD's view was that it was neces-utility. This point General BLACK con- sary to keep down the number, which cedes. already amounts to five thousand, and that the proposed tax was one that must be put on for self preservation and the welfare of "the community." Mr. PROBST declared that he endorsed every word spoken by Mr. ALFORD and entirely agreed with him. If, then, the tax is necessary for the self-preser- vation and welfare of the community it ought to have been adhered to; if not it ought never to have been imposed; and in any case there ought to have been no surrender to mob violence. Messrs. PROBST and ALFORD are therefore placed on the horns of a dilemma from which they will find it difficult to clear themselves. And what is to happen in the future? The in- grease in the tax has not been ex- plicity abandoned, but simply postponed for three months. If an attempt be made to enforce it three months hence the coolies, encouraged by their success on the present occasion, will be more confident than ever of their power to overawe the Council and the battle will probably have to be fought over again. It would have been better to have got the matter out of hand at once.
We have already expressed our opinions
ROBINSON withstood the recommendations" made to him by those who ought to have known better. It will be remembered that on the occasion referred to a meeting of the mercantile community was held, con- vened by the Chamber of Commerce, and the opinion expressed at the meeting was unmistakably in favour of supporting the Government. A committee, supposed to be representative, was appointed to "de- "liberate upon this grave question and to "put themselves in communication with "the Government," but instead of carry ing out the latter part of this instruction they placed themselves in communication with the coolies and issued a proclamation which amoanted virtually to a declara- tion of surrender. A second public meeting was promptly held at which the action of the committee was disavowed and condemned, and owing to the firm front maintained by the Government the colony was save the great disaster that would have followed the adoption of the policy decided upon by the com- mittee a committee consisting of pro- minent and responsible men regarded as leaders of public opinion in the colony, but who on the occasion referred to went as
far wrong as it would be possible for any public body to do. At Shanghai it is the Municipal Council, a popularly elected body, that has gone wrong, and amongst the whole of their constituents not a single voice is raised in their defence; they stand alone and unsupported in their wrong doing. We are unable to suggest any explanation of the phenomenon of apparently sane and responsible men like those composing the Municipal Council of Shanghai and the committee appointed by the public meeting in Hongkong in 1895 fatuously running on the rocks the ship of which they had charge, the rocks being plainly marked on the chart of experience and commmon sense by which it was their duty to steer; but the fact remains that in both cases the leaders of the respective communities appear to have been incapacitated for the proper discharge of their responsible duties by some sudden vertigo.
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THE PROPOSED ROAD ROUND ›
THE ISLAND.
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that the road is not a suitable work to which to devote the public subscriptions to be
sed for a permanent memorial of Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee; but the pro- posal has certainly been advantageous inas- much as it has brought to a head and secured adequate expression of the strong opinion that exists in favour of the construction of the road, and we think it may be taken for granted that the Tiamond Jubilee Committee will recommend that it should be undertaken as a Government work. There seems to be considerable difference of opinion amongst the engineers as to the cost, but the undertaking is quite a feasible one, and as it will undoubtedly be carried into execution
some time a commencement might as well be made at once. Even the highest es timate put forward cannot be regarded as prohibitive, but the tunnel mentioned by Mr. DANBY, but which was not proposed by the promoters of the scheme, might well be allowed to stand over for a time. A contributing to healthful recreation the road would be most valuable, and, we Believe it would also open up the island for industrial purposes, though on this point we note that Mr. DANBY entertains a contrary opinion. In his evidence before the Jubilee Permanent Memorial Sub- Committee Mr. DANBY said." he was sure "such a road would not open up any
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In his letter recommending the construc- tion of a road from Wanchai Gap to Wong neichong Gap as the Diamond Jubilee memorial General BLACK said:" Although manufacturing sites, but he would not it would be out of place to criticise "like to express an opinion as to whether the scheme for the construction of 'residential sites would be opened up.": "A road round the island, the utility This opinion, we think, would have been "of which I readily concede, I take excep. more accurate if it had been reversed, for "tion to the statements made as to its de- we can hardly conceive the possibility of fensive value, because our troops would any one wishing to reside on the lower "move on the inner line, not on its circum-levels of the south side of the island, where'
ference." It is with diffidence we venture to take exception to the opinion of so eminent an authority on a technical point, but it nevertheless strikes us that in the event of an invasion the troops would most likely move on the line by which they could most readily get at the enemy. Hill climbing is fatiguing work for heavily accoutred troops, especially in hot weather, and if the men could reach the required point by a level road they would be in much better fighting trim on arrival. If a road were made round the island it would probably not be long before a tramway would be laid upon it for a considerable portion of its length, which would materially increase the mobility of the garrison and especially facilitate the movement of the guns. It is also recognised that the bicycle is destined to play an im- partant part in the military operations of
future, and with a moderately level road
It is noteworthy that at Shanghai the two men who are alleged to have been chiefly responsible for the abject sur- render to the coolies are those who were also chiefly responsible for the action that brought about the difficulty. Whether it was expedient to raise the licence fee for wheelbarrows was a moot question. At the Ratepayers' meeting at which the question was decided Mr. MORRISON spoke on behalf of the coolies, but was opposed by both Mr. PROBST and Mr. ALFORD, the present Chair- man and Vice-Chairman of the Municipal Council. Mr. MORRISON reminded the meeting that some few years ago when an attempt was made to increase the tax upon wheelbarrows a good deal of trouble arose out of it and the position was exceedingly difficult, and he urged that it was ill-advised on the part of the Council to make the pro- posed change at this particular moment. If," continued Mr. Morrison," that “change were part of a well-considered scheme for the alteration of taxation I
the
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the exposure to the sun renders the heat intense; but there is a strong probability of manufacturing, sites being taken up. Al- ready there are the Brickworks and the Aberdeen Paper Mill; some years ago salt fields were projected; and at the present time we hear reports of a new enterprise- being started near the Paper Mill, for which- a reclamation is to be made from the sea. With easier access it appears to us almost a certainty that other enterprises would be started. It is true, the villages can · be reached under existing conditions either by the hill roads or by water, but a level road" round the island would render them much more accessible and could hardly fail to bring the surrounding land into request.
The extent of the difference between Mr. DANBY and the advocates of the proposed road round the island may be measured by
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