K
216
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
the
[September 15, 1897.
are
the Gaol. The actual routine work of the duties in an acceptable manner, for Mr. | might find a profitable market, and of the Superintendent of the Gaol is not heavy, Vice-Consul Scort, in his report on the methods to be employed in cultivating the but the holder of the post might pro- working_of
Court Inst
We should think there year, market. fitably devote a good deal of attention to says:-" In dealing with the various ques- few places where an able and energetic con the general administration and management "tions that have come before the Court, both sul of ripe experience coull find employment of the establishment. At the Harbour "civil and criminal, the Magistrate has evi- for his abilities promising greater advantage Office Captain HASTINGS's services are prac-
denced a sincere desire and endeavour to to his country than at Vladivostock. Would tically lost to the public. We would sug expedite caves and arrive at satisfactory the China Association consider Vladivostock gest, therefore, that if the office of Assistant "and amicable arrangements. No appeal has altogether outside its sphere? If not we Harbour Master is to be retained it should "been lodged against any decision, and by would suggest that it might profitably be regarded as nominal only when the Head "uniform courtesy and fairness he has take up this question. At the last meeting ofthe Department is in the colony and that "earned a title to respect and confidence." of the Hongkong branch the present Chair- the holder should as a rule hold the appoint- In another part of his report Mr. Scor r man complained that the Association was ment of Superintendent of the Gaol. In any says that an acknowledgement is due to the not active enough, that it was seldom case we do not think the latter office ought Chinese officials, and especially to the Mixed or never heard of between the annual meet- to be held by the Captain Superintendent Court Magistrate, for their rendy co-operation|ings, and that it accomplished nothing. of Police, who has ample scope for the in respect to sanitary precautions against an
Mr. FRANCIS was then elected Chairman by exercise of all his energy and the employ-outbreak of the plague, and that the Mixed the Committee to afford him an opportunity ment of all his time in his own proper de Court Magistrate had his offices and surround- of shaking up the dry bones, and from that partment. The more personal attention the ings thoroughly overhauled and disinfected day to this we do not recollect that the Head of the Force gives to the details of by the sanitary staff. We are told, too, that name of the Branch has once appeared in police work in all parts of the town, and many of the better-class Chinese, interested print as having said or done anything either the closer he is in touch with the men no doubt in their property and rents, frankly wise or foolish. It has been, so far as is under his control, the less likely are abuses recognised the situation and seconded the known outside the committee, a noneptity. such as those recently exposed to again Council's efforts and arrangements. As was However, the Association was not estab creep into the Force. The attention of the to be expected, however, great difficulty was lished as an agitating agency and its real Captain Superintendent should therefore experienced in this matter with the solid influence is likely to be increased not be distracted by having responsibility general body of Chinese, who, ignorant of all if it only acts or speaks when there
useful to something
be done or for other departments thrown upon his ideas of order and cleanliness, strongly re- shoulders.
sent any interference, however well meant said. We do not, therefore, complain of its or beneficial, with their ordinary habits and preserving quiescence when there are no customs, and are totally unable to under- matters to engage its attention, and for
the West stand punishment for mere sanitary neglect. the present,
River having So far, however, the municipal authorities been opened and the transit pass sys- have, Mr. Scorr says, been successful in tem having been brought into working their sanitary arrangements, but he adds order, there are no very burning questions that with the influx of some thousands of to be dealt with in China itself. We are mill hands to meet the new demand for continually hearing, however, of the im- labour in the silk and cotton factories which portance of finding new openings for trade, are springing up inside the Settlement, and we should say one of the finest open- especially under the peculiar and limitedings might be found in Siberia, with its powers possessed by the Council in regulating increasing population and special require- We would commend this subject to | aud administering a mixed foreign and nativements.
the attention of the China Association, population under the jurisdiction of the Chinese and some dozen or so foreign which at the same time might also cast its eye to the south and consider whether the Treaty powers, their difficulties must in- crease. After mentioning also some difficul- advantages of having a Consul in Tonkin ties experienced with European land owners
to collect commercial information would not in sanitary matters Mr. Scort anys:-"Every be well worth the trifling cost involved.
Ex
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION AT SHANGHAI,
44
year it is becoming more evident that a "revision of the municipal regulations is an "absolute necessity to the order and well-being "of the Settlement." Complete autonomy under international guarantee is what Shanghai really requires, and although the attainment of that may at present be re- garded as chimerical, it may possibly come some day.
CONSULS WANTED AT VLADIVO-
18
THE DEFENCES OF HONGKONG.
In his report on the trade of Shanghai for 1896 Consul-General Sir NICHOLAS HANNES refers to the proposed extension of the Settlement in the following terms:-" The "extension of the Settlement, which is so greatly needed, has not yet been accom- plished, but I do not yet despair of seeing "it come to pass. The negotiations may be "long and complicated, but it is certain that the only people who oppose it are the "mandarins, and there are signs that their 'opposition may be overcome." It would seem that the opposition will per- force have to be overcome by some means or other, for with the growing popula- tion the existing limits are becoming alto- gether too narrow. The extension of the Settlement would naturally lead to a re- vision of the Land Regulations; the title of which might at the same time be appro- priately altered to "Municipal Regulations." One of our Shanghai contemporaries, the Mer- cury, boldly advocates that these should in- olude criminal jurisdiction over the native residents. That would be a splendid reform if it could be brought about, but of that we fear little expectation can be entertained. "When the port was opened," says our contemporary, "there was, doubtless, no- One of the spots of most interest to the world "thing better to be done than to permit the at the present time, from a commercial point "Chinese officials to punish their nationals of view, is Vladivostock. In a few years "in their own way, but it is high time that the Siberiam railway will be completed, "this oriental and antiquated, not to say affording to residents in China the oppor- barbarous, system should be done away. tunity of reaching Europe without an ocean "There is no good reason, indeed, why a voyage. Sections of the line are already in "Chinese magistrate should any longer be operation and population and trade are "tolerated in a foreign Settlement. Excep- rapidly increasing. When through com- ❝tion might perhaps be made in civil cases,munication is established it is expected that "since claims against Chinese are more "easily enforced under Western law. But "in police matters, at least, a system of "foreign police judges, one for each police "district, would be far more efficient than "the present; and, instead of bamboo and
cangue, there should be some sort of work-service to our Foreign Office and is fragment may perhaps feel it incumbent upon "house for the employment in hard labour mentary and unreliable. Of commercial "of the multitude of worthless vagabonds information, however, we have practically "who fill the streets and require most "of the attention of our constables." In the meantime it is satisfactory to
the know that
present occupant of the Mixed Court banch discharges his
STOCK AND IN TONKIN.
the development of Siberia will rival that of the Western States of North America after the completion of the transcontinental railways. We hear much of Russian political activity in Northern China, though unfortunately the information generally comes too late to be of
none at all, and English traders and manu- facturers are left by their Government in complete ignorance of the conditions pre- vailing in the new el dorado that is being opened up for exploitation, of the articles that
|
The warning note sounded by our corres- pondent " Wide-awake" anent the exposed condition of the island to a hostile force will, we trust, not pass unheeded. Indeed, we have good reason for saying that the facts mentioned by him are all well known alike at the Admiralty, the War Office, and Downing Street. At the same time no harm can ensue from calling further attention to the weak spots in the position of this Colony, Some persons may, perhaps, be inclined to deprecate the exposure of the joints in our armour to outsiders, but it must not be supposed for a moment that the officers of the foreign squadrons in these waters are1 not all well acquainted with the facts mentioned by our correspondent. any good object could be gained by pre- serving silence on the subject, we should of course have left the word unspoken. But secrecy will not conceal the assailable points, nor will it supply the colony with the garrison necessary for its effective de- fence.
If
Let us therefore blazon it out before the world, and when the matter becomes notorious the Imperial Govern- them to supply the deficiency and to take steps to render the island impregnable by advancing the Kowloon frontier further northwards. The question to be considered by the British Government is this: Is Hongkong worth retaining, because, if so, it must, as the farthest British port in
1