482
THE KOWLOON EXTENSION,
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
the colony by those who have been mainly responsible for bringing about the benefi- At last the extension of the colony's cent change. First and foremost stands the boundaries has been definitely announced, Hon. C. P. CHATER, who conceived the and it is with much satisfaction we are able idea and set the ball rolling by his to state that the fears that have latterly letter to Governor Sir WILLIAM ROBIN- been entertained as to the concession being son in 1894. The Chamber of Commerce, confined to the occupation of such points as the China Association, and the Navy might be required for military purposes League, especially the last named, have prove to have been unfounded. The lease all contributed to the result, and to the which has been granted carries with it, as
officials of those institutions the thanks of far as we have been able to ascertain, full the colony are due. The Naval and Mili- jurisdiction. Some difficulty and delay have tary Authorities have done their share in been caused in the negotiations by the representing the importance of the acquisi- Custonis question, but we understand the tion from the point of view of Imperial arrangement finally come to is that the defence, Sir WILLIAM ROBINSON has also examining stations are to be transferred to pressed the matter, and in Sir CLAUDE the northern points of Mirs Bay and Deep MACDONALD we have a Minister at Peking Bay. As a matter of convenience for the who knows well how to uphold and further mercantile community no doubt an office or British interests in China. It now rests agency of the Customs will still be main-mainly with the colony itself to see that tained in Hongkong, for it would involve a grent loss of time if a trader every time he wanted to procure a pass or pay money to the Customs had to go personally or send a representative to Mirs Bay or Deep Bay.
The advantages of the new acquisition are immense. It will not only allow of the the last twenty-five years, has been ad. of 1894 for the presentation of the
adequate defence of the colony, but will prove highly advantageous in rendering the colony more self-supporting in the matter of its food supplies and affording room for industrial development, while indirectly it will be of value as another wedge of
civilisation driven into the important pro- vince of Kwangtung, upon the opening up and development of which it will exercise an important influence. Amongst the minor advantages may be mentioned the circumstance that it will now be feasible to locate the Chinese burial grounds on one of the adjacent islands and do away with the insanitary cemetery on Mount Davis, which has proved an insuperable obstacle to the development of Pokfulum and the Western district.
of more or
Many important questions will arise in connection with the administration of the newly acquired territory, which includes in addition to the city of Kowloon a number less populous villages. It may not be considered expedient to at once subject these to all the laws that have gradually during the last fifty-seven years been introduced for the government of the island of Hongkong, but the enforcement of a reasonable measure of sanitation will be imperative, educational facilities will have to be provided, and the whole district will have to be adequately policed. In the matter of public works the first important step will be to open up the district by roads, not necessarily such expen- tomed on the island of Hongkong, but at least bridle paths that will afford access to all parts. A very large increase will be required in the public service of the colony, particu- larly in the Public Works and Police de partments, to provide for all these demands, and to meet the financial strain another loan may be found necessary. With the extension of the area of the colony a fuller application of the principle of local self-go- vernment will become more than ever im perative.
sive roads as those to which we are accus-
Until we are in
possession of the full particulars of the concession it is impossible adequately to discuss all the questions above briefly alluded to, but they are after all mere mat- tes of detail. The important point is that the territory in question has become British, and in chronicling that fact it would be a grave omission not to render acknowledgment of the service rendered to
the new territory is adequately developed and turned to the best possible use.
THE AUDIence quesTION,
such a frequent subject of discussion for The Audience question, which has been
[June 18, 1998. the decay of British prestige in China, which continued for some years, was in part to be ascribed to the fact that the British repre- sentative did not stand out, like the French and Russian Ministers, for an audience under conditions of becoming dignity. The responsibility for the unfortunate arrangements in connection with the 1891 audience rested principally with the German and British Ministers, and they were also responsible for the subsequent use of the Cheng Kwang Tien. It was claimed, indeed, that their consenting to be received there was a breach of a protocol which had been signed by all the Foreign representatives to the effect that they should consent only to a re- ception in the palace itself; and a rather acrimonious controversy took place on this point. Whatever may have been the real facts in connection with that protocol, however, certain it is that the French and Russian Ministers resolutely declined to be received unless in the Palace itself, and they carried their point, thereby raising the prestige of their respective countries and increasing their influence. The ice having been thus broken, the joint audience congratulatory addresses to the Empress Dowager took place in the Hall of Liter- ature, which is in the Palace proper chamber of honorific use. The Echo de Chine claims that the credit belonged more to M. GERARD, the late French Minister,
credentials on the 17th May last, obtained than to Count Cassini; and the new French Minister, M. PICHON, in presenting his
and a
vanced another stage by the conditions Minister, was received by the Emperor on under which M. PICHON, the French the 17th May last. When the late Emperor TUNG CHI attained his majority in 1873 the Foreign Ministers deemed the opportunity without the degrading ceremony of pro- a favourable one for arranging an audience
stration, which had hitherto been insisted. upon, and which had naturally rendered a further improvement in the ceremonial, audiences impossible. An arrangement was
inasmuch as he ascended the dais and spoke after some difficulty arrived at, by which directly to His Majesty instead of remain the ceremony of prostration was waived, ing at the steps and communicating with Foreign representatives by the selection perial Princes. but an indignity was placed upon the the Emperor through one of the Im
The Emperor also wore of the Hall of Tributary Nations as
the grand cross of the Legion of Honour, the place of audience. This provoked and the circumstances all indicated a much indignation amongst the for desire on the part of His Majesty to eign communities, who were able to ap- emerge from the strict seclusion in which preciate the significance of the insult. he has hitherto held himself. This was Shortly afterwards TUNG CHI died and the even more marked by the cordiality which question did not actively arise again until the characterised the recent reception of Prince present Emperor attained his majority in Henry of Prussia. While rejoicing in the March, 1891, but during the interval it con- improvement that has been achieved in the tinued to be discussed in a more or less conditione attaching to foreign intercourse ishment of the world at large, it was found cording credit for that improvement to desultory way in the press. To the aston with the Chinese Throne, and willingly ác- that, notwithstanding all that had previously those to whom the credit is due, it is not transpired, the Ministers had, in 1891, con- sented to be again received in the Hall of Tributory Nations. There was naturally an outburst of indignation and the Ministers soon repented of their error, but when they requested that for future audiences another hall might be selected they were confronted with the argument that the question had Chinese Government and the foreign repre- already been fully discussed between the
sentatives and that it was impossible to reverse the decision arrived at. The
Ministers, however, would not again go to the Hall of Tributary Nations, and when congratulatory addresses were sent in 1894 by the various sovereigns and states to the Empress Dowager on her sixtieth birthday Blooming Literature, or Hall of Elegance an audience was arranged in the Hall of
and Literature as it has since been termed. In the meantime, however, the German, British, and Austrian Ministers bad consented to be received in the hall known as the Cheng Kwang Tien, which, although it did the Hall of Tributary Nations, was situated not possess the objectionable associations of in the western gardens and did not form part of the palace proper.
The Ministers were divided amongst themselves on the audience question, and
without humiliation that we can reflect on
the ignominious part played by Great Britain in this question when she was represented at Peking by Sir JOHN WAL SHAM and Sir NICHOLAS O'CONOR. Happily our shaken prestige has been re-established under the present more vigorous regime.
GREAT BRITAIN AT WEIHAIWEI AND FRANCE AT KWANG- CHAUWAN,
The hoisting of the Union Jack at Wei- haiwei on the 24th May presented in some important particulars a rather striking contrast to a similar ceremony on the 22nd April when the Tricolour was officially cruiser Pascal on that occasion conveyed hoisted at Kwangchauwan. The French
M. KANH, the French Consul at Hoihow, to the Bay of Kwangchau, when a party of sailors and marines, together with the ship's band, were landed. A flag-staff was erected on an ancient fort, and while the band played Republic was unfurled to the breeze. A and the sailors cheered the flag of the considerable crowd of natives assembled to witness the ceremony out of sheer curiosity, but no native officials either took part in it or gave it the sanction of their presence.