16:
78
NOTE ISSUE.
Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce,
Hongkong, 14th July, 1898. Sir-I beg leave to transmit, for the infor. mation of His Excellency the Officer Adminis- tering the
the Government, an
an extract from the minutes of yesterday's meeting of the Commit- tee of the Chamber in reference to the Bank note iseme
in the colony-I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
R. CHATTERTON WILCOX,
Secretary.
To Hon. T. Sercombe Smith, Acting Colonial
Secretary.
[The extract consisted of the whole of that portion of the minutes relating to the note issue.]
THE JURISDICTION OVER KOWLOON CITY.
Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce,
Hongkong, 14th July, 1899. Sir-My Committee have observed in The Times of the 10th ult, a telegaphic summary of the terms of a convention signed at Peking on the 9th idem with the Chinese Government leasing to Great Britain certain territories around Hongkong.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY A RESS AND.
Consul directed the Clerk to read the latest | indictment of the prisoner in order that he might know w his accuser is and why he is restrained of his liberty. The indictment is by the brother of the deceased and reads as follows:--
In the Consular Court of the United States
of America at Canton, China. I, Cheng Kam Chuen, of Victoria, in the Colony of Hongkong, a subject of the Emperor of China, do hereby charge Richard Toulmin that on the 7th day of July A.D. 1898, he, the said Richard Toulmin, feloniously, wilfully and of his malice aforethought did kill and murder one Cheng Lai San.
Among the conditions of the lease of this territory they notice one to the effect that the native city of Kowloon will remain under Chinese jurisdiction. This stipulation my Com- mittee regard with so much apprehension and disquiet that they take this opportunity of begging the Government to supply them with the full text of the convention-I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient servant, R. CHATTERTON WILCOX,
Secretary. To Hon. T. Sercombe Smith, Acting Colonial
Secretary.
SERIOUS COLLISION AT SHANGHAI,
THE FRENCH CRUISER JEAN BART RUNS INTO THE HELEN BREWER,'
1
[SPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DAILY PRESS."]
Shanghai, 21st July. The French cruiser Jean Bart collided at Woosung this morning with the kerosene ship Helen Brewer as she lay at anchor. Both were seriously damaged, and it will be necessary to go in dock for repairs.
THE "DOSING" TRAGEDY.
THE ACCUSED COMMITTED FOR trial. Canton, 20th July. To-day the accused Captain Richard Toulmin, charged with shooting and killing the Chinese compradore, one Cheng Lai San, on board the alleged American steamer Dosing, of which he (Toulmin) was master, while on the West River above Wuchow on the morning of the 7th inst., was brought before the American Consular Court for a further hearing.
Capt. Toulmin was arrested at Wuchow and brought to Canton on Sunday, the. 10th inst.. and lodged in the British Consular Gaol here to wait a hearing by the American Consul. The next day, Monday, the 11th inst., Toulmin was brought before Consul Bedloe on a warrant issued by the Prefect of Wuchow. A telegram and also a dispatch from Commissioner of Customs James Acheson at Wuchow, charging Capt. Toulmin with the crime of killing the compradore of the Dosing was read to the acoused. The Consul cautioned him to be guarded in his statement, if he desired to make any, and with this admonition asked Toulmin if he was guilty or not guilty The accused answered and said he was not guilty. The Consul committed him to gaol for a fur- ther hearing on the 19th inst., and pursuant to that order the prisoner was brought to the American Consular Court to-day to be informed that the prosecution requested a postponement of the hearing for one week.
The prisoner said he wished and waive a farther hearing and asked to have the time fixed for the trial at a day distant sufficient to enable his friends to engage counsel to prepare for his defence.
The request of the prisoner was granted, but before committing him to gaol the
(Signed) C. KAM CHUEN. Sworn before me, EDWARD BEDLOE, Consul of the United States at Canton, on this 14th day of July, 1898, Acting Judicially.
|
The prisoner heard the indictment, re- peated his plea of not guilty, and said he desired time to prepare for his defence and trial.
The Consul fixed the first Tuesday in October as the day for the trial of Richard Toulmin, charged as above.
The prisoner was taken back u the British gaol and looked up.
THE APPOINTMENT OF AN AMERI- CAN VICE-CONSUL AT CANTON,
been appointed and sworn in as Vice-Consul Mr. Henry R. Williams, Jr., of California, has for the United States at Canton, to assist Consul Bedloe.
[July 28, 1898.
what he pleases to style, “indignation" is an entirely onesided one of German firms at Canton. This statement is wrong in two ways. There exists no indignation amongst Canton merchants on the appointment of Mr. Williams personally, who is well liked and esteemed by everybody. But exporters internationally would naturally prefer to have their American invoices not laid before and certifled to by a competitor, whose duty as Vice-Consul it becomes to ac quaint himself with the contents. Then, the more to request Consul Bedloe to make a change, if possible, did neither originate with nor was it specially promoted by German firms,
Permit me to add, that in former years twice the U.S. Consul proposed to appoint as Vice- Consul members of Canton exporting firms, but when learning that the international business community of Canton rather disfavoured this, more neutral and disinterested substitutes were appointed. Yours faithfully,
FRITZ A. BROOKELMANN, Hongkong, 21st July, 1898.--
THE KWANGSI REBELLION.
A letter from Wuchow dated the 12th July states that Peilin and Luchuan have been sacked by the rebels and Heng Yi is reported | to have been taken.
Fifteen hundred troops have passed up the river from Canton, Kweilin, and Ho Yuen.
The prefect of Kwang Chow, the Magistrate recently issued a proclamation which says --- of Nam-hoi, and the Magistrate of Pun-u have”
This proclamation is especially issued to remove the fears of the people concerning This is a case of "the office seeking the man," the rebellion in Kwangsi. The rebels who liams' appointment by the State Department at easily subdued without doubt, for the city of as they say in America, for Vice-Consul Wil- have broken into the city of Yung-hsien can be Washington is due solely to the fact that the Pak-lau which was taken by the rebels has been American missionaries of the Canton Consular recaptured by the soldiers. The rebels have district (which embraces the populons provinces made no attacks at all on the cities of Wat-lum, of Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Yunnan) peti-Pok-pak, and the neighbouring districts. The tioned President McKinley, requesting the ap rumours spread by some scoundrels that the re- pointment of Mr. Williams on the grounds of bels have gained their way to the borders of his eminent fitness for the post, by long exper- Kwangtung are absurd. The paragraph written ience in China as the manager of the American by the local paper Chung Sai Po saying that the exporting firm of Flood and Co., of Canton, rebels have captured the cities of Man-ming Kobe, San Francisco, and New York, and also and Tin-pak in Ku-chow, one of the prefectures because he is the only American citizen in Can- of Kwang-tung, is without a shadow of truth.". ton available for the position of American Vice-
Hongkong, 18th July. Consul. The obvious necessity for additional Consular officers in the Canton district, owing to the various troubles now existing in Sonth China, made Mr. Williams's appointment all the more imperative.
Consul Bedloe expresses himself as well pleased with the Missionaries' selection and says Vice-Consul Williams is "the right man in the right place."
A Wuchow correspondent writes :-
.
This rebellion is reported to be more than a mere riot. The Triad Societies are concerned in it and it is said that their intention is to go. westward and take Nanning, and then extend northward and if possible get to Kweilin.
"Trade will receive a serious blow from this outbreak, as several towns in the most pros- perous districts have been sacked.
"The state of terror of the inhabitants of Wu- chow, who are sending their women folk away in large numbers, is only equalled by the in- capacity of the local officials to deal with the crisis.
head the rebels off north of Pakhoi.”
"Troops have gone west from Kanchan to
OPPOSITION BY GERMAN MERCHANTS. A Canton correspondent writes:-Consul Bedloe is having his "peck of trouble." Not only has he the Dosing case on hand, but an- other cause of disturbance to him is because he on the 14th instant announced the fact that the State Department in Washington had, at the request of the Canton missionaries, appointed From another source we learn that the state- Henry R. Williams, Jr., of California, to the ment that Dr. Sun Yat-sen is connected with post of Vice-Consul of the United States at the movement is incorrect. Dr. Sun Yat-sen Canton, China. Mr. Williams being a merchant is still in Japan. It is said that a short and manager of the only essentially American time ago six men were sent secretly firm in Canton (Flood & Co., of New by the Canton Government to Japan to York) was sufficient to arouse the indig-assassinate him, but Dr. Sun, having been nation of all the German firms in Canton, who not only vigorously protested against the appointment of Mr. Williams, but threatened the Consul, if he did not revoke the appointment, with carrying their protest to the authorities in Washington. It remains Dow to be seen if the Consul will yield to the de- mands of the German merchants of Canton and withdraw the appointment of Mr. Williams, Those who know the disposition of Consul Bedloe express the belief that he will resent the attempt of the German firms to dictate the ap- pointment of the subordinate officers in his Consulate.
In reference to the above Mr. Fritz A. Brockelmann writes us as follows:
TO THE EDITOR OF THE “DAILY PRESS," Dear Sir, I know that you are always willing to correct errors and I therefore beg far insertion of the following
|_ In his letter on the appointment of Mr. Henry R. Williams, jr as U., Vice-Consul at Canton, your correspondent conveys the idea that the,
warned of the design against him, informed the Japanese Government, who thereupon had him shadowed by police for his protection. The assassins on ascertaining this left the country.
The incident which originated the rebellions movement is said to have been as follows In the city of Yung-hsien s rich man had con- tributed $4,000 to provide rice for the necessitous people. The Magistrate sent for him and wanted to mulet him in three or four times that amount, but he would not submit to the squeeze, where upon the Magistrate cast him into prison. This greatly enraged the people, who immediately made an attack upon the yamen and, having succeeded, continued their depredations. The Magistrate was a Kwangtung man.
It is said that the movement is not counten- anced by the revolutionary party in Kwang- tung, whose movement is entirely distinct from
it.
Another correspondent sends us the following account obtained from a Chinese official Tis a large village of the Yung district in the
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