April 8, 1899.]
·CHINA-OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
eastern and western divisions by Robin- | STRAITS INSURANCE CO., LIMITED. son Road and a straight line drawn from
the north end thereof to the boundary of British territory." Chloride of lime is being liberally distri-
This was all the business.
buted.
THE BUBONIC PLAGUE IN HONGKONG.
No. 9 DISTRICT DECLARED AN
INFECTED AREA.
On the 5th April a special meeting of the Hongkong Sanitary Board was held for the purpose of considering the advisability of de- claring No. 9 health distriot infected with bubonic plague. The President (Dr. Atkinson, Principal Civil Medical Officer,) occupied the chair, and there were also present the Vice- President (the Hon. F. H. May, Captain Sup- erintendent of Police), the Hon. R. D. Ormsby (Director of Public Works), Mr. E. Osborne, Dr. Clark (Medical Officer of Health), Mr. A. W. Brewin (Acting Registrar-General), and Mr. Duggan (Secretary).
The PRESIDENT, in touching upon the reason for calling the meeting, said that since Feb. 28th there had been 34 cases of plague in the colony, and of this number 12 had occurred in No. 9 district.
ANOTHER NEW SCHEME!
March to the shareholders of the Straits In- The following circular was issued on the 21st
surance Co., Limited :-
The Chairman of the local Committee in Lon- don, Mr. E. H. Forwood, has offered to endea- vour to organise a new Insurance Company in London, for the purpose of acquiring the busi- ness and undertaking of the Straits Insurance Company, Limited, with a capital of £100,000, divided as follows:-
30,000 6 per cent. cumulative pre- forence shares of £1 each, full paid, sub- scriptition guaranteed by Mr. Forwood 10,000 6 per cent. cumulative pre- ference shares of £1 each, to be given to Mr. Forwood to cover flotation expenses and guarantee...
30,000 ordinary shares of £l each, fully paid. to be issued to shareholders of the Straits Insurance Company, Ld., in exchange for their present holding...
and
15,000, ordinary shares of £1 each, fully paid, to be issued to shareholders of the Straits Insurance Company, Ld., in exchange for, their present holding, or cash at option of Mr. Forwood
15,000, ordinary shares of £1 each, fully paid. These to be issued for subscription in London, along with the 30,000 preference shares, and along with the 15,000 ordinary shares form-
The Hon. R. D. ORMSBY having spoken, it was resolved on the motion of Dr. CLARK, seconded by the PRESIDENT: "That Health District No. 9, bouuded on the East by Eastern Street; on the West by Pumping station, Pok- fulum Road, and Western Street; on the Northing part of the consideration to be paid to the Straits Insurance Company, by the harbour, and on the South by the
Limited Bonham Road, be declared infected with bubonic plague in accordance with bye laws under Sec. 13 of Proclamation 15 of 1894.”
The VICE-PRESIDENT said that no police could be spared, and it was decided that the Colonial Secretary should be written to for authority to obtain four sappers for the work of disinfecting houses and house to house visita- tion at $1 a day.
This was all the business.
QUARANTINE.
Mr. R. Chatterton Wilcox, Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, writes us as follows under yesterday's date :—
The Chamber has just been notified by the Government that they have received the follow- ing telegram from the British Minister at Bangkok :-
"Nine days quarantine imposed on Hong- kong; vessels to stop at Koh Phai for in- spection."
The Government are also in receipt of a despatch from the Under Secretary to the Gor. ernment of Bengal, dated Calcutta, 13th March, to the following effect :-
"I am instructed to state for your informa- tion that intimation having been received of the outbreak of plague at Hongkong, the necessary instructions have been issued to the officers concerned to strictly enforce the Venice Sanitary Convention Regulations in the ports of Calcutta and Chittagong against vessels arriving from Hongkong.'
CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.
A meeting was held on Tuesday evening in St. Paul's College, with the Bishop of Victoria in the shair, to consider what steps should be taken to commemorate the centenary of the Church Missionary Society, which is to be cele- brated this year There were from twenty to thirty present, and it was decided to form a Church Missionary Association in Hongkong for the purpose of spreading information and stirring up interest in missionary work, and also for helping the work in any way that may be practicable. A committee was appointed to form a plan of action. It is expected that the Arst public step to be taken will be a series of sermons and addresses by some of those who have had long experience of the missionary
work in China.
Dr. Betz has gone from Shanghai to Chefoo to temporarily replace Dr. Lenz, the German Consul there.
£30,000
10,000
30,000
285
witness) the form of appointment of proxy annexed hereto, and to return the same to me as promptly as possible. Shareholders who de not approve of the proposal will please the form endorsed "disapproved."
By order of the Board of Directors,
A. S. MURRAY, Secretary. Singapore, 20th March, 1899.
'IMPERIAL FEDERATION”.
LECTURE BY MR. J. W. JONES.
On the 5th April Mr. J. W. Jones de livered an address in the City Hall, under the auspices of the Hongkong Odd Volumes Society, on Imperial Federation." Sir John Carrings ton, C.M.G., presided.
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The CHAIRMAN remarked that Imperial Federation was the great question of the future and that he had no doubt, from his knowledge of Mr. Jones, whom he met daily in business relations, that that gentleman would gives most efficient lecture on this important subject.
Mr. JONES first touched upon the vast extent, immense population, and huge revenue of the British empire, and added that it would be seen at once that an empire of such vast dimensions entailed great responsibilities upon its adminis trators and upon the statesmen who framed its laws. It might be said that the British empire 15,000 might be divided into five classes of states--
15,000
£100,000
The main conditions of Mr. Forwood's scheme
are --
1. That the new Company will receive all assets and property of every kind of the Straits Insurance Company, Limited, and in con- sideration therefor will assume all liabilities of every kind, including the expenses of liquidating the Straits Insurance Company, Limited.
2. The subscription of £30,000 fully paid up 6 per cent. preference shares will be absolutely guaranteed by Mr. Forwood.
3.-The qualification of the directors of the new company will be in part the holding of ordinary shares.
4. Mr. Forwood will use his best endeavour to have 30,000 ordinary shares fully subscribed in London.
5. All expenses in connection with the new company up to the first allotment of shares will be borne and paid by Mr. Forwood.
6. Mr. Forwood to receive £10,000 of fully paid preference shares to cover expenses of flotation, registration, and guarantee, which will probably absorb the greater part of ten thousand pounds.
7. Mr. Forwood will give such guarantee as will be satisfactory to the directors of the Straits Insurance Co., Ltd., for the carrying oat of his scheme.
8. Shareholders will receive in exchange for their present holdings-for each share, $20 paid, the following:
(a) One ordinary share of £1 fully paid in the new London Company, free from liability, and in addition thereto
(b) If 80,000 ordinary shares te subscribed in London, ten shillings in cash or
(c) If 30,000 ordinary shares be not fully subscribed, shares and cash, or value equivalent to ten shillings per share.
Nominally the consideration represents value for £1-10/- or say $15 per share, but the sub- scription of the 30,000 ordinary shares is not absolutely guaranteed, and the whole of the consideration might be fully paid shares.
The Directors of the Straits Insurance Co., Limited, beg to submit Mr. Forwood's proposal for the consideration of shareholders.
If a sufficient majority of shareholders report in favour of the acceptance of this offer, it will be necessary to pass a resolution to place the Company in voluntary liquidation.
Shareholders who approve the acceptance of Mr. Forwood's proposal, with or without changes that may be deemed expedient, will be good enough to sign (in the presence of a
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those possessing responsible government such as Canada; representative states such as Australia and New Zealand, which were practically inde pendent; Crown Colonies; dependencies; and protectorates. When they cast their mind's eye upon the pages of history and called to mind the empires which had existed but which were now nothing but wrecks-such as the Per- sian, the Babylonian, the Greek, and theRoman, the Moorish, the Spanish, the French under Napoleon I, and, in their own day, the Chinese Empire, which seemed to be falling to pieces under their very eyes-the question must na- turally arise in the mind of every thinking man whether the British empire was destined to exist. Continental opinion said no-that the great colonies must in the ordinary course of things leave the mother country and set up empires of their own. The British empire had been likened to 麤 hon rearing a brood of ducklings which eventually left their mother for the vast waters. The question, then arose, how was it possible to hold such a vast empire together? Was there any elixir of youth by which a nation's longevity could be prolonged? Yes, there was-federa tion, which Dicey had defined as (1) "A. body of countries connected by locality, history, and race capable of bearing an impress of a common nationality; (2) a peculiar state of sentiment such as that of mutual advantage which must desire union but not unity." Mr. Jones argued that the British empire fulfilled these condi. tious, and went on to say that real federation could not take place unless there was an as- similation of the fiscal system. It was said that the colonies had raised hostile tariffs against the mother land. Such, however, was not the When the mother land in 1846 adopted the principles of free trade she practically left the colonies to take care of themselves, and in order to protect their own interests they were forced to adopt the system of tariffs. Canada, at the time the most powerful colony and the most prosperous one, protested strongly against the adoption of free trade by the mother country in 1846, and Canada had again approached the mother country with preferential tariffs, and it might be taken that there was a much stronger feeling through- out the empire for fair trade now than there formerly was, The Federation should contain a British zollverin. If such were to form part of a plan it would go a long way towards joining the empire together. This idea was strongly supported by Sir Gordon Sprigg. With respect to tariffs the world was against us, and we should probably have to place our selves against the world. The great colonisi authorities favoured a commercial union in a modified form. How could Imperial federation be brought about?
First, if опе of the great colonies were to assert its right to make independent treaties with foreign states it would at once convulse the empire and give rise to the question of Imperial federation. Again, the increased armaments of
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