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disposal of the arms and ammunitions was as follows(1) All the arms are to be marked with European numbers, registered in a book to be kept for that purpose, and not to be sold clandestinely, but only with permission of the Viceroy. In case any military official requires a supply of arms he shall send a petition to the Bureau, who will submit the same to H. E. the Viceroy for approval, and as the arms pass the lekin or customs stations they shall be subject to examination. In case the gentry and elders of any village re- quire a supply of arms for the use of their mili- tia corps against the pirates, they shall apply in the same manner, and find security for their shipment. (2) If any person, whether he be of the gentry, a merchant, a scholar, or one of the common people, has any arms in his own house for his protection, a weiyuin shall be de- puted to examine and mark them, and the Bureau shall pay all expenses, so that the weiyuen may not "squeeze.'
In case the latter should in any manner abuse his office, upon the presentation of a petition be shall either dismissed or degra- ded: H.E. the Viceroy in approving of the above scheme remarks as follows:-" This scheme and the rules thereof are quite satisfactory; let them be strictly carried out. In case any person loses his marked arms let him make a report of the fact to the Bureau for investigation, and let the
Provincial Governor take note of it also."
SECRET SOCIETIES AND BANDITTI.
Every province of China has its own local banditti. In the north there are Boxers, in the south there are Kolao Hui, Poko, "Big knife," "Small knife," ""Three Dots ""Triad," and Chung Hing societies, as well as many
because
have
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
others, of various names but not so well known scattered nearly all over China and abroad. The most powerful on the highwaymen of the Shantung province, who make their attack and robbery on horseback, next come the pirates of Kwangtung, the local Banditti of Kwangsi. and Yunnan, the mountaineer bands of Chim Suk, the salt smugglers of Woyeong, and Tazkiang, and the desperadoes of Wim Toi. Inferior classes of robbers and thieves are the "red bearded" banditti of Tientsin, the vagrants of Shanghai, the scoundrels of Suchow and Chung Kiang, the "green skins" of Nanking, the "cucumbers" of Hongchow, and the pick pockets of Ningpo. They belong to different districts and provinces under the control of their chiefs respectively. Some have joined the societies and become thieves by force of circum- stances, some by fraud and persuasion, some have been compelled by force, some even joined for protection against other bad characters, while many others join they are naturally born thieves. attacks upon unwary travellers, by burglary, by They live by plunder, smuggling, and fraud, by kidnapping women and girls to exact ransoms, by setting fire to and attacking any village too weak to resist them, or by burning Christian churches and robbing the native Christians; and lastly when they have mustered sufficient numbers and are provided with sufficient arms and ammunition, they will make a rebellion and give some work to the officials to do. H.E. Li Hung-chang
invented & new machine for dealing with this class raffian. It is a wooden cage, five feet and a half high, with a hole in the top of it; the criminal is put into it, his hands being tied behind and his head protruding from the top hole, and he is then hung by the neck and by degrees strangled to death. On the 16th ult. six criminals were executed in this
the Hongkong and Canton | steamer-wharf-one for kidnapping the cubine of a doctor and the other five for robbery.
manner near
has
INFLAMMATORY PLACARDS.
of
con-
A munber of inflammatory placards have been posted up in the Western suburbs of Canton, of which the following is a specimen:--"Kill all the German, the French, the American, and the English. Drive all the foreigners away, and our hearts will rest at peace. Act with all your minds and strength, and the great event will be accomplished. It will take but a few days for us to raise our troops. When the red flag is waving aloft the world will enjoy universal
peace.
Here is another:-The four countries, Japan, America, Germany, and English have swallow
|
edup the territory of the Ta-ching and subverted all our plans. Our hearts are not satisfied, but when the red flag is floating and when we have raised our well-disciplined troops and driven away the foreign devils the world shall enjoy universal peace."
In consequence of such threats, during the last few days mandarin guard-boats have been moored alongside Shameen, ostensibly for its protection.
[FROM ANOTHER CORRESPONDENT.]
NATIVE RUMOURS.
Canton, 25th June. All is quiet here, but the most hair-raising stories are going about, from Chinese sources, making out that all the foreigners in Peking and Tientsin have been wiped out. The country people are inclined to believe the stories, and those who had stored silk in the settlement are taking it back for safety! One man has taken a lot back on which he had prepaid $100 in- This is a straw surance a little while ago. which will show which way the wind is blowing.
THE DEFENCE OF EUROPEANS.
The Redpole and Don Juan de Austria are here and could land over 100 men without inter- fering with the working of the ships or their batteries. Our Defence Corps is 46 strong and should be able to meet anything that is likely to come from the city. A French boat is said to be coming up, but we are not very anxious for her, as the French and the mission- aries are more likely to raise trouble than anything else. The missionaries do nothing but spread reports and clamour for the protec- tion of their chapels, which are centres of gossip and uneasiness. The country "mishes" have mostly come in, and several have gone down to Macao or Hongkong.
LATER NEWS.
Canton, 26th June.
We were glad to hear to-day that Tientsin is relieved, but the silence from Peking, is ominous and alarming. I hope that the awful tragedy which passes for the reason here among the natives is not true. All is quiet here. Defence Corps matters are working more smoothly in spite of obstcales raised in some official quarters. We shall have pretty well all our men now armed with Mausers. The Corps works with the Redpole and the Americans, and is no: to be kept in the background.
[FROM THE "CHUNG NGOI SAN PO."] The following notice has been issued by H. E. Li Hung-chang in response to the petitions presented by the gentry and merchants earnest- ly asking him to remain in the Provinces of tary and Viceroy, and having been ordered to pro- Kwangtung: I, being an Earl, Grand Secre- tect the boundaries, should of course use all my power to fulfill the order. When I first received the Imperial order to return to Peking, I should have wished to go at once, hoping to give such information to the Throne concerning the pre- sent crisis as to facilitate suppression of riot and the making of friendly arrangements with the foreign powers. By these means peace can be restored and danger averted. But there are so many obstructions to travel both by land and by sea that I cannot at present have my wish. To-day (the 26th June) I have received an Imperial Decree by telegraph, through the Governor of Shantung, ordering all the viceroys and governors to protect the provinces within their different jurisdictions and to be in readiness to send soldiers to Peking for its pro- tection. All the viceroys and governors should encourage each other and co-operate together, so as to do away with the danger. When I read over this telegram I know that it is most likely that the soldiers of the various powers have as- sembled in Peking, as well as the Boxers. wish to fly to the help of the throne, Though
-
If
[June, 30, 1900.
called upon. I have to instruct the Tar tar General, the Governor, the Commander-in- Chief of the land forces, and the Admiral, as well as all the officers, civil and military,, of different districts, to carry out their orders. Oboy this."
HE. Li Hung-chang has also notified the directors of Man-Lau College that owing to the present difficulties he is not proceeding to Peking at present, but that, when there are less obstacles to the journey, he will go up at once.
MACAO.
[FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.]
THE DEFENON OF THE COLONY.
Maçao, 25th June.. It is stated that our Government Counci. have telegraphed to the home Governmentl urgently requesting troops and men-of-war for the defence of the colony. Preparations are being made in the barracks to house 300 or more men. Part of a regiment is coming-according to some, it has already left Lisbon, while others say that it is getting ready to depart. It is reported that one man-of-war is now on her way out, the oruiser Adamastor, which is of recent construc- tion and has all the modern improvements. Her commander is Senhor Ferreira d'Amaral. A circular has been sent all round the colony, inviting all who wish to offer their services as volunteers to sign. In two or three days' time the circular will be sent up to the Government Council, which will be able to call upon the signatories for service, if required. At present about a 100 signatures have been appended to the document. The decision of the Council is anxiously awaited.
GETTING BEADY FOR EMERGENCIES.
There is to be artillery practise on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday next, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th prox. Captain Carmona is giving daily instruction to the officers and men in the hand- ling of the guns. The two big Armstrong guns in the San Francisco Battery are also going to be fired, for the first time since 1870, when they were mounted. Two days will be devoted to practice with the fort-guns and the horse-artil- fery guns from Japan. The marines are doing duty on shore, and began on Saturday last to mount guard over the Government buildings. Two officers arrived last week for the Zaire.
MONOPOLIES AND THE PUBLIC WELFARE.
It is sincerely hoped that the troubles in the North will not spread down here, for in that case this colony will indeed suffer heavily. Even now our market prices are as high as they have ever been, ordinary necessities are ruinous- ly dear, and if the disturbances extend to this all the more certain from the scandalous govern- ment monopolies on every conceivable article. neighbourhood then we are done for. This is Considering the indirect taxes which we are paying daily for all market goods, the Govern ment's duty is to lighten the very oppressive' income tax. The condition of trade is a disgrace to the colony and the administration which
The present depends on monopolies for almost the whole revenue is simply diabolical. members of the Leal Senado have set an excel-
lent example by doing away with the rickshaw monopoly, and the public can see with their own eyes whether, as a consequence, these vehicles are not cleaner and far better than before. Visitors to Macao will endorse this statement.
The Government has no time to lose in abolish- ing the monopolies in articles of daily use and trying a different method of drawing an income. Half-a-dozen people should not be allowed to exploit the public for their own advantage, and the Government's error in persevering in this With articles of daily course is a grievous one. use in the hands of merciless monopolists, the first victims are the traders, the next (and the most important) the general public.
Macao, 28th June. SEARCHING FOR ARMS.
I am afraid it will be too late for me to do so. I am to remain in Canton a day, I will do a day's work with all my ability. I have now
All Chinese passengers arriving in Macao only to encourage all the scholars and people to act loyally. The first step is to drill the soldiers from outside are searched, with all their lug- and to lay up large stores of provisions in readi-gage, to prevent the importation of arms and ness to cope with the bad characters and protect ammunition. At 6 am a gun is fired, to the boundaries. Officers and people should signify that the port is open and passengers can land. The search-party is then ready to stand by each other, and high and low should co-operate together, so that every examine arrivals and their luggage. At 7 p.m. regiment may prove ready for use when another gun is fired and the port is declared
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