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be permitted to places within a radius of 40 miles of the Colony. (5) The junk or boat used for the conveyance of the patient must on its return to the Colony at once proceed to the Water Police Station at Tsim Sha Tsui for disinfection.
Referring to the above the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in a letter dated August 15th, wrote to His Excellency the Governor follows:-
BS
"I have the honour to inform you in con- firmation of my telegram of the 8th inst. that I have received a despatch from the Officer Administering the Government of the Straits Settlements inviting my attention to a notifica tion issued by the Government of Hongkong permitting in certain cases the removal from the colony of patients actually suffering from bubonic plague.
"A notification of this kind, authorising the conveyance of infection, seems to me, however excellent its intention, to be liable to arouse prejudice against the colony and against the British empire generally, and might well be made by foreign Governments an excuse for placing injurious restrictions on British trade. For this and other reasons I consider that the notification should be withdrawn and the removal of persons suffering from plague absolutely prohibited.
"Although in the Acting Colonial Secretary's letter to the Straits Settlements Government of the 29th June it is stated that the notice ap- plies solely to Chinese, it appears to be quite general in its terms, nor do I consider that the non-adherence of Chinese to the Venice Sunitary Convention justifies so wide a departure from the principles of that Convention.
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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND of the Venice Convention which wore sent out here, and which he and another officer translated for publication in the Gazette, drew the attention of the Board to the very same fact. The ques tion was referred home and the Secretary of Scott said it certainly was against the principles of the Convention. Therefore the Board was asked to rescind the regulation. He did not think there was any red-tapeism at all. If they made a bargain with France, Germany, and Russia and a lot of other countries they were bound to carry it out. If they did not carry it out and did little things which were not in ac- cordance with the Convention those countries would do the same themselves, say at Hamburg and other places near home, and the British Government would not at all like that. Therefore
[November 10, 1900.
allowing these patients to leave. The plague came from the mainland to Hongkong, and these people all went back into the infected districts.
The Hon. F. H. May said that with the Pre- sident's permission he would just like to put Dr. Hartigan right. The permanent committee of the Sanitary Board in 1894 never said they would not allow a Chinaman suffering from plague to leave the colony if he gave his name and address to the officers of the Board. But that was just what the great mass of Chinese would not do. They were therefore not allowed to leave and they are still not allowed to leave.
On the motion being put to the vote it was carried.
THE PLAGUE IN PENANG.
A letter dated October 21st from Penang it seemed to him that the remarks some honour-stated that ten days had elapsed since the dentlis able gentlemen had made about red-tapeism in from the suspected cases of plague occurred at Downing Street were somewhat uncalled for. Peusug and no further cases had occurred.
Mr. OSBORNE said ho made some remarks about Downing Street, and he would make them again. The Venice Convention was not subscribed to by this colony. The colony was told to subscribe to it by the home Govern- ment. That Board at various meetings pointed out to the Government that for Hongkong to subscribe to the Convention would be nothing but a farce-an absolute farce, and he thought he was right in saying that they advised the Government that they could not support the terms of the Convention. Under these circum- stances the home Government at Downing Street had no business whatever to compel them to subscribe to those terms. If they had to subscribe to all those terms how was it they had no lazarette? Then they were supposed to have a quarantine station. Ships supposed to come into the harbour from an infected port were supposed to land their passengers who were affected and then proceed on their voyage. But was that done? Did every steamer from Canton. every one of Douglas's boats from the coast ports land its "I have the honour to acknowledge the re- passengers in a quarantine station? Therefore ceipt of your despatch No. 375, explaining the he asked what was the use attempting to carry reasons which have led to the issue of a regula-out the terms of a Convention when it was utterly tion permitting in certain casos the removal impossible to do so? It was nothing more or from Hongkong of a person suffering from less than a farce. Although this regulation as bubonic plague, and to inform you that after to patients leaving the colony had been in force carefully considering the arguments put for- three years only four applications for permission ward therein I regret that I must adhere to to remove had been received, yet he had no the views expressed in my despatch No. 277 of doubt some four thousand or forty thousand the 15th August, which you have now received." afflicted had left the colony during that time,
On the cover dated November 3rd the follow- and if they thought they were going to prevent ing minutes were appended:-
these people from leaving the colony and submit to their western treatment and be buried, in graves covered with lime, and so on, they would make a great mistake.
"P. S. Since the above despatch was written I have received your telegram of the 14th inst. roporting that the notification is no longer in force."
Writing on the 24th September Mr. Cham- berlain said :--
The Hon. R. D. Ormsby I hope every meinber of the Board will express an opinion as to whether this should be considered confiden- tially or not. I see no reason for not wishing it public."
Mr. McKie :- This paper should not be treated as confidential. It is an excellent op- portunity for showing up Downing Street red- tapeism.
**
Dr. Hartigan:-
Ditto Not confidential. The Straits Government are always making a silly fuss."
Mr. Osborne :-"This is Downing Street red tapeism with a vengeance. However, as the Chi- nose don't pay the slightest heed to the regula tions in question, and will continue to move their sick, whether Downing Street permits it or not, there will be no harm in revoking them. But why is this confidential ? The public should know whence such wisdom emanates."
Dr. Bell
reason for its being
confidential.”
"No
:--Not confidential."
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A cover dated November 7th contained the following minutes:-
Mr. Chan A. Fook :- Dr. Bell :-“ Not confidential.” The Hon. F. H. MAY said he thought gen- tlemen who had made caustic remarks about Downing Street had hardly put themselves in possession of the facts.
The facts were these: Great Britain and several of her colonies, among them Hongkong, subscribed to the Venice Convention, which laid down certain rules to be observed by all countries who as- sented to the, Convention to prevent the intro- duction of plague into those countries. It was pointed out by the people of Singapore that their allowing people suffering from plague to leave the shores of this colony was a contraven- of the rules of the Venice Convention which they had undertaken to observe. The Medical Officer of Health himself on reading the rules
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Mr. McKIE said he supported every word Mr. Osborne had said.
DEATHS IN MACAO.
The deaths in Macao for the week ended 21st October numbered 59.
THE HEALTH OF THE COLONY,
The death rate for the colony for the week ended Oct. 20th was 26-9, against 204 for tho previous week and 216 for the corresponding week last year. The rate for the succeeding week was 31.1, against 20-6 for the corres- ponding week last year.
This was all the business.
THE CRISIS IN CHINA.
LOCAL MOVEMENTS. H.M.S. Marathon] arrived on the 2nd inst. from Woosung on her way to the East Indies.
The British transport Salamis arrived on the 2nd inst. from Taku, bringing back the Royal Welsh Fusiliors and Engineers.
The transport Antillian arrived on the 2nd inst. from Weihaiwei.
The surveying ship Waterwitch arrived on the 2nd inst. from Shanghai.
The German transport Köln got in late on the 1st inst. from Taku.
The British transport Warora returned on the 3rd inst. from Taku.
The German cruiser Gefion left on the 3rd inst. for Canton.
The British transports St. Andrew and Warora left on the 4th inst. for Bombay and Calcutta respectively.
The British transport Pentokota arrived hero from Taku on the 6th inst.
The French gunboat Comète arrived on the 6th inst. from Canton, while the French cruiser Descartes left for Saigon.
The French cruiser Chasseloup Laubat left on Tuesday night for Foochow.
H.M.S. Murathon left the harbour on Wed-
The British transport Antillian left on Wednesday night for Bombay.
The Hon F. H. MAY asked permission to put Mr. Osborne right, because he happenednesday before noon. to be quite wrong It was quite true The U. S. monitor Monterey left on Wednes- that the Board did advise against the adoption day morning for Canton. The Monterey is one of the Venice Convention, but it did so under of the largest war-vessels, if not the largest, a misapprehension. He was one of the people which has ever visited Canton. who opposed it. thinking that all the elaborate rules about putting coolies into quarantine. or exercising surveillance, etc., would havo to be adopted. But the Secretary of State pointed out that slips like the Canton steam- ers containing large numbers of coolies could be dealt with under separate regulations altogether, and when the Board was made aware of that it withdrew its objection. That was a quite different thing to having the Venico
RETURN OF THE ASIATIC
ARTILLERY.
The Asiatic Artillery who went north from Hongkong returned to the colony on Wednesday. They were received by a guard of honont and the band of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. H. E. Major-General Gascoigne, C.M.G., addressed a few complimentary words to them. They were Dr. CLARK proposed and the Hon. F. marched to their Barracks headed by the Fusi- H. MAY seconded the repeal of the regu-iers' Band, H. E. the Major-General also mar- lations as to the removal of patients from the ching at their head as far as Headquarter colony.
Office.
Convention crammed down their throats.
Dr. HARTIGAN said that this very subject came up in 1894. Mr. May was one of the por- manent committee which proposed that this law should be carried out in its strictness, but the Governor issued a proclamation by which patients were allowed to leave the colony on certain conditions, and in taking that course he was fully backed up by the majority of the inhabitants of the colony-both European and Chinese-and by the majority of the Sanitary Board. They were far more able to combat the plague by allowing these people to leave the colony than by keeping them inside. One point which seemed to have been lost sight of was this they were not spread. ing the plague in the sense meant by Mr. May by
THE KWANGTUNG REBELLION. The attempt to arouse the people of the Kwangtung province to rise in rebellion against the Chinese authorities has failed. Most of the principal towns and cities are now occupied by the Imperial troops, and the rebels, recognising the futility of any further operations on their part, have disbanded
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THE TROUBLE IN THE WEST. A spontaneous correspondent in Yunnan (says the N.-C. Daily News), who has remained there unaffected by the panic that drove many officials and missionaries over the borders of their pro-