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by the Boxers, they have proposed to hold f s requiem service on the 15th of the 3rd Moon (3rd May) in the temple for the repose of their sonis.
THE CATS AND THE BATE.
THE HONGKONG. WEEKLY PRESS AND
DAILY PRESS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE
C.M.8. House, West Point, Hongkong,
12th April.
*
SIB,-In your issue of this morning, .com menting upon the situation in China, you say "no more vicious principle, has ever been up- held by Western arms in China than this, that the life of a foreign preacher can and must be paid for in money or land for his country's benefit." Most right thinking people will agree with you in this, and I should hope would also strongly disapprove of a Missionary Society making profit out of the death of any of its agents in China.
As I said in my letter of the 1st inst. the most notorious brigands of Salchin are Fuchan Hoi and Ao Sun, and next come Luk Kin, Luk Hin, and Lee Chin, &c. Although they (with the exception of Ao-Sun) have surrendered nominally and taken command in the Imperial armies yet they are still thieves all the same; for they are still holding intercourse with and protecting their fraternity. About the end of last month Luk Kin was ordered to take com- mand, of two guard boats and proceed to the In a preceding paragraph you venture to as- river to capture and destroy pirates. He was
sert that a charge of this kind can be justly seen also to take several junks laden with fire-made against some societies at work in China. wood. When he passed Shun Tak he anchored Your grounds for saying so are doubtless known his boats in the Yeong Kau river, where the to yourself, and you consider t'ium sufficient for comrades of Ao Sun are levying blackmail. the statement. As soon as they heard that Luk Kin had arrived the thieves went on board to pay a call.
Luk Kin received them very civilly and treated them as if they were his brothers. What arms and ammunition there were on board the thieves examined and handled. They were treated to supper and opium, and the so-called “braves of the guardboats went on shore with them for a walk and took them to a eating-house to eat at othe same table, as if there were no motives for suspicion. This is what the Chinese call "the
ats and rats eating and sleeping together."
CORRESPONDENCE.
We do not hold ourselves responsible for the [opinions expressed by our correspondents.]
MISSIONARIES IN CHIŅA.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE “DAILY PRE88.'
Will you allow me to speak for the Church Missionary Society, and refer to its action in connection with the terrible tragedy which took place at Hwa Song in the Fohkien Pro- vince in August, 1895, when the Rev. R. W. Stewart and Mrs. Stewart and their companions were murdered? In the Society's official record (P. 587, Vol. iii. History of the C.M.S.) it is thus referred to and the conduct of the Society summarised:—
[April 20, 1001,
2. That the public, having subscribed for the Jubilee Statue of our late Queen, should com- plete that work by the erection of the bronzes at the four corners of the canopy. This would complete the original design and vastly improve the appearance of the whole: It would only cost a few hundred pounds to do, and surely there should be no trouble in raising such a sum.
We should thus not only have a suitable memorial to our late Queen, but also complete a work which has been standing unfinished for too long.--I am, Sir, yours, &c.
R. K. LEIGH.
TO THE EDITCE OF THE "DAILY PRESS.”
Hongkong, 16th April. SIE, With reference to, Mr. R. K. Leigh's letters, and the public's desire for a Memorial to Her Majesty the late Queen Victoria, allow me to offer a few suggestions.
B
For Hongkong which is the third shipping Gibraltar" of the east port in the world, the and the chief entrepot for South China, we want something majestic, impressive and last- ing, something that will attract one's attention and live in the mind's eye.
The present Jubilee Queen's Statue is com pletely out of touch with the majestic piles of buildings which are going up around it. It is simply dwarfed.
At a distance it is unrecognisable, and puts one in mind of a gigantic street fountain, and - with its pedestal and Indian canopy. Asiaties would go away with the impression" "that it is a
joss." Exouse the remark.
Ci
“When Lord Salisbury inquired of the C.M.S. and C.E.Z.M.8. what compensation he was to press for on account of the Hwa Sang massacre, both Societies replied that they would accept none. Any money paid might, have been re
I don't think the addition of bronzes at the garded in China as an indemnity for the lives of the missionaries, and both committees were corners of the canopy would vastly improve the anxious to avoid even the appearance of vindic-appearance of the Statue, as suggested by Mr. tiveness. In due course Lord Salisbury wrote to the C.M.S. that the Chinese authorities were much impressed by the high-minded attitude of the Societies.
The Tsungli Yamen informed Sir Claude Macdonald, the British Minister, that the re- fusal to accept compensation commanded the Yamen's profound respect and esteem, and that every effort would be made to prevent future dis urbances."
I hope, sir, that your readers will understand that your remarks do not refer to the Church Missionary Society.-I am, yours, etc..
W. BANISTER,
Secretary,
Church Missionary Society.
St. Paul's Collage,
12th April, 1901. SIR, You state in your issue of this morning that "Cases almost as bad " (as that in which Kisochan was obtained by Germany) when the martyrdom of a missionary has resulted in a large profit-not to his family, but-to his society or his country, can be supplied readily from the recent history of the intercourse between Europe and China." May I ask you A MEMORIAL TO THE LATE QUEEN kindly to supply us with information about these cases? Personally I do not know of one such case. During the past ten years more than twelve Europeans connected with three Church of England Societies have been killed in China, and in no case has any "blood-money' been asked for. So far as my information goes, all Protestant Missionary Societies agree with, and have acted on, the principles advocated in your article, with regard to this matter.-I am, Sir, yours, etc.,
"
J. C. VICTORIA. [What we had in mind when we wrote the sentence to which the Rt. Rev. Bishop refers was the general conduct of France toward China, from a period as far back as 1857. Mr. Michie's chapter iu The Englishman in China on the French protectorate of Christians briefly illustrates the point. We had no wish to imply that all countries used their missionaries as pawns in the political game. Indeed it has been only too evident that Great Britain has been backward in protesting against outrages on her subjects engaged in missionary work. But in viewing the missionary question as a whole it is impossible to leave out the errors committed by one particular section. For instance, if we say that missionaries are responsible for taking young children into the interior of China, we may be acoused by the Roman Catholic missionaries of wronging them. We ask our correspondent-Has not the mis- sionary cause as a whole suffered in Chins from the impression that the European Powers are willing to use in
their countrymen as political agents instead of simple preachers of Christi- anity? We have always recognised that it is an admirable point in the work of the Church of England missions, among others, that they do not lend themselves to this disreputable policy. Ed. D.P.]
TO THE EDITOR OF THE
DAILY PRESS,"
Hongkong, 15th April. Sir,-With reference to my letter and your leader of the 9th instant re a memorial to our late Queen, I have sounded a number of men, and find that with a few exceptions there ap- pears to be little or no interest in undertaking anything further just now. This is, of course, not from any want of loyalty, but from a pretty general feeling of disappointment at the results of the late public subscriptions.
Since then
The Queens' statue can hardly be called a success, and to our discredit it lay for years in the godowns before it was erected it has had a cast-iron railing put round it, which is entirely out of keeping with it, and the statue itself has never been completed.
The Jubilee Road still remains a myth, though the public subscribed something like $96.000, and the Government undertook to add a like sum.
The Women's Hospital has been commenced at the Peak, but it can never be the hospital to which I thought I was subscribing; and this is, I know, the opinion of many other men.
With these examples before us, it is not surprising that men do not care to go in for anything new till they see some more results for what they have already subscribed to; still I think something can and ought to be done, and I therefore beg to make the following sug- gestions:-
1. Ths His Excellency the Governor be asked to dedicate the New Clock Tower at Blake Pier as a memorial to our late Queen.
It would not only be a fitting m morial, but, it having been decided to build this Clock Tower out of public funds, no subscription would be required.
|
Leigh. In fact, it would only create confusion. Again, the suggestion regarding the Clock Tower will, I am afraid, nieet with disfavour.
In my humble opinion the Jubilee Memorial should be transferred to a place with more con- genial surroundings, and the site thus vacated should be utilised for the erection of a gigantic Memorial Statue similar to the one in front of St. Paul's Cathedral, or the ones at Cape Town and Malta, which represent the Queen in a standing position with the globe and sceptre in her hands. Such statues are something to
admire and remember.
L
If a thing is worth doing it should be done well. Standing in all her Regal Majesty, the Queen is at once recognised by the great and small of her millions of loyal subjects.—Yours, etc.,
TSE TSAN TAI.
THE RATEPAYER'S ELECTION.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRESS,"
13th April. SIR,-Referring to the ratepayer's meeting of
to-day, I think the smallness of the attendance can be largely accounted for by the fact of the inconvenience of the hour named, viz., 4 p.m.
There are certainly many ratepayers who could not attend at that time, but who might be able to do so at 5.15 pm. The poll should then remain open till 7 p.m. -
SPECTATOR.
A PUBLIC DANGER.
41
TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRESS."
Hongkong, 15th April. SIB.-Are the Capt. Superintendent of Police, the Director of Public Works, and the members of the Sanitary Board aware that a public thoroughfare between No. 1, Queen's Road East and the military married quarters on the hill is being cut up and blocked up by a crowd of Chinese coolies P
This is the only suitable road in the vicinity which can be trained to connect Queen's Road ast with the Kennedy and Macdonald Roads, and I have been informed that it is the inten- tion of the Government to train this road. How is it, then, that these people have been per- mitted to cut up this road and entirely block it up for private use? This road connects the inhabited street at the back of Wing Fung Lane West, and in case of fire the would have to go right round to Wing Fung Street!
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