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March 15, 1902.]
This section of the Report was signed by the Honourable FREDERICK STEWART, Acting Colonial Secretary and Head Master of the Central School; the Honourable EDWARD LOUGHLIN O'MALLEY, Attorney- General; the Honourable PHINEAS RYRIE; and the Honourable F. BULKELEY JOHNSON. The Honourable No CHOY now His Excellency the Chinese Am- bassador at Washington-dissented, sug. gesting that "the whole attention of the boys at the Central School should be con- fined to the study of English, and that every Chinese boy, before adinission there- 'to, should be found to possess a competent "knowledge of his own language." Had this simple but drastic test been applied, then as now, we fear that the benches in the chief scholastic institution of the Colony would be empty. It is to he hoped that this question of the Native Chinese School will receive the serious consideration it deserves at the hands of the Educational Com- missioners now in session. As we read of the removal of the older English masters by death, retirement on pension, trans- ference, and loan, another significant question crops up. It is widely known that for some reason or other-retrenchment was possibly at the root of the matter the Governing Body five years ago recom- mended the discontinuance of the system which required English masters to acquire a written and colloquial knowledge of Chinese. There cannot now be left more than two or three English masters, at most, on the staff of Queen's College who have an acquaintance with Chinese; and even they, in the lapse of a few years, from oue cause or another, will be removed. There will then be the anomaly of an educational staff wholly unacquainted with the mother tongue of its scholars. This is not merely anomalous, it is suicidal. From te very earliest days of the Colony's history it has ever been the policy of the Home authorities to encourage Civil servants of all grades and in all departments to get some knowledge of Cantonese and, if possible, of the written character too. Government Notification No. 4, in the Government Gazette of July 7th, 1855, says: His Excellency the Governor has received a Despatch from the Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, calling his aften- tion to the great importance which Her Majesty's Government attaches to the acquirement of the Chinese language by all functionaries in the public service of "this Colony, and His Excellency is "instructed to state that in claims for promotion a knowledge of Chinese will be "considered as а recommendation to the favourable consideration of the "authorities."
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In the face of the above verbatim extract, the action of the Governing Body is unwisdom itself. No doubt this matter too will receive due attention from the present Educational Commission.
We have received the P. & T. Times of the 1st inst. A leading article pleads for a British
l'ost Office for Tientsin. The Peiho is bettor
than it has been forsix or seven years.-The 'Tien- tsin A.D.C. have played The Magistrate with great succesS.— - Preparations are under way in Tientsin for the celeration of King Edward's Coronation. The erection of the monument to Baron von Ketteler in Hatament., Peking, is proceeding well. Enormous blocks of marble are being used, each of which requires 85 to 125 horses to drag it from the quarries in the Wes tern Hills to the city. The theft of telegraph wires has been going on extensively in the suburbs of Peking:- Smallpox is epidemic in Tientsin just now, especially among the
children.
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
THE COOLIE QUESTION AND REGISTRATION.
(Daily Press, 13th March.)
The suggestion of our correspondent “J. R.” in another column, that we should in all cases where unruly native servants are brought to book by their employers furnish the names and a description in our Police Court report, is, we fear, an in- adequate way of meeting the difficulties of the situation. The name of a Chinese boy or coolie can hardly be considered as
fixed quantity "in all circumstances, for a there are no existing means of detecting an alias. The impossibility of attempting to describe one Chinese servant in such a way that he will at once be recognised when he presents himself as candidate for a new post will readily be recognised. There is only one satisfactory manner of meeting the dificulty, and that is by some system of registration. Now it does not lie within the province of a daily journal to conduct a registry office. It does lie within the comę petence of the Government, and an oppor- tunity has recently been offered to the local authorities of making a trial of registration in the case of those most troublesome of private servants, the chair and jinricksha coolies. A Commission was appointed to examine into the question of these employees and drew up a report. recommending that a trial should be given to the registration of such, aud that a system of regular fares and tickets should be adopted. As is well known now, the Governinent decided to reject these recommendations, at least as far as the registration scheme is concerned. The reasons for this action were given to the Legislative Council on Tuesday. H.E. the Governor in his minute to the Colonial Secretary and his despatch to the Secretary of State for the Colonies states the reasons for the Government's decision. They are based chiefly on part of the evidence given before the Commission, reinforced by the opinions of the members of the Executive Council, the only guide to which is the statement of Sir HENRY BLAKE that the Council's advice "was given on the ground that the recommendations, if carriel out, were not calculated to bring about the desired result, nor, in the long run, to satisfy the employ.rs of private coolies, inasmuch as the real causes of discontent appeared to be traceable to the 'state of the labour-market of Hongkong "and China and other natural economic "conditions." With regard to this advice it is only to be remarked that it is not argument bu expression of opinion.
As to the evidence before the Commission, the mem- bers of the latter, after consideration of the statements of all the witnesses, came to the conclusion that registration was both adyis- able and feasible. The Government
at there- fore must hold either that the Commissi decided against the weight of evidence or that the witnesses hostile to the scheme were the more important, if less numerous, section. In his minute to the Colonial various difficulties of the registration pro- Secretary, H.E. the
Governor presents
been disinclined in the past to help in the posal. The masters, we are told, have
scheme. Are we to assume therefore that the present outcry against the difficulty of procuring and retaining reliable chair and jinricksha-coolies is so superficial that the masters are in eality as supine as they seemed to be in the past? Is it not probable that the Government is taking the opportunity of damning the whole class for the negligence and want of public spirit exibited by a few? Then again it is
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the
snid that by weeding out " supply of coolies will be rendered insufficient. We are apparently therefore to retain in our service the thieves, idlers, etc., for fear that there are not enough without them. The practical difficulties of identi- fication, of which Mr. BREWIN made a strong pint, are doubtless considerable, but surely for the public welfare it is ficulties. A rongh method of identification necessary to face even considerable dif- by photography and description combined does not
seem beyond the realms of pulsory registration will produce a strike. possibility. Next we are told that com. Many useful reforms have produced strikes. The Commission recommended that the experiment should be made in the cold weather when chairs and jinrickshas are not a necessity. Moreover, a strike of the private coolies would be ineffective without a combination with the public bearers and pullers, who do not seem likely to throw away their chances of increased earnings just to oblige their rivals. With regard to H.. the Governor speaks, we cannot himit the "sound economic principles " of which such vague locution as argument. We can see the glaring evils of the existing condition of affairs, but not the contribution which they make to the stability and prosperity of Hongkong. The opponents of registra- tion see the evils, but fold their hands and appointed to investigate the matter is say that the advice of the Committee unsound. letter to the Secretary of State by enclosing His Excellency concludes his
an extract from the China Mail of the 20th December "from which it appears that the difficulties dealt with by the Commissioners who drew up the report may be mitigated by other methods than those suggested "by them-methods which would be less ***subversive of sound economic principles." in question was misleading and mischievous We regret to have to say that the paragraph in its effect, if it persuaded anyone, official or unofficial, that the evils complained of had been in any way mitigated. Evidence to the contrary is easily procurable. Further- private chair-coolies is more acute than that more we may point out that the question of of private jinricksha-coolies. Unless some- thing very unexpected happens, this fact is bound to be appreciated in the coming hot season. Government on the way it has sought to We cannot compliment the justify its practical rejection of the Com- inission's recommendations. That Attorney-General should find himself able to state that his Bill is, " save for some slight alterations, practically the Bill sug. gested by the Commission' astounding. The principal suggestion is is simply cut out bodily, and what the Hon. W. MEIGH GOODMAN put before the Council is like a watch without its mainspring.
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At the first general meeting of the share- holders of the Seoul-Fnsan Railway Company, hold on the 25th ult., a dividend at the rate of 6 per cent. was declared. The money for payment of this dividend will be drawn from the subsidy granted by the Government, the
company's line not yet being ready for traffic.
Weather Bureau, bas tendered his resignation Father Doyle, Director of the Philippine for reasons of health, an the resignation has been accepted by the Civil Commission. Father Foyle has controlled the Weather Burean and Observatory for many years, and his work has been most valuable, especially 10 mariner; so much so that two years ago the Hongkong Meteorological Departmen. pa sed a resolution of thanks for the assistance rendered by the Manila Observatory. Father Doyle is succeeded by Father Miguel Sadero Maso, Assistant Director.