.172
with Bye-Law No. V, notice had been given of the following resolution to be proposed by Mr. Edward Osborne "That in the opinion of this meeting it is desirable the Straits Currency Commission should extend its enquiries to Hongkong with a view to ascertaining whether reform of the Colony's currency arrangements
advisable."
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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PŘESS AND Lower School. Miss Bateman, the Lower School mistress, employs methods in grounding small children which I consider to be most successful, and the Lower School is in a very healthy condition. Turning to the Upper Schoo, I cannot, in the face of such r pidly The fault declining numbers, say as much. certainly lies not in the capacity nor in the A lengthy discussion ensued as to the exact industry of the teachers; nor can it be altoge- meaning of the resolution as worded. Ather attributable to the raising of fees, since "reform in the Colony's currency arrange-parents would not refuse to pay the same fee ments" could, it was felt, only mean the in the Upper School which they are willing to adoption of a gold standard with or without pay in the Lower School, if equally satisfied Chíns, and the Committee, with the exception of with the education. The fact, I believe to be, Mr. R. C. Wilcox, agreed that such being the that a specialising process is at work in the { case they could not support it. It was decided, educational system of the Colony. There seems however, to first hear the arguments addressed a natural tendency for schools to aim at provid
to the by those putting forward the proposal before ing an education specially suited
requirements of one or other section of the taking the vote of the Committee as a body.
community. The-Kowloon School, the organisation of the Diocesan School and Orphange for Girls, the special classes at Queen's College, the gradual elimination of Chinese from St. Joseph's all point in this direction. If this view is correct. it follows naturally that a school avowedly cosmopolitan will attract few scholars from classes of society for which more particular arrangements are made elsewhere, and will only appeal with certainty to classes which are too small to make their own particular wants a matter of special study. That the Beli ios School is actually tending more to provide for this residuum is, I think, not nulikely. And the opinion is strengthened by reference to the roll of the Upper School, which contains the names of Japanesa, Indians, Filipinos and Chinese from the Colonies, besides the moro normal elemouts. Meanwhile in the building there is a Vernacular School for Chinese Girls, totally distinct, and in a flourish. ing oɔnditions under the manage.nent of a Chinese staff. The school is about as good as can reasonably be hoped for under purely native management.
AC OUNTS 10E THE YEar 1902. The SECRETARY submitted draft statements of income and expenditure account for 1902, showing excess of iacome over expenditure of $54.85 after writing off defalcations of the late olark during the year amounting to $2.595.63, | less $1,250 since recovered. The balance-sheat showed $4,073,54 to the credit of the Pinnacle Rock Food" and $12,153.0: to the credit of the reserve fund.
The accounts were passed subject to auli‘, and the Chairman remarked that had previous years' statements been framed in a similar manner instead of being merely summaries of cash receipts and payments the defalcations of the clerk in recent yeers would probably have been found out before reaching any great extent.
HONGKONG
PUBLIC
ANNUAL REPORT.
SCHOOLS.
We extract the following from the annual report published in the Government Gazette of the Tuspector of schools, Mr. Edward A. Irving:
KOWLOON SCHOL.
The Kowloon School is the outcome of a widespread desire throughout the Colony for a school where children of European nationality should be given the oportunity of being educated apart from Asiatic surroundings. That it has been possible to report such a school in fall working order during the last seven months of the year, is due to the liber- ality and to the broad views of Mr. Ho Tung. Some time previously Mr. Ho Tung had offered to build at Kowloon and to present to the Colony a school where instruction in English should be given to scholars of all nationalities. The building was completed about the time that the Committee on Educa- tion made its report. In view of the feeling as to the undesirability of mixed schools alluded to above, and emphasised in that report, it was felt that to open a new mixed school would be courting failure. And it was finally decided to appeal to the goodwill of the donor, asking him to change the conditions of his gift,
and to allow the school to
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the children of Enropeans exclusively. This he consented to do apou certain conditions for the improvement of Chinese education on the Kowloon side. I have paid several visits to the school since my return to the Colony, and am satisfied that really good work is being done therein, although the initial difficulties are sonsiderable. Mr. James is fully satisfied with the work done by his staff. I am pleased to be able to report a considerable increase in the attendance for the first month of the new year. „BELILIOS SCHOOL.
DISTRICT SCHOOLS.
same
The
Education in the Colony may, for adminis- trative purposes, be arranged under three Leads. Under the first is Queen's College, entirely independent of the Education D-part- mont. The second includes the grant Schools, which are connected with the Department, but by loose bonds; in consequence of which ex. perience proves that any reform set in motion by the Department takes at least a year to pro- duce its results in the grant Schools. District Schools, however, like the Kowloon Echool and the Belilios School, are within the direct control of the Inspector of Schools. It was, therefore, natural thit the changes in the educational policy, recommended by the Commit ee on Education, should producs the'r first fruits in these schools The District Schools are the survivors of a contripet movement, by which
in the
year
1860
a number of them were brought toge her to form the Central School, now Queen's Col. lege. The rest, scattered beyond the reach of that centre of attraction, have pursued each
one its isolated course. One after another they
suffered extinction, until at the beginning of 1902 only the fo lowing were left: at Wanchai, Saiyingpun, Yaumati, and Wongneicheong, English Schools; and at Wanchai, Saiyingpan, Tang Lang Chau, Pokfulam, and Sbek-0, Chinese Schools.
ORANT SCHOOLS.
The earlier date on which I have been this year required to send in my report has ren- dered it impossible to give the usual returns and figures for the graut Schools; the material for these, which itself requies careful sifting, not being available till the middle of January, hope to send them with a short supplemen-
The staff of the Belilios School was streng- thened considerably in the years 1903 and 19JI by the appointments of Miss Bateman and Misstary report in explanation of them shortly. Chun Yut. In the latter half of 1901 the fees were practically doubled, now averaging about ono dollar a month. In 1902 the Kowloon School withdrew a certain number of girls aud small children from the Belilios Jchool. It seems clear that the improvement in the teach- ing does not weigh with parents against the countervailing disadvantage of increased fees, or counter-attractions elsewhere. Of the 99 odd children in attendance at the end
of
the year, one-third were girls in the Upper School, one-third were girls in the Lower School, and one-third were boys in the
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[March 9, 1903.
THE DEFENCE OF THE
EMPIRE.
LECTURE BY captain anDERSGN. Under the auspices of the Odd Volumes Society,, Captain" G. C. Anderson lootured on the 2nd inst. ́in th• Chamber of Comméros, The Dufence of the Empire." City Hall, on H.E. Major-General Sir William J. Gascoigus, K.C.M.G., presided. The attendance was not large.
H. E. Major-General Gascoig8r, in intro- ducing the lecturer, said the truest kindness be could do would be not to detain "those present by any remarks but simply to ask Captain Anderson to proceed with the loo'nre he had so kindly volunteered to give. (Applause.)
C ptain ANDERSON Mail the question of Imperial Federation must be settled slowly and surely by responsiblo statesmen, bat his point was not so much the way Imperial defence was to be brought about as to try to induce people to believe that a comprehensive scheme of defence was absolutely necessary for the von tioned existence of the British Empire, the very first condition of which was that we retain command of the se1. (Applause.) Free- dom of sea transport was absolutely essential │toonrexistence. The British Government would not enter upon any scheme of Imperial defence, involving heavy taxation of the people, auless the people thems Ives demanded such a line of notion. Royal commissions and committees of enquiries were simply old-time devious for shelving inconvenient qucatiour, and here in Hongkog we had had lengthened experience of the hope deferred that maketh the heart siok. Hence the necessity for some endeavour.on tho part of the people to stir up the Goveram-nt to a duo appreciation of the Issues at stake. They were told that the common law of Englant was the Englishman's best birthright. Was not this Empire built up by our ros worthy of any sacrifics on the part of its sons to maintain its integrity? Proceeding to deal with the question of Australia and its relations with the mother country, he said it was a commanding present necessity for the youth of Australia to cultivate a maritime spirit which would result in the formation of a naval reserve,
His Excellency Sir Chen Tang Liang Cheng, K.C.M.G., the new Chinese Minister to the United States, sailed on the s.8. Korea on the 27th alt. for San Francisco. H., left the Hongkong Hotel at half-past ten and went off to the liner in Messrs. Shewan, Tomes & Co.'s launch Kee. cheong, accompanied by the Hon. Wei Yuk, Mr. Fung Wa Chun and others, The Minister was escorted to the steamer by dozens of launches and there was a tremendous fasilade of crackers and other fireworks. Over 1,0.0 people joined in the send-off, which was a hearty one.
(Applause.) Australia conld do no better service to the Empire than that, for there was a naval reserve. no greater need than Regarding nobilis tion, Captain Anderson proceeded, the performance of Germany in 1870 was looked upon as a wonderful piece of work, for which every credit was due to Count von Moltke, but the concentration of an army ou the French frontier was a very simple matter Our inaction iu compared with what England wou'd have to do in the case of a naval war. preparing for possible eventualities had earned for us the name of “ England the Unready," but the fault in that respect did not lie with the personnel of the Navy, nor would the blame if England ever came to grief. There were plenty of admirals and generals to put the Navy and Army on a satisfactory footing if the p·liticians would only let them, but the struggle for office and party honours had been so fierce that The national needs had been overlooked. Navy B. ard should be divorced from Parliament, the First Lord of the Admiralty invested with power and responsibility untrammelled by Treasury control and with power to malo
his
voice
heard in the Labinet when necessary, for on him primarily rested the efficient defence of the Empire, Politicians would say it could not be done but no practical man would believe that. It must be done, and our Navy kpl ready to strikė like a thunderbolt the moment the necessity arose. (Applauso.) This would mean peace-our greatest need We required reorganized s'aff and an in- telligence department, more battleships änd cruisers to maintain our proportion of strength against the Powers who might combine against us, a council of defence with full power, the establishment of dockyards on the east and north-east conats of England and Scotland, augmentation of the naval réserve, organisation of a North Sea fleet and the making of the Channel and Mediterranean fiecots...each, a complete unit in itse'f There was no reason why we should quarrel with Germany .In this be ready for peace or France, for instance, but we must always
OF war,