Óctober 16, 1905.]
CANTON-HANKOW RAILWAY.
HONGKONG GOVERNMENT ADVANCES A LOAN
It has recently been reported that the Colonial Government of Hongkong had agreed
CHINA OVERLAND TRADË REPORT.
THE CANTON SENSATION.
Our Canton correspondent, writing on the 10th inst, says:-The Viceroy issued a pro- clamation yesterday which has since been copied and posted all over the city by the local
authorities. The following is a literal transla- tion of the proclamation :-
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HONGKONG Y.M.C.A. AND CLASS DISTINCTIONS.
STATEMENT BY THE COMMITTEE.
-----
The Committee of Management of the Hong-
kong Young Men's Christian Association send
us the following statement regarding the Class Distinctions alleged to have been set up by the European Department of the Young Men's Christian Association of Hongkong :-
This Association has been under fire in the-
No doubt this
This proclamation is issued to inform the people that Chau-Tung-Shang alias Chow- Wing-Yew, and the late Chau-Tit-Sai alias public press during the last few months, but
has hitherto remained silent. with Chau-Kai-Chee, together with the former Hoppo's Treasurers, Fu-Yung and Fu-Kwong, and others have misappropriated and stolen Government revenues to the extent of over two million and a half taels. The former clerk of the Hoppo's registry department assisted Chau Tuug-Sang and the late Chau- Tit-Sai in falsifying the accounts of the trea- sury from Chan-Tit-Lais treasurership right back to the time when Fn-Yung and Fu-Kwong were in office. He has rendered a false statement of accounts in a memorial to the government dividing the large profits between
to lend the Viceroy Chang Chih-tung a sum of £1,100,000 towards the amount required to redeem the concession granted to the American- China Development Company for the construc- tion of a railway from Canton to Hankow but in the absence of any official confirmation the report has been generally received incredulity. A vernacular paper in the North has set all doubts regarding the report at rest by pablishing the text of the agreement, Accord- ing to a translation made by the Shanghai Mercury the Hongkong Government agrees with the Viceroy Chang Chih-tung to raise a loan amounting to the sum of £1,100,000 sterling ou behalf of the Viceroys and Governors of Hupeh, Hunan and Canton and their successors to redeem the Haukow-Canton Railway from the American syndicate, for which transaction Chang Kung-pao has the sole right, duly given by an Imperial order. The terms of the loan are for ten years counting from the 6th October, 1905. The principal and interest of the loan will be repayable in ten annual instalments and will be £110,000, and the first instalment will be paid on the 19th day of the eighth moon of the next year (1906). Should the three provinces after paying the fifth instalment think fit to pay all the principal and interest at one time, six months' previous notice is necessary. When the principal au interest are completely paid the agreements will be void from that date. The rate of interest of the loan is 44 per cent. per annum. The repayment will be made to the Treasury of the Hongkong Government at the dates mentioned in the annex of the agreement either by bill of exchange or in cash at the rate of exchange then prevailing. The security of the loan is the opium reroutes in the three provinces of Hupel, Hunan and Canton. The security shall not be placed as security for other loans than this unless the present loan is first redeemed. In the event of revenue not proving sufficient the Viceroy at Wachang shall inform the British authorities of which province the revenue is not enough and some other suitable income shall be placed as security for this loan which will be placed under the control of the Maritime Customs. The bonds with the seal of the Viceroy of Hukwang and the signature of the commissioners of the Maritime Customs at
Hankow will be kept at H.B.M.'s Con- sulate General at Hankow with the principal and interest mentioned in the same, and in caso of any failure on the part of the Viceroy in paying any of the instalments at Hongkong the bonds will be produced by H.B.M.'s Consul- General at Hankow to claim the sum from either one of the three provinces, and the officials of the three provinces shall be informed of this accordingly.
The sum of £400,000 sterling will be paid on the 6th October by the Hongkong Government to Chang Kung pao at Wuchang through the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and £70,000 will be sent to Sir Chengtung Liang Cheng, Chinese Minister to Washington, payable at New York. H.B.M.'s Consul general at Hankow is entrusted by the Hongkong Government to see that the money is need for the purpose of the Hankow-Canton Rail- way. The Waiwupu shall inform the British Minister to Peking before this agreement is signed that the agreement has been duly sane- tioned by an Imperial Decree. The Viceroy at Canton states that he will not object ty the opium revenue of Kwangtung being made security for this loan, the stipulation of this agreement. The agreement is written both in English and Chinese and made in six copies, one to be given to the Viceroy of Hukwang Province, one to the Viceroy of Liang Kwang, one to the Governor of Hunan, one to the Governor of Hupeh, one to the Governor of Hongkong, one to the British Minister to Peking, and another to H.B.M.'s Consul Gen- eral at Hankow. The authoritative text is to be the English text in case of any dispute.
them.
Chow-Tung-Shan tok the largest share and misappropriated more money than the others. I have already brought the matter to the notice of the Throne and have received instructions to cashier and arrest Chau-Tung- Saug and have him tried in Court, a'so to make inquiries and seize a'l the properties belong ing to Chau-Tung-Sang, Chau-Tit-Sai and others, and to dispose of same to make up the deficit caused by their dishonesty. I hereby notify all shops and firms in which Chou-Tang Sang and others are partners and all those who have interests in which Chau-Tung-Sang has a share. Full particulars must be sent to me of all monies deposited by them or borrowed from them, and of all leasehol properties which have been purchased and owed in partnership with them.
are
still
"The monies must be hauded over to me to
make good the amounts misappropriated by them. I have already discovered that a pawn- shop in Shap-pat-po in which Chau-Tung-Sang their books, tearing several leaves out, and is a partner, has had the audacity to manipulate making false entries in them. Also that a large drug-firm named Koong Yik, in Kut- cheong street, have defaced or rubbed out im- portant items in their account books. Such attempts to defraud the Government are daring, indeed. I have given orders to the Namlioi magistrate and to the prefect to bare these two shops seized. I have in consequenos ordered the Prefect and the Namhoi magistrate to post this proclamation in prominent places in the city as a warning to the gentry, merchants, traders and the public in general, that if any of them others in any business whatsoever, or interested are in partnership with Chau-Tung-Sang and
belongs to them either as managers, or in any leasehold properties, the capital of which as tenants of houses owned by them, or as having monies borrowed from them, all and every. one must send a detailed statement of particulars to the prefect within five days from the publish ing of this proclamation. The prefect will submit them to me and await my orders. Yon need not be afraid to forward your petition. I tell you honestly it will not involve the peti tioner. But if any of you attempt to conceal such partnerships, interest, etc., or try to falsify books of account, I will cause the shop or firm to be seized, confiscated and sold, and will give 20 per cent. of the proceeds to the infor- mant as au inducement to give imformation. I am investigating the Hoppo's Treasury accounts and whatever I may say I will adhere to my words. I command you all to take notics of and abstain from disobeying this proclamation, thus avoiding repentance hereafter should it bo discovered that you have disobeyed."
Various rumours are currant here concerning Chau's whereabouts; it was even said yesterday that he had committed suicide in Shanghai (Tunkam); others say that Chan-Tang-Shang was detained by the Shanghai Taotai but was subsequently released at the request of the British Consul-General of that port, I bare so far been unable to get confirmation of any of
the above rumours,
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silence has been interpreted by many as an admission of the truth of the statements and charges thereiu made. Such au interpretation is incorrect. The failure to speak up to this time has been parily due to the fact that many of the attacks have borne unmistakable marks of insincerity. This has been evident not only from the many untruthful and misleading state- ments made (when the real truth could have been ascertained with a little pains); but also from the generally rancorous tone of the attacks in question. The chief reason for our silence was the desire not to complicate a very difficult question at a time when we were using every oudeavour to arrive at a solution that would be satisfactory to all concerned, and when we, the Committee, in view of the interests and difficulties involved, were not yet in a position, nor prepared, to speak for the Associa tion.
}
"The limits of this letter preclude our taking up the said untruthful and misleading state- ments and dealing with them one by one, nor would any useful purpose be thus served. Let us go at once to the root of the matter.
་་
What is the charge? Briefly, that the members of this Society, organ sed under the well known name given above, have deliberately decided to exclude from their membership certain classes, namely, non-Europeans and Service men.
"At the outset, instead of picturing these members as a lot of pharisaical Christians, who look with disdain on the Gentile world, let us see who they are those 160 men. Roughly is, members of Christian churches; not saints, speaking, 80 of them are 'active' members, that
but men of flesh and blood; not men who 'pose' as Christians and say, 'I am holier than thou,' but men who acknowledge their own weaknesses and seek the help that comes in the service of the church. If these men were to be arraigned before a competent judge, no doubt each one of them would be found to have at least a modicum of class prejudice, and perhaps some of them would have a considerable amount of it (the millenium has not yet arrived), but it is safe to say
that the entire 80 would be as free from it as any 80 men chosen from the local community.
Thirteen of thes 80 men compose the Committee of Management, which has the responsible direction of the Association's affairs. This Committee is selected annually by ballot by the active members.
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The other 80 men are associate' members, that is, they make no profession of membership in any church. It is a well-known fact among the Associations the world over that these men join the Society on account of its club features.
Against whom, then, is the above charge aimed? Manifestly it could not be justly aimed at the associate members. Nor can the active members be held responsible, for to the Committee of Management had been delegated the power to pass upon all applications for membership. This Committee, then, accept the responsibility for whatever action has been taken.
We did sanction temporarily the setting up of certain limitations to membership. Why? Not from any class prejudice, but with real regret that conditions seemed to demand such a
course.
“The plan of organization of this Society in Hongkong is what is known as the metro- politan' plan, so successfully used in the West. This plan provides for separate Associations for the various sections of the community, each with its own independent management, but all bound together by one Board of Directors, on which each Association has its representatives. This plan grew out of experience in the West which has shown that more effective work could