54206
HONGKONG AND KOWLOON WHARF
AND GODOWN CO., LTD.
The annual meeting of this Company was _held_at_the_City Hall on the 12th inst. The Hon. Mr. C. W. Dickson presided, and there were also present-Sir Paul Chater, C.M.G., Messra. A. G. Wood, E. A. Hewett, N. A. Biebs, E. Goetz, A. Haupt, E. Shellim, G. H. Medhurst, C. R. Lenzmann, C. H. Thompson (directors), E. Osborne (secretary), J. R. Michael, A. Forbes, H. Percy Smith, J. Orange, T. Arnold, F. Smyth, J. Lambert and Captains Brown and Tillett.
The Secretary having read convening the meeting,
the notice
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
The CHAIRMAN said Gentlemen,- The report and accounts having beeu with you for several days, I propose they be regarded as read. The main feature of the year's work, as disclosed by the report, is that we have expended considerable sums in the development of your property and business to keep pace with the growth of the Colony's shipping trade, which places Hongkong in the unique position of harbouring annually the largest aggregate of registered tonnage of any port in the world, The commencement of work on the British section of the Kowloon- Canton railway leads to the hope that the long deferred industrial advance of Kowloon is nearer at hand, and you will therefore doubtless endorse the Board's action in acquiring from the estate of the late Mr. Grauville Sharp, additional accommodation in the piece of land that lay wedged into the Company's property at Kowloon Point. We have spent largely and are making further outlays on lighter craft in order to cope with the increasing amount of work afloat which is now entrusted to us and which was formerly monopolised by native lightermoen. These additional boats will also assist in expediting discharge of vessels lying at the wharves. In the early part of 1905 considerable difficulties arose in connection with China New Year settlements, and you will be pleased to learn that though serious irregularities occurred in connection with goods deposited in other public godowns the merchan- dise entrusted to our care was in every instance found to be intact, thus emphasizing the advac- tages of storing with the Wharf Co. The dividend which is recommended for your acceptance, thongh larger than has been hitherto customary, still represents but a moderate return on the market value of your assets, if such value may be gauged by the price at which land in the vicinity of the Kowloon godowns, has recently changed ownership. The develop. ment of your business has been slow and the rate of profit derived from it has not kept pace with the appreciation of your property, but you have satisfaction in the knowledge that the business rests on solid foundations and we must look forward to the possibility of more abundant harvests as the years progress If there are no questions I beg to move that the report and accounts as presented be adopted and passed.
*
Mr. MICHAEL-For the last eighteen years we have been supplied with a statement of the working account, but I see from this report that it has been dropped out entirely and no remark has been made. I should like to hear the reason from the chair.
The CHAIRMAN-The directors, after due consideration, decided that it was inadvisable to publish the particulars which had hitherto been given under working account as they afforded information which might be made use of to our detriment.
* Mr. ABNOLD seconded the motion for the adoption of the report, and it was carried,
Mr. FORBES moved that the appointment of Messrs. Medhurst, Hewett, Lenzmann, Lewis and Raymond to the board of directors be confirmed..
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Mr. Orange seconded, and the motion was carried.
Mr. MICHAEL proposed, Mr. SMITH seconded, and it was agreed that Messrs. W, H. Potts and A O'D. Gourdin be re-appointed auditora:
The CHAIRMAN That concludes the business, gentlemen. I am obliged to you for your attendance. Dividend warrants can be had on application.
THE NANCHANG MASSACRE.
THE OFFICIAL ROMAN CATHOLIC account.
The N.-C. Daily News of Saturday, the 10th inst., says In Wednesday's Echo de Chine appeared a long account of the events leading up to the recent murders at Nanchang, and we now learn that this is the official report made by the Roman Catholic Bishop to the French anthorities. It is too long to be reproduced in extenso, but we subjoin a précis.
At the outset it is explained that the late sub-prefect Chiang was seriously compromised on the occasion of the troubles at Sinchang, the arrangement made in regard to which he had failed to carry ont, by releasing the chief honour, immunity to two of those accused, who of the guilty parties, and by promising, on his
had come to Nanobang. This had been made the subject of complaint by the Mission to the French Consulate at Shanghai and also to the Legation at Peking. The sub-prefect had since endeavoured to extricate himself, without losing countenance with his superiors.
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(March 19, 1900
Rumour immediately spread in the priest had assassinated the Delerates from the high officials the Mission to make enquiries and the the Provincial Judge himself held an enquiry Mr. Lacruche conducted them around the premises and described all that had occurred. In the evening Mr. Lacruche received * letter from the Bureau of Foreign Affairs asking for the instrument by which the magistrate had come to his death. The missionary replied that he did not know what instrument had been used. With this note was sent a long statement, and it could not be dispatched till the day following the demand. That day handbills inciting the people to riot were freely distributed in the city. They were given away by persons of distinction horseback. riding in chairs and preceeded by men on
The officials in the meantime asked that the two servants who have bion mentioned should be sent to the yameni for questioning, and suggested that Mr.Laorache should accompany them. This he refused to do, on the ground that it would appear to lend colour to the story of assassination, and excite On the 17th of February he asked Mr. the people to riot. The Governor also sent a Lacrache to invite him to dinner at the Mission message to the Catholic Bishop through the on the 22nd of that month to discuss this affair. Taotai of Kiukiang, practically accusing the It would be more easy, he said, to talk quietly missionaries of murder, and asking the Bishop at the Mission, and he would only bring two himself to come to Nanchang, The Bishop secretaries with him. On the 18th of February replied that what touched the missionaries the sub-prefect sent presents and his card to the touched him, that he was therefore an interest. Mission, and announced that he would visited or accused party, and could not adjudieste himself the next day. Mr. Lacruche thought he on it, and that the settlement must be by the had been mistaken possibly as to the day the Waiwapu and the French Minister at Peking. sub-prefect wished to dine, and prepared to receive him next day, but when Chiang arrived he refused to stop, and said it was the 22nd that explained that his present call was to ask, as a he had arranged to dine at the Mission. He
favour, that the invition to be sent to him should | be expressed in threatening langu ge, and that mention should be made of the possibility of a affair were not settled at once. gunboat being sent to Nanchang if the Sinchang The reason for the request was that the letter might be shown to Chiang's superiors who were to be led to
under menaces. think that he had been forced to give way Mr. Lacruche cinsed a letter of invitation to be dispatched to the magistrate as requested, but refused to address it otherwise than in terms of politeness.
On the 22nd the sub-prefect arrived at the Mission at 3 p.m. All through the dinner be avoided reference to the Sinchang affair, but continually complained that he was not properly appreciated by his super ors. It was not until he had risen from the table that the magistrate mentioned the affair he bad proposed to discuss, and he then propounded a series of conditions. Mr. Lacruche, who began to doubt if the magistrate had any authority to treat at all, asked him to put his demands in writing, in order that they might be referred to the high- er ecclesiastical authorities. He offered a pencil for the purpose, but the magistrate pre- ferred to go into the room of the priest's secretary, where he was left alone to write. A quarter of an hour passed. During that interval Chiang came to the door of the secretary's room and called a soldier, to whom he gave an order in a low voice, and
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During the two days before the massacre, placards inciting to riot were posted even on the Mission premises, which had been occupied by soldiers but more for the purpose of surveillance over the missionaries than for their protection. A military officer was heard to say to his men : “Look well to it that no Europeans escape.”
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In regard to all these matters, the report concludes, there is the direct evidence of Mr. Martin, who was by Mr. Lacruche's side right up to the moment of the riot, and of Mr. Rossignol, who had from Mr. Lacruche's own mouth the statement now published. The actual facts of the murder of the missionaries and the burning of the premises are summarised very briefly, and present no variations from the accounts already published.
A SHANGHAI QUESTION,
The appointment of a Native Consultative Commi tee for the purpose of co-operating evoking strong protests from members of the with the Municipal Council at Shanghai is foreign community. Dr. Gilbert Reid- has expressed his view of the matter in the follow- High thinking will be pract sed; the wits of ing terms: "This Committe› means busines". the Municipal Councillors will be tested. The concerning the wishes and needs and well-being one body is as official as the other. Advice of the Chinese community has always been ready to hand, but now it will be authoritative. The two bodies, if I am anything of a prophet, sooner or later must collide, and back of the six are 400,000. Thes six, I earnestly believe, are peace-loving men, but such a collision under such a backing will mean more excitement than has yet been witnessed. The scheme is to be swallowed with a grain of salt!”
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SMUGGLING ARMS INTO CHINA.
who then hastily quitted the Mission. The magistrate returned to the room and told a servant who was sent to him with tea that he did not wish to be disturbed. He closed the door. Some moments later a servant, crossing the hall, heard groans coming from the secre- tary's room. He looked in and saw the magistrate stretched on a long chair bleeding A special cablegram from San Francison to from the neck and trying to enlarge the wound. the Manils Cablenews dated 9 says:-" Through The servant informed the missionary, who the accidental breaking open of a case, it has having discovered the magistrate's attempt at been discovered that arms are being smuggled suicide, hurried off at once to the Governor on board mail steamers for shipment to China to report what had occurred. At the Mis-in the guise of ordinary merchandise *** sion meanwhile every attention was paid to the wounded magistrate, who was not able to speak but made signs for a pencil with which, lying in the long chair, he wrote during that night and the following morning a number of short letters. One was addressed to Mr Laoruche, another to the interpeter. The pur- port of each was that the magistrate was dying to save the people of Ei chang and not to break his word to those whom he had promised to save. In a letter to his brother he said: “ An evil spirit is pursuing me; and I am dying in order to save the people."
Article V. of the protocol made between China and eleven Powers, including the United States, in 1901, states: -
"China has agreed to probibit the importation into its territory of arms and ammunition, as well as of materials exclusively used for the manufacture of <arms and ammunition. An Impérial Edict has been issued on the 25th of August, 1901, forbidding said importation for a term of two years. New edicts may be issued subsequently extending this by other succes terms of two years in case of r nised by the Powers,
recog
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