March 18, 1907.] front of the rice guild hall. They attacked and set fire to the building. A foros of police was sent out to quell the riot. Two of the rioters were shot and ten or more wounded. This made matters worse and the people got more angry. All the shops outside the city closed up. Ou the 9th instant thousands of hungry men robbed all the rice and money from the rice shops outside the city. The magistrate on being informed of what had occurred ordered all the city gates to be immediately closed. The riot has not been quolted yo!. It is reported that the magistrate has telegraphed to the Canton authorities to despatch a company of soldiers to restore order.
PAPER TRADE,
|
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
subsidiary coins for three months so as to see the results on the market. The Viceroy will reply to the Consul General in the next few days. REMUNERATIVE MORALITY,
moral
The Viceroy being desirous of raising the
probibited gambling and opium-smoking. Any standard of officials, has strictly official impeached will be imprisoned and his house and property confiscated. This will prove a handsome source of revenue to the Government if the threat is carried out in earnest.
March 14th.
FAMINE SUPPLIES.
MINING.
COMPANIES.
179
CHINA AND MANILA STEAMSHIP CO. L.D.
of shareholders in the Chins and Manila Steam- The twenty-fourth ordinary general meeting ship Co. Ld. was held at the office of the general managers, Mosers Shewan, Tomen and Co., on March 13th. Mr. R. Showan presided, and there were also present Dr. J. W. Noble, Messrs. H. P. White and N. A Siebs (consulting committee), G. Moffatt (secretary), A. G. Gordon and R. E, Barretto. the eeting.
The SROBETART read the notios convening The CHAIRMAN then said: Gentlemen, the
rice and sell it at a cheap price to the famine-port and accounts were issued to you on 25th February, and with your permission we will now take them as read. As I foreshadowed to
of 1905; both cargo and passengers fall off, our business does not compare favourably with that you at last year's meeting, the. past year's
gross income being some $80,000 less than before. By the closest economy we have made
Fat Shan has the largest native paper trade in prefect Sbum Chi Kin to proceed to the Viceroy Chou Fu has instructed expectant the Kwangtung Province. In recent years Tung Koon considerable foreign paper has been imported.
district with 3,000 piculs of This competition has reduced the native produc-stricken people. tion to a certain extent. Large credit has hitherto been given by wholesale merchants to dealers, and owing to bad times many of the dealers' bave failed. The wholesale merchants' guild has called a meeting at which a resolution was passed that in future no credit will be given to dealers, all transactions to be cash less
per cent, discount.
PIRACY.
A Junk plying between Fatshau and Samsui ran on a sand back near Sha Yee and all efforts to get her off failed. Pirates 8000 boarded her and ransacked the junk, carrying off over $7,0 10 worth of booty. This robbery was committed in broad daylight,
March 13th.
PEACE RESTORED AT TUNGKOON. On the 11th instant the Brigadier Geperal of Kwong Chow was despatched with a regiment of soldiers to Tonkan Tung Koon] by the Viceroy to suppress the riot. It is now reports that peace has been restored and the shops have resumed business. Over ten rioters were arrested. The local gentry have started subscriptions in aid of the needy and hungry.
VICEROY'S SWEET REASONABLENESS, It is reported that the following Hongkong Chinese presses, viz; Sheung Po, Kung Yik Po and others whose newspapers were prohibited to enter Canton by Viceroy Shum have sent a joint petition stating that they are willing to abide by the three laws that were promal. gated last year and begged His Excellency Vicerey Chou Fu to remove the prohibition and permit their newspapers to re-enter Canton, Viceroy Chou Fu has intimated that he will order the prohibition to be removed as he believes that the people's mind has already been enligh. tened through the Press and that their wisdom will improve considerably if more newspapers were in circulation.
BLOOD HIRSTY OFFICIAL
It is said that the Wai Chow Prefect has the habit of decapitating criminals indiscriminately without first carefully considering the lightness or gravity of the offence committed. Many petitions have been sent to the Viceroy and the Provincial Judge complaining that the prefect had erroneously executed prisoners. His Ex- cellency intends to remove him and place Lau Man, prefect of Siu Chow, in his position.
ANOTHER BAILWAY INVESTIGATOR.
A Peking telegram states that the Central Government intends to delegate H. E. Yeong Shi Ki, Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Commerce at Peking, as en roy extraordinary to Canton to investigate the Canton-Hankow Railway affairs,
VICEROY SON COMES.
mines in the King Chow Prefecture. Viceroy There are numerous rich but undeveloped Chou Fa is aware that Wu Chi-chan is one of the wealthiest merchants in the Straits Settlements and known to take great interest in mines. His Excellency has cabled for him
to come to Canton to bold a consultation
egarding the opening of mines in that prefecture.
BAILWAY SUBSCRIPTIONS AGAIN.
Viceroy Chou Fu bas authorized Taotai Wen subscribe for shares in the Kowloon-Canton Tso-tsoi and Lai Kwai-pui to invite people to | Railway Company. The officials
that they are not aware of the conditions of replied that railway company. Moreover the time limit is too short. As double the amount of Canton-Hankow Railway, and the shareholders the original capital has been promis d for the do not desire the company's funds to be deposited in foreign banks who would reap the benefit of invest it with the local banks, Wen and Lai the use of the money but think it unsafe to suggested that part of the over-subscribed capital be applied to take up shares in the Kowloon Canton Railway.
March 15th.
KOWLOON-CANTON RAILWAY SHARES,
In reply to a communication sent to the Canton-Hankow Railway Company by Viceroy Chou Fu, the directors of the company said that to subscribe for shares in the Kowloon Canton the suggestion of using the company's funds Railway is a matter which should be placed before the shareholders of the company for their consideration and have decided to notify the shareholders that discussion. They a meeting will be convened at the company's tion. office on the and proximo to discuss the quee
BICE.
will be a considerable rise of price in rice. The local authorities anticipate that there The Provincial Treasurer has already in | trusted the Nam Hoi and Poon Ya magistrates to request all the charitable institutions in Canton to purchase large quantities of ries as soon price
as possible and sell it at a cheap Province.
to the people of the Kwangtung
RECOMMENDED FOR DISTINCTION.
| Li Tsan and Taotai Cheong Yuk Nam pre- In the 10th mon last year soting Admiral sented 20,000 tuels and 60,000 faels respectively to the Government sa royalties for the encour- agement of education in Province.
the Kwangtung Lately Viceroy Chon Fa seat a memorial to the Throne reporting the muni. mended that rank of the Arst degree may be ficent vifts of those two oficials and recom- conferred on them.
POSTAL PROGRESS.
The Imperial Chinese Post Office has again issued instructions to employ more postmen. Candidates applying for positions are required to go through an examination of Chinese characters and similar notifications were issued last year. This
names of localities,
Many proves that the postal service is already making
Trotai Chou Ho Ming, second son of the Viceroy, has left Shanghai and is now on his way to Canton to visit his father. His Excellency bas despatched the gunboat Shum Hong to Hongkong to receive his son. FLOODINGHONGKONG WITH SUBSIDIARY COINS, Steps have been taken by the British authorities here to restrict the export of subsidiary coins to Hongkong. It is reported that the H. B. M. Consul General bere has sent a despatch to Viceroy Chou Fu stating that | headway. the Chinese Government mint has been placing too much subsidiary coins in the market which is doing great injury to trade and commere. The director of the mint received instructions from the Viceroy to investigate and report. It is said that His Excellency has given instructions to the director to stop coining
partly for this so that our net profit is only about $27,000 be ow last year's. After allowing Reserve Fund as per Articles of Association, for depreciation and placing $1,000 to credit of there remains sufficient to pay a dividend of $365.57 to be carried forward. You will observe <1,00 per share absorbing $26,000, and learing that our loan from the Company's Bankers was that interest paid has socordingly come down to reduced from about $190, 00 to $133,000, and $9,835 as against before. The Bundry Debtors and Outstanding $13,189 paid the year
all been collected. Receipts on 31st December have sinos nearly I can only say that we have not begun it badly, and that at the moment there is a much stronger As regards tho pressat year,
hope will keep up. Cargo is, however, far from feeling in the counting freight market, which plentiful in this trade nowadays. The number of Chinese shippers on whom we used to depend for a great deal of cargo is much reduced, many of them having closed their firms in Manila, ant censed to do business there. The complete of the China-Manila trade amply justifies the alteration that bas taken place in the charsoter step we took in building bosts for first-class
depend upon now, we should be badly off indeed. passenger trafo, for had we the old type of boat and only Chinese passengers and cargo to I shall be glad to answer before moving the adoption of the report and any questions
socounts.
proposed that the report and sooounts
No questions being asked, the Chairman presented be adopted and passed.
Mr. GORDON seconded, and the motion wi carried unanimously.
Siebe, H. P. White, A. V. Apoir and Dr. J.W. It was proposed by Mr. Barretto, seconded by Mr. GORDON and agreed that Mosary. N. A Noble be re-elected to the consulting committee.
-
Dr. NOBLE proposed the`re appointment of auditors. Moser W. H. Potts and A. O'D' Gourdin as !
Mr. WHITE seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
gentlemen. Dividend warrants are ready now. The CHAIRMax-That is all the business,
GEORGE FENWICK & Co. LD.
The eighteenth ordinary general meeting of shareholders in George Fenwick and Co. Ld was held at the Hongkong Hotel at noon on March 16th. Mr. A. Rodger presided, other shareholders present being Mr. W. Parlane (director), J. Andrew (general manager), Motors J. Cerquodale, J. D. Kinnaird, J. Forb/n, J. Irring and H. Perey Smith.
The GENERAL Manager having read the notice convening the meeting, The CHAIRMAN mid:-
:—Gentlemen—With
your permission we will adopt our usual of accounts as read. Your directors regret prastion and take the report and statement that the year under review, so far se engineer- During February the meno rainfall in Hong-ing and shipbuilding are concerned, began with kong was 0.165 ins. against 1.88 ina, the mean for the same month in the previous twenty months; but we are glad to my that not- a duinem in trade which continued for eight years. The total sunshine was 96.5 hours, withstanding this, we got a fair share of the against 86.7 hours, the mean for the same month work offering, profits on which in the previous twenty years.
owing to the strong competition prevailing
|
were small