July 8, 1907.]
CANTON.
(FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.)
June 26th.
TEN DAYS-PERHAPS MORE.
I reported to you some time ag that Viceroy Chou Fu issued a notification that he will cease to receive petitions on and after the 3rd day of the 5th moon. It is reported now that His Excellency has now received aj cablegram from the Central Government stating that His Excellency Shum has been grauted ten days sick leave by the Throne and will remain in Shanghai to reoruit his health. The telegram also requests Viceroy Chou Fu to continue to transact provincial affairs as Kwangtung is a large province and has many important matters which must be attended to. This will be good news to the owners of the 1.8. "Chan Hing' of Hongkong as their case has been pending settlement for a considerable time owing to her flying the Chinese flag.
CHINA ASSOCIATION PLEASE NOTE. The Commissioner of Customs has issued a notification that Chinese candidates with Eng- lish education are invited to attend examinations for positions in the outdoor staff of the 1. M. Customs. Salary 3 H. K. Taels per month with 5 H. K. Taels for house allowance. These positions have hitherto been held exclusively by foreigners.
THE RAILWAY.
Wo Chi-Chan, a merchant here, has received a letter from Viceroy Shum requesting him to make peace between the Hongkong and Cauton shareholders of the Yuet-Han Railway Com. pany, Limited.
OPIUM SHOPS.
The Chief Superintendent of Police has issued a notification stating that all public opium dens must be closed for business within the 6th moon. Should any of them be found to carry on business after the 6th moon their houses will be seized and confiscated and the proprietors will be arrested and impris ned.
for
VESTIGIA NULLA RETRORSUM.
Some time ago Viceroy Chou Fu delegated deputies to inquire amongst the colleges if those professors who had removed their queues would ba willing to replace them in return official rank of the 5th degree. All the professors of the law colleges made excuse that as they intend to take a trip to Japan during the summer rication, it is inconvenient to replace their queues at present.
GOOD SILK CROPS.
Silkworm culture is considered as the chief and most important industry in the Nam Hoi and Shun Tak distriots. According to the report of the silkworm rearers this year the first three silk crops have each yielded more than 80 per cent, of the average. This is very satisfactory, but the results of three crops follow- ing are expected to be even better. The price of mulberry leaves is between Tls. 25 and Tls, 26 per pioul.
Cautoa, July 1st.
DEPARTURK US VICEROY CHOU FC.
H. E. Chon Fu having obtained the loug sought for permission to leave has received a reply to his last cable memorial and bas left Canton for Whampoa, whence he will go to Hongkong en route to Shanghai. H. E. in his memorial, stated that a successor having been appointed to the Two Kwang Viceroyalty he had no power and could not take the responsibility of guranteeing order in the two provinces. The people are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Viceroy Shum. Meanwhile, the Fan-Tai (Provincial Treasurer) has taken over the seals. Viceroy hou Fu's departure has put the administration department in a muddle as all the important posts are now held by acting officials with limited responsibility,
ABMY REORGANIZATION.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
Military organization seems still to be the order of the day. There is great activity here in all the birracks but especially is this noticeable amongst the Manchu and Banner troops. Since the arrival of H. E. Marquis Li, the grandson of the late L. Hang Chang, the Manchu and Banner t oops have been thoroughly reorganized and old fogies replaced by the more active element. H. E, who is a thorough English scholar,
attends drill himself every day and is causing quite a stir amongst the conservative officials.
COMICAL CAVALRY.
In connection with the daily exercise, that of shooting on horseback has given rise to an iscident very characteristically Chinese and shows to what extent reorganization is nece sary. Most of the cavalrymen had either sold or bired out their mounts. Consequently ponies had to be got at the last moment by book or by crook. There has been such a sudden demand for ponies that the hiring price which was hitherto at $1.50 per diem at most has now reached the enormous price of $1200. Soldiers had to sacrifice a mouth's pay to put in an appearance. One may judge the awkward ness of the situation when instead of the 3000 ponies that ought to be in the official stables there are only 500 or 600 available. It is an easy matter to improvise a Chinese warrior by putting a coolie into a uniform, but it is quite another matter to place the said coolie on a charger. H. E. Li is highly to be com. mended for his activity and seems to have inherited in full his grandfather's genius.
MACAO.
(FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.)
July 2ud.
NO TENDERS FOR THE LOTTERY.
opening tenders for
Last Thursday was the day appointed for the Banta Casa da Misericordia Lottery Monopoly, but not a single tender was received. Hang Wo, the present farmer, runs the business up to November. It is evident that the Macso lottery monopoly is not the profitable concern it was B few
years ago.
THE FANTAN MONOPOLY.
The new fan-tan farmers took over the monopoly yesterday, Business Las been far from flourishing in the fan-tan shops lately owing to the large exodus of people in consequence of the plague scare. Seven of the sixteen houses have now been closed. Bat the new farmers are to pay the Government $150,000 a year for the monopoly, which works out at $50,0 0 per house if only nine houses are maintained. Evidently fan-tan is a profitable gam-for the banker!
CHINESE MERCHANTS AND THE NEW TAXES,
*,
A deputation of Chinese merchants waited upon H. E. the Governor a few days ago aud represented the demoralising effect of the new "business taxes on the trade of the Colony. What will be the upshot of these representations I am not able to say, but the Government should be in a position by this time to see that this 'business tax
11 is a monumental piece of folly and the sooner it is abolished the better for the prosperity of trade in the Colony.
THE MIDDLEMAN IN CHINA.
business man.
|
11
of such favouritism; differential tariffs of the kind exist all over the Far East aad, for that matter, all over Asia. Even foreigners are not all Treated alike. The taipan is bled more freely than his clerk, the consul than his assistant. The motto "Noblesse oblige" is current in Cathay. Probably all classes of lay Europesus pay more for the necessaries of life than say missionary. And all of us, from chiefs of princely houses downwards, find sooner or later, for our own comfort and advantage, whether in household matters or in more important affairs, we are absolutely compelled to rely on native go-betweens for the transaction of business. No familiarity with the language, no intimate acquaintance with the manners and customs of the people, makes the slightest difference. The Chinese are accustomed to the use of middlemen; it is part of their social system; and middlemen they will have. Luckily we have here to do with & people whose honesty in business trans- actions may be called proverbial. Britons tested it thoroughly during the opium waĽ seventy years ago and on many an occasion since. Squeezing there is; it is another .social peculiarity of the Chinese. It is so much a necessity that it may be said to be taken as a matter of course and is in a manner legitimatised. No money, it is well understood, can pass thorugh the hands of compradore or shroff, of cook, or coolie, without a percentage sticking on the way. But the percentage is practically uniform and has come to be classed tacitly as a recognised brokerage, and the amount can scarcely ever be said to be other tian reasonable.--Foochow Echo.
"
PEXT OF THE FRANCO-JAPANESE
AGREEMENT.
The official translation of the Franco- Japanese Agreement, reads as follows:-
ARRANGEMENT.
Emperor of Japan and the Government of the The Government of His Majesty the
French Republic, animated by the desire to strengthen the relations of amity existing between them, and to remove from those relations all cause of misunderstanding for the future, have decided to conclude the following Arrangement:
44
The Governments of Japan and France, being agreed to respect the independence and integrity of China, as well as the principle of equal treatment in that country for the commerce and subjects or citizens of all nations, and having a special interest to have the order and pacifc state of things preserved especially in the regions of the Chinese Empire adjacent t› the territories where they have the righ's of sovereignty, protection or engage to support each other for assuring the peace and security in those regions, with a view to maintain the respective situstion and the territorial rights of the two Contracting Parties in the Continent of Asia
occupation.
Him
In witness whereof, the Undersigned: Excellency Monsieur Kurino, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan to the Presidout of the French Rapublic, and His Excellency Monsieur Stephan Pichon. Senator, Minister for Foreign Affairs, authorized by their respective Governments have signed this Arrangement, and have affired there to their
Done at Paris. June 10th, 1907.
seals.
(L. 8.) S. KURINU. (L. 8.) S. PICHON. DECLARATION. The two Governments of Japan and Fran08, while reserving the negotiations for the conclusion of a Convention of Commerce in regard to the relations between Japan and French Indo-China, agree as follows:
One of the weakest points in the position of the foreign man of business in China, is his utter and unavoidable dependence on native inter- mediaries for the carrying on of his transactions with the people of the country. This helplessness is not, of course, by any means confined to the Well, whatever our vocations may be, have to look to our native hangers-on for assistance in carrying on our daily life. Aud we do so, while fully conscious that we have to pay, directly or indirectly, for that assistance a good deal more than the stipulated wage. Take, for instance, merely the running of a household. Foreigners have. we believe, made the experi- ment of purchasing their own meat, rege- tables, groceries, and the like, with & view to saving the extra expenditure suppose i
T'he treatment of the most favoured nation to be involved by utilising a middlemau in the
shall be accorded to the officers and subjects of shape of the boy or the cook. But it is, after,
Japan in French Indo-China in all that concerns all, extremely doubtful whether the hypothetical
their persons and the protection of their saving can really be effected; and it is, at the same time, almost certain that the vexation and property, and the same treatment shall be ap- plied to the subjects aid protégés of French worry of direct dealings with Chinese petty
Indo-China in the Empire of Jspin, until the trad smer, are cheaply ransomed at the cost of the cook's brokerage or the boys "queeze." Aspiration of the Tristy of Commeca sad Navigation between Japan and France of & matter of common knowledge, a native will
August 4, 1890 not sell to a foreiguer any article what-
Paris, June 10th, 1807. ever at as low a rate as he will to a o mpatriot. It is quite useless to complain about the injustios
+
(L. 8.)8“KvRINO. (L. 3.) B. PicMON,