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February 17, 1908.)
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
if he have any, will receive him just as gladly after as before his sente c Like crime in Ireland, if directe against the Government, crime in Shanghai, if only directed against the Council, leads to n social degradation; and as the pr souer is better fol and better cared for than it he remained free, he not unnaturally prefers occupring comfortable quarters in the Municipal look up.
RACE-WEEK REFLECTIONS.
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domestic worries previously hinted at, in spite of the fict thit the long dreamed of frock is put in the shade by that of some other woman, notwithstanding the feeling of envy with which one hears that his tailor or his manicurist has won over a thousand dollars, there is no denying that happiness is achieve. Not many weeks ago Dr. BATESON WRIGHT addressed the following little sermon to his pupils:-
By happy now. A fairy once promised a princess anything she might like to ask for on condition that she should sucosed in pioking the prettiest flower in a field, after walking through it only oao. The princas soon paused at a lovely flower, saying to herself, "Barely I shall find nothing more beautiful than this,' but she changed her mind and passed on. This
she did over and over again, till at the end of her journey, she reached the fairy with empty hands, conscions tat sha bad lost the opportunity of picking the fairest flower. This represents the lives of many children and grown At eight years of age they say "p_pple.
How happy I shall be when I am fifteen !" At fifteen happiness is postponed to twenty one, then to thirty, and so, ou till the end of life approaches. The journey through the field is over, and they have failed to plack happiness, content that real happiness is still ahead. The trus way to be happy is to be happy now. Be happy at eight, a d you will find yourself happy at fifteen, ani s on and on, through life, whom the post says, thy never realise life at all. There are far too many people in the world, of
"They never onc) possas th ir souls until they die.
purifying a single Chinese court of law, the same end, with all the éclat of having in- troduca righteous reform, could be at- tained by deputy. The project had been to abolish torture, but there was no need to exact cousistency when the experiment was to be tried on the corpus vile of the Shang- hai Municipal Council. Truc, no charge of torture had ever been alleged, though of course torture was the proper thing in a Chinese court, but they couli shine to the outer world as a nation of exalted sensi- bility, and at the same time inconvenience
(Daily Press, 14 h February.) the foreigner, by giving out that they were
Decidedly the most interesting feature of ready to reform him; and all this without a race meeting is the crowd. Al Hongkong in any way incouveniencing themselves. there is no cockney procession, with horses The Mixed Court, it so happened, for ridiculously garbel in lingeri, no appear minor disciplinary offences had been follow-ance of grotesquely dressed bookies", but ing the old practice of administering blows its cosmopolitan character makes the stream from the bamboo as in consonance with of humanity pour.ng Happy-Valley-wirds | Chinese custom; from a foreign point of quite as noteworthy as the Epsom bun t view it was accompanied with no cruelty, cortege. One sees a grey-bearded Indian, nor was the prisoner in any way incon. and one calculates that be wis
a rotund venienced beyond the mere temporary in'ant what tine is fathers and uncles were pain; from the offender's pint of view it murdering women a al children at Cawnpore was much pleasanter to have the strokes, and Delhi. There is the placid Chinese and go free at once, than to be detained, husband and his wife, both in San lay-g ›-to- or have to stump up coin, a thing that goes meeting rig, an one wonders if, during the far harder with an ordinary Chinaman than preparation for the day's enjoyment, there many blows of the bamboo. No complaint was any of the fussing that has caused the had ever been made from even the most frown ou the face of the straw hatte 1 punctilious of Chinauen, but someone foreigner in flannels, who escorts his flustered smarter than his neighbours suggested that looking lady in the newest of her the new Rescript, though it has not been dresses. In their case, we have a fair idea taken the slightest notice of by any Chiuese of what has gone before; how he put in a The worst of such advice is that it is easier official, would yet afford a glorious oppor- perfunctory hour or two at the office, taking to give than to follow. The very essence of tunity of turning the tables on the out the big books from the safe, and putting true happiness, it se'm to us, is that it Municipal Council; so the usual course was
them back again, re-arranging the pen should be unconscious, like that which taken of addressing a letter to that by no holders and pcil on his desk, while heightens the fices of this week's racs goers. means acute body, the Foreign Consuls; wondered if the
by
would remember Let there be no analysis, such as WJ were who Dogbery-like at once fell into the trap. that tiffin was ordered for an hour earlier nearly foolish enough to attempt, or off But besides this the body of ratepayers than usual. One can picture als with some
it goes.
The boy or mau who misunder. with European ideas of the sanctity of the
measure of success how he bawls across to stands Dr. BATESON WRIGHT's excellent human body, would have been very glad his wife's room that if she doesn't hurry up "tip," and resolves "I will be happy now," themselves to see all corporal punishment they will miss the most important race, for is a fool for his paios. Yet most will so mis- abolished, except for heinous crime 80 which he has a perfectly trustworthy "tip," understand it. Those people who argue the against the advice of a few practical men whereat the poor woman, bent on a day of respective merits of retrospection, anticipa the abolition was agreed to.
happiness, hurrie ly thrusts the powder. tion, and realization, waste their time and puff in the harpin box, and despairingly ignore the central fact of existence. These feels surc that the new hodie must forms ought not to be, and cauast be, be rucking up at the waistband behind, and separate 1. Without sickness there is uo that that horrid Mrs. So-and-so will make health, without sorrow, no joy.
All in, wo ber die of shame by pointing it out, with have the happy, per ect while. The march affectionate solicitude, in the enclosure. As of the princess across the field had at least it is, she forgets the gloves that go the constant joy of anticipation, the usual form that happiness takes in youth. But na a matter of fact, the subject won't bear thinking abut. It must be determinedly let alone, ignored. As Mr. WILLIAM WATSON has written :---- a
Now it happens, that likewise imbued with certain European ideas as to the duty of looking after the health of those com- mitted to its charge, the Municipal council, not only feeds the prisoners well, but pro- vides them with prison clothes, far warner and more comfortable thau the ordinary petty culprit has ever been accustomed to. Work at this season of the year is Always hard to obtain, and wages for unskilled labour are low, aud house accommodation for the loafer is wretched in the extreme. On every side then, it is a distinct advantage to the uuskilled loafer to be in the municipal gaol, rather than trust to the benevolence of his countrymen. He is, it is true, male to work on the roads, but he soon learns to do as little as possible, and not over much is exacted of him; and besides, a little wholesome exercise in the fresh air to a Chinaman of the lower orders is not alto. gether disagreeable. Atall events the gang who are frequently to be met at outdoor work on the roads do not present the idea of unhappiness, but have generally clean healthy fresh looking faces as if the air were doing them bodily good, and the absence of auy trouble or worry for their future meals were removing a load from their minds This is evidently, too, the way in which the ordinary criminal looks ou the affair: he rather likes a sentence of imprisonment, and judging from the rapid er ase in petty misdemeanors, not amounting to absolute crime, this is evidently the m uuer in which the prisoner himself regards it. He suffers no loss of social rank, as his countryman does not consider it in any way degrading to offend a mere foreign law, and his friends,
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爷爷
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with the c stume, and when h has run upstairs for them, for of course the “bay” pretends not to understand, they have to run for the tram, into which she is hauled feeling certain that her hair is now perfect sight." Every tram to-day is a 'special car for the races," and while one wonders where the non-specials are hid len, one supposes that it must be a good thing, for the Tram Company. There they all go, | Parses, Portuguese, sailors and soldiers, 1 Jews and gentiles, every nation of Europe represented, and esen the islunds of the Pacific-taipaus and clerks, drasken men in all stages of bibulous exhilaration, women with babi-s-and only one-elt and the patient coolie lugging along his carrying pole a hun fred weight of iron sheeting sem to be going in the opposite direction. Yet we are all happy, even the conlin, dropping his load by the foot of a binyan for an instant's blessed relief from the stram on his shoulders, wiping his forehead and gaping an admiring "t-vah' at the string of rieshas being drilled by unusually alert police, A couple of blackxted "pinies rewind นง that here is no pre elice of improving the breed." Hougs are closed, fine clothes douned, and thousan Is of dollars circulated, only to
quez3 one extra drop or two of the juice of happiness from the vrange of life. In spite of the
!
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l'he basts in feld are glad, and have not wit To know why leapt their hearts when spring
time shone;
Man looks at his own bliss, considers it, Weighs it with carious fingers, and 'tis
goue."
HUMAN NATURE-
(Daily Press, February 15th.) One of our Shanghai contemporaries has au interesting note that seems to have been prompted by a example of official economy such as was mentioned not long ago by oue of our correspondeats. At Shanghai,
"O.C. uni's are directed to take steps to curtail their expenditure under this heading. circulars or any matter having reference to All expense incurred for the printing of Company entertainmenta.
will have So runs s
to be brae by the Uait concerned." Shanghai Volunteer Corps Order. Bat the spirit of economy manifested fails short of the standard set by the present Governor of Tiflis, who wrote to the Burgomaster of the town. "In view of the necessity of being careful with the Municipal revenue, I would propose to thi Council that in tie mitter of memoriala and letters to myself and to the provincial authoritie they should not use such expensive kinds of