May 1, 1909.)
SHIPPING LEGISLATION AT SINGAPORE.
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
The Unofficial members of the Legislative Council last week, the Singapore Free Press says, struck a somewhat interesting line of legis lation with regard to shipping. In committee on the Merchant Shipping Bill they came to section 15 which prescribes that every British ship, carrying passengers or not, when going to sea, shall carry a certain complement of certifi- cated officers. But in the case of foreign ships, only passenger ships shall come under the operation of the rules which prescribe a certain complement of certificated officers. The point of the discussion is of course, that there should be made no distinction between British and foreign ship leaving our ports that if one has to certain complement of certificated officers, so ought the other. The Government position, as set forth by Mr. Napier, the Attorney General, is that if a ship does not carry passengers, our port authorities should not interfere in what might be called her internal economy. That is the view the Home authorities have taken. It is the recognised duty of the port whence the vessel sails to guard passengers from leaving in ill-found ships. And the learned adviser of Government pointed out that the local Government could hardly be expected to accept a principle of interference with foreign vessels using the port which the Home authori- ties did not exercise. The Unofficial members stuck to their position, that there ought to be no difference made between British and foreign ships; that if one should not leave the port except under certain conditions, neither should the other. Their opposition was of course with- out effect on the passage of the section, which was carried by the Official majority of seven to six, deciding not to go outside the principle adopted by the Home authorities,
Bays-
Legislative Council would cordially endorse the statement-there appears to be very good reasons for supposing that the imposition of regulations of a more drastic character than ports under the control of other countries recognise would have the effect of driving a great deal more of the entreport business away from Singapore, We desire that Singapore should be a free port in the most comprehensive sense of the term. There is no real hardship in locally re-enacting regulations which are practically applicable already to all ships sailing under our flag. We lose little or nothing by doing so, and even if we did there would be a certain obligation upon us to conform to the safety and humanitarian stan- dards of the mother country. But why should we inquire into other people's business to our own loss and detriment? Îf German, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, &c., &c., have | standards which differ materially from our own, is it our business to poke our noses into their affairs and tell them to live upon a higher level? No doubt the view of the unofficial members in the course they took on Monday was inspired by a belief that the change they proposed was necessary in order to give our own shipping a fairer chance. In a mild sort of way they were pursuing the protectionist line of policy. And we sympathise with their object though we doubt the prudence of its practical application. If we believed that the effect here would be the same as we have no doubt it would be in the United Kingdom, then our warmest support would be given to their suggestions. But we are persuaded that regulations of a more irksome kind than they are accustomed to in their own ports, or in the ports of other foreign countries, would result simply in the diversion of considerable trade to places which are in keen rivalry with Singapore and Penang. Therefore, we believe that the official vote on Monday and the attitude of caution it represents is best for the interests of the Colony. Gradually other countries are raising their shipping law standards to the British level, and we welcome all such signs that international compétition is moving towards an equitable basis.
But we are not altruistic enough to urge that we should risk injury to ourselves from a desire to increase the wholesome tendency."
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THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.
DR. GEIL'S EXPLORATIONS.
The following are among the particulars received by Reuter's Agency from Dr. W. Edgar Geil of an interesting journey he has concluded along the whole length of the Great Wall of China.
Discussing his expedition, Dr. Geil said: "This is, so far as I know, the first occasion on which such a journey has been made. My object was not only to explore the whole length of the Great Wall, but also to make botanical and zoolo- gical collections, and to be able to compare the present conditions of China with that existing when I crossed that Empire six years ago. I left Philadelphia a year ago and proceeded to Peking, where I completed the arrangements for my long trip from the Yellow Sea to Tibet via the Great Wall. My party, which dur- ing part of the journey numbered 20 persons. included scientists, interpreters, and educated Chinese. Travelling on mountain mules, we followed the Wall for a distance of approxim- ately 1,800 miles, starting at the seashore at Shanhaikwan and finishing at Kiayukun, on the Nan-Shan range on the northern border of Tibet. We found roughly 200 miles of the Great Wall so far unmapped. This section is a loop wall running from the east and west line of the Great Wall near the city of Liang-Chau. The newly-discovered loop runs from a point west of Sining south to the Yellow River near the city of Ho, where are the remains of the gateway to Langchao. On the greater portion of this section no masonry now remains, but there are massive towers of earthen core.
I am satisfied as a result of my investigation that there are at least ten great walls apart from that which is known as the Great Wall of hina.”
Reciting some of his experiences, Dr. Geil said: 'Parts of the journey were very hard owing to the altitude. For hundred of miles we traversed a mountainous land, the ground in many places being so precipitous that we had to hold on by our mules' tails. In some of the remoter parts the people had never before seen white men.. At one point we heard of a race of Chinese pigmies, and the investigations I was enabled to make tended to connrm the reports we
The Straits Times, commenting on the question We have been most impressed, however, by the unanimous vote of the unofficial members in favour of extending to all ships doing busi- ness at ports in the Straits Settlements, the rules which apply to British ships, and which do undoubtedly increase the working costs of the latter. This vote of the unofficial members seems to us to be based upon a somewhat serious FORMOSA PRISONERS AND THEIR received. It is said that the ancestors of these
misapprehension of the nature of our ports. In the interests of safety and of humanity the Imperial Government has made certain regula tion which apply to all ships trading under the British flag, and we have not a word to say against these regulations although it is undoubtedly true that their observation does place our countrymen at a certain disadvantage in competing with some other countries. We are content to believe that the gain outweighs the advantage. We hold most firmly that it would be simple justice to British shipowners to require the observance of identical regulation by all ships trading with British home ports. The reason for this opinion is that Great Britain is impor- ting and exporting directly on an enormous seale. She cannot be ignored by any company of shipowners which is anxious to have a share in world's trade. If she makes regulations applic able to foreign equally with her own ships, the foreigners will conform to them-must conform -in order to have a share of her business. Therefore, by unification of shipping laws she would not only protect her own shipowners against what in other connections would be described as sweated competition, but might do something also to raise the standard of efficiency and of comfort in the mercantile fleets of the whole world.
TREATMENT.
The Tainan correspondent of the Japan Chronicle writes:---
At present in Tainan prison the prisoners number 911. The following figures show that crimes in Formosa are somewhat similar to
those in other countries:-
Thieves
202 | Arson
79 Forgery 73 | Opium
Murder Assault Highway Rob-
bery Adultery
ous
26 26
Infanticide
Life sentences
18
17
469
Of these 862 are men and 49 women. The prisoners are engaged in useful work such as making soldiers uniforms, belts, and boots, furniture, bamboo wicker-work, bricks, tiles, panama hats &c.
Apart from the barbar- beatings to which accused but un- convicted persons are sometimes subjected in order to make them confess, one can hardly think of better arrangements for Chinese prisoners than those existing in Formosa. As the visitor passes along the clean, comfortable, and well-arranged wards, he is inclined to think that a considerable number of the occupants have quarters much superior to anything they But the point we wish to raise is whether the
ever had at home, It is a fact, however, that ports in these Colonies are in a position com- some of these prisoners are beaten so unmerciful parable to that of the United Kingdom. Wely that the flesh sloughs off, and they have been think not. Deduct from the total trade of known to die a few hours after the operation. Penang, for instance, that portion which repre- [Our Japan contemporaries who have been sents transhipment business and the remainder holding the flogging of criminals in this colony is almost insignificant. Already we have had to reprobation might like to know that experience of the slight influences which suffice floggings are not administered in this fashion in to send parts of our entreport business elsewhere. in Hongkong-ED. H.D.P.] It is said that the charges made by the Shipping Conference as far back as 1902 "contributed to the success, if they were not primarily responsi ble for the establishment of new trade routes to
which has been diverted trade that formerly came to this Colony." If that is correct and we believe that every unofficial member of the
up
Mr. J. E. Oiesen, Commissoner of Customs at Foochow, is transferred to Canton. His succes- with his wife and family, has already arrived. sor at Foochow is Mr. Smollet-Campbell, who,
people, who live in the mountains, were driven there when the Wall was building, having escaped to avoid compulsory work on the mountains for 20 centuries, and are to-day wild Wall. The descendants have lived in theso
creatures covered with hair. We had no dif-
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culties with the natives anywhere except in the neighbourhood of Tibet, where we found the people suspicious, and we did not remain longer than was absolutely necessary for the purpose of our investigations. During the trip I was enabled to spend some time in investigating the mound of Chin near Sian Fu-the burial place of the originator of the Great Wall-to which so far not much attention has been given. I did everything except go inside, which I found to be impossible owing to the superstition of the people. It is an enormous mound of 918 acres there was beneath a subterranean palace con- surrounded by ruined walls. We were told that
nected by a long tunnel with the mountains."
In conclusion Dr. Geil said: Some of the incredible. Within five days of Tibet.I found changes I found in the reuoter parts are almost.
a modern steel truss bridge being erected the province of Kansu, where the Viceroy is over the Yellow River,' and in Lanchan, in making a fine boulevard right through the city, I saw electric light and a tramway. But perhaps what struck me most was the fact that all over the country, even in the remotest. villages, I found small groups of young men drilling. In some cases there were only ten or 15 men, but it appeared to be part of a concerted plan, of the precise object of which the people themselves seem ignorant. I believe, however, that it is part of a general plan to prepare secretly an enormous Army. One curious thing
I noted along the Great Wall was that over a distance of ,000 miles there is one predominating disease goitre, and one predominating bird, the magpie. The explorer enjoyed good health throughout the expedition, except for one períod of eight days, when he had to be carried while suffering from fever.
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