434
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND unification; Mr. COCKSHUTT, of Toronto, said
FR E TRADE.
(Daily Press, November 13th.) That the Empire at large is not yet pre- pared to join in the national suicide after which the proletariat at Home, assisted by His Majesty's momentary advisers, is hankering, is pretty plainly indicated by the recent proceedings of the Congress of the Chambers of Commerce of the Empire held at Sydney in September. In opposition to the puny councils, which in the name of a travesty of Free Trade have been diverting to foreign lands the great industries of Britain, the united Chambers of Commerce of the whole Empire have, practically almost unanimously, declared for what must be accepted as the first step towards perfectly free intercourse between the various units of the whole British Empire. Why, even on the narrowest view of the logical principles underlying the doctrines of Free-trade, there exists any ground for opposing such a step is beyond the power of any logician to
[November 22, 1909.
Altogether a comparison of the proceed- ings at Sydney with those of the two previous meetings of the Congress în 1903 and 1906 will show that very considerable progress has been made in attuning the various elements of the Empire, and that the arguments and insistence of the Colonies are at last beginning to make headway. among the more reserved Home constitu- encies. The ground in any case has been prepared, and it will not be the fault of the Colonies if the work already done be fol lowed up by the erection on it of a stately and superlifice of British Empire, purged from the pettinesses of party strife, which for the last forty years have disgraced
the Home administration of the affairs of Great Britain. To all true patriots the fall of the mismanaged and almost effete.
Government of the British Isles would be looked upon as a blessing to the world at large; even though brought about by Colonial pressure, were it to result in the establishment of a far greater British Em- pire, embracing in one the whole of the great rising States of the Atlantic and
Pacific.
THE MACAO-BOUNDARY QUESTION.
regarding it—That under the present system all matters of Empire were dealt with by the dominant party in Great Britain, which did not represent more than five per cent. of the people. There is no doubt that this is the canker that is eating into the vitals of the Empire. Whatever its composition, and however faithful to its trust the Government of the day may be, there is the necessity of its keeping its sails continually trimmed, not to the needs of the Empire at large, but to the momentary exigencies of the spot; a mere trifle, the wrongs of a negro in the Congo Free State, or the dismissal of a captain of police in the Balkan States may at any moment cross the path and rouse up the feelings of one or other of the dominant parties; and during the fuss the affairs of Empire, being real, and therefore producing the less commotion are apt to be forgotten in the excitement of the windy contest. The natural result is that the Ministers in charge of Imperial interests fail to keep in touch with the requirements of the day; and in their anxiety to preserve their slippery balance on the summit of the beam, have no time nor opportunity to make themselves acquainted with such weighty details as affect an Empire with huge interests in every quarter of the globe. At the moment (Daily Press, November 15th.) the interests that feel the effects of the The attitude taken up by China in the ignorance so brought about are commercial; negociations for the delimitation of the but the effervescence that has now been boundaries of Macao is certainly a most prevailing on the Continent of Europe for extraordinary one. Though by a Protocol the last decade, and the unexampled signed in 1887, and also by a Treaty sacrifices that each of the continental nations negociated in 1888, China confirmed has been making in keeping its military and perpetual occupation and government of naval preparations in a condition ready at Macao and its dependencies by Portugal, as any moment to be called into active service, any other Portuguese possession, point to the possible capsize at any moment the negociations which have been proceed- of forces only in a state of unstable equili-ing in Hongkong during the past four Should such an event happen, months between the Commissioners specially England and the British Isles, as well as the appointed by the Governments of China and Colonies, will from the necessities of the Portugal respectively to delimitate the case be called into the struggle: yet boundaries of the Colony, China has not at the moment there exist no authoritata- only positively
refused to recognise tive system of communication between Portugal's claim to the dependencies--- the head and the members, and the medium Taipa, Coloanne and Verde-over which would have to be hastily created amidst sovereign rights have been exercised by the bustle and excitement of a war from Portugal for a great many years, but has its very nature bound to be one for sheer even contested and obstinately refused to existence as a nation--and so needing the admit that Portugal has any claim to organised resistence of the entire Empire. the territorial waters of the Colony or to more than half the little penin- sula of Macao. In the circumstances the negociations have been suspended, and the Portuguese Commissioner has proposed a reference of the dispute to arbitration, which we fancy China will not be readily disposed to accept.
discover. When the late Mr. GLADSTONE was desirous of removing the last trace of differential duties within the Three King- doms, he based his argument on the prin- ciples of Free-trade, and the entire body of the free-traders of the day accepted them without demur. The only difference between the case and that of the Colonies was that he attempted to level up, while the present movement is one for levelling down-surely far more in accordance with free-trade principles. According to the professing free-traders of the day, it is a sin to reduce inter-imperial duties, while it is quite orthodox to encourage the admission into the Homelands of bounty-fed commodities; provided only, and the provision is remark-brium. able from a logical point of view, if from no other, that the bounties be paid by a com- petitor, and that he thereby obtains a footing for his goods which if left to themselves they never could command. The question has not yet arisen as to what he would do in case the commodities imported under bounty were those of our own Colonies; but reason- ing from the antecedents of the party that calls itself that of Free-trade, we are quite justified in the assumption that they would be refused admission, or, at the least, that they would be made the subject of a stinging despatch warning the Colony that bounties were in contravention of all British prin- ciples of commerce; and were interferences with the rights of the other Colonies.
the
yet in
Macao has been in the possession of the Portuguese since 1557. Historians are divided in opinion as to whether the posses- sion of Macao. by the Portuguese was originally due to Imperial bounty. to right
of conquest. Portuguese his- torians affirm that, previous to Portuguese occupation, Macao was
-
the
or
Of perhaps less momentary importance, but one which nevertheless, at any moment may become one of first-class moment, is that of telegraphic communication, between the different sections of the Empire. It is true that the conditions have been much The meeting, in this instance acting on improved within the last few years, Six the resolution of the London Chamber of years ago most of our imperial messages Commerce, has passed a resolution, to the had to be carried through territories which effect that preferential duties in the case of might at any moment be in hostile hands, and British goods, whether from the Home coun- a determined effort was made to substitute try or from the Colonies, are desirable; and British all-round lines. The British Pacific in addition it resolved to appoint a Commiscable, laid at the joint experise of Great sion to inquire into the question as it affects Britain, and Canada and the Australian each component part of the Empire, and to Colonies, was the first result of the agitation report to their respective Governments. To of the subject; fortunately the subject has show the bona fides of the meeting, that not been left to slumber altogether, but has nothing that should be construed as initiat-progressed, slowly it may be, but still ing a return to Protectionist principles- -effectively, so that there are few routes proposal that preference should only apply where there is not the alternative of sending to British goods carried in British bottoms, and between ports, was at once negatived.
More careful of British interests than the Parliament and the Ministers of the Home- lands, the meeting of the Chambers proposed the appointment of an advisory Imperial be more immediately under Government them the spot for their own habitation if Council, whose business it would be to consider questions of Imperial interest. especially those tending to affect trade between the various parts of the Empire, Though, of course, at first merely tentative, the appointment of such a council would mark the real beginning of Imperial
through British-controlled cables. Still the system is by no means complete, and the Congress took the matter up at some length. The decision finally arrived at was that it was advisable that all the telegraphs should
control, as much so indeed as the present Pacific Cable, and should be administered by the several State post offices; and this naturally led to a discussion regarding the various post offices concerned, and a general expression of opinion that a greater con- 'solidation of the various items was desirable.
base of a horde of pirates whose marauding expeditions into the adjacent districts the Chinese authorities were powerless to suppress. A Portuguese fleet happening to make its appearance in the delta at a time when the pirates were especially trouble- some, and the Portuguese being renowned for their prowess, the Chinese requested them to undertake the task of clearing Macao of its piratical hordes, promising
they succeeded. The offer was accepted with alacrity The Chinese version is that the Portuguese took advantage of China's preoccupation with the pirates to take possession of Macao, and, through bribery, succeeded in setting up a sort of state of their own." It is also on record tha
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