THE
HONGHUNG DAILY PRESS, TUESDAY, AUGUST 37rm, 1918.
to 21
CORRESPONDENCE.
"A LOOSE TRANSLATION.
{TO THE EDITOR OF THE "HONGKONG DAILY PRESS."]
HAPHAZARD HONGRONG.
kong," I said" the security to life and since it has announced its intention com property, the sanitary and health condi- cerning ferries we may hope that public SOME VITAL PROBLEMS.
tions." The young Cantanese with| interest will be sufficiens to continually an apology, interrupted me. "Canton is point out the advantages of a frequent La Flor02 MIDDLETON SMITH) --
more healthy than Hongkong," he said. and rapid ferry service to outlying places Na branch of legislation is mure really
"There is nothing like the same amount such as Cheung Chow, Aberdeen and valuable than that which is occupied with of overcrowding in Canton that there is Stanley. Similarly, if the Government the health of the people."-W. E. H. Lakin this Colony."
could arrange a reduction in the faresi
Sre, - Surely Home better Chinese.
• When the Green of some future History;
There is reason to believe that the and an increase in the rapidity of the of the English. People comes to review our roung Cantonese was correct. When the service across to Kowloon, it would lead characters could be found to describe our times. he will, from his standpoint of com- Í Medical Officer of Health expresses the
spreading out from. Kowloon, foreign hotels and boarding-houses than fort and convenicace, find the present streets opinion that the population of the Colony increase in revenue from the land used in the Colony, meaning Whisky- An the two which seem to be in general use especially if there were tramways: of London quits, or even mare, incredibly is a million, while all of the official would repay any reasonable subsidy. The shop. It rather startles one to see a unpleasant than are the filthy kennels, the figures lead us to suppose that it is London County Council maintains a free signboard The Whisky-shop of the Holy andhotes and darkness of the streets of the only about half of that cure, it is fairly ferry service across the Thames to Wool-So-and-so," or, "The Great Whisky-shop noventeenth century to our enlightened obvious that the Sanitary authorities are wich.
of the King of England." Eyon a tem- minds. He will echo our question, why did
HWILIA that overcrowding in Chinese When all is said and done, however, perance establishment, which does not people stand it?"-H. G. Walk in Antiquarters exists.
ferries are hardly likely to entirely possess a licence, describes itself as a “espedidas, p. 24.
If noise, is any indication of density of population, then West Point must be rectify the existing state of affairs. Whisky-shop, which seems undesirable.
There is still any amount of room on the Yours truly. indeed overcrowded. That may BECOUTE
island. The advantages of living on thes 1th lady looked on to the city of Victoria for the ceaseless celebrations connected island are so many that we must seek Hongkong. 24th August, 1918.
with funerals, which render West Point some other means of transport. Motor- almost unbearable for Europeans. Some cars are only for the wealthy. The com of the fine old residences in the locality moo herd" in English cities have to of Babington Path and Robinson Road. depend on trains, electric tram-cars, or which formerly housed wealthy taipan motor-buses, ቤቷን
The first impressions of the new arrival to Hongkong vary considerably. An Eng
and its background from the dick of a
liner in the harbour and anid. How
beautiful! An hour later she was rid ing in n ricsha through the streets with a handkerchief beld so her nose.
A VISITOR.
TYPHOON WARNINGS.
It should be possible to
The following telegrams have been
Her first words on alighting from the their sisters and their cousins, whom they and so provide a service to Stanley and General Hongkong, from the Manila! new crowded with Chinese and build a number of motor-buses locally received by the Americad Consulate-
the aahs and their relatives. recken up by dozeris," not to overlook other remote villages, which would thus Observatory: been said that in one house which form-workmen's tickets for the poorer, be linked up with Hongkong. Even
I p.m., Aug. 24th. Typhoon near or over southern For- Chinos servants, there now sleep, each hours of the day. The idea of a railway, erly contained tivo Britons and four night, more than sixty Chinese.
Chinese might be available for certain mos moving W.N.W. or NW;
10a.m., Aug. 23th..
riesha - were:—“What awful smells!“ When we returned to the liner she looked out on to the City again and remarked that it still looked beautiful, but unfor- zunately she could not forget the squalid streets. For Hongkong is like London in this respect. There are some fine build. ings, but some incredibly ugly streets.
i
THE CHINESE AND THE BRITISH.
It' has
interiock: they are the high rents and There are really two problems which
the overcrowding of the Chinese.
In sympathy with all other commodi
of reasonable gradient, up one side of Cyclone or typhoon near or over the the ridge and down the other should be Formosa Channel," moving W.N.W., considered.
•
It must be admitted that a considerable
expenditure of public money will be necessary for training nullahs and other
CRIMINAL SESSIONS.
ties the cost of labour and building public works. if any such schemes are to Before His Honour the Chief Justice (Sir
11
William Rees Davies, K.C)]
It is, therefore, not surprising to learn that Hongkong, like inmortal Tepsy. Just. growed." Individuals have put the pestilts of their gealus into certain buridings; "but nobody seema to have worried about, the net result of all of the genius and all of the buildings. Hong kony "is typically British; it is just composite picture made up of sudden bursts of private enterprise and the restraints, within very wide limits, of far from West Point that was built for engineer to attempt to criticise the work Police Officer with 250 on August 2nd.
rather easy-going Government.
These
since the war. The value of property in materials in the Colony have gone up Hongkong has risen during the last six years in a manner which puts into the shade the rocket-like soarings of the dollar. There is a piece of property not
be carried out. But it would prove re- munerative, just as the nullah-training at West Point has assisted the land sales.
THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
It is, perhaps, somewhat unfair, for an
some such figure as $17,000 and sold. of local architects and engineers. But words apply not to this generation in the or three years after completion, for Mr. Harris and the Daily Prres bave particular, but, in general, to the dwellers $20,000 to a Chinese, and that is not an in Hongkong during the evolution of the isolated case,
raised the subject, and the writer merely It is the old question of wishes to sound a note of warning. For Colony. The picture is quite to harmony demand and supply. The demand for it is in this particular part of the gen with the ideals of the Victorian era The affairs of the individual were considered Property being greatly in excess of the eral subject that Hongkong reveals its
most haphazard methods. more or less sacred, and the less the State supply bas sent the rents soaring up until. as the American" poker players ay, the limit is the sky." It is a very fine tribute to the security offered by the British Hag, but it reffects upon our an tional characteristic of
"muddling through." For the general distribution
interfered the better for everyone con cerned. But the war, has demonstrated. quite plainly, that the State ean. and must, sometimes interfere with the liberty of the individual. Yet the State cannot
BRIBING A POLICEMAN. ·
Lak Sing pleaded guilty to bribing a
Mr. C. G. Alabaster (instructed by
case in
Mr. Guy R. Haywood), who appeared for the accused, said it was not a which the man sought out a public ser- vant and tried to tempt him to act con- The offence of the trary to his duty. | accused "was "rather the impulse of a mo- The Editor of the Daily Press, in comment:" Finding himself arrested, be turn- on with all of the local Editors, appearsed to the police constable and offered to bave consistently supported the general idea of the local University, although of him 80 to let him go The man win. inte that institution appears to have been arrested in the street carrying a band- ss subject to his pungent criticisms as there in which opium was wrapped. Government of the Colony. That may account for his request that I should the constable asked him what he was explain, in this article. who planned the carrying and the accused, without pre- general scheme of the buildings. He may
80. very much in advance of public opin of population must always be dependent even suppose, and some of his readers may arication, replied that it was opium.]
Similarly in this Colony. It is very
THE CITY BEAUTIFUL
on
transport facilities, and until the easy, and sometimes a little "cheap. to blame the Government for this or that recent introduction of motor-cars the. defret in our local life. Yet the Goversport facilities of the Colony were
little better than those of Canton. In meni, to an onlooker at any rate, seema' fairly sensitive to public opinion. It is deed, in one way, Canton was more fav worthy of note that some such phrase as ourably situated, for the river offered "At the request of the unofficial men better transport facilities than a sedan bers often appears in despatches or chair, and it was always in connection minutes. There have been sometimes with a port or a river that the greater great differences of opinion between the towns of the pre-railway periods arose. commercial community and the Govern Examples are London, Rome and Venice. mrat, but it is doubtful whether the
In modern towns the railway has solved recent Conscription Ordinance would the problem that bothers us in Hongkong, have been introduced if local public opin At à certain stage in town growth the ion had not favoured it in principle... rents of the more central areas became so great that habitual family life was as Air. A. H. Harris doubtless wished to impossible, as it is becoming in Hong- influence public opinion in the direction kong. Thus the railway gave relief and of town-planning when he wrote the created the "suburban houses and areas. recent letter which appeared in and The maximum daily limit for a journey received favourable comments from, two seems to be about two hours, and we of the local newspapers. The editor of may be quite sure that the resident in the Hongkong Daily Press recently refer Hongkong will not enthase over a longer red to a contributed article on this subject journey. But there is another considers which appeared under the title of "Towa tion, and that is the frequency of service Planning- Plea for Posterity" in his We may grumble about the fares of the news columns about a year ago, and Star Ferry, but those who were the he has been good enough to invite me to pioneers of that enterprise deserve our send him some notes on the general lines gratitude.”
The frequency of the service of those made by: Mr. Harris has relieved Victoria of even worse con while the subject is under discussion gestion than now obtains. Similarly, the And a recent remark by one of my old low level tramway has caused the city Chinese students decided me to attempt to spread out. what is, of course, a difficult task. It is
1
I see no
His Lordship asked if the Police knew anything again the accused.
The Crown Solicitor replied in the negative.
suppose, that it is a Government institu- He was then arrested, and he impulsively| tion; but that is not the case. reason to evade the challenge of the alert put 850 into the constable's hand. At the Editor, although obviously it is one that Police Station the accused neither denied would be answered best by someone con- the possession of the opium nor that he nected with the institution before the first stone was laid. Nobody, in the very early had bribed the constable. In view of the days, seuns to have recognised that the fact that the accused was obviously in scheme had such possibilities that it merited the finest architectural talent in state of great excitement and terror at the Empire. Anyone who now thinks his arrest, and that he was so consistent about the matter must regret that Sir and straightforward in admitting the Aston Webb was not, at the very begin- ping, invited to visit the Colony, in order offenes, counsel submitted that the offence to lay out a comprehensive plan which could be met with a fine. could have been carried out, as the place was a married man with a family and an The accused developed, with the help of local archi- tects. It is, unfortunately, only too true aged mother. might be, could be given than the build that no better example of what is, and what ings of the local University. The main were designed by Mr. Bryer. But Mr. building and two blocks of staff houses Bryer retired, and, for various reasons, difficult to enumerate the names of the said he came to Hongkong to buy goods. others took up his work. . It is In answer to his Lordship, the accused many architects who have since been con cerned in the design of the various build. He was a dealer in "marine delicacies." to have had an opportunity of leaving had committed a serious offence in offering ings, but all of the local talent appears
His Lordship stated that the accused records of different styles on the hillside at West Point. It has been said, quite a bribe to a Police officer to prevent him particular, problem is to rebuild the Uni seriously that the only solution of that from discharging his duties.
As, how versity on another and a larger site, and ever, the Police of the Colony knew purposes. For if the place attracts thou utilise the present, buildings for other nothing against him, there was resson sands of students, as the sanguine aati for the asumption that he was a cipate, extensions will be difficult if not of good character. impossible. Sir Aston Webb designed
His Lordship was a new University of Birmingham which is loth, therefore, to send him to prison and three miles from the old buildings. imposed a fine of $150.
The
ZAMI
made this
lems are soluble, but it is hard to sup.
All of these many and complex prob Ir: Alabaster asked for a restitution, pose that they can be solved easily. Their order in regard to the sum of $30" (the solution depends very much apon public bribe) which the Police had kept as an interest in the matter. In the earlier We now seem to have reached a stage days, difficulties of water supply were
exhibit. so much more pleasant to write about the when the old, typically Victorian method, saine steps were taken with regard to the authority. Mr. Alabaster
solved according to expert advice,
The Crown Solicitor asked on what triumphs of the British in Hongkong than of depending entirely upon private enter-railway. In Great Britain there are about the mean and sordid things with prise for public transport is obviously tects with experience of the growth of
Town Planning Associations and archi- request. which our life is interwoven. Yet we unsatisfactory. The Government have Garden Cities. This wealthy and pre- cannot ignore those things as if they were realised that fact by their now policy con- sperous Colony might surely obtain the "simply debris. It is foolish to close our seraing the ferries Tet as consider what best expert advice. This is no reflection on the local architects, who have to ac eyes to what actually exists, and, after may be possible.
commodate themselves to the requirements of individuals, rather than to the com- Hongkong in the past has been rapid, it munity. For although the growth of
all, out of such materials a great deal In the first place it is only fair that, can be done by careful planning. if any such vested interests as the Star
To
industrial era for the Colony. The solu
Mr. Alabaster said that the money be longed to the accused. The Police bad retained it, for the purposes of their case.
His, Lordship acceded to Mr. Alabaster's | request.
Mr. Alabaster submitted that, as the
sicken at the sight of the squalid streets Ferry or the tramways are taken over will continue to develop at an amazing accused was undergoing a term of six and do nothing is as if a painter should by the Government, full compensation rate. We are merely at the dawn of an months' imprisonment in respect of the aicken at the odour from his paint-box should be paid to shareholders. On gen- tion of the difficulty of obtaining cheap possession of opium, it might be advis It is still not too late to make the attempt eral principles the writer believes that coal from Kwangtung would enormously able, perhaps, to inflict a term of in- to plan ahead so that Victoria may grow the Government should manage the prin- We are all of us enger that this little prisonment in default of the present fine.
increase the population of the Colony. a beautiful as its surroundings.
cipal transport facilities, simply because outpost shall be worthy of the Empire it was, of course, understood that unless A clever young Cantonese of about public opinion can influence the Govern of which it forms part.
Nature has the accused paid both fines (14,000 for given it a beautiful setting. It is only twenty-six summers was talking about the ment more easily than it can a private duty for the citizens of the Colony to possession of opium and $150 for bribing vexed problem of house-rente in Hong, concern. Locally, the Government main attempt to improve it. Perhaps we may Police officer) he would remain in kong. He tid explained that five or six tains the roads and the railway; it might ir. Harrin, willing to interest themselves even find public-spirited mon such as
prison. rooms on the Caine Road level cost about well, take over all main transport in the formation of a local Town Plan- His Lordship said the prisoner would two hundred dollars a month for rent work, leaving the richas, chairs and et might be taken up by some of the havo to undergo an additional month's
ping Association, or, better still, the sub- Bat think of the advantages of Hong motor-cars to private concerna. But local Associations which already exist." imprisonment if the fine was not paid.",
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