Page
Winters
A WINTER'S TALE
Three Centuries Ago SHAKESPEARE praised the Virtues of SHERRY
Hi
TO-DAY, no matter where you go or what the occasion, you find people drinking Sherry...a revival of the sensible habit which existed in our grandfather's time, when the Sherry decanter stood always ready on the sideboard
Then, before lunch, you are offered. Sherry instead of the now demode Cocktail: And, of course, the Cocktail parties are now Sherry parties...
Sherry is undoubtedly the fashion. able drink of This Age, and rightly so, for its clean, nutty flavour is the perfect appetiser. It is economical in use, for unlike most wines, Sherry does not deteriorate after opening.
But choose the right Sherry... Winter's Tale speaks for itself:
GILMAN & CO., LTD., Sole Agents.. PHONE 30986.
JUST RECEIVED.
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A fresh shipment of Strings for the follo ving
Instrumente
VIOLIN.
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CELLO.
DOUBLE-BASS.
BANJO,
UKELELE.
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MANDOLIN.
We have Strings for all Instruments
at prices to suit all purses.
TSANG FOOK PIANO & MUSIC CO.,
"IOR HOUSE STREET.
Tel. 24648.
HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 1935.
THE INDUSTRIES OF HONG KONG
Further Data From Commis-
sion's Report
Below we publish another chapter from the Report of the Com- mission, appointed by His Excellency the Governor, Sir William Peel, K.C.M.G, K.BE, to,quire "into the causes and effects of the present trade depressivă in Hong Kong and make recommen- dations for the amelioration of the existing position and for the improvement of the trade of the Colony."
The chapter which is entitled “Industry,” skys:
Leather Goods
130,500 Miscellaneous ....... 20,690,800 Metal Wares
912,200 Medicines and "Per-
.tumiery
5,940,000
230,000 and Ma- caron!
21.000 Preserves and Can-
ning
1,175,500 Printing
tionery
4,902,500 Peanut. Ol
310,000 Rubber Canvas Shoes, 1,060,000 Rattan and Grass.
Rope
213,000 Shirts and Hand-
Kerchiefs
According to a report by an Economic Resources Committee which sat in Hong Kong in 1920, the amount of capital invested La what
was termed Euro- Dean industry, Le, companies own- ed and managed by Europeans. Was estimated at fifty million dollars. This class of industry la mainly concerned with Public Uti lities and Docks though it also in- cludes Cement, Sugar and Rope Factories. There is little reason to believe that there has been any increase in this class of industry.
The 1920 Committee estimated that 17 millon dollars were in- vested in Chinese owned and man- aged industries.
Since then there has been con- siderable development as will be seen from the following recently computed estimate of Chinese owned and managed industry:—
"Industrial Survey of the Co- lony of Hong Kong, including Kowloon and the New Territories.
Class
Total Capital Aerated Waters......$ 1,730,000 Baking and Confec
757,000 335,000 55,000 23,000
tionery
Cork and Cork Hats Bricks Cement and
2.386,200 11,000
Tiles
Crackers....
Dyeing
Electroplating
Electric Torch Bat- *teries
144,300
Electric Hand Tor-
ches and Bulbs
Engineering
751,000 464.100
Felt and Corks Hats
·239.500
Feathers
Furniture
219.000 170,000
Flour and Rice
Mills
Glass
Ink (Printing)
Knitting and Wea-
ving
53,500 333,100 €5.900
5.679,700
FOR JOB PRINTING
CONSULT
The Hong Kong Daily Press
Ledgers, Account
Books,
Leaflets, Magazines, Circulars, Prospectuses, Company Reports, etc. Every Commercial description of printing necessities.
Neatly executed
Prompt deliveries.
Telephone 30251
Mosquito
Sticks
and
Joss
„Noodles
And Sta-
Sugar
176,400 245,000
Saw Mills and Box
Making... Shipyards only)
(Chinese
Soap Vermillion and White
Lead
924.000
489,000 107,000
205,000
$51,244,300
While the figures of capital can only be taken as rough estimates, they were computed from a detail- ed survey and are considered auf. Aciently accurate to demonstrate that Chinese owned and managed industry has greatly expended Lnce 1920, 'It will also be obser- ved that may more varieties of industry has expended since 1920. It will also be observed that many
more varieties of industry have
been set up.
A division between the industry of Hong Kong and that of Kow- Joon and the New Territories is also informative, the number of factories in Hong Kong being 168 with a total capitalisation of $27,- 284,000, while those in Kowloon number 253 with a capitalisation
of $23,960,000.
FACTORIES VISITED ·
From the chinese manufactur- ers collectively we have received representations to the effect that they suffer under the necessity of observing stringent factory re- gulations, restriction of hours of labour, difficulties at times with regard to the provision of water and strict rules governing the sinking of wella. Complaints have also been made regarding the lack of security of tenure at rented factory premises. There have also been complaints regarding the necessity of obtainng auditors cer- tificates and government certi- Aostes for which fees have to be paid, thereby imposing an addi- tional burden on industry.
COMPLAINTS RECEIVED.
TORPEDO MADE “INVISIBLE"
German Inventions
(Specia) Air Mail Service
London April 6.
Two improvements in the torpe- du have been made by German naval experts which will combine
to make submarine attack much more deadly than in the past. They are:
LOW DEATH RATE
No Slums Left In Five Years
(Special Air Mail Service),
London, Apr. 3.
The Improvement in the health of the people of Scotland "Ron- inued 1934, states the report for that year of the Department. of Health for Scotland, which was issued yesterday.
For many years there had been
steady fall in birth-rates and death-rates, though the birth- rate for 1994 was slightly above that for 1933, the lowest on re- cord
Propulsion of the torpedo by electricity, instead of compressed air, making it "invisible.” and Method of invisible firing."
The "Invisible" torpedo has now. been standardised for use in the The birth-rate and the general While many of these complaints German feet. The use of electri- | death-rate are now little more may be met with adequate replies city in place of compressed air for than half what they were 60 years showing that the burdens are legi- | propulsion means the elimination ago, it is stated. This, has many timate charges and unavoidable, of the tell-tale track of air bud-¦ implications social and medical and; while it is right and fitting bles which, in the war, saved many alike. It means that there are re- that Hong Kong should keep a ship. abreast of the movement towards
The electric torpedo was first evolved in Germany in 1918, but the war ended before it could be tried. Since then it has been greatly improved.
healthier and better conditions of labour, still it should always be re- membered that Hong Kong has to compete with neighbours whose factory standards and Industrial
Its speed is still inferior to that level are not high. For this rea-
01 the latest compressed ar son, the introduction of legisla-heater" torpedo,. It has achieved a speed in excess of 30 knots. It
tion for the betterment of work- ing conditions should be cautious
and not over-ambitious, lest it de- Bives absolutely no indication of it
feat itself. The too stringent en- forcement of such laws may cause
latively fewer young people in the country, and that through time they will be still fewer.
The death-rate for 1934 was 12.9 per 1000, the lowest ever recorded. The general infant and tuber- culosis death-rates, it is added, were lower than they have ever
beer.
There was less incapacitating sickness recorded among the in- sured population than in previous
that the keenest approach, S
marine danger zone would aval improvement in the health of lookout from a ship in the sub-years, and the reports of school medical officers tell of continued
nothing.
To warships moving at high speed the new torpedo may not be very dangerous, but against mer- chantmen of low or moderate speed it promises to prove deadly.
school children
Industries to close down and to throw their employees out of work, We are of the opinion that at the present time when all countries are taking a supervisory interest in their Industries a careful inves- tigation into the conditions of each industry established in the Colony with a view to affording all possible assistance thereto would not be amiss. In coming to this conclusion we have had in mind the fact that industry has during the last few years become a not unimportant activity in the Colony and that its welfare must have simple device which prevents thegional medical officers reported an some considerable effect on the air escaping from the muzzle of the general welfare of the Colony.tube as the torpedo leaves.
On the other hand, the death- rate of
in women
childbirth (slightly higher than in 1933) has resisted intensive" and widespread effort to bring it down, and the In conjuncilon with the new death-rates from diseases of later life (heart disease, cancer, etc.) torpedo the German Navy has de- vised a method of invisible dring.have continued to increase. Normally the discharge of a torpe- No marked manifestations of do from a submarine is betrayed by health or actual physical disease an upheaval on the surface, due to that could be attributed to unem- the rush of air from the tube. Tai ployment had yet appeared in the drawback has been overcome by a general population, but the
That this must be so should be obvious from the fact (which we have quoted elsewhere in this Re- port) that one-out of every four persons gainfully occupied in the Colony obtains his living from In- dustry. We do not propose that
uneconomie activities should be artifically maintained but, where
In the course of our delibera-investigation shows that some mea-
tions we visited some of these factories and heard evidence fron a number of factory owners. Most of the witnesses gave evidence to the effect that the increase in the Chinese Import Tariff had adver- sely affected their business. We had evidence that in some cases the effect of being cut off from the Ching market by the high tariff had been to stop manufacture al- together, and that many factor-
such assistance should be afford. ed.
-
JI
Submarine Experiments
It is now admifted in Berlin
that the collaboration of certato
"neutral
countries has enabled Germany, despite the Peace Treaty embargo on submarines, to carry out exhaustive experiments with such craft,
These tests have related not
so built to carry twice the weight of armament and protection car- Without going into detalls re-ried by a conventional submarine garding this mater we would point of the same tonnage..
Te-
of nervous abnormal prevalence conditions among unemployed men who came before them.
Ending the Slums
With regard to housing, 18,650 State-aided, houses had been com- pleted during 1934, compared with 20,916 in 1833, but more horses were contracted for and put in hand than in any other year since State-aided housing began in 1919. The five-year programme of
well Indeed, so
ive
sure of assistance in present times only to new weapons, but to new sium clearance, states the report, of difficulty may result in the sur-methods of construction, such as has started vival of a factory on a sound basis, which, it is claimed, enables, a boat ing the first year that the Depart the Flamm superstability hull marked has been the progress dur-
ment feel justified in looking for- ward to clearance of all slums in Scotland well within "the years,
Statements submitted by the local authorities to the Depart- ment showed that over 60,000 new houses were required to replace unfit houses. By the end of the
out that a Chinese Mänufacturers' Union has recently been formed, and we feel that with the aid of this body a closer study of the In- dustry of the Colony may be pos- les had been closed down before sible. Elsewhere in this Report we we commenced our deliberations and before this survey was made. The opinions of factory owners varied according to their - Inter- esta: Some were in favour of an endeavour to arrange for an area of the Colony to be placed within the Chinese Customs Tariff Bar- rler while others, who were mainly concerned with exporting their produce to markets other than China, were inclined to be indif ferent to such an arrangement. The general evidence we have heard, however, has been weight-
Tarix
have made the suggestion that a Special Committee should be form- ed for the purpose of having con- tinuously under review the econo- mic welfare of the Colony. If such a body were to be formed the maximum benefit possible to in- dustry might be assured; at least there could be no complaint that the industrial situation of the Co lony received no attention and scant sympathy. *
እኔ
no position to embark on a trade war, the weapons, in which are. tarifs, quotas, countersubsidies, rear 24.099, more than a third of
etc.
For this reason and others it is not anticipated that Hong-Kong will ever be a suitable place for the establishment of heavy in- dustries" other than those natur- ally related to shipping and ship repairing, except in as far as it may be able to co-operate with South China in general industrial development. It has been said else- where in this Report that we do not advocate Import duties as a means of protection. Local consump. tion is comparatively small, and against the limited benefit to local industries would have to be set the adverse effect on the much larger entrepot trade for which bonding or similar facilities would have to be organised at considerable: ex-
them, had been put in hand.
Overcrowding “Gross Evil” Overcrowding in Scotland is described as " gross evil, at least as damaging to Scottish life as are the slums,” and; to overcome » it. the best energles of the public authorities, backed by an inform ed public opinion, will be required. "Among instances given of "scan- dalously overcrowded" houses in Lewis are:--
An attic appartment, about 10ft. in. by Aft plus a bed recess, o- cupied by husband, wife, and seven from 12 years to 9 child aged months.
A similar apartment to the above occupied by husband, wife and seven children aged from 18 to 2 years.
THE CULTURE OF OLD
*CHINA
(Special Air Mail Service)
London, Apr. 3.
A NOTE OF WARNING
While having thus recorded our ed on the side of some kind of a opinion that the industry of the agreement which, while Colony should receive careful con- somewhat facilitating the market-sideration and that all reasonable ing of Hong Kong products in China and possible reller should be af- would also enable Hong Kong to forded, we feel that we should fall help the Chinese Government in in our duty if we did not strike a the prevention of smuggling, and note of warning. We do not be- would generally be co-operative.
lieve that uneconomic industries pense. This question has been dealt with should be subsidised. In highly In striking this note of warning in Chapter V of this Report, and developed countries having resour-we do not wish it to be thought the question of marketing Hong ces of raw material, highly skilled that we consider that nothing can Kong products in other parts of man power and large perman- be done for the existing industries the British Empire has been dis-
ent populations, which are them which, in the main, are calculated cussed in Chapter VI. These are
selves consumers, it has sometimes to supply common consumable ne- both matters in which external
been found necessary to subsidise cessities to those whose purchas factors play a deciding part,
industry in order that it may main- | ing power is small. Inasmuch as Miss Rose Quang,, the chinése tain its markets during temporary within large portions of the Em-actress, delivered in Langside MANUFACTURING CENTRE
adversities. The premises do not pire the demand for such goods is Halls, Glasgow, last night, th There yet remains to be con- apply to Hong Kong and there is very great and inasmuch as Hong sixth of the public lectures ar- sidered the value of Hong Kong as every reason to believe that once Kong is an Empire source of these ranged by Newlands South Church a Manufacturing Centre for for- a subsidy was granted to an in- goods, we think that everything Literary Bociety. Miss A, B. M'Do- eign markets. Ideally situated as | dustry in Hong Kong it would have possible should be done by the Dald, presided. The subject or the"
free port having every facility to be continued. Moreover, the Government for these industries Iecture was "Old China:^ Hər Cut- for cheap freight and transport, granting of a subsidy would and that our recommendation for tire,Wit, and Wisdom," "Miss" and possessing above all an abun- merely mean the transference investigation and sympathetic aid Quong said that, in this changed dance of cheap and efficient la of the burden to the other rather then indifferent application world there was not country bour, there seems no valid reason activities of the Colony either of rigid rules should be adopted. It changing more fundamentally why Hong Kong should not extab in the form of increased lara- must be clearly understood that than Ching. As China was learn- lish for itself an ascendancy in tion or in delay in a possible re- the goods we have in mind are ing more of the West and its be- certain specialized lines of manu- duction of taxation, while reper those of the cheapest category and | Lefs, it became more vital in our facture, particularly in hosiery, cussion elsewhere is incalculable that Hong Kong is in competition, shrinking world that the West rubber shoes, torchlights, firecrac- While such industries as are pos- with foreign cheap producing cen- should know more of the Chinese kera and other cheap goods possible in the Colony are on a sound tres and not with the United King- People than they had known in the sibly toys. Finally there is to be economic basis there is every rea- dom and Dominions which are not past. Miss Quong afterwards dealt considered the value to Hong Kong son, to expect. fair dealing with in a position to manufacture goods with the great Chinese thinkers herself of her industries and whe- the rest of the Empire and other of this variety to compete with from Confucius onwards who had ther Hong Kong can take any act- countries. For a subsidised indus-foreign suppiles. lon to foster those industries and maintain them as a definite asset.
try such treatment cannot justly }^
be claimed, and Hong Kong is in
(To Be Continued)
most influenced the culture of the country centuries before ChristianeTS,
the
43