ACQUAINTANCE WITH CHINESE,"
I.-How many of the officers of the European Police Force are able:-
(a) To speak Chinese with reasonable fluency.
(b) To read it so as to get a general notion of a placard or other like
319 document?
(c) What arrangements are made when the services of interpreters are required?
(d) What arrangements are made for teaching the Europeans in the Force Chinese; what premium or encouragement is given to them for studying the language?
The above, Sir, are a few questions which occur to me at once as requiring to be answered by the proposed Commission. There are many more of an equally important nature, which will doubtless turn up in the course of the enquiry. Sufficient, however, is suggested above to show how urgently a thorough investigation is required.
Yours faithfully,
("Daily Press" of 12th November, 1870.)
OBSERVER.
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHINESE IN HONGKONG.
To the Editor of the "DAILY PRESS. "
SIR,--Your correspondent, "An Old Resident," has made the best case he can in favor of the peculiar system under which the Chinese residents in Hongkong are governed, and he deserves the thanks of the Community for having placed the subject in a tolerably clear light. I think, however, that he takes far too limited a view of the question. The Ordinance for regulating the Chinese is not the only statute under which the natives in this Colony are governed, or misgoverned, as you may see fit to designate it. Without alluding to minor enactments, there is the Gambling Ordinance which works directly into the executive administration of the Colony, and any reformation that is made must certainly be brought to bear upon the manner in which the provisions of this enactment are carried out. It is stated, that the proprietors of the houses have to call in the assistance of Mr. CALDWELL and a swarm of runners to discover criminals in these establishments. Now, if this is the case, I emphatically say we want revolution, and not reform, in this particular departinent-we want nothing less than a death blow struck at a system which takes the most important functions of the Government out of its hands, and places in it those of private parties. And so, also, with respect to the district watchmen, nothing will put that matter right. It is contrary to every dictate of common sense, and is productive of so much abuse, that it ought to be put down altogether. I do not see that any half measures will do in these matters, and they are the chief ones to which attention has been called, and which most urgently require amendment.
As to the question of the government of the Chinese generally, I am strongly of opinion that the system in force at Hongkong is wrong altogether, and that we do not want a separate kind of government for the natives; but we do want efficient men to let them know what the laws are in the simplest possible way, and above all, in a way that is understood by the public generally, in place of by proclamations issued in Chinese of which the foreign community know nothing. I can see no reason for such a department as the Protectorate of Chinese-at least, as at present conducted. As an adjunct to the general system of local administration, it would be well enough, that is, as an Inter- preters' Office; but as an independent department I do not see that it can possibly be freed from the defects which have been shown to attach to it. At least this much is evident. It is high time the mystery and secrecy connected with the government of the Chinese in Hongkong be done away with.
Further, if the Chinese want to be protected, let them be put in the way of obtaining advice from some one who knows Chinese, and who will in their interests.
appear recognizedly It is not the part of the Government to have an official in its employ made use of as a specie of Chinese guardian, and if the natives want assistance of the kind, it is really not difficult for them to obtain it by calling in the services of some suitable foreigner. In that case, the position of their advocate is clearly defined. The public know it, the Government know it, and he knows it himself. But if a Government servaut be placed in the position of guardian of the Chinese, he may be frequently called upon to go counter to the views of other Government officers, who have quite as much right to decide in the particular matter as he has.
The fact is, the plan which has been adopted for governing the Chinese in Ilong- kong, especially as regards Police matters, is of the crudest nature. I question very much whether, if it had been properly understood, it would ever have been sanctioned by the Home Government; and I can only hope that the whole matter will now be put upon a basis more in accordance with English ideas and instincts, and less calculated to lead to mistakes and abuses than the undefined and divided system at present in force.
Yours faithfully,
Hongkong, 11th November, 1870.
OBSERVER.