199

L

wealthy Chinese in the Government, and their desire to settle in the Colony

In considering this important fact from the Colonial Defence point of view, it is well to remember that throughout the neighbouring provinces of China it is not about their Government the people appear to care but about their customs, or so-called superstitions. They trouble themselves very little about foreigners who saw that they did not desert to the Chinese side, imagined they were bad patriots.

The fact is the Chinese are loyal to old established customs that have tended to preserve their race. Their patriotism is different from that of Western Nations. It exists in their village community system, in their family circles. There is little about their rulers, but they take the keenest interest in the maxims and practices that are characteristic of their social life. This explains how the Chinese Coolie Corps under General Sir Hope Grant were so faithful to the British Flag and why they are loyal persons in their guilds and to the Queen and to the Government of the Colony. Leading Chinese residents here speak with veneration of Her Majesty as their true and beloved Sovereign; and they sometimes ask me to explain newspaper paragraphs

Share This Page