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A French post-office is about to be opened in this port, though there is little enough work for the two existing offices.
These enterprises, to which may be added a French school in the Consulate Yamèn in Canton, and a steamer, which runs between Hong Kong and Kwang-chou Wan, form the sum total to date of recent French successes in South China,
As regards the unsuccessful may be noticed the attempt in September last to obtain a site in Macao, on which to establish a hospital for men of the army and navy. The Portuguese, fearing that an establishment of this kind might lead to complications here- after, put a veto on the sales by issuing Decrees of expropriation in respect of the sites for which the French were in treaty.
The attempt of the French Consul at Canton to obtain sanction to construet a metre gauge railway from Canton to Wuchow has not met with success, the Viceroy con- sidering that it clashes with the Concession granted to the Canton-Hankow Railway Syndicate a Concession which, including a branch line to Samshui, has already received the Imperial sanction; nor has the Consul been more fortunate in the negotiations on behalf of the Syndicate which proposes to lay tramways in and around the city of Canton.
The request for a French settlement at Honam was withdrawn by the French Consul on the Viceroy making a counter-proposal to allot land on that island as an international Settlement. In fact, the Viceroy seeins fully alive to the danger, in the present unsettled state of the province, of granting the French Concessions, the protection of which might be used as a pretext to cover aggression.
The Chinese seem to be still in debt to the French staff at the Fuchow arsenal, both on account of arrears of salaries and of machinery purchased in France. The five-year engagement of the French staff expires this spring. A rumour from Amoy credits the Japanese with endeavouring to induce the Viceroy to accept a loan to pay off the French debt, a condition being that Japan be given the management of the arsenal. If there is any truth in this rumour, it seems probable that the Japanese would, in return for the loan, be satisfied by the Viceroy declining to renew the engagements of the French employés, trusting to some future opportunity to get the management of the arsenal into their hands.
New Taxes to meet the Indemnity.-These appear to have been imposed without any serious trouble.
The new provisional Tariff introduced in November is reported as working smoothly in Canton. The Native Customs have been taken over by the Imperial Maritime Customs, but in several instances the old machinery is employed to collect the dues, the European staff having not yet mastered its intricacies. The house tax met with some opposition on its introduction, but is now paid without comment, exemptions having been freely granted, and property assessed at its lowest figure. In the Canton delta, the land tax is levied only on land enriched annually by deposits from the river when in flood. The tax amounts to about 3s. 4d. per acre. The Viceroy has put the collection of this tax into the hands of the gentry, which, though it may diminish the receipts, will gain over to his side the class most necessary to propitiate. From Swatow an increase in the li-kin is reported, and, generally, officials are being shorn of recognized perquisites.
State of the Country.-The country generally is quiet, with the exception of the West River, where piracy and blackmailing have been rampant. Recently the Viceroy has put some torpedo-boats on the river to patrol the creeks, and Vice-Admiral Bridge has arranged for the co-operation of His Majesty's ships
"Robin and " Sandpiper," so an improvement in the state of the river may be looked for.
Education. A strong movement in favour of modern education has lately shown itself amongst the wealthy and influential classes in Canton, who have formulated a scheine for the establishment of two modern schools, the funds being raised by voluntary sub- scription.
The Viceroy holds out little hope of official help, and appeals to the rich to take active steps in the matter of education, otherwise the foreigner will inevitably step in.
Canton Intelligence Report for Quarter ended December 1901.
French at Macao.--Towards the end of last September the French Consul entered into negotiations with the proprietor of the Boa Vista Hotel at Macao for the purchase for 80,000 dollars of the buildings to be used as a hospital for their civil, naval, and military officers.