1904-1919
HONG KONG, 1918.
425
21
The revenue collected in 1918 from radio-telegrams amounted to $24,011.25 being $699.70 more than that collected in 1917. Advices of vessels signalled at the lighthouses yielded $437.00 and semaphore messages $5.35 making a total of $24,453.60 for the Telegraphic Service. The expenditure amounted to $25,100.73. The number of radio-telegrams forwarded during the year was 1,117, consisting of 108,330 words, and 1,475 received consisting of 19,243 words.
XI. -- GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
The outstanding event of the year was the conclusion of hostilities in Europe. In this remote Colony the effects of the War have been felt less directly than in many parts of H.M. Dominions; but Hong Kong gave of her best, in money and in men of British race, and at least she has no reason to feel ashamed of the small but steadfast part which she played in the great adventure.
The world-wide dearth of shipping for mercantile purposes had a marked effect upon the trade of the Colony, which is so entirely dependent upon ships for its prosperity. Trade with the United Kingdom was reduced in volume, but the trade routes across the Pacific Ocean were well supplied by Japanese vessels, and markets which had formerly taken British goods turned towards America and Japan.
In order to protect as far as possible the essential interests of the Colony, the Government took over early in the year the control of seventeen British ships registered in Hong Kong and Shanghai. These vessels were the only British ships remaining on the China Coast which were not under the Imperial liner requisition scheme and had not been taken over by the Imperial Government, for whose purposes they were unsuitable. The owners gave their loyal co-operation, and the tonnage thus acquired served a most useful purpose, the ships being diverted as occasion demanded to meet the Colony's more pressing needs.
The political dissensions and domestic disputes, which have for some time past formed so unfortunate a feature of Chinese national life, continued throughout the year, to the grave detriment of trade in the Kwong Tung and Kwong Sai Provinces. The prevalent lawlessness led to a considerable influx of bad characters into Hong Kong, with a consequent increase in crimes of violence, four members of the Police Force being murdered on one occasion by an armed gang of desperadoes. The most stringent measures were taken to cope with the situation, and they were attended with marked success.
The close supervision of the trade of the port, which was rendered necessary by the War, has made it possible to collect accurate trade statistics, and the first complete returns in the history of the Colony, covering the year 1918, have now been published. The necessary steps are being taken for the proper compilation of the returns in future years, after war conditions have ceased.
In the early part of 1918 there occurred a severe epidemic of cerebro-spinal meningitis which caused some 968 deaths. In consequence of this outbreak the Government of the Straits Settlements prohibited