5
be confessed, however, that Kisochou, at any rate, has been treated with great liberality so far as grants from Imperial funds are concerned, as the following list of subsidies since 1898 shows:-
། ?། ། །
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Aference :-
C.O. 882
8
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
REPORT OF A VISIT TO KIAOCHOU AND CHINAN,
SHANTUNG.
1. His Excellency, Yang Shih-hsiang, Governor of Shantung, having paid me an official visit in the summer of last year, I applied for the sanction of the Secretary of State for the Colonies to return his visit as I had done in 1903, when His Excellency Chou Fu, now Acting Viceroy of the Two Kiang, was Governor of Shantung.
2. My application having been approved, I determined to proceed to Chinanfu, the capital of the province where the Governor resides, by way of the German colony of Kisochou instead of going by way of Chefoo and the Hsiao Ch'ing Ho, the canal leading to Chinan, the route followed on the occasion of my previous visit.
3. My chief reason for making a change of route was to save time, as the completion of the railway from Ts'ing-tau, the capital of the German Protectorate, to Chinan, makes the journey to that city from Weihaiwei much more rapid than by the longer and slower route up the canal in Chinese boats, as a glance at the sketch map of the province of Shuntung will show (see Appendix I.*).
4. On the 15th of May, the steamer Tsingtau, which belongs to the Hamburg- American line and which runs regularly between Shanghai, Tsingtau, Chefoo, and Tientsin, through the courtesy of the managers of that line, was allowed to call at Weilmiwei to convey to Ts'ing-tau myself and staff, the latter consisting of Captain Clarke, of the Chinese regiment, who accompanied me as A.D.C., two Chinese sccretaries, our party, including attendants, amounting to eight in all.
reached
passage 5. We left Weihaiwei at 10 a.m., and after a not altogether smooth Ts'ing-tau about 7.30 a.m. [? the following day]. The weather was foggy during most of the voyage and we collided during the night with a junk, all the crew of which was fortunately rescued.
6. On arrival at Ts'ing-tau
we were met by Captain Van Semmern, who in discharging the functions of Governor of Kiaochou during the absence on leave in Germany of Admiral Truppel. He was attended by Captain Funke, the Chief of his Staff, and Captain Wollseiffen of the Artillery, Chief Intelligence Officer.
7. On landing, Captain Clarke and myself were driven in the Governor's carriage to the Strand Hotel, where rooms had been reserved for us, and the services of Captain Wollseiffen were kindly placed at our disposal during our stay at Ts'ing-tau.
A
8. Soon after landing. I paid my official call on the Governor, which was promptly returned, and lunched at Government House, where great cordiality was shown to us. In the evening we also dined at Government House, where we had the pleasure of meeting the leading officials and merchants of the Colony. The Governor proposed the health of His Majesty the King, whilst I proposed that of H.I.M. the Emperor of Germany and also that of the Governor, congratulating him on the enterprise shown in the Colony under his administration, and in the improvements that had been made, and the develop- also stated that between ment that had taken place since my last visit three years ago.t Kiaochou and Weihaiwei there had always existed an entente cordiale, which required no special fostering care to preserve it. Having grown up naturally it was bound to continue and to be lasting.
9. After dinner it was interesting to hear discussed in the smoking-room the approaching visit to the Colony of members of the Reichstag, who are expected to arrive in the autumn. "The travelling M.P." has been an unknown figure hitherto in Germany, but, so far as I could gather, the Germans at Kiaochou welcome the new departure, and are glad that those who are fond of discussing Colonial matters in the Reichstag, without much real knowledge of them, will have an opportunity of seeing what has been done in the Colony, an experience which it is anticipated will not be without its advantages to future Colonial development, and which it is hoped will act as a healthy check on criticism, based on ignorance of the Colonies, and want of sympathy with men on the spot. It must
↑ See pagen 22 et seq. of Eastern No. 84.
• Not reproduced.
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
Total
...
£
250,000
425,000
489,000
537,500
608,400
621,050
629,150
738,000 (Estimated.)
£4,298,100
During the same period the Revenue collected has been as follows:-
1898
1999
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
Total
***
Nil
1,819
10,650
15,000
18,000
22,750
25,265
31,800 (Estimated.)
£125,284
If the subsidy for the present year is taken at £600,000 and the Revenue at £50,000, it will be seen that a sum amounting to about £5,000,000 has been expended on the Colony since it was first founded.
10. Among those at the dinner was Dr. Schrameier, who is the officer entrusted with the administration of Chinese affairs, corresponding with the Registrar-General at Hong Kong. He formerly belonged to the Consular service, and was Acting Consul for Germany in Hong Kong many years ago. He told me that Kiaochou was trying to profit by the lessons taught by our mistakes at Hong Kong, and quoted as examples the fact that the Chinese at Kiaochou are not allowed to live in the European quarter, but have an area assigned to themselves to which they are restricted, and to the land regulations of the Colony which have been framed to check speculation, and under which the Government controls all sales of land. It is always interesting, and frequently instructive, to see ourselves as others see us; but there are two sides to every question, and I heard not a few Germans complain that there are too many restrictions on the Chinese; and one fact which seems not to be sufficiently borne in mind is, that if Kisochou is to prosper, it must become a Chinese Colony under the German flag, just as the Straits Settlements and Hong Kong are practically Chinese Colonies under the British flag. But the German Colony is undoubtedly wise in endeavouring to provide against those sanitary evils from which the two British Colonies are not free, and there are not a few warnings which it may wisely take from our mistakes in this as well as in other directions.
11. As regards the land laws, Dr Crusen, the Chief Judge of the Colony, informed me that he considered they were necessary at first to prevent land speculation and stated that, had they not been introduced, the most valuable land would have been purchased by the Catholic Mission as a speculation. But he is of opinion that they might be now modified. He quoted a case in which he himself was interested as showing that they are not entirely satisfactory. As a pioneer in the hill district of the Colony, he wanted to purchase a piece of land on which to erect a small house for himself. Instead of being allowed to buy directly from the owner of the land at the market price, the Government became the purchaser and sold to him at a large profit, and though he has built a house he is restrained by the land regulations from disposing of it, and the land on which it stands, in the open market, as the Government can resume it at the original purchase price. In this connection I may quote the story of a German merchant in Hong Kong mentioned in my former report.” When asked why he did not move his headquarters to Kiaochou,
• Page 24 of Eastern No. 84.