CO882-(4-5) — Page 502

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TILL CO. 882

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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Medical and Sanitary.

A European medical officer should be appointed to look after the officers of the Government, and superintend generally sanitary matters throughout the territory. He should have under him a staff consisting of two Chinese assistants trained in Western medical science, who would aid him in the work of supervising medical and sanitary matters throughout the villages. A small hospital should be erected at headquarters, and in course of time dispensaries should be established at different points in the territory.

For purposes of sanitation the council and head constable in each village should co- operate with the medical authority, and should be encouraged to keep their villages in a cleanly condition.

Education.

At present every village of any size in the territory has at least one school, in which the Chinese Classics are taught. The schoolmaster's salary is paid by the villagers. In addition to these schools there is at Namt'au, the chief city of the district, a college or Shü 'n under a Director and Assistant Director of Studies, in which candidates for the first and higher degrees may study. These candidates, who are commonly known as Tung Shang, have already passed two examinations one, held by the magistrate of the district, and one by the prefect of the Kwong Chau Prefecture, the Prefecture being made up of a number of districts, of which San On is one. It is estimated that there are in the district of San On 300 Tung Shang studying for the first degree, for which an examination is held yearly at Canton. The number of vacancies allotted to the district is eleven. There are said to be 150 graduates of the first degree resident in the whole district.

I recommend that the present village schools be retained, but that at the same time the study of English be encouraged. This could be done in the first instance by the establishment at the headquarters of the government of a school for the teaching of English under a master well acquainted with both Chinese and English. When a desire for a knowledge of English spreads, as is almost certain to be the case, other schools can be established at different places throughout the area. As an inducement to learn English free scholarships at Queen's College should be offered to the best students in the new territory, and the appointments of interpreters should be, so far as possible, given to natives of the district who are qualified to fill them.

Revenue.

n.

It is notorious that in China the officers of Government are so inadequately paid that it is impossible for them to live on their official emoluments: The result of under- paying the mandarins is that, in order to make both ends meet, the officials are con- strained to resort to methods which in most other countries would not be tolerated, but which in China have come to be regarded as part of the official system

This "squeeze system is in existence throughout the length and breadth of China, and the officials of the San On district, in which the new territory is contained, are driven, like their con- frères in other parts of the Empire, to supplement their insufficient salaries by appro priating to their own use moneys which should find their way into the public purse.

In fact, two distinct revenues are collected in the San On district. One, the public revenue, collected by the district magistrate.

A careful account of it is rendered to his superiors, who have to forward a portion of it to Peking as the contri- bution of the district towards the Imperial Government. It has been an easy matter

to obtain information regarding this revenue, which practically never varies from year to year, as any increase shown would not benefit those responsible for its collection. Appendix 7 contains a statement of this revenue, drawn up by the district magistrate, from which it appears that the total annual revenue for the entire district of Ban On amounts to taels 37,589, or $52,220, or, say, £5,000.

The other class of revenue is also collected by the district magistrate and his under- lings, but as it goes into his own pocket and that of his friends and relations, and as he liable at any moment to be impeached for extorting it from the people under his jurisdiction, be naturally takes every precaution to prevent, so far as he can, any in formation regarding it being made public. It has, therefore, been extremely difficult

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to ascertain with accuracy what amount of revenue is actually raised in the San On district. Owing, however, to my having persuaded a certain party, who is in a position to know what revenue is collected, to give me the information desired, I am able to attach a statement, which may be regarded as a fairly reliable account of the revenue raised annually in the territory to which the Convention refers (Appendix 8).

This statement shows that the total annual revenue of the new area is estimated at $163,636.14, or, say, £16,000.

It must not be supposed that the magistrate pockets all the difference between the regular and irregular revenue. Superiors have to be kept in good humour, an effect which cannot be produced without a considerable outlay; underlings must have their share of the spoil; and not a small portion of it is secured by those who farm various items of revenue, for which they pay much less than they make out of them.

Owing to the inspection of the new territory having been somewhat hurried, it was not possible to institute a minute inquiry into all the items of revenue. Some of these may not be regarded as satisfactory sources of revenue, and may be ultimately aban- doned, whilst it may be deemed advisable to modify the mode of collecting others. For instance, the revenue derived from opium includes a duty on raw opium, which pro- duces annually $23,611.11. In Hong Kong the duty on opium is charged not on the raw but on the prepared article, which in the new territory is said to yield only $4,166.67 a year, an amount obviously much lower than that which could be collected. And the same remark is applicable to other items of revenue, which, when British rule is estab- lished, will be greatly increased. However, until further experience has shown in what manner revenue can be best raised without exciting the suspicion or irritating the feelings and prejudices of the inhabitants, it would be well to interfere as little as possible with the present system and sources of taxation. If this be done, it is antici- pated that there will be no difficulty in raising at the start an annual revenue sufficient to meet the cost of administering the new territory. The expenditure is estimated at $125,000. To cover this outlay taxation to the amount of 14 dollars or 2s. 6d. per head of the population will be sufficient.

Expenditure.

Appendix contains a statement of the expenditure which, it is estimated,

will be required to cover the cost of administering the new territory. It amounts to $125,000.

The chief items of the estimated expenditure are:~

Police Surveyors Miscellaneous

Total

$33,223

$14,400

$24,657

$72,280

When the work of survey has been completed such a large staff of surveyors will be unnecessary, but it is important, as has been pointed out, that the land under cultivation should be surveyed as quickly as possible. Miscellaneous expenditure has been esti- mated at a high figure, as unforeseen expenses are sure to be large when the territory is first taken over.

Loan.

The finances of the new territory should be kept distinct from those of Hong Kong, and, so far as can be judged, there seems to be no reason why it should not be self-sup- porting as soon as it has been taken over. But the collection of the annual revenue will necessarily take some time, especially at the commencement of British rule, and before that rule has been established, it will be necessary to have in hand funds sufficient to meet current expenses and to cover initial outlays. Buildings for public offices,

for officers' quarters, for a gaol, for a school, will have to be constructed; the present roads will have to be improved and new ones made.

The

To meet this expenditure I recommend that recourse be had to a loan. Government of the new territory might be empowered to borrow up to a maximum amount, and to arrange with a local bank for an overdraft, so that it could obtain such advances, not exceeding the amount it has been authorised to borrow, as it may from time to time require.

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