CO882-(4-5) — Page 584

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :---

C.O. 882

5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

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two pieces of lands, one on either side, and thereby compelling the owner of the inter- mediate piece to give it up. If such owner won't agree, plans would be devised to makeTM him sell. Others were obtained by means of taking by force more when measuring than was put down in the deeds. It is heard that both of Ng Shui Shang and Tang Ying Shang were petitioned to the San On magistrate by the sold-property-owners. The magistrate in question had sent runners to bring them to justice. Ng Shui Shang boasted that to take San On was as easy as to turn the palm. It was found that Tang Yung Shang belongs to Ping Shan village. He had sold the property of the clan in Cheung Sha Wan. On hearing that his clansmen wanted to arrest him and punish him, he dared not return to his village. The purchased property belongs to a company formed in Hong Kong, Meeers. Lai Hing being the head.

7. It is a fact that the Kam Tin village had expressed its intention of subscribing money for the use of resisting England's jurisdiction over the land. Some time ago the gentry of the said village had once summoned the gentry of the neighbour villages to a meeting, and said that if the various villages would mutually agree to assist in opposing England and subscribe more or less, the Kam Tin village was willing to exert itself to pay the rest of the expenses. Now it is heard the matter was dropped. In the end no subscription was made.

8. I have in accordance with the order given me acquainted the natives of all the villages that those who are in possession of deeds will be allowed by England to hold their property as before. Though no proof can be found that there is such a rumour that England would deprive the natives of their lands, yet it was said that such rumour was used as a means of threats by the land purchasers. There are natives who know that there is such a law that England would permit the deeds holder to hold their lands as before, but there are also stupid natives who are frightened beforehand. I am of opinion that it would be more wise if England would at an early date clear the doubts of the matter by issuing an expressed notification.

Enclosure 7 in No. 172.

Extract from Letter from Mr. J. Dyer Ball, Acting Registrar-General, to Mr. T. Sercombe Smith, Acting Colonial Secretary, under date October 31, 1808.

"I have made enquiries by trustworthy officers as to whether the allegations in the 5th paragraph of an article in the 'Daily Press' of the 3rd October, headed 'Ex- tension of the Colony' are true or not.

The village of Kam T'in, being & rich one, had prepared themselves for some time past, in fact for years, against robbery by an armament of weapons of defence; and it was reported to me that they were prepared to oppose the advent of the British should their coming mean the taking of their lands. A fund amounting to more than 100,000 dollars was already in hand, made up from the income from ancestral property owned by the village of Kam Tin, and a levy on property of 30 dollars per 1,600 dollars."

Enclosure 8 in No. 172.

From GENERAL OFFICER COMMANDING IN CHINA AND HONG KONG to HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR.

Hong Kong, April 20, 1899.

SIR,

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency's letter of 17th instant, desiring me to take steps to provide against any possible danger which might arise from the presence in Kowloon City of a number of Chinese troops which you have been informed have been sent to that city by the Viceroy for the alleged purpose of protecting the Customs. Naturally Your Excellency's wishes shall be obeyed, but I would take this opportunity of drawing the attention of Your Excellency that in my opinion the presence of a Chinese city in the midst of British territory is and must always be a source of danger. This has been proved by the recent disturbances in the Hinterland. It has been proved to my satisfaction that a number of disaffected and turbulent spirits come from there, make their attack on our troops, and then when worsted withdraw back into the city under the protection of the Chinese flag. This has been and always will be the danger, whether it is an armed force, as in the present case, or a civil riot, as in the past. Kowloon city is the refuge of a number of bad

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characters, and the presence of such a city in our midst must always be a source of danger.

(Confidential.) YOUR EXCELLENCY,

I have, &c.,

W. J. GASCOIGNE,

Major-General, Commanding in China and Hong Kong.

Enclosure 9 in No. 172.

Ping Shan, April 21, 1899. Ws passed a good night here last evening. Everything is quiet, and the villagers appear to be returning to the villages here. Colonel The O'Gorman has just received orders from the General Officer Commanding to have some of the troops withdrawn; 300 men are to be left. I think it is unfortunate that any of the troops here should have been withdrawn at the present moment, as their withdrawal may be misunder- stood by the Chinese, and their presence is creating such a good effect. I have had no letter from Your Excellency since your communication of the 18th instant, enclosing copies of despatches from the Viceroy, with the exception of your minute on the opium papers. I am enclosing copies of the messages forwarded by me to Taipo, in case they may not have reached you. I have not kept copies of the letters I have sent to you every day since the hoisting of the flag. I should like to have copies if Your Excellency has no objection. I think it is important now the villagers are returning that I should remain on the spot. The co-operation between Colonel The O'Gorman and myself has been most cordial, and could not have been more satisfactory. There has been a tendency in a certain quarter to create friction rather than harmony, at a time when harmony is all important. The rapid and immediate action, which I recommended from the first, as the General Officer Commanding no doubt informed you, has had the desired effect. Procrastination would most certainly have increased the trouble and caused much bloodshed. The General Officer Commanding reports that his expedition met no resistance. This was due to the defeat of the Chinese at Sheung Tsun on the 18th instant. The Chinese state 2,600 Chinese took part in that fight, the majority of them being from districts north of Sham Chun. This defeat has filled the Chinese with terror. The Viceroy should have taken steps to prevent this rabble coming into our territory, and should be held responsible for not having done so. I strongly recom. mend that the Government of China be called upon to remove the present Viceroy and to appoint a successor, "who should always have by him a British adviser, in view of our present interests on the south of China, and of the necessity of order being maintained in the Provinces of Kwang Tung' and Kwang Sai. I am of opinion that without a British adviser order wul never be maintained by a Chinese Viceroy in those Provinces.

J. H. STEWART Lockhart,

Colonial Secretary. P.S.-Captain Berger, Lieutenant Barrett, and the men of the Hong Kong Regi- ment have done splendidly, and if it had not been for their rapid movement the disturbance would have increased.

YOUR EXCELLENCY,

Enclosure 10 in No. 172.

J. H. S. L.

Ping Shan, April 22, 1899.

I SUBMIT herewith a translation of a Chinese petition presented to me here yesterday. As you will see, this petition is presented by Tang Wong Shi, of the Sit Hong village, in the Ha Tsun district, who complains that her husband, Tang A Cheung who had been sent from Hong Kong to distribute Your Excellency's proclamation in the neighbourhood of Un Long, has been brutally murdered at that place. He was shot there on the 17th instant, after having been cruelly beaten, and his body was put in a pig basket and thrown into a stream. Immediately on receiving this petition, which instituted on- was presented in person by the petitioner, accompanied by her son, quiries, which confirmed the statements contained in the petition. Two of the men implicated in the murder of Tang Tsung Sz and Tang I Shek had already been known to me as ringleaders in the anti-British movement. Having completed my enquiries, 1 communicated the result of them to Colonel The O'Gorman, Officer Commanding, and it was determined to proceed to Ha Tsun in the afternoon, and to burn the houses of the culprits if the elders corroborated petitioner's statements. I had previously ascer-

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