CO882-6 — Page 214

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference

TPERFIC.O. 882

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

6 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

INDEX to Administration Report, Wei-hai-wei, 1898-1902.

Introductory duties of Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner defined

The Village Administration

Land Administration

Land Settlement and Survey

Administration of Justice

Police Affairs

Crime on the Frontier

Grols

Legislation

Revenue

Expenditure. Public Works and Roads

Possibility of increase of Revenue

Mining

Education. (Chinese)

Hospitals and Sanitation

The Retention of Jurisdiction in the Chinese City of Wei-hai-wei

Salt Taxation

Postal Arrangements

Telegraphic Communication

Wei-hai-wei compared with Hong Kong as a free port

Little possibility of development of local industriea ...

Cart roads on the mainland

Afforestation...

Meteorological, &c.

The walled City of Wei-hai-wei and its connection with Chinese crime in

the territory.

Organization of a new Civil Police Force and a Military Guard

The Mahto Municipality and Police

Government Printing

Administrative Staff

PAGE.

Če** 3898288882°==&%7688822222

פא

A GENERAL REPORT on the Civil Administration of the Territory of Wei-hai-wei, 1899-1901.

1. At the close of 1901 I was instructed by the Commissioner to draw up a short report showing briefly the general features of the New Settlement, and furnishing such details as to area, population, education, revenue, &c., as were then available.

A of this memorandum is attached herewith (oide Appendix 1).

2. The present report, therefore, deals in the main with the general work of the Civil Administration, and discusses the general position of the Settlement.

Before entering into details it may be well to state that the respective duties of His Britannic Majesty's Commissioner and the Assistant British Commissioner are roughly as follows:-

The Commissioner deals with all administrative questions of a new nature, controls the financial arrangements, supervises and inspects the district from time to time, and conducts all the correspondence with the Home Government, Consular and Colonial officials, and local people. The Commissioner is also constituted a Court of Appeal under the Order in Council of 1901, and can make and proclaim, subject to approval of the Crown, Ordinances to carry out and enforce local requirements.

The Assistant Commissioner is in sole charge of Chinese Affairs on the Mainland, and is also a District Magistrate under the Order in Council. His main duties are to collect the revenue from the Chinese landowners, to hear and settle all civil and criminal cases in the district on the mainland, control the village headmen and preserve peace. He is now also in charge of the Municipal affairs in Mahto, the district gaol, the collection of junk customs and registration of fishing and trading junks. He also conducts all correspondence between Chinese officials and the British Government. The Sub-Magistrate in the city of Wei-hai-wei consults with him direct about all business connected with the Chinese walled city.

The proposal to abolish the appointment of Assistant Commissioner, Wei-hai-wei. To propose to abolish the post of Assistant Commissioner presupposes that the Commissioner who will in future discharge the duties of this post is versed in a knowledge of Northern Chinese. Without this knowledge it is impossible for the Commissioner to do the work of the Assistant Commissioner-which lies almost entirely with the Chinese-satisfactorily. The chances are, however, that the Colonial Office will always find great difficulty in obtaining any Colonial Officer as Commissioner

from the Eastern Crown Colonies with the necessary Chinese qualifications, because the civil servants of these Colonies, who would presumably be eligible for this appoint- ment, all learn Southern Chinese, which is of little or no service in the North.

It is true that there is not enough office civil work for two senior civil servants to do, as the work is at present arranged, but it is possible to rearrange the staff as set forth below so as to retain an Assistant Commissioner and also create a saving of £376 on establishment.

3. At present the Civil Service Office Staff consists of the following members:-

Commissioner:

Assistant Commissioner Interpreter and Secretary

Financial Assistant

£500 per annum.

200 per annum.

300 per annum.

Total

£1,000

4. The Government Office Staff could be arranged as follows:-

Commissioner:

Assistant Commissioner

One Chief Clerk and Interpreter

One Financial Clerk

Total

£500 per annum. 70 per annum. 60 per annum.

£630

5. Under the new arrangement, the Commissioner would personally supervise

the finances, assisted by the Chinese Clerk to keep accounts.

The Assistant Commissioner could act, if necessary, as Secretary to the Commis- sioner, as well as administer Chinese affairs.

The advantage of this suggestion is that there will always be one local official who will be acquainted with the local dialect and native people. If the Commissioner knows the Northern Mandarins, he can share the Chinese work with the Assistant Commissioner. If he does not, he can concentrate his attention upon the English side of the administration and leave the Chinese side to the Assistant Commissioner. In the absence of the Commissioner, there will be no locum tenens to hand to take his place with the proper qualifications if the appointment of Assistant Commissioner is abolished. It would be, therefore, better to reduce the expenditure on the posts of Financial Assistant and Secretary, and Interpreter, and retain the appointment of Assistant Commissioner.

The Village Administration.

3. During 1899 the district on the Mainland was not administered by the British Government, except in the immediate neighbourhood of Mahto, and no land taxes were collected, as there was no civil officer then available for carrying out this duty. In 1900 Mr. Barton was seconded from the Consular service for duty in the Settlement, and the work of registering the villages was begun. This work was continued throughout 1900, and is now complete. The registers are kept in Chinese, and show the names of the headmen of the villages, the number of families, the sexes, the acreage of land cultivated, and the occupations of the villagers. It is difficult to fix the exact number of villages, as some villages are really only sub- divisions of larger villages. It may be stated, however, that approximately there are 316 villages in all. The average number of persons in each village is approximately 375, so that the present village population within the ten mile area can be safely calculated to be not less than 118,000.

4. Since the registration of the headmen of the villages has been carried out, there has been practically no difficulty experienced in dealing with the Chinese villagers. The headmen understand now that they must obey a summons from the District Magistrate, and produce any person living in the village they are responsible

for.

• Now paid out of Municipal funds from the Island.