CO885-6 — Page 136

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 882

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

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concerning Chinese family customs in special relation to the ownership of land. I may, however, say briefly that Chinese villages are left to govern themselves in all ordinary affairs, but occasionally several small villages unite for the purpose of local self-government. The villages are subject to the District Magistrate, who appoints to each village or group of villages a constable or watchman, called a Ti-pao, who This officer has no power and very little is the official agent of the Government. pay.

He is dependent on the village executive, a Council of Elders, called Hai-Shou, in Weihaiwei. These men manage all the affairs of the village. They are some- times elected by the community, sometimes nominated by the chief landowners, and occasionally are self-elected. They are supposed to be chosen for their capacity. They receive no salaries, but the position is one of dignity, and they make something The by perquisites, as for instance when they collect funds for religious ceremonies.

They arbi- principal functions of the Elders are to hear and decide all small causes. trate between parties and inflict fines. They assist in the collection of the land tax, regulate and supervise the holding of fairs, and are responsible for the repair of temples and wells. If desired, they have to find transport for travelling officials, see to the repair of river banks and imperial roads, and they organise the villages into bands for the protection of ripening crops.

Careful enquiries 23. These village councils should, I think, be maintained. should be instituted, and the most suitable men should be appointed village Elders, and to show them that their duty is now to the British Government, I should give to each selected Elder a written authority, with the seal and signature of the Corumis- This sioner, such as is given to Malay headmen in the Federated Malay States. authority states briefly the duties and powers of the holder. I am in favour of the principle of election, but the Commissioner must be able to appoint or dismiss an In the Malay States Elder should he find it necessary to exercise such authority.

always the appointment, promotion, retirement, or dismissal of native headmen left to the State Council. If ever there is such a body in Weihaiwei it might very well be entrusted with that amongst other duties.

The administration cannot, I think, afford to pay the Elders by fixed salaries. Either they must be remunerated as heretofore, or they must be granted some small allowance to be contributed by the villagers. It will probably be found best, at all events at first, to let them continue to receive what they have enjoyed hitherto, but an endeavour should be made to ascertain exactly what that is.

taxes.

24. The village councils should be under a District Magistrate, who will replace the Chinese official with the same title. He must supervise their work (interfering as little as possible unless appealed to, or to deal with some scandal or injustice), hear appeals from their decisions, and see that they collect and account for the proper The District Magistrate must be an experienced officer, and his jurisdiction, in and dealing with Chinese, might well extend to seven years rigorous imprisonment or a fine of 500 dollars in criminal cases. In civil suits he should have jurisdiction in all There would be an cases where the sum in dispute did not exceed, say, 1,000 dollars.

Under the Act appeal from the District Magistrate to the Commissioner's Court. of 1865 his jurisdiction should be as suggested in enclosure D.

25. In providing for the civil administration, which I consider necessary to do the work of the territory with some degree of efficiency, I have assumed that the present Military Commissioner (Colonel Dorward, R.E.) will continue to act as Civil Commissioner. If that arrangement stands, I think Colonel Dorward ought to be paid 2,400 dollars a year for his civil services. The heaviest part of the civil work, how- ever, must fall upon the officer who is responsible for the collection of the revenue, This the administration of justice, and the supervision of the village councils. officer I have called Assistant Commissioner and District Magistrate, and Mr. Barton, of the Consular Service, who is at present discharging the duties of assistant to I understand, Colonel Dorward, may for a time very well hold this appointment. however, that in a few years it will be more to his advantage to return to his own

service.

26. I feel sure that the proper course to adont in regard to this territory is to place it under the administration of an experienced civil officer who understands the Chinese language and people. If Colonel Dorward is moved from Weihaiwei, I recommend that such a civil officer be appointed Commissioner, and Mr. Barton need then only remain so long as is necessary to put the new Commissioner in possession

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of all the local information within Mr. Barton's knowledge. If my proposal is adopted (whenever most convenient to the Government) it will make a slight difference in the establishment, and I will deal with this as an alternative. I understand that Mr. Barton's salary is £350 a year and that he has been recommended for a special allow- ance while acting in Weihaiwei. All salaries and allowances should, in future, be calculated and paid in silver, and while the present arrangement lasts, and the Civil Commissioner is a military officer, the assistant should draw 4,800 dollars a year with quarters and the allowances I have provided. I do not regard the arrangement as entirely satisfactory. The Commissioner, if a military officer, will know nothing of Chinese, and probably very little of administration. A junior Consular officer, if he knows something of the language and people and even has some experience of magisterial work, will have had no training as an executive officer accustomed to deal with all the manifold questions of administration in an eastern dependency. What is really wanted is an able, experienced civilian, who understands the Chinese people and language, who knows his work thoroughly, and can put the administration of the territory on a sound footing, so that his successors will not be embarrassed by his mistakes. Such an officer cannot, of course, be got for 4,800 dollars, but as the allowance to the Military Commissioner will then be also available, he could receive 7.200 dollars for two or three years, and the salary might then be raised to 8,400 dollars on condition that the Commissioner himself continues to discharge the duties assigned to him without other non-professional assistance beyond which I have provided.

27. I have entered all the salaries at figures which are intended to be sufficient to avoid any suggestion of pension. I strongly advise that it be clearly laid down that there will be no pensions, at any rate until the British Government has decided to retain Weihaiwei permanently and holds the territory on some more definite terms than the occupation of Port Arthur by Russia. It will probably be advisable to make one exception to this rule, and that is in the case of the Civil Commissioner, when the time arrives for selecting an officer to fill that post. A thoroughly qualified man could only be obtained from some service whose members are entitled to pension privi- leges, and it might be necessary either to guarantee continuity of pensionable service or to indemnify the officer by a money payment. An arrangement must be made to supply the place of the Assistant Commissioner or Civil Commissioner when tem- porarily absent on leave. I suggest that an understanding be arrived at with the Hong Kong or Malay States Governments, by which an officer with Chinese expe- rience will be lent to Weihaiwci to act on his own salary with a small daily allowance. Any officer would be glad of the change to such a temperate climate, and if all his travelling expenses were paid, as they should be, it might not be necessary to give him any allowance. His salary would, of course, have to be paid by Weihaiwei. If this territory is retained, and if, in time, we could arrange for the emigration under Government auspices of some of the surplus population from Weihaiwei to the Malay States, it would be advisable to occasionally send a cadet to the territory to learn Chinese, and his services might be utilised to some extent by the Commissioner.

28. As I cannot hold out any hope of the revenue of Weihaiwei meeting the expenditure, and the Government, which has already spent over £150,000 on the place, must be prepared to incur a further considerable sum for quarters and roads. I hesitate to recommend anything in the way of staff or works beyond the barest neces- sities. Still, it is only right that I should record the views of the present Commis- sioner (Colonel Dorward, R.E.), with whom I have discussed the whole question, especially as his suggestions cannot be described as extravagant. Colonel Dorward's estimate is, roughly:-

Establishment Works Roads

Attached will be found estimate in detail.

$25,100

56,000

75,000

Total

$156,160

Colonel Dorward is very strongly in favour of the construction of some roads (a) because he says the natives ask for them, because it will show them that we are doing something to help them, and because it will facilitate traffic and possibly help to extend trade with the port; (b) because if Europeans settle in the territory a road

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