1841-1886
PAPERS RELATING TO
667
HONG KONG.
No. 2.
Governor Sir G. F. BOWEN, G.C.M.G., to the Right Hon. the EARL OF DERBY,
My LORD,
Government House, Hong Kong, July 18, 1883.
I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith the "Blue Book," or Statistical Returns, of Hong Kong for the year 1882,
2. As I assumed the government of this Dependency only on the 30th March ultimo, no part of the year 1882 fell within my administration. It would, consequently, be improper on my part to make any detailed remarks upon the accompanying statistics. But it may be useful that I should take this opportunity of forwarding, for publication in the annual parliamentary papers showing the general state of our colonies and dependencies, a short account of the present condition of this important outpost of the British Empire, which has been aptly called the "Gibraltar of the far East."
3. The island of Hong Kong* was ceded by China to Great Britain by the Treaty of Nankin, in 1842; and the charter, erecting it into a dependency of the British Crown bears date April 5, 1843. The late Lord Derby, who was then Secretary of State for the Colonies, wrote to the first Governor (Sir Henry Pottinger) on June 3, 1843, that "Hong Kong is occupied, not with a view to colonisation, but for diplomatic, commercial, and military purposes." So at a later period (July 29, 1856), another Colonial Minister† wrote: "The island of Hong Kong is held by the British Crown, not because of any natural advantages which it possesses, but simply as subsidiary to the intercourse between the British and Chinese Empires. In this point of view it is of great importance. Great commercial interests, and the future progress of civilisation throughout the East, are, to a great extent, involved in the maintenance of British rule and of orderly government in Hong Kong."
† Mr. Labouchere, afterwards Lord Taunton.
* Hong Kong is a Chinese word, signifying “Fragrant Streams,” in reference to the beauty and purity of the streams flowing from its mountains.
‡ Wealth of Nations, Book IV., chap. 7.
4. Hong Kong, like Gibraltar, is not, strictly speaking, a colony. Neither of these dependencies corresponds to either the Colonia of the Romans, which term, as Adam Smith has remarked,‡ is simply the "Plantation" of former English statesmen and political writers, or to the Colony of the Greeks, which they
1841-1886
PAPERS RELATING TO
667
HONG KONG.
No. 2.
Governor Sir G. F. BOWEN, G.C.M.G., to the Right Hon. the EARL OF DERBY,
Mr LORD,
Government House, Hong Kong, July 18, 1883.
I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith the "Blue Book," or Statistical Returns, of Hong Kong for the year 1882,
2. As I assumed the government of this Dependency only on the 30th March ultimo, no part of the year 1882 fell within my administration. It would, consequently, be improper on my part to make any detailed remarks upon the accompanying statistics. But it may be useful that I should take this opportunity of for- warding, for publication in the annual parliamentary papers show- ing the general state of our colouies and dependencies, a short account of the present condition of this important outpost of the British Empire, which has been aptly called the "Gibraltar of "the far East."
3. The island of Hong Kong* was ceded by China to Great Britain by the Treaty of Nankin, in 1842; and the charter, erecting it into a dependency of the British Crown bears date April 5, 1843. The late Lord Derby, who was then Secretary of State for the Colonies, wrote to the first Governor (Sir Henry Pottinger) on June 3, 1843, that "Hong Kong is occupied, not "with a view to colonisation, but for diplomatic, commercial, "and military purposes." So at a later period (July 29, 1856), another Colonial Ministert wrote: "The island of Hong Kong "is held by the British Crown, not because of any natural "advantages which it possesses, but simply as subsidiary to the "intercourse between the British and Chinese Empires. In this
point of view it is of great importance. Great commercial "interests, and the future progress of civilisation throughout the "East, are, to a great extent, involved in the maintenance of "British rule and of orderly government in Hong Kong."
(C
4. Hong Kong, like Gibraltar, is not, strictly speaking, a colony. Neither of these dependencies corresponds to either the Colonia" of the Romans, which term, as Adam Smith has re- marked,‡ is simply the " Plantation" of former English statesmen and political writers, or to the Colony of the Greeks, which they
*
Ilong Kong is a Chinese word, siguifying “Fragrant Streams,” in reference to the beauty and purity of the streams flowing from its mountains.
Mr. Labouchere, afterwards Lord Taunton.
Wealth of Nations, Book IV., chap. 7.
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