1941-01-20 — Page 56

CHINA MAIL, PAGE 8

1841

HONG KONG CENTENARY NUMBER

Adverse Report On Colony

(Continued from Page 6.)

The year 1840 was a fairly quiet oue, marked chiefly by much bit- ter friction between the judicial and executive branches of the Government. The junk trade re- vived again, but an attempt by merchants to oblain protection for ten shipped to Hong Kong failed. Opium was farm-let for $1,560 a month.

The Hong Kong Club opened on May 26, and Consuls were ap- pointed for both Denmark and Portugal.

The differences between The judicial and executive branches of the Government grew worse and worse in 1847 and culminated in the amazing spectacle of the trial of the Chief Justice by the Execu- tive Council.

The Governor, Sir John Davis, made an ineffectual military ex- pedition to Canton in an attempt to secure the fulfilment of the terms of the 1842 treaty; he also failed when he tried to establish commercial relations with Annam.

Adverse Report

In March, a Parliamentary Com- mission was appointed to enquire into commercial relations in China. It presented a very adverse report on the expensive estab- lishment in Hong Kong and on the hundred and one different mono- polies and petty regulations,

The foundation stone of St. John's Cathedral was laid on March 11, while a Court House was purchased from Dent & Co. In the field of trade, licences were substituted for the opitum farm- letting.

The opening up of gold-fields in Sacramento Valley in 1848 was not without its effect on Hong Kong, for this initiated commerce and coolie emigration to San Francisco, which grew rapidly in the following years.

Sir Samuel George Bonham as- sumed the Governorship in March, and, like his predecessors, found he had no sinecure on his hands. The great excess of expenditure over revenue forced the stoppage of public works and a reduction in establishments.

Severe Typhoon

Thirteen vessels were lost in a typhoon at the end of August. The Hong Kong and Canton Steam Packet Company was established in October the same year.

The year 1840 is chiefly noted by the failure of the Governor, in an interview with the Viceroy at Canton, to gain permission for merchants to enter the city, and by the passing of various ordin- ances connected with the adminis- tration of justice which were later superseded.

A determined drive in October resulted in the destruction of 83 pirate junks, and for a time nor- mal junk traders breathed more freely.

Mission Schools

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Lack of support resulted in the closing of various missionary schools, including the one English children opened four years before. St. John's Cathedral was opened in March and placed un- der a Bishop of Victoria created by Letters Patent, two

months later. The Victoria Regatta Club was formed in October.

A reguler s'enmer was put in. operation by the P. & O. between Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The year 1850 saw the start of the revolt which later developed into the Taiping Rebellion. With the accession of the Emperor Hlen-feng, the people of Kwangsi

(long in a disturbed state) hoped for some relief from oppression, and when they found none was forthcoming, they proclaimed as Emperor a youth who was said to be the representative of the last emperor of the Ming dynasty.

Disease And Pirates

Hong Kong was still quiet, how- ever, its main battles being with disease and pirates. Thirteen pirate junks were destroyed in

Out of Mirs Bay in March. total strength of 588 men, the 59th Regiment lost 136, chiefly from fever. There was another scafe

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in May when plague broke out in Canton, but it fortunately did not spread to Hong Kong.

Bishop Smith (Hong Kong's first bishop) arrived in March, becom- ing chairman of the educational committee, which administered government grants to schools and took charge of St. Paul's College. In 1851, another of the disas- trous fires which affected Hong

during the year.

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Despite the destruction large pirate fleet on May, 1853,

no less than 70 piracies occurred during the year, the most notable being that of the Aratoon Apcar in August.

An attempt to revive the school for English children failed.

Emil- gration to Australia began and that to British Guiana was placed On a proper footing. The import of opium was legalised by Chinese Government.

War In Kowloon

the

to

War-like activity returned the vicinity of the Colony in 1854, when Kowloon City and other towns to the north-east of Hong Kong were taken, lost and re- taken by the Taipings and the Emperor's forces.

Refugees from South China had begun to seek shelter in Hong Kong the year before, and when the Taipings blockaded the Canton River and threatened the city.

nominated by the Justices of the Peace to the Council (which pre- viously consisted of the Governor and three officials) and in 1855 the Council was further increased tc three unofficial and six official

nembers.

Headline news in 1856 was the famous "Arrow" incident, which was dealt with in the earlier part of this article and which even- tually led to another war with China,

Serious fires at Taipingshan and the Western Market kept the Volunteer Fire Brigade and the Chinese Fire Brigade, both which had just been organised, on their toes.

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The Secretary of State refused to consider a proposal to licence gambling houses.

In January, 1857, the 5.S. "Feima" and "Thistle" were cap- tured by Chinese soldiers, just another incident on the road to conflict, a road which neared its end when, as already related, 400 Europeans, or about a third of

An interesting picture taken in 1886, The party includes or sixteen

different types of sonalities of the time and between them they are wearing fifteen fifteen or alxteen leading per. headwear. The picture includes W. H. Ray, with his hand extended over the head of R Miss Sutton. Othors are Messrs. Bre win, Metcalf, J. T. Vernon, Hawking, Lambart, Graham, Bram-

well and Bowles.

Kong's early years broke out and destroyed over 470 houses north of Queen's Road before it was got under control.

The London Mission Hospital had closed the previous year owing to lack of support, but in May, 1851, the London Missionary Society opened a clinic for the treatment of out-patients.

The Cricket Club was establish- ed in June.

Hong Kong benefit.ed in 1852 by the great increase in emigra- tion to the Straits Settlements and to California. For a while, emi- gration to Peru also benefitted Hong Kong, but finally abuses con- nected with this trade forced it to be abandoned.

In view of the discount ότι Mexican dollars, Indian rupees and British currency, the coinage of a Hong Kong dollar was first mooted, although it was some years before this actually came into being.

Fortnightly communication with England was provided when the P. & O. established regular monthly service between Hong Kong and Calcutta. There were 18 cases of plracles in local waters

many more came down to the Colony.

At the beginning of 1855, both the Taiping and Imperialist fleets were ordered out of Hong Kong harbour. A British force was sent from Hong Kong to Canton, and the rebels promptly retired from the river. Sir John Bowring, who had assumed the Governorship the year before, failed to get any re- cognition of this "service from the Canton Viceroy.

Police Enquiry

Among the purely local "head- lines" this year was an enquiry into the administration of the police force; the death of 800 Chinese (whose population was then around 70,000)` from fever between February 2 and April'4; and another serious fire in the heart of the city.

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European lot-holders got very hot under the collar and opposed the Praya scheme which re-estað- lished crown rights over the re-. claimed foreshore.

The Legislative Council con- tinued to grow slowly. In 1850, two unofficial members were

the white populaton, were poison- ed when arsenic was put in the bread baked by the "E-sing Bakery."

The junk trade fell off as a re- sult of the Canton river blockade, but

piracies decreased sharply after February.

Three official and one unofficial members were added to the Legis- lative Council, while Hong Kong- felt itself taking its place among the modern cities of the world when it was announced that the town was now lighted by 350 oil lamps.

The principal event of 1858 was the capture of Canton.by allied forces, and it remained under for- eign administration for the next three years while the war was transferred to North China,

A public meeting was held in July to discuss the position caused by the exodus of Chinese from Hong Kong and the stoppage of supplies to the Colony, both of which were enforced by the Chin- ese officials. This eventually re- sulted in the capture of Namtau.

Much, disease prevailed in the Colony, Asiatic cholera and hy- (Continued on Page 10.)

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