Ho
3
6.
select Committee 184%]) and so late as 1850 I Find a great Reformer at that Colony wrote to a Member of Parliament: -
"Government, ignorantly and unintentionally " nedoubt, has throughout adhered to a course "which deters rather than encourages
Native “Traders ; and there are instances so num- "-erous and striking(?) of respectable Chinese who came here to traffic, having through "the mistakes of Government and the blind " and blundering administration of the laws "narrowly escaped the fate of felons de
$
A Merchant, Justice of the Peace, and Member of the Legislative Council under date 10th April.
1850 say, there is a
Banking establishment "here, but its business is chiefly done at Canton " and Shanghae, There are two American "Commercial Firms (Agencies) here, and one "Danish; the rest of the inhabitants, besides "those in the pay of the British Government " are a few European Storekeepers, some. Mission aries, and a seanty population of Chinese None of the latter possessed of any property " and many of them are people of bad réputé This gentleman in a subsequent note of the 12th April 1850 says in answer to a note addressed to him by the first writer :
〃
A
For
are
years past Europeans have been " wonderfully safe; I know of many others "besides myself that have travelled at all hours "and met with nothing to make us afraid "nor are such cases of attack frequent in the "Police Reports, you you say there is as
a scarcity
"
of population of Chinese! Do you think so? "They far outnumber all the rest put together "Chinese of substance there are few, if any
Again in 1551, quoting from Further Statement and Suggestions regarding stong Kong", in which it is admitted that the population had increases, being then 33.292
of
which 465 were
Europeans and Americans, men, women and children, and 31.987. Chinese the rest being Indians, Kalays, Portuguese of Macar & Go &c. &c, it is sreid:
" Hong Kong has really no redeeming point "at this moment. The little trade that * existed from 1843 to 184] has gradually become
#
published in the Friend of China Newspaper.
532
dissolved. There is no inducement for Chines- to bring produce there, or to settle for the purposes " of trade
Imean men who have means and some influence and who could do business. "with foreigners!"
At the close of the
of Hong Kong was 72000 or 73000 and therefore.
year 1855 the populatio at least 7ooon
1000n Chinese - many of them possessed of large House property, purchased during that year and others occupying houses owner- by Europeans, for which they pais good if not high rentals. Large sums have been Invested by those Chinese in the purchase of Land and for the Buildings erected theren and large Capitals re brought to Hong Hong for carrying on their trade - The vessels carrying the passengers and goods to Califonia and Australia were chartered by them through the medium of the foreign houses, or agents
were
Some of the Chin chew merchants at lart settled in the Colony, bringing with them the so long desired trade with the Coast, Fomors Be. To facilitate the trade with those places they built Lorchas; but when built they could not obtain a flag for them; and amongst those who had such craft.
were some Chinese
rending at Hong Kong ever since it was taken possession of or rather since it was declared a British possession; The consequen was that they engaged a British Commandr and a fictitious Bill of Sale was made through which he obtained a Register for the
vessel in his name, and the cmosequence was that in some instances the actual owner ost
his property - some other people would for a consideration represent themselves as the rights owners, obtain the Register in their games an leave the management to the owner-
use
Good reason exists to suppose that also the Patriots, Rebels, or something else, faccording to different persons notions) made of the British flag; and it was to prevent these, and many other illegal acts, which resules from the improper use of Registers granterat Hong Kong under the "provisions of the Imperial acts, to bessels en china, to protect the legal employed solely the main- land of
in
hading
and to prevent illegal trading that the
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