CO129-289 - Individuals - 1898 — Page 214

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boundary, running along the crest of the hills, is easy of defence, and would help to check smuggling. It renders unnecessary the separation of villages hitherto united, removes all danger of disputes about water rights, and obviates any interference with the present system of local self-government, on the support of which the success of British administration in the new territory must to a great extent depend.

It should also be noted that, according to the map attached to the Convention, This places the 113° 52′ E. longitude is the western boundary of the new territory. south-west part of the island of Lafftao outside the area to be leased. To obviate such an untenable position, 113° 50' E. fongitude should be taken as the limit of the western boundary.

PREVENTION OF SMUGGLING.

The question of smuggling from Hong Kong is one which has given more trouble than almost any other ever since the foundation of the colony. Steps have been taken again and again to prevent smuggling, and to aid China in the collection of its revenue, and all the return the Government of Hong Kong has received from the Chinese for these attempts to assist them has been the establishment of Customs barriers at the crimees to the harbour of Hong Kong (see Map XI.), and a watchful patrol of the waters adjacent to the colony by cruisers and launches of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs, ever ready to overhaul the native shipping going to and from Hong Kong. Those who treat the question of smuggling from the Chinese point of view seem to forget what has been done in the past by Hong Kong on behalf of China. They are fond of describing the colony as a centre of smuggling, and drawing very exaggerated The accounts of such pictures of the smuggling operations carried on from there.

persons should be largely discounted.

The whole difficulty lies in the geographical position of the Colony of Hong Kong, which is so situated that smuggling into China may be checked, but can never be alto- gether prevented. It is obvions that the extension of the colony will not decrease the facilities for smuggling, especially if a mere stream instead of a well-defined range of hills is selected as a boundary.

Opium has always been the chief article smuggled. To prevent the smuggling of it special legislation has been introduced by the Government of Hong Kong, which has resulted in a considerable decrease of its revenue, whilst China still maintains around Hong Kong a fleet of cruisers and launches.

If it is considered desirable, in view of the pledge given by Great Britain to China to prevent, so far as possible, sinuggling, to still further control the export of opium from Hong Kong, I am of opinion that this can be best effected by a bonding system.

All opium, on its arrival at Hong Kong from India, should be bonded, and no opium should be allowed to be removed from bond except under proper guarantees as to its destination, or shipped without the harbour master being furnished with a copy of the bill of lading.

The Customs of China should be supplied with regular returns of all shipments. The Opium Farmer of Hong Kong should be made to account clearly for every chest of raw opium supplied to him, and should not be allowed to handle more raw opium than is necessary to meet the opium-smoking requirements of Hong Kong and of the new territory, and the demands of the prepared opium export trade to Australia, America, and elsewhere.

These precautionary measures are sure to decrease the revenue of Hong Kong. If they are adopted, the Government of China should not hesitate either to lease the whole of the San Op district or to adopt that boundary line which is the best in the interests of all parties 'concerned.

KOWLOON CITY.

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The city of Kowloon is called in Chinese Kaufung Shing. The term Shing is the ordinary one used for å city by the Chinese. It'originally seems to have signified a rampart surrounding a space; but it is now always applied to a city surrounded by a wall or rampart, as all Chinese cities are. The Convention refers to the retention of jurisdiction within the city of Kowloon," thus clearly showing that the walled city is

meant.

Kowloon is situated about a quarter of a mile from the sea shore. It is enclosed by a stone wall built in 1847, forming as nearly as possible a parallelogram, measuring 700 feet by 400 feet, and enclosing an area of 6 acres. The wall is built of granite ashlar facing, is 15 feet in width at the top, and averages in height 13 feet. The wall has six.

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watch towers, at present occupied as family dwellings, and two gateways, with doors made of wood and lined with iron sheeting. The parapet wall is built of granite, and has 119 embrasures. It is approached by four flights of stone steps. (See Sketch Plans of Kowloon City and Neighbourhood, Maps VIII. and IX., and photographs.)

According to a return (see Appendix ) furnished by the Deputy Magistrate, the total population of Kowloon city is 744; the garrison amounts to 544; the civil population to 200. The officials stationed within the city are, with the exception of one civil officer, a Deputy Magistrate, military officers, the head of whom is the Colonel Commanding. This officer is the chief military officer in the district of Say O; is immediately subordinate to the Ti Tu, or General in Command of all the land forces in the province of Kwong-tung. The Colonel's jurisdiction is purely a military one, ex- tending over the whole district of Say Of and the islands adjacent thereto. His original headquarters were at Tang (see Map VII., showing residences of officials), and his official designation is still Tai Pang Hip, or Colonel stationed at ang at which place he has a yamên, or official quartersThe reason for his having taken up a resi dence within the city of Kowloon was to place him in closer relations with the Colony of Hong Kong.

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As the garrison now under the command of the Colonel is maintained for the defence of the district of Saf Of and the adjoining islands, and as the larger portion of that district and most of the islands are to be leased by the British Government, most of the soldiers now supposed to exist under the Colonel's command will be disbanded or transferred elsewhere, whilst the services of those retained will be required not within, but outside the territory referred to in the Convention. The residence, therefore, of the Colonel Commanding and of his troops within the city of Kowloon is entirely unneces- But even if it were necessary, the military requirements for the defence of Hong Kong must surely render it impossible to allow the retention in the very heart of the territory of a garrison of soldiers belonging to a foreign power, however friendly that power may be.

sary.

The only civil officer resident within the city is a Deputy Magistrate. He is appointed not to control the 200 civilians resident within the city, who are really subject to the military, but to exercise a somewhat extensive jurisdiction outside the city, throughout a large portion of the new area. When that area has been taken over, there appears to be no reason why this office of Deputy Magistrate should continue to exist, as the jurisdiction now exercised by him will be merged in the administration of the territory under British rule.

The civil population within the city of Kowloon, amounting to 200, lives there simply because it is dependent on the military. It does not engage in trade, there being no shops of any kind within the city. If the military remove from the city/the civil population is sure to follow, so that there will be no one remaining over whom'a Chinese officer could exercise jurisdiction.

In any case it appears to be entirely inconsistent with the military requirements for the defence of Hong Kong to allow a garrison town like Kowloon to be occupied per- manently by Chinese military officers and troops. If that view be accepted, there seems to be nothing to justify the retention of Chinese jurisdiction in any shape or form within the city, for without the garrison the population will, it is certain, be reduced to nothing.

Should any civilians remain after the removal of the military, they might be allowed to establish a native tribunal presided over by the elders and gentry, but subject, of course, in the same way as the other native tribunals throughout the territory, to the control of the travelling magistrate, and possessing the right of appeal to the Council of the Tung, and finally to the Resident Commissioner.

In conclusion, it may, I trust, be gathered from the account of the new territory that it will form a valuable extension of Hong Kong. It is favourably situated, has good harbours, with safe anchorages, possesses a rich soil, and is inhabited by an indus- trious, hardy, and frugal race. Under Chinese rule enterprise has been at a discount, and progress has been at a standstill for centuries. The Sap Of district of to-day must be much the same as it was four or five hundred years ago. But when British rule is established, and the people realise that justice prevails, that they are allowed to pursue their avocations in peace and freedom from illicit extortions, and that there is no unnecessary interference with their manners and customs, the spirit of enterprise will soon manifest itself, capitalists will be attracted to a region where their capital is not liable to official "squeezes," the resources of the country will be developed, and its prosperity will continue to increase.

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J. H. STEWART LOCKHART.

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