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"We learn that the system has been inaugurated in Shanghae and other places with some success, and it is advisable to extend it to apply to all the provinces. But local con- ditions have to be considered, and we therefore ask that the Viceroys and Governors may be instructed to report upon the matter as it affects their various provinces."
The above seems to throw some light upon the recent attempt (as reported in despatch No. 25, 1902, General) to institute a tax upon prepared opium in Kuang-tung.
A request has been received from the Namhoi Magistrate with respect to the house tax, that Messrs. Watson and Co., chemists, who occupy premises belonging to a Chinese landlord on the opposite side of the canal from Shameen, may be instructed, as tenants, to pay the tax. The amount claimed in this respect is very small, but His Majesty's Consul- General has declined to convey the desired instructions, on the ground that such a tax, imposed upon British merchants, is not justified by Treaty or by any of the Regulations sanctioned as applying to foreign trade and commerce.
According to the house tax Regulations, the tax is ultimately due from the landlord, the tenants being required to advance the money and being allowed to hand their receipts to the landlord in part payment of rent. In the case of Messrs. Watson and Co., it seems more proper, in principle, for the tax to be paid direct by the landlord.
Visit of the Chinese Consul-General for Singapore (Confidential),
The Chinese Consul-General for Singapore paid a visit to His Majesty's Consul- General on the 30th January last. He stated that there was still a good deal of uneasiness in Peking about K'ang Yu Wei, who is now in Singapore, and that it was believed he was intending to attempt a scheme of rebellion and to get assistance from the Australian Chinese. The Consul-General some time back received orders from Peking by despatch to proceed to Australia on a special mission to influential Chinese there, and warn them against Kang's machinations. He replied suggesting the advisability of leaving K'ang and his schemes alone, and pointing out that any action taken against him would only increase his importance in the eyes of Chinese over the sea, and give an impression that the Court and Government feared K'ang. The Consul-General has now received peremptory orders by telegraph, which he is compelled to obey. His theory is that this crusade against K'ang is made at the suggestion of his Excellency Shêng Kung Pao, who is in this way trying to secure the favour of the dominant party at Court.
Yang Wen-ch'un and the Tariff Commission.
On the 14th February, His Majesty's Consul-General received a telegram from Sir James Mackay, stating that Yang Wen Ch'un, formerly Intendant of the Lei Chiung circuit of this province, had been nominated as an associate with his Excellency Shêng in the Tariff negotiations, and that according to a Shanghae paper, he had been dismissed from his former post for corruption. Sir James Mackay asked that he might be informed as to the correctness or otherwise of the statement.
It was found that the officer in question had been denounced to the Throne in 1895 for corruption, intriguing and licentious conduct, and had accordingly been dismissed "never to be re-employed." His Excellency the Tariff Commissioner was duly informed by telegraph of these particulars.
The Kuang-hsi Rising.
Particulars and news of the Kuang-hsi disturbances have already been furnished in despatches Nos. 17, 23, 27, 29, and 32, General, It would appear from news which arrives viâ Wuchow that order is gradually being restored. The transit trade with Nanning is being carried on as usual, and there does not seem any probability of serious develop- ments, the only danger being that of possible complications with the French authorities in consequence of the murder by brigands of two French officers on the Tongquin frontier; which the Chinese authorities declare occurred within French territory.
The latest news from His Majesty's Consul at Wuchow, dated the 11th April, is as follows:-
"I have just seen a boatman from Nanning who says all is quiet there--that is about three weeks ago. According to him the robbers are most numerous about Pose, where
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they are supposed to amount to 2,000 or 3,000. In the Yung Shun district he are some hundreds, but they keep away from the river.”
says
there
Posê is an important mart in Kuang-hsi, near the Yünnan frontier, and is the head of navigation of the Yu Kiang or Nauning branch of the West River.
The district city of Yung Shun lies on the West River 242 miles above Wuchow, and 77miles below Nanning.
Educational Matters,
The Kuang Ya hu Yüan, one of the chief educational institutions in Canton, is being reorganized under the Viceroy's patronage so as to provide for modern education as well as for the ordinary Chinese curriculum. The staff is intended to consist for the future of twenty professors, all native, of whom one-half are to give instruction in modern science, principally chemistry and physics.
Many applications have been received lately for admission to the T'ung Wên College. The accommodation of the college is, however, very limited, and most of the applications have been refused for that reason.
During the past four months the Viceroy has applied on behalf of fifteen students for visée of their passports, and for assistance and protection to be granted them during their travels abroad in England, the United States, Japan, the Straits, &c. The journeys were in every case undertaken for educational purposes, with the special approval and encouragement of the Viceroy and at the expense of the students themselves.
Plague Patients returning from Hong Kong to Canton.
Under instructions from the Colonial Office, his Excellency, the Governor of Hong Kong, has stated that he will not raise any objection under the Venice Convention to the return of plaque patients from Hong Kong to Canton, provided that satisfactory arrange- ments are made for their reception and treatment, that proper steps are taken to disinfect the boats in which they are sent up, and, generally, that adequate means are adopted to prevent the spread of infection.
The charitable associations and hospitals of Canton have now declared their willingness to make the following arrangements respecting this matter:-
They will send men to meet all steamers coming from Hong Kong, who will take charge of any infected persons on board and carry them to the hospitals direct.
Experienced medical men will be obtained to give full attention to the proper treat- ment of such patients. The rooms in which they are placed will be cleansed and purified so as to prevent the spread of infection.
The question of disinfecting ships in which such patients arrive is being considered by the Commissioner of Customs.
The above proposed arrangements have been submitted for the approval of the Hong Kong Government.
Mission Affairs,
an Imperial Edict On the 29th January, there appeared in the "Official Gazette " referring to a telegram from the Viceroy announcing the mysterious murder of a priest (Father Julien) and two converts at Ma Sbih Hsü, in the Shih sing district of Kuang-tung. The Edict commanded that the Magistrate of the district should be remoyed from office for delay in reporting the matter and for his failure to arrest the
murderers.
The missionary in question had formerly resided in the East River region; it is stated by the Chinese authorities that be had incurred the hatred of a native family, and that popular feeling against him personally became so strong that he had been removed to Shih Hsing district, in the north of the province, He was after some time followed thither by members of the family referred to, who stabbed him to death while he was sitting at table. Two converts were also murdered at the time. The view of the authorities and the Protestant missionaries is that the crime was simply one of private revenge for a family wrong, and not essentially anti-mission or anti-foreign.
Five men have been arrested in connection with the murder and sentenced to Execution. Report says that a claim for 40,000 taels compensation has been lodged by the French Cousul with the Viceroy.
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