# STUDIES OF ADMINISTRATION IN THE TROPICS.
(BY ALLEYNE IRELAND, AUTHOR OF "TROPICAL COLONIZATION.")
ARTICLE III. HONG KONG
The conclusion of the Chinese War of 1840-42, generally referred to as the "Opium War"—a title as applicable to the circumstances of its origin as "Tea War" would be to those of the American War of Independence—found China under the necessity of signing, for the first time in her history, a treaty of concession to foreigners; and the Island of Hong-kong, 40 square miles in extent, was ceded to England.
We took it over, a barren rock, without roads, almost without buildings, innocent of commerce, destitute of means of communication, its only asset a fine harbour which had served as a convenient anchorage for piratical junks. To-day Hong-kong is the largest port in the world, its shipping having increased from 187,000 tons entered in 1845 to 9,000,000 tons entered in 1891. The development of the Colony has kept pace with the growth of its shipping; and where within the memory of man a few huts disfigured the narrow shore, there stands to-day the city of Victoria, a city of banks, hotels, warehouses, clubs, telephones, electric light, cable cars, a daily Press, schools, and churches. The rise of Hong-kong and its present condition, but more particularly its future destiny, suggest a number of questions of Imperial interest; but I am concerned at present rather with the history and condition of Hong-kong as material for a study of colonial administration than with matters of commerce or of political prophecy.
When it has been said that the British officials in Hong-kong do not steal public money; that justice is administered honestly; that life and property are as secure in the Colony as they are in London; that two or three of the Government Departments are well managed, the Harbour Department and the Medical Department conspicuously so; and that the Civil Service of the Colony contains a number of men who are possessed of high qualifications, and fail to be useful public servants only because in Hong-kong, as in some other places in the British Empire, it is considered the worst of bad form to be interested in one's work, the most ardent admirer of British rule finds himself at a loss to discover much else in the administration of Hong-kong of which he can speak well. It may be said with truth that the Colony is prosperous, that there is scarcely any place in the world which can show such a record of progress during the past half-century; and the success of the Colony may be held up as a reply, full of eloquent silence, to any criticism of the Government or of its servants. But, as a matter of fact, the general prosperity of Hong-kong, granted the protection of life and property and the honest administration of justice, has never depended on Government; for although, in matters of policy, the efficiency of the unwise counsels have from time to time worked great injury to the interests of the Colony, its commercial activity has always rested on external causes operating in such a way as to be unaffected by the course of internal administration.
Before passing to a consideration of local affairs, attention may be directed to the matter in which the responsibility for error of policy rests with the Imperial authorities. The life of Hong-kong is its shipping, its commercial importance depending entirely on the convenience of the port for the immense seaborne trade of the Far East.
Owing to the abrupt hills at a distance of but a few hundred yards from the sea, the land available for warehouses and for other buildings connected with the shipping was from the first most limited in extent and soon proved entirely inadequate for the growing needs of the port. In order to overcome this grave impediment to the development of the Colony, it has from time to time undertaken reclamation work on an extended scale; a sea wall has been pushed gradually further and further into the harbour. The amount of money spent on this work already exceeds $5,000,000; and the Praya Reclamation Scheme, having as its ultimate object the filling in of a very large area between Murray Pier and Causeway Bay, is regarded by everybody as absolutely essential to the future welfare of the Colony. Despite the earnest protests of successive Governors and of nearly every prominent man in Hong-kong, the Colonial Office has permitted the Admiralty to construct in the very centre of the proposed reclamation a large dock for the use of the British Navy. The result is that the town is cut in half in the middle of what was to have been its great thoroughfare, and the settled ambition of the Colony to have a fine, continuous sea wall from one end of the town to the other has been defeated. To the people of Hong-kong, the construction of this dock has the appearance of a deliberate and wanton injury to the interests of the Colony, for no place could have been chosen more completely unsuitable for a large dock. The sea-bottom is of mud, and the most extravagant expenditure is necessary to make the dock water-tight; it is so situated that there is no room for expansion; all vessels entering or leaving it will have to lie right in the fair-way of the harbour; and there is no room near the dock for the houses of the workmen. It would be interesting to know why the selection of this site should have been persisted in when, before a single pile had been driven, we had acquired the new territory which offers opportunities for dock construction unsurpassed in any part of the world; the more so since the Colony would have gladly paid the Admiralty a price for its rights on the Hong-kong sea front which would have covered the entire cost of constructing a dock in the new territory, and would have made a large free grant of land for the purpose of a naval station there.
Hong-kong is a Crown Colony—that is, a Colony where no important work can be undertaken or expenditure incurred without the consent of the Colonial Office, and where no law can come into operation until the assent of the Crown has been obtained. The people are represented in the Legislative Council, but the Government controls a substantial majority of the votes, and no measure can be carried against the wishes of the Governor. Such a form of government possesses great advantages for a Colony in which the population is made up of a few white men surrounded by an overwhelming number of natives; but it is above all things necessary in such a Government that the officials should be capable administrators, men of broad views and a tolerant habit of mind; and from the peculiar difficulty of controlling a large Chinese population, there is special need in Hong-kong of a fixed policy and of permanent tenure of office for those charged with its fulfilment. In these respects, Hong-kong has been from the first most unfortunate. As early as 1859, The Times wrote:-
Some Hong-kong is always connected with discreditable internal squabbles. Every official's hand is there against his neighbour. The Governor has run away to seek health or quiet elsewhere.
The newspaper proprietors were, of late, all more or less in prison or going to prison or coming out of prison, on prosecutions by some one or more of the incriminated or incriminating officials. A dictator is needed, a sensible man, a man of tact and firmness. We cannot be always investigating a storm in a teapot where each individual tea-leaf has its dignity and its grievance.—The Times, March 15, 1859.
The present unsatisfactory state of the Administration is due in a great measure to a heritage of disorder and lack of system. In passing the following criticisms on the state of the colony, I wish to disclaim any intention of making a personal attack upon any official; and no one who has spent four months, as I recently did, in the colony could fail to be impressed, as I was, with the fact that in the senior as well as in the junior ranks of the service, there are a few men of the highest ability and usefulness, nor could he fail to notice that such men were few and not many. On my first arrival in the colony, I found the Governor absent on leave, the administration of the government being in the hands of the general commanding the troops. This fact raises a question which I have often discussed with colonial civil servants, namely, the advisability of allowing...
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STUDIES OF ADMINISTRATION IN THE TROPICS.
(BY ALLEYNE IRELAND, AUTHOS OF
COLONIZATION.")
ARTICLE III. HONG KONG
TROPICAL
The conclusion of the Chinese War of 1840-42, generally referred to as the "Opinza War"- title as applicable to the circumstances of its origin as "Tea War" would be to those of the American War of Independence found China under the necessity of signing, for the first time in her history, a treaty of concession to foreigners; and the Island of Hong-kong, 40 square miles in extent, was ceded to England.
We took it over, a barren roek, without roads, almost without buildings, innocent of commercs, des.itute of means of communication, its only asset a une harbour which had served as a con- venient anchorage for piratical junks. To-day Hong-kong is the largest part in the world, its shipping having increased from 187,000 tons entered in 1845 to 9,000,000 tons entered in 1801. The development of the Colony has kept pace with the growth of its shipping; and where within the memory of man a few and huts disfigured the narrow share there stands to-day the city of Victoria, a city of banks, hotels, warehouses, clubs, telephones, electric light, cable cars, a daily Press, schools, and churches. The rise of Hong-kong and its pre- sent condition, but more particularly its future destiny, suggest a number of questions of Imperial interest; but I am concerned at present rather with the history and condition of Hong-kong as material for a study of colonial administration than with matters of commerce or of political prophecy.
When it has been said that the British officials in Hong-kong do not steal public money; that justice is administered honestly; that life and property are as secure in the Colony as they are in London; that two or three of the Government Departments are well managed, the Harbour Department and the Medical Department con- spicuously so; and that the Civil Service of the Colony contains a mumber of men who are possessed of high qualifications, and fail to be useful public servants only because in Hong-kong, as in some other places in the British Empire, it is considered the worst of bad form to be interested in one's work, the most ardent admirer of British rule finds himself at a loss to discover much else in the administration of Hong-kong of which he can speak well. It may be said with truth that the Colony is prosperous, that there is scarcely any place in the world which can show such a record of progress during the past half- century; and the success of the Colony may be held up as a reply, full of eloquent silence, to any criticism of the Government or of its servants. But, as a matter of fact, the general prosperity of Hong-kong, granted the protection of life and property and the honest administration of justice, has never depended on Government; for although, in matters of policy, the efficiency of the unwise counsels have from time to time worked great injury to the interests of the Colony, its coramercial activity has always rested on external causes operating in such a way as to be unaffected by the course of internal administration.
Before passing to a consideration of local affairs attention may be directed which the responsibility for error of policy reats with the Imperial authorities. The life of Hongkong is its shipping, its commercial importance depending entirely on the convenience of the for the immense seaborne trade of the Far. port 29 a depôt East.
Owing to the abrupt hills at a distance of but a
to a matter in a very grave
rise of the of yards from the sea, the land available for few hundreds warehouses and for other buildings connected with the shipping was from the first most limited in
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the growing needs of the port. In order to over- | come this grave impediment to itellopweft the Colony has from time to time undertaken
reclamation work on an extended Reis AD ! 03, sea wall has been pushed graduall her and506
further into the harbour. The amount of money spent on this work already exceeds $5,000,000; and the Praya Reclamation Scheme, having as its ultimate object the filling in of a very large area between Murray Tier and Causeway Bay, is regarded by everybody az absolutely essen- tial to the future welfare of the Colony. Despite the earnest protesta of successive Governors and of nearly every prominent man in Hong-kong the Colonial Office has permitted the Admiralty to construct in the very centre of the proposed reclamation a large dock for the use of the British Navy. The result is that the town is cut in half in the middle of what was to have been its great thoroughfare, and the settled ambition of the Colony to have a fine, continuous ses wall from one end of the town to the other has been de- feated. To the people of Hong-kong the construct- ion of this dook has the appearance of a deliberate and wantou injury to the interests of the Colony.for no place could have been chosen more completely unsuitable for a large dock. The sea-bottom is of mud and the most extravagant expenditure is necessary to make the dock water-tight; it is so siluated that there is no room for expansion; all vessels entering or leaving it will have to lie right in the fair-way of the harbour; and there is no room near the dock for the houses of the work- men. It would be interesting to know why the selection of this site should have been persisted in when, before a single pile had been driven, we had acquired the new territory which offers oppor tunities for dock construction unsurpassed in any part of the world; the more so since the Colony would bave gladly paid the Admiralty a price for its rights on the Hong-kong ses front which would have covered the entire cost of constructing a dock in the new territory, and would have made a largo free grant of land for the purpose of a naval station there.
Hong-kong is a Crown Colony--that is, a Colony where no important work can be under- taken or expenditure incurred without the con- sent of the Colonial Office, and where no law can eome into operation until the assent of the Crown has been obtained. The people are represented in the Legislative Council, but the Government controls a substantial majority of the votes, and no measure can be carried against the wishes of the Governor. Such a form of government possesses great advantages for a Colony in which the popula tion is made up of a few white men surrounded by an overwhelming number of natives; but it is above all things necessary in such a Government that the officials should be capable administrators, men of broad views and a tolerant habit of mind; aud from the peculiar difficulty of controlling a large Chinese population there is special need in Boug- kong of a fixed policy and of permanent tenure of office for those charged with its fulfilment. In these respects Hong-kong has been from the first most unfortunate. As early as 1859 The Times wrote :-
Some
Hong-kong is always connected with. discreditable internal squabble. Every official's hand is there against his neighbour. The Govenor has ran away to seek health or quict elsewhere.
The newspaper proprietors were, of late, all more or less in prison or going to prison or coming out of prison, on prosecutions by some one or more of the incriminated or incriminating officials. A dictator is needed, a sensible man, à man of tact and frances. We can- not be always investigating a storm in a teapot where each individual tea-leaf has its dignity and its grievance.-The Times, March 15, 1859.
The present unsatisfactory state of the Admini- stration is dne in a great measure to a heritage of disorder and lack of system. In passing the following criticisms on the state of the colony I wish to disclaim any intention of making a personal attack upon any official; and no one who has spent four months, as I recently did, in the colony could fail to be impressed, as I was, with the fact that in the senior as well as in the junior ranks of the service there are a few men of the highest ability and usefulness, nor could he fail to notice that such men were few and not many. On my first arrival in the colony I found the Gover- bor absent on leave, the administration of the government being in the hands of the general commanding the troops. This fact raises a ques- tion which I have often discussed with colonial
extent and soon proved entirely inadequate for Civil servants namely the advisability of allowing
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