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WEST RIVER PIKACY.
China Association's Strong Protest,
Rousing Addresses.
An extraordinary meeting of mem bers of the Hongkong Branch of the China Association was held Saturday, to which the Press were invited, for the purpose of discussing the question of piracy on the West liver. There was a large attend- ance. Mr. Murray Stewart, Chair- man of the Hongkong Branch of the Association, presided. Among others present were:-Hon. Mr. W. J. Gresson, Hon. Mr. E. Osborne, Mossrs. D. R. Law, A. G. Wood, H. N. Mody, W. G. Humphreys, T. F. Hough, H. P. White, T. P. Cochrane, E. J. Grist, Geo. Simms, Geo. Tomlin, C. D. Wilkinson, J. Scott Harston, Capt. W. E. Clarke, M. W. Slade, T. Skinner, H. W. Looker, H. H. J. Gompertz, J. Hastings, H. E. R. Hunter, E. J. Barrett, H. Pinckney, W. Parlane, Geo. H. Medhurst, F. Smythe, G. C. Moxon, H. W. Slade, W. J. Saunders, J. W. Kew, W. Ramsay and others.
THE CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS.
Mr. M. Stewart said: Gentlemen, In calling this meeting together your committee have no other motive than an earnest desire to strengthen the hands of those whose, official duty it is to assist in obtain- ing satisfaction for a gross viola- tion of the British flag; to bring to justice the perpetrators of a dia- bolical outrage; and to insist that in future the Chinese authorities re- sponsible for the safety of traders on the West River shall be made to Fulfil their repeated promises of providing adequate protection.
I am a believer in the friendly- watchdog theory of this Association. I conceive it to be no part of our business
unnecessarily to worry British officials who are doing their utmost to further the interests com- mitted to their care. As a rule, in my view, it is only incumbent on as to offer an opinion when, looking at matters from a commercial stand- point we are impressed by aspects possibly in danger of being obscured by consideration of a different order. On the subject which we are here to discuss it may seem to some of you inconceivable that there possibly exist any difference be tween official and mercantile views. It may seem to you a matter of certainty that every British official concerned, high or low, at home or abroad, from the Secretary of State in London to the Vice Consul at Canton, must see eye to eye with those who are endeavouring, mainly out of patrotic sentiment, to develop
can
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unprofitable carrying trade between Canton and Wuchow, or between wuchow, and Hongkong. Your com. mittee have every hope that this will prove to be the case. They hope that our authorities clearly perceive where the real responsibi- lity rests and they confidently anti- cipate the presentation of a united front and a firm attitude in fighting down the inevitable opposition of the Chinese authorities to our just demands. Nevertheless they con- sider it their duty to invite dis- cussion on a resolution which I shall presently propose, with a view to making local mercantile opinion perfectly clear. It we succeed in doing this we shall then have done what is required of us by the objects of the Association. The first object of the Association is to represent and express the opinion of the Bri tish mercantile community. The circumstances leading up to the Sainam piracy demand such an expression of opinion.
the
To understand and appreciate all circumstances it ig neces- sary to think back over a de- cade. No-one who came only yesterday to China can possibly understand
or appreciate these circumstances unless he is gifted with a quick imagination. Without that gift newcomers will naturally be apt to regard the Sainam in- cident as an isolated event. Those of us who were here when the West Hiver was opened realise that it is nothing of the sort. e know that it is merely the natural outcome of events which have taken place sinee then-that it is simply the culminat- ing point in a long series of in- cidents following one upon another in logical sequence. It would be
tedious if I were to dwell in detail on all these incidents. Moreover time does not permit of it. Time only permits me to indicate briefly certain broad and significant as pects of the question.
Broadly treated and briefly stated the circumstances NY JA: -0000 marised thus. The West Hiver was declared open to trade in June, 1897, by Imperial Edict. At first many difficulties were encountered- - ill-conceived regulations, shifting channels, no buoys, no lights and other similar inconveniences incid- ental to pioneering: but that any danger existed of piratical attacks on steamers flying the British flag was not reckoned with seriously No-one who went to Wuchow in those days ever thought of it, 205 more than if the voyage had been to Macao. I was an early passen- ger. I remember the trip as if it had been made yesterday. The idea of danger never entered my head.
But in a little time things began to change for the worse. Chinese launches, then entering upon the trade, offered good plunder to adventurous robbers and cases of piracy became frequent. Any- one who cares to study the records of the Chamber of Cou- merce and the China Associa- tion or to consult the files of the
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