16
including those of 52 women and 19 children were recovered of persons who had sought but failed to find safety by jumping into the water and the charred remains of 19 others were found on board while 2 persons died in hospital from injuries received.
A valuable cargo was lost and the whole interior of the ship destroyed. The cause of the fire was not definitely ascertained but is believed to have been a coolie smoking on a heap of matting on deck.
Apart from these calamities various occurrences outside the Colony tended to make the year a bad one for trade, Piracy in the waterways leading to Canton was rife, culminating in an attack on the British Steamer Sainam of 349 tons belonging to the Hongkong, Canton and Macao Steamboat Company, which took place on the evening of the 13th July near Sam Shai on the West River when the ship was on her way from Canton to Wa Chow. In this attack the master and several Indian watchmen belonging to the ship were wounded and a missionary—the Revd. R. J. J. MacDonald, M.D., killed. The Chinese authorities stimulated by H.B.M. Consul-General at Canton showed some vigour in detecting and punishing the persons engaged in this outrage but the problem, in which the mercantile community of the Colony took an active interest, of how to prevent the occurrence of similar incidents in the future had received no solution by the end of the year.
Bad as were the effects on trade of the insecurity of the waterways, far greater evils resulted from the direct action of the Canton authorities in issuing from the provincial mint vast quantities of subsidiary coins containing about 10 per cent. less silver than the dollar of which they purported to represent fractional parts. This over-issue, bringing down the value of stocks of similar coins already in the country by about 5 per cent. greatly reduced the purchasing power of the Kwang Tung consumer of foreign goods. It incidentally brought down the dollar value of the Hongkong subsidiary coins to the inconvenience of various trading concerns in the Colony and of its Government who were unable to get rid of a large stock of this coin purchased in the preceding year and had eventually to return $3,308,000 of it to England for sale as bullion. The Hongkong Government decided as a result of this lesson to eliminate from their future financial policy the idea of making profit from the supply of subsidiary coins to the two Kwang Provinces and then took steps, which since the end of the year have had some result, to impress on the Government of those Provinces the imperious necessity for checking the output from the Canton mint.
Other matters outside the Colony adversely affecting its prosperity were the failure due to floods of the first rice crop in the neighbouring provinces of China and the continued appreciation of silver.
In the China trade of Hongkong and as regards imports very heavy losses had to be faced at the end of the year owing to the large stocks of Indian yarn which were held at prices above their true value. Neither in Manchester, fancy or woollen goods was business satisfactory and in metals it was dull. Importations of Australian flour continued to increase largely. Exports did not do so badly. There was a good yield of silk and fair demand for it and native dealers were satisfied with the results of the year as regards ginger and soy.
The rise in the Sterling value of the dollar which has been going on since early in 1903 continued in 1906, the range of variation in the year being slightly greater than in 1905. At the commencement of January the dollar stood at 2s. 0¼d. It fell to 2s. 01/8d. for a short time at the end of that month and again at the end of February, rose irregularly to 2s. 3d. in the middle of November and was worth 2s. 3¾d. at the end of the year. The maximum of the year was the highest value that had been attained since the end of 1893. The rise is said to have involved some withdrawal of capital from the Colony for investment in gold using countries and consequent depreciation in the value of local stocks.
Certainly those stocks dealt with in the Colony which give the best indication of the state of its business decreased considerably in value during the year. The shares of four land companies went down on an average over 10% while those of the Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Company, Limited, in spite of business brought by the typhoon, fell nearly 12% and of the Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company 13%. The shares in nearly every industrial undertaking, including the two sugar refineries, the Cement Company and the Rope Manufacturing Company shrunk in value.
17
The depreciation in the value of land and buildings evidenced by the fall in the shares of the land companies was attributed by some to the manner in which the provisions of the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance of 1903 were being enforced by the officials of the Sanitary and Public Works Departments. Complaints in the local newspapers and at the meetings of the Sanitary Board that the Ordinance was not being properly or reasonably administered were so numerous in the early part of the year that it appeared to the Government advisable to institute an enquiry into them and also into certain suggestions as to corruption that had made themselves heard. A committee consisting of the unofficial members of the Sanitary Board were appointed on the 28th April to carry out this enquiry under the Chairmanship of the Honourable Mr. H. E. Pollock, K.C. As however it presently seemed necessary that there should be power to enforce the attendance of witnesses, compel the production of documents, etc., the Committee was converted into a Commission on the 10th May. Mr. Pollock's resignation of the Chairmanship shortly afterwards required an amended Commission dated the 26th May appointing the Honourable Mr. E. A. Hewett to the post. The Commission were directed to enquire into and report:
(1.) Whether the administration of the Sanitary and Building Regulations enacted by the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance, 1903, as now carried out is satisfactory, and, if not, what improvements can be made.
(2.) Whether any irregularity or corruption exists or has existed among the officials charged with the administration of the aforesaid regulations.
The Commission had not reported by the end of the year but had brought to the notice of the Government several cases of corrupt practices which were dealt with by the Executive Council of the Colony.
In the early part of the year also numerous petitions were presented by elders in the New Territories through the Registrar General on the subject of Crown Rent for agricultural lands and buildings. These resulted in the Government after full consideration declining to reduce but promising not to increase for the 75 years term of lease the rents in question and in their making several minor concessions. This result appears to have given satisfaction and the former difficulties in collecting rent have nearly disappeared.
In other respects the Territories were quiet and apparently prosperous during the year. Crops were good except for the typhoon damage to which reference has already been made.
Mining operations there remained in the prospecting stage, but the discovery of iron ore, which competent engineers report to be present in large quantities, led the promoters to apply for the mining lease of a square mile of territory in the Sha Tin District. This was granted by the Government to Sir Paul Chater, Kt., C.M.G., on the 21st January, 1907. Analysis shows that the ore is composed of Magnetite iron ranging from 53% to 60% metal, entirely free from phosphorus or sulphur, and therefore the very best ore for the manufacture of steel. Japanese buyers are in treaty for the purchase of the ore but the Company recently formed by Sir Paul Chater desire if possible to establish smelting works in the Colony, and are now negotiating with English Iron Masters on the subject.
Railway matters continued to be of special interest and made some progress in 1906.
The attempts of H.B.M. Consul at Canton and Minister at Peking and of the Hongkong Government to get the Chinese authorities to open negotiations for the conclusion of a Final Loan Agreement for the Chinese section of the Canton-Kowloon Railway and of an agreement for the joint working of that with the British section resulted in four meetings being held at Canton in March and April between representatives of the Viceroy there and of the British and Chinese Corporation, in the Viceroy recognizing the Preliminary Agreement made by the Corporation with the Chinese Government on the 28th March, 1899, and in his proposing arrangements which, though they differed materially from those of the preliminary loan agreement and included none for joint working, were accepted as the basis for the further negotiations. These, after many delays, were carried out at Peking between Tang Shao-yi, the Chinese Director General of Railways, two representatives of the Canton Viceroy and Mr. J. O. P. Bland representing the Corporation. Ten meetings were held between the 23rd August and the 7th November and on the 10th of the latter month a Final Loan Agreement was signed by Tang Shao-yi and Mr. Bland. It provides for the Corporation issuing a 5 per cent. loan of £1,500,000 for the construction and equipment of the Chinese section of the railway. A first mortgage on the railway is to be the security of the loan.
16
including those of 52 women and 19 children were recovered of persons who had sought but failed to find safety by jumping into the water and the charred remains of 19 others were found on board while 2 persons die in hospital from injuries received.
A valuable cargo was lost and the whole interior of the ship destroyed. The cause of the fire was not definitely ascertained but is believed to have been a coolie smoking on a heap of matting on
deck.
Apart from these calamities various occurrences outside the Colony tended to make the year a bad one for trade, Piracy in the waterways leading to Canton was rife, culminating in an attack on the British Steamer Sainam of 349 tons belonging to the Hongkong, Canton and Macao Steamboat Company, which took place on the evening of the 13th July neur Sam Shai on the West River when the ship was ou her way from Canton to Wa Chow. In this attack the master and several Indian watchmen belonging to the ship were wounded and a missionary-the Revd. R. J. J. MacDonald, M.D., killed. The Chinese authorities stimulated by H.B.M. Consul-General at Cauton showed some vigour in detecting and punishing the persons engaged in this outrage but the problem, in which the mercantile community of the Colony took an active interest, of how to prevent the occur- rence of similar incidents in the future had received no solution by the end of the year.
Bad as were the effects on trade of the insecurity of the waterways, far greater evils resulted from the direct action of the Canton authorities in issuing from the provincial mint vast quantities of subsidiary coins containing about 10 per cent, less silver than the dollar of which they purported to represent fractional parts. This over-issue, bringing down the value of stocks of similar coins already in the country by about 5 per cent. greatly reduced the purchasing power of the Kwang Tung consumer of foreign goods. It incidentally brought down the dollar value of the Hongkong subsidiary coins to the inconvenience of various trading concerns in the Colony and of its Government who were unable to get rid of a large stock of this coin purchased in the preceding year and had eventually to return $3,308,000 of it to England for sale as bullion. The Hongkong Government decided as a result of this lesson to eliminate from their future financial policy the idea of making profit from the supply of subsidiary coins to the two Kwang Provinces and then took steps, which since the end of the year have had some result, to impress on the Government of those Provinces the imperions necessity for checking the output from the Canton mint.
Other matters outside the Colony adversely affecting its prosperity were the failure due to floods of the first rice erop in the neighbouring provinces of China and the continued appreciation of silver.
In the China trade of Hongkong and as regards imports very heavy losses had to be faced at the end of the year owing to the large stocks of Indian yarn which were held at prices above their true value. Neither in Manchester, fancy or woollen goods was business satisfactory and in metals it was dull. Importations of Australian flour continued to in- crease largely. Exports did not do so badly. There was a good yield of silk and fair demand for it and native dealers were satisfied with the results of the year as regards ginger
soy.
and
The rise in the Sterling value of the dollar which has been going on since early in 1903 continued in 1906, the range of variation in the year being slightly greater than in 1905. At the commencement of January the dollar stood at 2s. 01. It fell to 2s. Of. for a short time at the end of that month and again at the end of February, rose irregularly to 28. 3d. in the middle of November and was worth 2s. 377. nt the end of the year. The maximum of the year was the highest value that had been attained since the end of 1893. The rise is said to have involved soine withdrawal of capital from the Colony for investment in gold using countries and consequent depreciation in the value of local stocks.
Certainly those stocks dealt with in the Colony which give the best indication of the state of its business decreased considerably in value during the year. The shares of four land companies went down on an average over 10% while those of the Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Company, Limited, in spite of business brought by the typhoon, fell nearly 12% and of the Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf and Godown Company 13 %. The shares in nearly every industrial undertaking, including the two sugar refineries, the Cement Com- pany and the Rope Manufacturing Company shrunk in value.
17
--
The depreciation in the value of land and buildings evidenced by the fall in the shares of the land companies was attributed by some to the manner in which the provisions of the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance of 1903 were being enforced by the officials of the Sanitary and Public Works Departments. Complaints in the local newspapers and at the meetings of the Sanitary Board that the Ordinance was not being properly or reasonably administered were so numerous in the early part of the year that it appeared to the Govern- ment advisable to institute an enquiry into them and also into certain suggestions as to corruption that had made themselves heard. A committee consisting of the unofficial mein- bers of the Sanitary Board were appointed on the 28th April to carry out this enquiry under the Chairmanship of the Honourable Mr. H. E. POLLOCK, K.C. As however it presently seemed necessary that there should be power to enforce the attendance of witnesses, compel the production of documents, etc., the Committee was converted into a Commission on the 10th May. Mr. POLLOCK's resignation of the Chairmanship shortly afterwards required an amended Commission dated the 26th May appointing the Honourable Mr. E. A. HEWETT to the post. The Commission were directed to enquire into and report:-
(1.) Whether the administration of the Sanitary and Building Regulations enacted by the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance, 1903, as now carried out is satisfactory, and, if not, what improvements can be made.
(2.) Whether any irregularity or corruption exists or has existed among the officials
charged with the administration of the aforesaid regulations.
The Commission had not reported by the end of the year but had brought to the notice of the Government several cases of corrupt practices which were dealt with by the Executive Council of the Colony.
In the early part of the year also numerous petitions were presented by elders in the New Territories through the Registrar General on the subject of Crown Rent for agricultural lands and buildings. These resulted in the Government after full consideration declining to reduce but promising not to increase for the 75 years term of lease the rents in question and in their making several minor concessions. This result appears to have given satisfaction and the former difficulties in collecting rent have nearly disappeared.
In other respects the Territories were quiet and apparently prosperous during the year. Crops were good except for the typhoon damage to which reference has already been made,
Mining operations there remained in the prospecting stage, but the discovery of iron ore, which competent engineers report to be present in large quantities, led the promoters to apply for the mining lease of a square mile of territory in the Sha Tin District. This was granted by the Government to Sir PAUL CHATER, Kt., C.M.G., on the 21st January, 1907. Analysis shows that the ore is composed of Magnetite fron ranging from 53% to 60% metal, entirely free from phosphorus or sulphur, and therefore the very best ore for the manufacture of steel. Japanese buyers are in treaty for the purchase of the ore but the Company recently formed by Sir PAUL CHATER desire if possible to establish smelting works in the Colony, and are now negotiating with English Tron Masters on the subject.
Railway matters continued to be of special interest and made some progress in 1906.
The attempts of H.B.M. Consul at Canton and Minister at Peking and of the Hong- koug Government to get the Chinese authorities to open negotiations for the conclusion of a Final Loan Agreement for the Chinese section of the Canton-Kowloon Railway and of an agreement for the joint working of that with the British section resulted in four meetings being held at Canton in March and April betweeu representatives of the Viceroy there and of the British and Chinese Corporation, in the Viceroy recognizing the Preliminary Agreement made by the Corporation with the Chinese Government on the 28th March, 1899, and in his proposing arrangements which, though they differed materially from those of the prelimin ary loan agreement and included none for joint working, were accepted as the basis for the further negotiations. These, after many delays, were carried ou at Peking between TANG SHAO-YI, the Chinese Director General of Railways, two representatives of the Canton Viceroy and Mr. J. O. P. BLAND representing the Corporation. Ten meetings were held between the 23rd August and the 7th November and on the 10th of the latter month a Final Loan Agreement was signed by T'ano SHAO-YT and Mr. BLAND. It provides for the Corporation issuing a 5 per cent. loan of £1,500,000 for the construction and equipment of the Chinese section of the railway. A first mortgage on the railway is to be the security of the loan
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