CO129-362 - Public Offices - 1909 — Page 501

to China.

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regards this delimitation merely as a preliminary to negotiations for the return of Macae

I have, &c.

Inclosure 2 in No. 1.

Notes on Affairs at Macao.

HARRY H. FOA.

THE most striking feature of Macao at the present time is the contrast between the stagnation in the trade of the port, as evidenced by a comparatively-speaking deserted harbour, rows of unoccupied houses, and the absence of traffic in the streets, and the numerous and costly public works, including a sea wall, new roads and gardens, &c., now in course of construction.

The ses wall, which is an extension of the Praya in the direction of the inner harbour carried round Barra Point, is faced with blocks of granite, and backed by a promenade 60 feet wide. The hitherto neglected, low-lying portion of the settlement behind the old town is being raised some 10 feet and laid out with broad roads, flanked by pavements of granite and cement. Wherever there is a vacant space at a corner it is enclosed with an ornamental wall, paved with stone and cement, and planted with trees. Yet no houses line these new thoroughfares, no people are to be seen passing along them, and the gardens, except on rare occasions, are deserted.

After an occupation extending over 300 years there are, I am credibly informed, no Portuguese merchants, properly so called, established in Macao. The trade, such as it is, is entirely in the hands of the Chinese and, to a small extent, natives of India. Such Macao-born Portuguese as have any energy leave the place for Hong Kong and the Chinese treaty ports as soon as they are old enough to earn their own living. The ambition of those that remain is to obtain a post, no matter how small, in a Government office. A young man of good education, whom the governor himself recently recom- mended for a post in the indoor department of the Customs service, was discovered, after his application had been refused, acting as overseer to a gang of coolies on the new sea wall.

I am told that the exodus of moneyed Chinese from Macao still continues. The recent activity displayed by the Cantonese in opening new trade marts in the neighbour- hood of Macao is undoubtedly the outcome of a determination to "boycott" the port so long as it remains in Portuguese hands, and the Colonial Government's traditional policy of squeezing the Chinese mercantile community for revenue purposes, while doing nothing to encourage local industries or improve the approaches to the harbour, serves to encourage an agitation which appears to be steadily growing in strength.

"

I do not think that a year ago the Cantonese seriously contemplated the possibility of the Portuguese evacuating Macao; to-day the return of the territory to China is being freely discussed in the newspapers and in official circles. For this the Portuguese, the Portuguese Government in particular, are themselves in great measure to blame, and the tardy display of energy with regard to the question of dredging the harbour shows that the Government realise this fact.

Unfortunately for Macao the present empty state of the Treasuries, both here and in Lisbon, makes it extremely improbable that the necessary funds will be forthcoming for barbour conservancy operations on a large scale, and one does not see how, in the absence of any valuable security, a loan can be raised.

Considerable stir in the colony was recently caused by newspaper reports that the home Government had voted a sum of 160,000 dollars per annum for a period of years to be devoted to harbour improvements, and that the governor had been authorised to invite tenders for the work.

In the course of an interview with the governor (1 called on his Excellency unofficially on Monday last) I learnt that this report was premature. His Excellency had urgently recommended a dredging scheme for the Government's approval, and had sent home threc estimates submitted by firms in Hong Kong (the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company, Messrs. Macdonald and Co., and Messrs. Punchard, Lowther, and Co.), but no reply had yet been received, and no appropriation had, as far as he knew, been made.

His Excellency was good enough to give me a copy of the specifications for the proposed harbour improvement work, which I enclose for your inspection.*

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In the meantime the governor had ordered a small dredger in Japan, to cost 10,000 dollars, which was due in Macao at the end of the month, for the purpose

of dredging the harbour in front of the Hong Kong and Macao steam-boat wharves.

The governor subsequently granted an interview to Mr. W. H. Hill, who called on his Excellency at my suggestion, Messrs. Howarth, Erskine, and Co.'s agent in Canton. Mr. Hill was invited to submit estimates for the dredging of a channel from the roadstead to the inner harbour.

Mr. Hill informed me that the conditions of the Government's dredging scheme are not at all satisfactory. The deposit of 10 per cent. (on which no interest will apparently be paid) seems unnecessarily large, and there is no guarantee that the contractor's account will be settled monthly. The dredged products, instead of being taken out to sea and dumped, are to be carried 3,000 metres and deposited in about 5 feet of water. But ordinary dredgers have a draft of from 9 to 10 feet, and to carry out what is practically reclamation work special pumping apparatus would be required, for which no allowance is made.

Mr. Hill is of opinion that the Government do not realise the magnitude of the scheme projected, which will cost at least 2,500,000 dollars, and he thinks the terms offered would not be accepted by any respectable British firm.

The notice enclosed has never, as far as I am aware, been published in the Hong Kong newspapers, and it is characteristic of that lack of cohesion between the Portuguese Government departments, on which you have yourself commented, that a copy of this notice has never been supplied to the Portuguese consul-general at Canton.

I gather that the Government's financial embarrassments--only 20 per cent. of the salaries of the civil service and garrison were paid for the month of May-are chiefly due to the loss of revenue derived from the opium farm and the Macao lottery.

The opium farmer, who holds a ten years' concession dating from June 1903, in return for a payment to the Government of 344,000 dollars per annum, suspended payment in February last. The sudden stoppage of the export to America made it impossible for him to carry out his contract, and he asked the Government to refund his deposit of 110,000 dollars and enter into a new agreement whereby he paid only 80,000 dollars per annum for the farm, now greatly reduced in value.

To this arrangement the governor was disposed to agree, in default of a better, but the home Government, to whom the matter was referred, refused any compromise, ordering the deposit to be confiscated and the farmer's privileges to be withdrawn.

This was done, with the result that the Government are now managing the opium farm themselves, with the assistance of a wealthy Chinese compradore, who takes one- third of the profits, and deriving therefrom a revenue of something under 2,000 dollars per mensem.

The opium farmer, I need hardly say, is bringing an action against the Colonial Government for the recovery of his deposit.

No steps have been taken in Macao to restrict the public and private use of opium. The Macao lottery, formerly one of the colony's chief sources of revenue, has for the past five months been closed. Taken out of the hands of the Chinese concessionnaire, as reported in a former despatch, the Government tried for some months, without success, to run it themselves. They are now endeavouring to let the lottery to Chinese again, but have so far been unable to conie to terms,

The revenue derived from the "fantan" shops also shows a falling off, although not so serious, the quarter of the town occupied by the gambling houses and their affiliated establishments still forming the business centre of Macao.

I learn that the smuggling of arms and ammunition into China through Macao continues unchecked, in spite of the efforts of the maritime Customs officials, seconded in a somewhat half-hearted manner by the Colonial Government, to stop the traffic.

The names of the persons engaged in the trade are well known, and to show how lightly even the Portuguese Government itself regards this illicit traffic, I may mention that the name of Dr. Lello, the former colonial secretary, whose connection with the arms trade during his tenure of office was notorious, leading to his impeachment by the chief justice and subsequent hurried departure from the colony, was recently submitted to the governor for reappointment as colonial secretary. The governor wired to Lisbon that Dr. Lello's record in the colony made his return impossible. Dr. Lello is said to have made a fortune in Macao, although the salary assigned to the colonial secretary is only 300 dollars per mensem.

It is interesting to note that the governor of Macao draws 1,200 dollars per

* Not printed.

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