[ { "id": 319726, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-205 - Public Offices - 1882", "page_number": 281, "title": "CO129-205 - Public Offices - 1882", "content_text": "# 407 \n## 106 \n\nIt was strenuously withstood both then and during Sir Henry Pottinger's negotiations; by some for financial reasons, the alleged export of silver occasioned by the opium trade having produced alarm; by many, no doubt, on moral grounds; by many an unwillingness to face the censure that would not have failed to await overt advocacy of its legalization. Covertly, it was more than connived at. It is not too much to say that the trade was encouraged. The drug was not admitted into the open ports; at least not into the anchorages defined by the Customs; but it was sold at any point along the coast from Shanghae southward, at which it suited the foreign importer to station a receiving ship. Such vessels, I may be reminded, were heavily armed. They were; but for their protection against pirates, not against the authorities. Authorities, it may again be urged, had, at the time, no executive fit to cope with armed opium clippers, had they been disposed to expel them. They had not; but they made no effort whatever on shore to deter the people from frequenting the receiving ships. On the reverse, the opium landed from them was, from 1842 if no earlier, farmed or otherwise taxed, and in 1858, when Lord Elgin took the matter up, li-kin was levied upon opium as regularly as upon any article of the regular trade.\n\n## The \n\nThese circumstances had no doubt their due weight with Lord Elgin when he suggested once more the introduction of opium into the Tariff. But his Lordship did not ignore the fact that, while the degree to which Indian opium is abused in China is grossly exaggerated, it was yet beyond doubt that there is in the Chinese consumer a pronounced tendency to exceed in the use of the drug, and that such excess is too commonly followed by fatal consequences. He drew, therefore, a marked difference between the trade in opium and in other imports. He was prepared to concede any Tariff duty that the Chinese Government might demand, provided the import of the drug were so recognized as to bring it formally within the range of Customs surveillance, and thus to extinguish the discredit attaching to a trade which, though regularly taxed by the authorities, was technically contraband; but, to use his own expression, he would not assist his countrymen in scattering opium broadcast through the land, and he spontaneously conceded that it should be sold by the importer at the port only; that it should be carried into the interior by Chinese only, and only as Chinese property; that the British trader should not be allowed (as in the case of other imports) to accompany it inland; that neither the provisions of Article XIX of the Treaty of Tien-tsin, by which British subjects are authorized to proceed inland to trade, nor those of Article XXVIII for the regulation of the transit dues, should extend to it; that the transit dues on opium should be arranged as the Chinese Government might see fit, and that in the future revisions of Tariff provided for by Article XXVII of the Treaty, the rule of revision applicable to other goods should not be applied to opium. To put it more briefly, if the Chinese would but include opium in the Tariff, they were to be free to do what they pleased with it. I am satisfied that these words do not misrepresent Lord Elgin's intentions regarding the trade. I state it thus explicitly, not as an argument for or against the morality of the trade in opium, but in indication of the position that I conceive Lord Elgin assigned to the trade, as distinct from that assigned to the trade in other British imports.\n\nIt may not be out of place here to observe that but a few months after the negotiation of the Tariff, almost at the same moment that Sir Frederick Bruce, with the ratified copy of the Treaty of 1858, was being driven back from the Pei Ho, orders were sent down from Peking to levy a li-kin duty of 80 taels per picul on opium. The order was the result of an unpublished Memorial from the Governor-General, Ho, then resident at Soo-chow, who, if I recollect right, remonstrated against the proposed rate as excessive. The hollowness of the objection of the then Central Government, on moral grounds, to the admission of opium, and its appreciation of the value of the trade to the Exchequer, are more or less attested by this incident.\n\nSir Frederick Bruce's reception at the mouth of the Pei Ho having rendered necessary, in 1860, the second mission of Lord Elgin, Tien-tsin was added to the ports opened by the Treaty of 1858, and the provisions both of this Treaty and of the subsequent Convention of 1860 came, to a certain extent, into operation.\n\nTo a certain extent only. However good in our eyes our cause of quarrel, however indisputably moderate the concessions exacted by Lord Elgin, the hostilities of 1856-60, and eminently the last campaign, had naturally irritated the Central Government, and, as we now know, within a fortnight of the issue of the Decree directing promulgation of the Treaty, the provincial authorities were instructed \"to let the spirit of restriction abide\" in all arrangements of detail that the Treaty must render necessary. The committee of favourites then in power was, it is true, exceptionally corrupt and despotic, but the instructions sent through them were little else than what might have been looked for, the traditions of Chinese foreign policy considered. It is certain that no provincial Governor receiving them would regard them as unfair or unreasonable.\n\nWe were not long, consequently, in encountering difficulties of various kinds; above all in the operation of those clauses of the Treaty that affect what we are wont to call the Transit Duty question. I employ the phrase most in vogue, but it should more properly be described as the question of Inland Taxation.\n\nIt must be admitted that, however much of wrong under this head we may lay at the door of the ill-will or bad faith of the Chinese Government, central or provincial, a certain portion of our difficulties is to be traced to the inevitable inexactness with which our rights are defined in the clauses on which those rights are assumed to be based. I am referring more particularly to the clauses concerning our import trade; to our manufacturing millions, the trade of chiefest consequence. To speak of the Chinese contention during our fifteen years' discussion of the matter would be almost a misapplication of terms, for they have rarely vouchsafed any other rejoinder to our protestations against taxation over and above the Tariff duty than the one—that the Government is free to tax its own subjects as it pleases, no matter what the nationality of the goods taxed. They have, at all events, adhered to this principle in action. They have pushed the collection of li-kin up to the very doors of our warehouses. At Amoy the li-kin collection has strangled the trade which from 1860 to 1865 had been flourishing. In the latter year the Tai Ping rebels, driven southward, invaded the province of Fuh Kien. This event authorized the introduction or augmentation of li-kin taxation. It has ever since been maintained in Fuh Kien, ostensibly to support the war on the Turkestan frontier. I have reason to believe that, until lately, the li-kin on imports at Amoy was equal to at least three times the Tariff duty. Our information is not, however, of the best at any port. Even at Shanghae I have found two authorities, both of whom I should have held to be equally valuable, assuring me, the one that li-kin taxation amounted to but 2 per cent. upon our imports, the other that it was not less than 25 per cent.\n\nI return to the interpretation of the Treaty clauses. I have said that the definition of our rights in these was insufficiently exact; and that this was inevitable, because our information was inevitably imperfect. The only data really vouched for on official authority were those already referred to in the Code of the Board of Revenue, a list of the stations at which inland revenue was collected on Imperial account. We did not know, and do not now know, what transit duty stations, not in the Imperial list, existed before 1843. We were at the same time certain that abnormal taxation was multiplying in every direction, whether on Imperial or provincial account mattered little; we could obtain no authoritative intimation of its nature or amount.\n\nThe responsibility of this unacquaintance with details so important to our interests must be charged, I need hardly say, not upon Lord Elgin, but upon those whose function it was to provide him with information; and of these I was one of the chief. I cannot, however, blame either myself or others, my colleagues, for failure to achieve what we desired in this regard. Data for a Chinese budget are still somewhat beyond the reach of any inquirer, native or foreign.\n\nLord Elgin's new Tariff was framed as imposing duty at the rate of 5 per cent. upon value as shown by inspection of the only papers then worthy of trust, the Returns of the Shanghae Customs prepared during the previous three years by Mr. Horatio Lay. The accordance of the half-duty, that is, of an additional 2.5 per cent., by payment of which the charges described as transit dues were to be commuted, was declared by the Chinese authority, with whom the Tariff was negotiated, liberal. Lord Elgin doubtless hoped that, this paid, our imports would be free of all other charges. I remember his observing, as the Tariff was about to be signed, that he thought if the Chinese Government got 7.5 per cent. on our trade it ought to be satisfied. He at the same time admitted that once our goods had passed into Chinese hands, he did not see how to secure them against further taxation.\n\nBut to what extent was the payment of the Tariff duty alone to avail imports? When would they become liable to the charges which the importer was to be free to commute by payment of the half-duty? It did not devolve upon Lord Elgin to answer the question, for his Lordship had left China before the Treaty had come into operation. But his brother, and successor, when it presented itself, was prepared to give an answer very favourable to the Chinese; for, but for the words that make it optional with the British merchant to compound for inland taxation by payment of a half Tariff duty, or to face the inland charges whatever they may be, Sir Frederick Bruce would have preferred to make the composition compulsory, and the half-duty payable at the same moment as the Tariff duty; that is, at the moment that the imports were landed.\n\n## 277", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-205 - Public Offices - 1882.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 319727, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-205 - Public Offices - 1882", "page_number": 282, "title": "CO129-205 - Public Offices - 1882", "content_text": "# 108\n\nReference as above to Sir Frederick Bruce's opinion of what was fair to China, as I shall proceed to show, is not irrelevant. At the time that he advanced it (in 1861-62) li-kin was not, at least so far as the import trade is concerned, the onerous burden that it eventually became. Transit passes had been in many instances refused, in many not respected. Sir Frederick Bruce was persuaded that, in the then condition of the country, the interests of our import trade lay most in the removal of hindrance to the circulation of our manufactures; and the form of hindrance, which he would have wished to remove, was the detention of consignments travelling inland at the transit-duty stations, or barriers, in the interior. The certainty that the British importer had paid the sum by Treaty agreed to as composition for all barrier dues, it might be hoped, would deprive the collectorates of their excuse for delaying goods certificated in transitu.\n\nI am so far but stating the history of the case, but I shall observe in passing that Sir Frederick Bruce's views of the rights of China in respect of the import trade fairly coincided with the view of his brother, the negotiator of the Treaty of 1858; to wit, that the Chinese should get 7 per cent. of revenue from our imports. I repeat that neither in Lord Elgin's mission, nor in that of Sir Frederick Bruce, was the information at our disposal complete; nor, even in the latter period, I may add, had we had sufficient experience of the working of the Treaty.\n\nMeanwhile, the weight and method of inland taxation were yearly more complained of, and in 1867, when the revision of the Treaty of Tien-tsin was undertaken by Sir Rutherford Alcock, relief from li-kin or other inland charges became the object to which his main efforts were addressed; and this he attempted, though not precisely in the form contemplated by Sir Frederick Bruce, yet, in one important particular, in the same direction. Sir Frederick Bruce would have had the British merchant's option to compound or not for inland dues extinguished, and the half-duty composition rendered obligatory; but the half-duty paid, he would assume that, throughout the Empire, no farther tax of any kind would be imposed upon the imports. I am speaking, be it noted, with the knowledge my position as his Secretary of Legation gave me of the opinions of my Minister. His proposition never came before the Chinese; nor, so far as I can recollect, is it anywhere recorded.\n\nSir Rutherford Alcock would also have suppressed the option left by the Treaty of 1858; but the exemption from taxation inland would have been subjected (and I think fairly) to certain limitations. It will be simplest to quote the Convention signed by Sir Rutherford on the 23rd October, 1869. (See Blue Book, `China No. 1, 1870`.)\n\n## ARTICLE III\n\n\"It is agreed that commodities of the following classes and denominations, viz., cottons, linens, woollens, woollen and cotton mixtures, &c., &c., imported by British merchants, shall pay both import duty and transit due simultaneously at the time of importation.\n\n\"On the other part, China agrees that the above-mentioned commodities, imported by British merchants, and having paid import duty and transit due simultaneously at the time of importation, shall be exempt from all other taxes and charges whatsoever in Treaty-port provinces.\"\n\nMr. Hart, the Inspector-General of Customs, who had naturally acted throughout great part of the trade negotiations as intermediary between the Tsung-li Yamên and the British Legation, at Sir Rutherford Alcock's request, appended certain marginal notes to the Convention. The following is his commentary upon the Article above cited :-\n\n\"This is a most important concession, for it permits manufactures (the goods in whose sale England is chiefly interested) to circulate freely without certificate, and without further charge or tax, on payment of 7½ per cent., through the Treaty-port provinces. It is a concession far in advance of the Tien-tsin transit clause as regards one-half of China, and as regards the other half, the former transit privilege is continued in force. The 'supplementary regulations' will show the action to be taken.\"\n\nThe last line of Mr. Hart's note here quoted refers to the Supplementary Rules signed with the Convention, of which Rule I, § 4, runs thus:-\n\n\"When commodities of the kinds specified in the first clause of this Rule, and which simultaneously paid import duty and transit due, are to be conveyed by either British or Chinese merchants to non-Treaty-port provinces, transit certificates should be procured from the Customs at the port started from, on the face of which will be distinctly set forth the name of the place for which the said commodities are destined.\n\n\"On their way from the port to the place thus set forth in the certificate, such certificated commodities will be exempt from all liability to inland charges, dues, or duties. But in the event of its being discovered by any Customs station that may make examination that the merchandise contained in the packages is different from the commodities set forth in the certificate, or that the certificate is for a less quantity than it is accompanied by, the goods concerned will be confiscated.\n\n\"On the arrival of such duly certified commodities at the place set forth in the certificate, the certificate will become invalid, and the commodities having arrived at their place of destination, will be liable to whatever inland charges, dues, or duties the locality they are found in collects, and will thenceforth be treated like native produce in the localities concerned.\"\n\n# 109\n\nNow, before going further, I shall briefly re-state what I conceive to be the present contentions as regards taxation of our imports, of the Chinese Government on the one part, and of the British merchant on the other. Both parties are, at least, agreed that the half-duty is not immediately leviable; but that the payment of it must be attested by certificates, and that the production of the certificate shall avail the holder to clear the imports entered upon it from certain taxation. Beyond this, the Chinese contention, or, to speak more correctly, the principle recognized in practice, has been that duty-paid imports, though not as yet even presumably liable to payment by the importer of the half-duty, are liable to li-kin or other taxation if in the hands of a Chinese dealer; that goods accompanied by a transit duty certificate, that is, by the required evidence that a half-duty has been paid in addition to the Tariff duty, are free only of dues at the barriers at which transit duties are collected; and that, on arrival at the stated inland centre to which the imports are to be carried, they are subject to any taxation that may be imposed upon them. Although I cannot call to mind that, in discussion, the right of certificated imports to exemption from barrier dues has ever been disputed, it is none the less true, as I observed before, that certification has been sometimes refused altogether; also that goods duly certificated have been detained at barriers, the plea of their detention being irregularity, by no means always substantiated. (See Appendix I, Levy of Li-kin at Shanghae.)\n\nOur merchants have maintained—at least a large majority, and their opinion is supported by some interpreters of our Treaty, not of our nationality nor in any way connected with trade—that, by Treaty, the payment of the Tariff duty should protect our imports from all further taxation until passage of a barrier renders either the payment of the transit dues, or production of a Customs certificate proving payment of the half-duty commutation, necessary. I agree. This region of exemption from all but Tariff duty, the region lying portwards of the transit duty barriers, I have so far claimed as the port area.\n\nBut they have further maintained that, the claim for barrier transit dues once satisfied, the imports, having then paid both Tariff and half-Tariff duty (in other words, the 7½ per cent., which Lord Elgin thought ought to content the Chinese Government), should thereafter be free of all taxation whatsoever. I do not admit this. Why, I shall show farther on.\n\nThe view of the Board of Trade, as expressed after examination of the papers forwarded by Sir Rutherford Alcock during his negotiations of 1867-68-69, is unquestionably more in accord with the contention of the Chinese Government than with that of the British community.\n\nI extract the following passages from the letter of Sir Louis Mallet, then Secretary to the Board of Trade, dated the 19th May, 1869, and published in the revision of Treaty papers laid before Parliament in 1871-\n\nMy Lords entertain no doubt that the view expressed in some of the memorials, and even at one time by Sir R. Alcock himself in his correspondence with Mr. Hart, viz., that the payment of the transit dues ought to be held to exempt the goods upon which it has been paid from all subsequent internal taxation, and to insure the sale of the goods to their ultimate consumer, with no enhancement of cost derived from taxation, save that represented by the import and transit duties, is a view which cannot be entertained by Her Majesty's Government. There is nothing in the terms of the Treaty which appears to my Lords to justify such a sweeping demand, and in view of the internal taxation to which native goods are subject in China, it would be, in their opinion, both unjust and inexpedient to enforce such a demand, even if it were warranted by the terms of Treaty stipulations.\n\n\"All that Her Majesty's Government can claim in this respect appears to my Lords to be that, in the Treaty ports, the importer shall have the right to sell his goods in the market after payment of the customs duties stipulated, and that he shall have the right to send goods to any internal market which he may select, free from any other charge than the customs duty on importation, and the stipulated transit duty; but that both at the port and at the internal market, when once the goods have passed out of his hands, they must take their chance in common with native goods, and bear whatever impositions the rapacity or necessities of Chinese administration may inflict.\"\n\nThis would leave the Chinese free to impose what taxes they pleased upon trade in imports, even within the port area. The conditions agreed to by Sir Rutherford Alcock, consequently, if observed by the Chinese Government, would have been far more advantageous than those that, in the Board of Trade's opinion, it would be just\n\n## 278\n\n[1703] \n2 F", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-205 - Public Offices - 1882.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 335279, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-234 - Acting Governor Cameron Governor Des Voeus - 1887 [9-12]", "page_number": 561, "title": "CO129-234 - Acting Governor Cameron Governor Des Voeus - 1887 [9-12]", "content_text": "(see fig. B on side a + b.)\n\nThe school building has only one entrance from High Street. But as the greater part of the population of this street belongs to a very low class, it is intended to shut the entrance from that street and to make a new entrance from the Western Street through the compound of the Basel Mission. But as the level of this compound is twelve feet lower than the level of the school, a verandah is to be erected with a staircase leading down from the school to the Basel Mission compound (see fig. C.)\n\nCopy 554 Estimate\n\nMessrs Bird + Palmer, architects in Hong Kong, have made a plan and an estimate for the enlargement and improvement of the Basel Mission school in High Street as shown above, and Mr. Wong Ato, contractor in Hong Kong, is ready to execute this plan for six hundred dollars.\n\n(signed) by Renoch.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-234 - Acting Governor Cameron Governor Des Voeus - 1887 [9-12].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 358142, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-268 - Governor Sir Robinson - 1895 [7-11]", "page_number": 307, "title": "CO129-268 - Governor Sir Robinson - 1895 [7-11]", "content_text": "301 \n\n## INDIGNATION MEETING AT SHANGHAI \n\nSHANGHAI, August 6th, Noon. \n\nA public indignation meeting was held here last night in the “Astor Hall” under the auspices of the China Association. Mr. R. M. Campbell presided and the building was packed with leading residents of various nationalities, chiefly British, American, German and French. \n\nThe meeting was the largest gathering of Europeans ever held in Shanghai. \n\nThe following resolution was carried unanimously: \n\n\"Resolved to appeal to our respective Governments for protection from outrage by Chinese and against the apparently inadequate manner in which the persons guilty of former outrages have been and are being dealt with.\" \n\nCopies of this resolution have been telegraphed to London and Washington. \n\nA largely attended indignation meeting was held at Foochow last night. \n\nAbsolutely no provocation whatever was given for the attack on the missionaries. \n\n## AN AMERICAN MISSION DESTROYED \n\nThe work of pillage and murder is reported to be still going on in the province of Fuhkien, and news has now reached here from Foochow to the effect that the American Mission house at Ingkok, near Kucheng, has been burnt. \n\nIt is not yet known whether any lives were lost at Ingkok. \n\n## SERIOUS CRISIS AT FOOCHOW \n\nSHANGHAI, August 6th, 5 p.m. All the Europeans resident at Foochow now find themselves in a very critical position owing to the hostile feeling openly evinced by the natives, who have suddenly become grossly offensive and overbearing in their attitude towards foreigners. \n\nThe native officials have reported to the various foreign Consuls stationed at Foochow that should any outbreak occur they feel certain that they will be quite unable to cope with the mob, for the reason that not only the district of Kucheng (where the recent massacre of British Missionaries took place) but the whole province of Fuhkien is in a state of rebellion against the government. They state their willingness to preserve order, but aver that they can do absolutely nothing to put down a general anti-foreign outburst of the masses. \n\nThe American mission at Fungfuk has been burnt and the occupants escaped massacre only through evacuating their homes shortly before the \"Crusaders\" delivered the attack. \n\nThe whole of the European and American residents of Foochow have appealed to their respective High Authorities in the Far East for protection and have asserted in their telegrams that gunboats should be at once sent right up to Foochow, anchor off the Settlement, and clear for action. \n\nThe extremely critical position of many missionaries now resident at various inland cities causes great anxiety to the foreign residents of Foochow, and it is generally conceded that drastic measures must at once be adopted by the various foreign Governments concerned to put a stop to further dastardly outrages upon foreigners. \n\nSir Nicholas O'Conor has telegraphed to the Chairman of the Shanghai branch of the China Association, in reply to his communication respecting the resolution carried at the indignation meeting last night, that he has directed Mr. Mansfield, British Consul at Foochow, to proceed immediately, under military escort, to Kucheng, there hold an enquiry into the massacres, and then promptly report to Peking. \n\nThe Emperor of China is very angry about the Kucheng massacres and has issued a decree ordaining immediate capital punishment for all persons found guilty. \n\n## THRILLING DETAILS OF THE OUTRAGES \n\nMEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN HACKED TO PIECES AND BURNT \n\nTHEIR ORDERS WERE TO \"KILL OUTRIGHT\" \n\nShanghai, August 6th, 1 p.m. \n\nDr. Gregory, one of the survivors, reports that at thirty-five minutes past noon of the 1st August a native rushed into his study saying \"some foreign ladies at Huasan, Kucheng district, have been killed and their houses have been burned.\" Fifteen minutes later a note from the Rev. Phillips confirmed the report issued from the Magistrate's Yamen, where hundreds of excited people were attempting to effect an entrance. Magistrate Wong immediately proceeded to Huasan, taking sixty soldiers with him for the purpose of suppressing the riot. At 3 p.m. he left Kucheng city and at 8 p.m. he arrived at Huasan. \n\n### LIST OF THE WOUNDED \n\nIt is now definitely known that nine British subjects have been murdered. Those reported alive at Huasan, all more or less injured, except the Rev. Phillips, are: \n\n| Name | Injury |\n| --- | --- |\n| MISS CODRINGTON | Cut from the left angle of the mouth diagonally outward and downward. The wound is seven inches in extent and completely divides the lower lip, exposing the jaw-bone. She has a nasty cut on the crown of her head, three inches in length, which exposes the skull. This lady also has a bad cut across the nose; a cut under her left eye, three inches long; a deep gash on the right side of the neck; two wounds in the right arm and a deep spear wound in the right thigh. |\n| MISS HARTFORD | Suffering from some slight injury to the chest. She was beaten while on the ground and trampled upon by the mob. |\n| MILDRED STEWART, aged 12 | Badly wounded in the right knee, the joint of which is exposed. She also has a wound 6 inches long by 2 inches wide in the left leg. |\n| KATHLEEN STEWART, aged 11 | Slightly bruised. |\n| HERBERT STEWART, aged 6 | Had a deep wound in the right side of the neck, four inches long. He is also suffering from a compound fracture of the skull at the back of the head, one cut on the head cut clean through the skull, exposing the brain. He has also a nasty wound on the left side of the head, a wound in the chest and a stab in the back. He died 30 hours after the first onslaught. |\n| EWAN STEWART, aged 3 years | Stabbed in the left thigh and badly bruised. |\n| Mrs. Stewart's baby, 13 months old | Wounded in the forehead. His skull is fractured and he has several bad bruises about his body. |\n\n### THE DEATH ROLL \n\nThe list of those who were killed outright is as follows: \n\n- The Rev. and Mrs. Stewart\n- MISS NELLIE SAUNDERS\n- LENA, an Irish nurse in the employ of Mr. Stewart. She was burnt to death in the Stewart's house\n- HESSIE NEWCOMBE - frightfully speared and ultimately thrown over a high precipice\n- MISS MARSHALL - throat cut, her head being almost completely severed from her body\n- MISS STEWART's body has no wounds about it, and it is possible and probable that her death is due to severe shock to the nerves\n- MISS GORDON (Australian) - deep wounds in face, neck, side and head\n- MISS TOPSY SAUNDERS - death caused by spear wound, the weapon entering the brain through the right orbit\n\n## LATER DETAILS \n\nThe massacres were the work of members of a secret society known as the \"Vegetarian\" party or sect, and the attacking party consisted of men armed with spears and swords. They appeared well organized and were under one leader. \n\nThe missionaries had no suspicion of an attack. The whole affair was sudden and most terrible and the butchery was over in half an hour. \n\nThe missionaries begged and beseeched the blood-thirsty ruffians to spare their lives, and went so far as to offer to surrender their property and their valuables if allowed to leave the district in peace. Some of the brutal gang were moved to compassion by the mother, who, with pale face and tears in her eyes, sought to protect her children from the ferocity of the savage assassins. She appealed in vain however, for the leader of the mob replied to all appeals for clemency by saying to his crew \"you know your orders: kill outright.\" \n\nThe scenes were, according to the survivors, awful, heartrending, and indescribably diabolical.\n\n## CHINESE TROOPS LOOT THE VICTIMS' HOUSES \n\nSHANGHAI, August 8th. The troops sent by the Viceroy of Fuhkien province to quell the disturbances at Kucheng and protect the property of the missionaries have looted the victims' houses, ransacked their boxes and wardrobes and appropriated everything belonging to the murdered missionaries. \n\nGreat indignation is expressed at Foochow and Shanghai in respect to these latest outrages by the troops of the Viceroy, and it is urged that the British Government must take action, the Chinese troops and officials being wholly untrustworthy. \n\nTwo of the little children who were severely wounded at Kucheng are now dying.\n\n## REUTER'S TELEGRAM \n\nOn the 6th instant Reuter wired from London stating: \n\nLord Salisbury has demanded that the Government of China issues a decree ordering the execution of the culprits concerned in the recent Massacre and that the fullest protection shall be afforded to Missionaries in the future. He also demands an escort for the Foochow Consul who is proceeding to the scene of the outrage to make enquiries. China has assented to these demands.\n\n## THE KUCHENG ATROCITIES \n\n### GREAT INDIGNATION MEETING IN THE THEATRE ROYAL \n\nA public indignation meeting convened by Dr. Jas. Cantlie and his partners, Drs. Hartigan and Stedman, was held in the Theatre Royal, City Hall, at noon on the 8th instant. It was the largest, most representative, and thoroughly enthusiastic public meeting ever held in the colony, and as such was keeping with the terribly melancholy occasion which it was intended to commemorate and the grave issues involved in the settlement of the questions connected with the heartless massacre of missionaries - men, women, and children.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-268 - Governor Sir Robinson - 1895 [7-11].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 373853, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-294 - Governor Sir Blake - 1899 [10-12]", "page_number": 583, "title": "CO129-294 - Governor Sir Blake - 1899 [10-12]", "content_text": "Enclosure.\n\nC. J.\n\n1093\n\nBe2 17 Jas\n\nExtract from letter No.62 of 4th October, 1899 from the Inspector of Schools.\n\nMiss Davies is building a Boarding School and Training Home for Chinese Girls in the London Mission compound on the Bonham Road. There will be a day school attached to it, which she hopes, will take the place of a school, which was in the Taiping-shan Resumption Area, and was closed in 1894. The site and $500 have been given by the London Mission.\n\nThe education will be a European education in the Chinese language; the school is to be for the benefit of Chinese girls in the Colony, and the adjacent districts, and it is expected that a number of the girls received will be destitute. This school will be somewhat on the lines of Miss Johnstone's school at Fairlea. The cost of the classrooms and the teachers' quarters is estimated at $4,200.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-294 - Governor Sir Blake - 1899 [10-12].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 375528, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-297 - Governor Sir Blake - 1900 [1-3]", "page_number": 355, "title": "CO129-297 - Governor Sir Blake - 1900 [1-3]", "content_text": "353\n\nat Jam Chimes, and in the place mentioned in my telegrams of 1899.\n\n2\n\n31 Mar\n\nImmediately on receipt of the information I sent for the Rev. M. Schaub, who is in charge of the mission, from whom I learned that a band of five hundred robbers have established themselves at a place about five miles to the East of Ki Long. Some of them came to that village about the 20th January and asked questions about the missing Foreigner.\n\n3. On the night of the 25th January the Missionary in charge of the station saw two men lurking about the compound. He fired a revolver in the air and the men decamped. On that night the robbers attacked and robbed the house of a rich man.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-297 - Governor Sir Blake - 1900 [1-3].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 411476, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-343 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "page_number": 653, "title": "CO129-343 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "content_text": "# \nand four messengers to the neighbouring camp for soldiers, not one of whom would stir. Eight of the villagers were killed, and when the place was taken sixty were bound and made to ransom themselves. . . . . I found many villages completely walled up, only a small opening left at the gateways for a single man at a time to go in and out. No stranger would be admitted unless recognized by some of the villagers. Some villages were guarded by men with muskets at the city gates.\n\nThe hsien cities are full of rich men who have moved there for protection. Out of six large villages in one district four had been robbed.\n\nAbout one-half of the robbers are disbanded and deserted soldiers, and in many places they are in undoubted league with the soldiers sent against them. The officials use this to get money out of the luckless farmer, as the robbers will come and demand food at some farmhouse, and get it, of course, without question. The official runners report this to the official, and the unlucky farmer is haled off to the yamên and fined for being in league with the banditti, and accused of aiding and abetting the same. . . . . It is reported that the military official down here in command of all these troops asked the hsien officials of five of the most turbulent districts to present a Memorial to the Governor, telling him that this said military official had entirely cleared the country of robbers. The country has never been so overrun with bandits since the Taiping rebellion as at the present time.\n\n## \nOn the 21st December the Rev. H. Mathews, of the Church of England Mission, wrote to me from Ping-yin Hsien, a city about 55 miles up the Huang-ho from here, regarding the threatening attitude of affairs at that place. The Church missionaries stationed there are Mr. and Mrs. Mathews, Mr. Mawson, Miss (Dr.) Phillips, and Miss Bearder. The mission station is just outside the south gate of the town, and between 2 and 3 miles from the river. Mr. Mathews wrote:-\n\nPing-yin district is in a very disturbed state just now. There are several strong bands of robbers prowling the three districts of Tung-ping Chou, Tung-ngo, and Ping-yin. They number hardly less than a thousand men in all, and the local officials seem entirely unable to cope with them. On the 17th the whole band attacked a large village called Ta-yang, about 20 miles from us to the south, just outside this hsien, and in Tung-p'ing Chou. A party of them, about 300 strong, immediately afterwards came to a place 12 miles from us in the Ping-yin Hsien, called Shang Hsin Chuang, in which we have a little church. Since then we have heard that they have moved westwards into the Tung-ngo Hsien. All the country people who have anything to lose are taking refuge in Ping-yin city, which is now packed full of refugees, while every one is in a state of fear. Our own official seems perfectly helpless, and spends his time in smoking opium. As far as I know nothing has been done to stop the disturbances. The robbers have now been about for three weeks, and constantly increase in numbers and boldness. Of course there is an element of danger for ourselves, and for the time being our work is at a standstill, while our compound might easily be plundered. The presence of some troops would stop the danger, which may grow acute unless the authorities do something. As far as can judge, it is the outcome of the floods and famine in Kiangsu. In Tung-ping Chou, too, there are large flooded districts which may account for the persistent lawlessness there.\n\nI got this letter on the afternoon of the 23rd, and had its contents laid before the Governor that evening. Some soldiers from the camp of the 5th division of the Li-chün were dispatched to Ping-yin at once. Others, from the Governor's own corps, had, it seems, already started in that direction some days earlier, but the men who actually broke up the organized gang of which Mr. Mathews writes were yet a third contingent who had been sent up to Tung-p'ing Chou from Yenchou. The telegram about this affair, which the Governor quoted in a letter to me, suggests a regular battle :-\n\n\"A number of brigand Chiefs were killed, many were shot, and many more drowned in the river, the rest scattering in all directions.\"\n\nI heard later that 140 brigands lost their lives in this encounter. Several letters have passed since both with Mr. Mathews and Bishop Iliff, of Tai-an-fu, regarding the state of affairs at Ping-yin. No further disturbance occurred there, the robbers moving off when the troops arrived. The greater part of the fugitives, however, had rallied, by the 27th December, in the south part of Tung-ping Chou on a hill called Liang Shan, a strong position almost entirely surrounded by water. By the 31st December about a thousand troops, including infantry, cavalry, and artillery, had passed through Ping-yin, while yet others had gone by way of Fei-ch'êng Hsien, all converging on Liang Shan, that is, between the city of Tung-ping and the junction of the Wen-ho with the Grand Canal. There had been no fresh disturbances, but Mr. Mathews thought that the troops had come only just in time, and that, with the famine raging to the south, only their continued presence would keep the country quiet till the spring. Bishop Iliff, writing on the 2nd January, remarks that Ping-yin seems to have settled down to its normal state again.\n\nThese occurrences, being within a comparatively short distance of Chinan-fu, and affecting the safety of British subjects, deserve more than a passing mention, but in fact they are only samples of what has been going on for over a year throughout a large portion of the province. The Governor claims that the brigands in Tsao-chou have been effectually scattered, and would have me believe that the gang that visited the Ping-yiu district in December are merely fugitives from Ts'ao-chou, driven north-east by the success of the troops. Of course it may be so, though a gang of a thousand would, I conceive, be accounted a large one even in Ts'ao-chou. Or it may be that since the crops have been harvested brigandage operations on the scale that was common west of the canal in the summer are no more practicable there, and the gangs, driven from place to place, are now obliged, for want of cover in the plains, to resort to hilly regions where they can entrench themselves in such strongholds as Liang Shan—a place, by the way, which is mentioned as a famous haunt of brigands in the well-known Chinese novel called \"Shui-hu\". By all accounts the south-west of Shantung has never been at peace—the popular saying has it, not since the Tang dynasty!\n\nSo that, even if this region be now more disturbed, as Mr. Thompson alleges, than it has been at any time since the Taiping rebellion, it may still be quite truthfully described as being in its normal state.\n\nFrom time to time encounters with brigands are related in German newspapers, in particular one early in December in the T'ai-an Hsien district, when the courage and promptitude of the Hsien Magistrate had the best results; but it is evident that, if the state of the country is to be really improved, measures will be required on a far more extended scale than has hitherto been attempted.\n\nPage 647", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-343 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 412764, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-345 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "page_number": 524, "title": "CO129-345 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "content_text": "## them. \nIt was originally stated that the arsenal would be shut down, but recently, owing, it is said, to repeated attempts on the part of Japanese to lease it, the Viceroy has decided to keep it open under the superintendence of the French-trained native officers.\n\nThe arsenal was founded in 1868 under the direction of two French officers, with a staff of some thirty officers and overseers, who remained until 1872, when the Chinese engineers who had been trained under their supervision took entire charge. French engineers were again employed from 1875 to 1878, and from time to time up to 1897 foreign-trained native engineers were in charge. It was during this latter period that the dock at Pagoda Island was constructed, it having been commenced in 1887. In 1897 French officers again took charge.\n\nThe position of the arsenal was at the time of its foundation excellent; vessels could easily go alongside the wharf, and there was deep water and good anchorage in the stream immediately opposite the frontage. Unfortunately, however, the barrier, laid down during the war with France in 1884, between Foochow and Pagoda has completely altered the course of the river, and caused the arsenal frontage to silt up. If the removal of this barrier would result in the river resuming its former course, there would be a great improvement, not only to the arsenal and dock entrance, but also to navigation in general.\n\nOwing to the absurdly high prices asked by the Chinese land-owners, it was impossible to obtain land necessary to build the dock in the immediate vicinity of the arsenal, and the authorities were compelled to find a site further down the river, and at some little distance from the arsenal itself. A site was eventually obtained at Pagoda Island, and there in 1887 was constructed a dock capable of taking in the cruisers--- 2,200 tons---which were projected in that year. The entrance to the dock remained free for some ten years, when a sand-bank, which now seriously obstructs the approach, commenced to form. This bank could easily be dredged away, and, as there is a current of nearly 4 knots at that point, little labour would be required after the first dredging to keep the entrance quite clear.\n\nThe arsenal proper has a river frontage of about 500 metres, and a depth of about the same measurement. It contains three building slips, a crane capable of lifting 40 tons weight, a \"Labat\" patent slip, 90 metres in length, for vessels up to 1,000 tons, and coal depôt. Behind the slips are the workshops, and behind the coal depôt the foundry, electric light plant, and the general store. Outside the arsenal compound there are workmen's houses, the English and French school buildings, and the Chinese Director's yamên.\n\nForty steam-vessels have been built, four of which were over 2,000 tons displacement. These were constructed, machinery included, entirely at the arsenal by their own workmen.\n\nThe French school was intended for the training of constructing engineers, while the English school was for the instruction of naval officers.\n\nA large number of overseers and petty officers also received their training in these schools. But owing to lack of funds the buildings have fallen into disrepair, and the schools are practically empty, so that in order to bring the arsenal back to anything approaching its former degree of usefulness, complete reorganization and liberal expenditure of money is now necessary.\n\nThe position of the arsenal has of late years been severely criticized, but it must not be forgotten that the present condition of its water frontage, as also the entrance to the dock, is entirely due to the Kusban barrier; and it is not unreasonable to surmise that the abolition of this obstruction would remove, or at any rate modify, the rapidly growing sand-banks in the vicinity, especially at the arsenal frontage, where, before the laying down of the Kushan barrier, it had become necessary to protect the bank from encroachment by the river.\n\nPeking!\n\nThe following extracts on various subjects from native newspapers may be of interest:\n\nAugust 25.-\"The Ministers of the Revenue Council propose placing foreign custom-houses at Su-lo Fu (Kashgar) and Ili Fu (Kuldja) in Hsinchiang, with Chinese and foreign officers in charge of them. They are also negotiating with the Russians a Tariff suitable to the trade conditions of the frontier.\"\n\nAugust 25.-\"The Li Fan Pu intends to devote strenuous efforts to the formation of a Mongolian army. A Memorial will shortly be sent to the Throne on the subject.\"\n\n## \nAugust 23.-\"The Government is considering a vigorous effort to suppress the custom of foot-binding, by reducing women with bound feet to the level of the non-respectable classes, so that they cannot share in any honours or titles conferred upon their husbands or sons.\"\n\nCurrency. August 23.-\" A Committee of Princes and Ministers has been meeting in the Grand Secretariat to consider the currency question, and it has been decided to adopt Professor Jenks' proposal for a gold basis, and to prohibit the import of foreign coins and notes, or the unofficial printing or making of notes, so as to secure uniformity.\"\n\nTaku Forts. August 26.—“ A proposal has been made to obtain the consent of the Powers to the rebuilding of the forts at Taku, which form the gate of Peking.\"\n\nManœuvres. September 1.-\" Owing to the disturbed state of the Yang-tsze region, there will be no autumn manoeuvres this year.\"\n\nRailway Construction in Chinese Turkestan. September 9.—“ A Russian merchant has proposed the joint undertaking of railway construction in Ili and Hsinching. The Wai-wu Pu has refused, and the Yu-chuan Pu has sent telegrams to the Governor of Ili urging him to find money without delay to undertake it himself and anticipate the foreigners, and also to consider the opening of trade marts as a safeguard to the rights of China,\"\n\nPolitical Situation. September 11.-\" The dispatch of Commissioners to England, Japan, and Germany to study the Constitutions of those countries is due to the advice of Yuan Shih-k'ai, who has also sent up a Memorial containing detailed proposals on constitutional government in ten Articles.\"\n\n\"It is also said that Wang Ta-hsieh and Yu Shih-mei were appointed to these Commissions in order to get them out of the way, Wang being a friend of C'hu Hung-chi and Yu Shih-mei having been a protégé of Ts'en Ch'un-hsuan.\"\n\nAnd the same paper on the same day stated that: \"The Government is thinking of bringing back Tang Shao-yi to the Wai-wu Pu.\"\n\nPeking-Hankow Railway. September 13.-\" Yuan Shih-k'ai is reviving the question of redeeming the Peking-Hankow Railway, and is resolved to bring it to a successful issue. Instructions have been given to Yang Shih-ci, on his mission to the South Sea ports, to collect money for this purpose from the Chinese communities.\"\n\nOn the 18th September a paper stated that: \"On the 10th September the Director-General of the Peking-Hankow Railway waited upon Yuan Shih-k'ai to confer on the subject of the redemption of the railway, which he has been deputed to propose to the Company. One of the Yuchuan Board says that it may possibly be brought about this year, as the Government is very pressing in the matter.\"\n\nDalai Lama,\n\nSeptember 18.-\"The Dalai Lama has again petitioned through the Grand Council for leave to return to Thibet. The Rescript to the Council's Memorial directed that for the present he should not return.”\n\nGermans in Shantung. September 18.\" Agreements have been signed for German Mining Concessions at five places in Shantung.\"\n\nSeptember 25.-\"The Germans have sent fifty German students to travel in Shantung, and have engaged expectant officials to show them the topography, the trend of the hills, the watersheds, &c., of which they are to make plans. The object of the expedition is not apparent, and the Chinese Government feels much suspicion, It is intended to address the German Minister on the subject, and ask for the recall of the students.\"\n\nPolitical Situation. September 18-Chang Chih-tung has been having audiences on consecutive days, to which only he himself was admitted, and at which the matters spoken of are kept so secret that they are not even confided to Prince Ch'ing and the other members of the Grand Council.”\n\nPeking-Kalgan Railway.-Great activity is being shown along the whole section under construction from Nankow to the top of the pass, and a great number of workmen are employed. They sleep in small mat sheds erected among the boulders by the side of the stream, and appear to work from early morning till late at night. I have the honour to report the following on the authority of the Chinese Engineer-in-chief' :-----\n\nThree miles of rails have been already laid inside the valley from Nankow. As regards the tunnels, two have been completed, the third (1,200 feet long) has been driven through, as also two-thirds of the fourth (3,450 feet long). The rails are not laid as yet through any of the tunnels. Work has already been begun at the north side of the pass, and about two-thirds of the earthwork to Huailai is finished. The line is to be opened to traffic as soon as the rails reach Huailai. The Engineer-in-chief\n\nPage 521", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-345 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 414494, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-348 - Governor Sir Lugard - 1908 [7-10]", "page_number": 405, "title": "CO129-348 - Governor Sir Lugard - 1908 [7-10]", "content_text": "# Enclosure 4.\n\n## REPORT OF CAPTAIN SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE\n\nA Typhoon of extraordinary velocity struck the Colony on the night of the 27th of July. Coming as it did so soon after the heavy rains of the previous week, which culminated in a severe thunderstorm on the 24th, the damage done on land was very great, and most of the houses in the Colony suffered some damage. At \"Kingsclere\" Hotel, a chimney was blown down, which, falling through the roof, caused considerable damage, and the débris buried a European for some hours. I have received a letter from Messrs. Showan, Tomes & Co. thanking the Police for their \"splendid work in rescuing him\". The party was in charge of Chief Inspector Baker. A similar mishap in King's Buildings caused a collapse, which was doubtless made more serious by the presence of some heavy iron safes on the upper floors. Fortunately, no loss of life occurred. A number of old houses collapsed at Yaumati and Shaukiwan, resulting in 66 deaths. Several Mission houses in Cheung Chau were blown down. Trees suffered severely everywhere: telephones and telegraphs also. With the exception of the loss of the S.S. \"Ying King\", which foundered in Castle Peak Bay, the damage done afloat was not so serious as might have been expected. Several ships went ashore, including H.M.S. \"Whiting\", or dragged their moorings. Seven launches were sunk and seven went ashore. A water boat and several lighters were sunk. Three of the Police launches were damaged. They sheltered at the Naval Yard Camber with the kind permission of Commander Penfold, R.N. Many junks were reported sunk or missing. The total number of drowned and missing being 532, of whom 5 are Europeans and one a Japanese. The Secretary of the H.K. & K. Godown Company has written to tender thanks for the services rendered by Inspector Langley and the Water Police.\n\nThe crew of the H.M.S. \"Astroa's\" cutter gallantly rescued six Chinese and were assisted ashore by two Officers of the Middlesex Regiment and a Civilian. The Police in the Eastern District did good work under Inspector Fenton. Sergeants Clarke and Devney and P.C. Ogg received some injuries, and P.C. Pepperell, in charge of a launch, is suffering from Bronchitis in consequence of the inclement weather. Sergeant Boole, in charge of No. 1 Launch, fell overboard in the Naval Yard Camber owing to the launch heeling over from the impact of another launch, and was pulled up by Seaman 465 Lam Kun Hoi, just in time to avoid being crushed by a launch; this seaman deserves recognition for his prompt action. The Police had the misfortune to lose their Club matshed, which was completely wrecked.\n\n## Enclosure 5.\n\n### Botanic Gardens\n\n* Old Gardens.—A large proportion of the big trees damaged, several destroyed. A large quantity of shrubs blown out of the ground.\n* New Gardens.—Five large trees, including a palm tree, blown down.\n* Blake Garden.—Six banyan trees blown down, of which 5 can be raised; one blown into a neighbouring street and killed. Most of the young trees, planted during the last three years, destroyed.\n* Peak Garden.—Trees and fence damaged.\n* West End Park.—A few trees down.\n* Government House Grounds.—The large Poinciana at West of house killed; the two large banians in front of the house wrecked. Several other trees blown down or otherwise damaged. Garden shrubs much damaged.\n* Mountain Lodge Grounds.—...\n* Colonial Cemetery.—A large quantity (more than 200) of the biggest trees, especially pine trees, broken off and killed.\n* Loan Plant Compound.—...\n\n## REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT, BOTANICAL AND FORESTRY DEPARTMENT\n\nSir, I have the honour to make the following preliminary report on the damage done by the typhoon of 27th-28th instant to Government property under my charge.\n\n### Buildings\n\n* Superintendent's quarters and quarters at So Kun Po Nursery slightly damaged.\n* Matsheds at West End Park, Kang Hau, Nga lu Tau, Kun Tong, and Colonial Cemetery blown down.\n* Plant houses in Gardens: roofs off Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4. End of one hot house blown in, roof of others damaged.\n* Plant houses at Cemetery much damaged.\n* Albany Nursery and So Kun Po Nursery.—Gate and part of wall blown down. Stock much damaged.\n\n### Glenealy\n\n* Several large pine trees and tree ferns killed, the large Champac tree much damaged.\n\n### Bank opposite the Main Entrance of Government House\n\n* Large proportion of the big pine trees killed, some tree ferns and smaller trees blown away.\n\n### Street Trees\n\n| Location | Damage |\n| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| Various Roads | About 10 large banyan trees blown down, of which 4 can be re-erected. About 40 trees of other kinds killed. |\n| Caine Road | Impassable at daylight on the 28th, but a path was cleared for traffic by mid-day. |\n| Albany Road | Impassable at daylight on the 28th, but a path was cleared for traffic by mid-day. |\n| Albert Road | Impassable at daylight on the 28th, but a path was cleared for traffic by mid-day. |\n| Garden Road | Impassable at daylight on the 28th, but a path was cleared for traffic by mid-day. |\n| Kowloon | Trees planted during the last few years are decimated. |\n\nThe removal of branches and litter is now in hand and making good progress. The Sanitary Department has received instructions to deal with the streets below Bonham Road, Caine Road, Upper Albert Road, and Kennedy Road. These roads and the higher ones are being cleared by this department and will probably be finished by this evening. Reports on damage to trees in outlying Government plantations are not yet to hand.\n\nI have, &c.,\n\n30th July, 1908.\n\nThe Honourable, The Colonial Secretary.\n\nS. T. DUNN, \nSuperintendent.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-348 - Governor Sir Lugard - 1908 [7-10].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 421845, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-360 - Public Offices - 1909", "page_number": 634, "title": "CO129-360 - Public Offices - 1909", "content_text": "## No. 1 \n\n2 \n\nof the Chinese Government to continue their programme of reform. The Prince Regent thoroughly understood that a continuity of policy was indispensable, and would not be so foolish as to encourage any reaction.\n\nAssociating myself with what my American colleague had said, I then conveyed to the Prince the substance of my statement, laying special stress upon the magnitude of our commercial interests and the large part we had recently taken in the material development of the country, all of which made any violent change a matter of deep concern to us.\n\nHis Excellency replied in much the same strain as he had done to Mr. Rockhill. He said that he recognized that what we had said represented the advice of two Powers with whom China had long been on peculiarly friendly terms, and that the claims of friendship imposed upon the Chinese Government the duty of seeing that the advice was accepted and carried out in the spirit in which it had been given. Yuan Shih-k'ai had been his most valued associate for years, and no one recognized more fully his great merits or more sincerely regretted his loss than he did. The circumstances were such that he could not very well state the reason of what had happened, but he still hoped that Yuan's services would be utilized for the benefit of his country in the not very distant future. Fortunately, he was still in the prime of life, and his enforced retirement would, he hoped, only be temporary.\n\nMr. Rockhill and I, in handing our written statements to the Prince, both expressed our appreciation of his Highness' assurances, and said we felt certain they would be warmly welcomed by our Governments, to whom the recent turn of events had caused considerable apprehension.\n\nLiang Tun-yen, whom I saw later in the day, told me that the Prince had intimated to him his intention of submitting our statements to the Regent at audience on the following morning, and had expressed his belief that they would exercise a salutary effect.\n\nThe Canadian missionaries in Honan, who, in common with many other British subjects, owed their lives to Yuan Shih-k'ai during the troubles of 1900, paid their respects to the fallen statesman on his return to his native place. I enclose a letter which I received from Dr. McClure on the subject, together with a copy of my reply thereto.\n\nYuan's disappearance from public life has caused considerable anxiety at Tien-tsin and in Manchuria, where many of his associates hold high office. Writing from Mukden yesterday, Mr. Willis states:--\n\n\"I had an interview with Mr. M. T. Liang a day or two ago. The dismissal of Yuan Shih-k'ai is undoubtedly a severe blow to the high provincial authorities here; most of them are either his protégés or in great sympathy with him. Liang's opinion seemed to be that there was no immediate idea of making changes here, but it is evident that they feel anything but comfortable.\"\n\nTo us the change means, amongst other things, the revival of all the difficulties connected with the Customs succession, the abandonment of the naval scheme which was the chief object of Tong's mission to England, the indefinite delay of currency and other reforms, and, above all, the removal of the really one strong man in the Central Government whose orders commanded respect in the provinces.\n\nI have, &c.\n\n(Signed) **J. N. JORDAN**\n\n### Inclosure 1 in No. 1\n\n**Memorandum by Mr. Rockhill**\n\nThe Government of the United States has always been animated by the friendliest feeling for China, and has ever been concerned in its welfare. It has on numerous occasions been able to demonstrate the sincerity of these feelings.\n\nDuring the last few years it has watched with sympathy and deep interest the initiation and gradual development of a policy which should have the most far-reaching and happy results for the Empire, and which should insure its political and economic development and strengthen its ties of friendship with all the nations of the world; it has come to look upon the continuation of this policy as a sure guarantee of peace, stability, and progress.\n\nThe sudden removal from political life at the beginning of the new reign of a statesman intimately associated with the great reforms of recent years has been learnt of by the Government of the United States with serious concern; its confidence has been shaken in the intentions of the new Government, and apprehension felt lest it should not pursue the policy so happily initiated in the preceding reign, and in which the United States see such vast benefit for China.\n\nThe Government of the United States would be much gratified to learn that its apprehension is ill-founded, and that it is the intention of the Government of the Regency to continue the policy which has heretofore elicited its friendly support and hearty praise.\n\n### Inclosure 2 in No. 1\n\n**Memorandum by Sir J. Jordan**\n\nHis Majesty's Government have always been animated with feelings of sincere friendship for China, and at no time in the history of their relations have those feelings been more clearly demonstrated than during the past few years.\n\nChina had entered upon a course of reform which had commanded the respect and admiration of the whole civilized world. Great Britain, as a nation which has vast commercial relations with China, watched this movement with the liveliest sympathy and interest, and while co-operating cordially in measures of moral improvement, lent her financial assistance in the material development of the country. She had looked forward with confidence to the uninterrupted political and economic development of the Empire under the present enlightened régime.\n\nHis Majesty's Government have therefore learnt with grave apprehension of the removal from office of his Excellency Yuan Shih-k'ai, the statesman whose name has been most closely associated with the cause of progress in recent years. They are deeply concerned at the recent turn of events, and would be relieved to learn that the change which has taken place does not imply any reversal of policy, and that it is still the intention of the Imperial Government to carry to completion the beneficent measures which were so happily inaugurated during the last few years of the previous reign.\n\nPeking, January 15, 1909.\n\n### Inclosure 3 in No. 1\n\n**Dr. McClure to Sir J. Jordan**\n\nThe Canadian Presbyterian Mission, Weihuifu, Honan, January 11, 1909.\n\nYou may already know that his Excellency Yuan Shih-kai arrived in Weihui-fu last Wednesday, and is at present residing in a house belonging to himself here.\n\nNeedless to say, we were much pained to hear of his enforced retirement from his State duties, and tried to show our sympathy with him by sending our cards to his Excellency. Next day his Excellency sent his return cards, and a little later in the day his physician, Dr. Wang, called to express his Excellency's appreciation of our sending cards to him.\n\nDr. Wang, as you may know, is a graduate of the Pei Yang Medical School, Tien-tsin, and speaks English quite fluently.\n\nYesterday Dr. Wang came to our mission compound again, and in a private interview asked me to write to you and express to you his Excellency's heartfelt appreciation of your sympathy with him in his present trying circumstances, and to thank you for all your kindness to him. I gladly promised to do this, and hence this letter. The Doctor explained that in the circumstances it was not admissible for his Excellency to write to you himself.\n\nI also offered to do anything in my power to make his stay in Weihui-fu more tolerable. My family and myself owe to him the preservation of our lives in 1900; we escaped without the least mishap through his province in that trying time.\n\nThe Doctor says his Excellency is in good health, but remains in his room nearly all the time. I advised that he should try to persuade him to take some exercise in the open air.\n\nPage 629", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-360 - Public Offices - 1909.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 422728, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-362 - Public Offices - 1909", "page_number": 131, "title": "CO129-362 - Public Offices - 1909", "content_text": "# \n28 \n\nThe majority of the stations need not be described; they consist of a church and a residence for the priest, both usually situated in a large compound surrounded by a mud wall of varying height. But there are two stations which merit attention, these being the fortress-like enclosures of Hsiao Chiao Pan and Santauho. Hsiao Chiao Pan is situated in the southernmost corner of the kingdom of Ottok and to the north of the Great Wall. It is a day to the south of Borobalgasson, six days' south-east of Ninghsiafu, and six days' south-west of Yulinfu, a prefectural town in Shensi. The mountains which separate China and the Ordos country are some 3 miles to the south. The plain in which the missions have established themselves is well watered and fertile; it is peopled entirely by Chinese, who have gradually pushed the Mongols northwards. A stretch of desolate sand-hills, entirely devoid of all cultivation, separates Hsiao Chiao and Borobalgasson; over these the Chinese have not pushed their way as yet. The first impression of the traveller on approaching Hsiao Chiao will be that he is coming to an ordinary walled Chinese town, though perhaps a little smaller than usual. It is only on approaching close that the cross on the small tower of the church in the centre of the enclosure becoming visible the nature of the place is indicated. \n\nThe walls of the fortress are some 25 feet high and each is some 200 yards long. They are of loess which has become as hard as brick and is able to stand rifle fire. At the top the walls are some 4 feet broad, and there is a rampart 3 feet high, provided with holes for firing through. The fortress is entered by a gate in the east wall. This gate is of the usual Chinese pattern with enceinte. Outside the east wall are eight rows of houses for the Chinese converts; the population is between 800 and 900. These rows of houses are built at right angles to the wall. Inside the fortress walls there is the church and priests' quarters—at present there are two European priests stationed here, the \"sainte-enfance,\" which is an establishment for girls, of whom there are about sixty, who are looked after by three Chinese Sisters. These girls are married off to Christian converts soon after the age of 16. There are also a small garden in which grow all manner of fruits and vegetables (among the former there are even grapes, from which the priests make a pleasant wine), and a large building in which grain is stored. There is, of course, a well in the enclosure. \n\nIn 1900 the mission had to undergo a siege which lasted for two months; they were attacked by strong bands of Chinese and Mongol Boxers, the latter, it has always been alleged, being egged on to do so by the Chinese Government. The defenders were some 300 native Christians and 15 European priests. Though armed with only a few rifles, sporting guns, and revolvers they were able to successfully resist all attacks. There was good water in the fortress, and, as a large number of cattle was brought in, fresh meat was always obtainable. The only European casualty during the siege was the death of one priest. His loss and that of Bishop Hamer were the only losses the Belgian Mission had to experience in 1900. I believe that a couple of years subsequent to this two of their priests were murdered in Ninghsia. Since the events of 1900 the fortress walls have been strengthened, and some forty rifles with the necessary amount of ammunition are stored at the station. In the event of future trouble the priests in the outlying stations would retire on Hsiao Chiao, as in 1900, and give a good account of themselves. Since 1900 the district has been untroubled except for brigands and robbers. About four years ago the mission received news that a band, 20 strong, was going to attack them, so the local authorities were warned and sent soldiers, who routed the band, capturing three of the ringleaders, who were beheaded. The relations between the mission and the provincial authorities are said to be excellent; if any serious case arises the Bishop, if possible, settles it personally at Lanchowfu with the Viceroy. In reply to my questions as to who had charge now of their interests in Peking (the German and Italian Governments, of course, insist on representing their own nationals in China, even though these are missionaries), the priests said that the French Legation still acted for them, and looked after their interests well. The priests added that the French Legation knew very well that if they did not do so those interests would be speedily transferred to another Legation, and that the German Legation were quite ready to undertake the duty. \n\nAfter the siege the Mongols brought the mission many beasts of all sorts and offered them as retribution, but the mission had no need of these and refused them. They were given instead a large amount of land, thus becoming what they have always desired to be—ground owners. In addition to the amount they own, they also rent a good deal from the Mongols, paying rent at the usual rates. The mission demanded a large indemnity—all their outlying churches had been destroyed, and many Christian villages had suffered greatly. The Chinese Government condemned the three Princes of the Ordos whose subjects had shared in the Boxer movement at the instigation, be it remembered, of the Government themselves—Ottok, Wushin, and Djassak to pay 250,000 taels (£37,500), Ottok had to pay 100,000 taels (£15,000), Wushin 80,000 taels (£12,000), and Djassak 70,000 taels (£10,500). These Princes, who are for the most part merely shepherd kings, whose wealth consists in the number of flocks they possess, could not pay more than 190,000 taels (£28,500). The rest of the money was provided by some Chinese officials in Shensi, who in return obtained a concession for twenty-seven years at Chagan Noor, in the Province of Wushin, for extracting salt from the lake bed in that locality. These officials have a Chinese representative at the lake employed in the work, and a visit to whose house I have already described. \n\nThe method adopted by the mission to attract Chinese are worthy of special attention. At the same time that they established a station and a church they build a number of cottages. In these the Chinese who care to come are allowed to live rent free; they have to pay a small amount for the mission land which they cultivate. Sometimes the applicants for the cottages are absolutely destitute; these are clothed and fed until able to take care of themselves. The occupants of the cottages thus soon become Christians, and this is the more easily understood when it is remembered that the Roman Catholic missions support their converts in lawsuits. Whatever view is taken respecting the means adopted by the mission to secure converts, it cannot but be admitted that they do a truly charitable work in rescuing many who would otherwise doubtless starve. If I understand the priests aright, they have doubts themselves as to the value of their converts, but they affirm that at any rate the children of these are Christian, and they maintain this to be the essential part. I was not favourably impressed with the results of the priests' efforts as regards the 8th Commandment. At all the stations I was asked whether I had locked my room door on leaving it. \n\nWhen I replied in the negative, and added that, in my opinion, to have done so would have certainly implied doubts in my mind as to my host's honesty, I was warmly begged to do so, and assured that they—my hosts—never left their own rooms without locking them up, for these Chinese Christians will steal anything.\" \n\nThe troubles of the priests are numerous. Whole villages do not hesitate to renounce their faith if they think there is any danger to themselves in adhering to it. Recently the authorities in the neighbourhood of Kweihuacheng wished to take a religious census of the population, and a certain village was described as Christian. As this measure preceded the Boxer troubles also, the village in question was very alarmed, and sent representatives to the authorities to have their name erased, as they had left the Roman Catholics. The local priest subsequently visited the local official and naïvely requested him to order the village to return to the Church. \n\nAs regards the cultivation of the fields belonging to the mission by converts the system of payment is probably the same throughout the two dioceses of Eastern and Western Mongolia. Mr. C. W. Campbell visiting a \"chrétienté\" in the Eastern Mongolian diocese in 1899 wrote \"the mission land is tilled on the metayer system, 10 to 30 per cent, of the produce being surrendered according to the yield.” \n\nThe missions have done an excellent thing in declaring war against the cultivation or use of opium. Christians are forbidden to grow or smoke it. In the latter case they sometimes escape detection, but are punished if discovered. In the former case the soil in the Ordos is entirely unsuited for the poppy; it is otherwise in the Santauhu district where a great deal is cultivated by the heathen Chinese. The Christians make occasional attempts to imitate their heathen neighbours, but the priests root up the crop. \n\nSantauhu is the name of a district lying six days north-north-east of Ninghsiafu, on the left bank of the Yellow River, where this stream bends to the north-east before turning due east. The district is situated in the Kingdom of Alashan; a portion of it is claimed by the Prince of Hangkin (the Ordos King on the other side of the river), but possession is nine points of the law, and the King of Alashan levies taxes throughout the whole district, the inhabitants replying to the Prince of Hangkin that they are quite prepared to pay taxes to him if and when he substantiates his claim to the territory. The district which is only a few miles long and as many broad is exceedingly fertile, the water of the Hoangho being spread over the country by the same system of irrigation canals as prevails around Ninghsia. The population is half Mongol and half Chinese. The Belgian Mission have many stations scattered throughout the district, the centre of which is the Eglise de St. Jacques at Sanchung-kung. This corresponds in the Kingdom of Alashan to Hsiao Chiao in that of Ottok. In appearance it is a walled Chinese city: each wall is some 400 yards long and 25 feet high with an additional 3-foot high rampart well pierced with holes. The walls \n29 \n\n[2155 6-1) \n129", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-362 - Public Offices - 1909.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 422735, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-362 - Public Offices - 1909", "page_number": 138, "title": "CO129-362 - Public Offices - 1909", "content_text": "## \n\n136 \n\n1 \n\nrises gradually. A branch of the mountains sweeps round towards the south. \n\nThe top of the pass was reached about mile 17, and the descent was as easy as the ascent had been. At mile 23 (from Yoba) the hills became lower and we emerged to open ground at the bleak Chinese hamlet of Kowmensze, where there was a good inn. \n\n## June 1\n\nThe people in the hamlet are in some distress. They rely on the sale of their sheepskins and wool to a foreign firm at Ninghsia, who have not sent their agent here this year as usual. We left in a north-east direction over bleak and stony ground. \n\nWe made a slight halt at noon at the small scattered hamlet of Pingchiapan, once a large village, as the old walls which stand close by show, but most of which is now in ruins. When we continued the march the change in scenery was marvellous, instead of brown all was green and strewn with irises, the wild bean flower, red and yellow gorse and anemones. This lasted until a belt of sand dunes was reached, which in its turn lasted right up to the belt of trees which makes the Ninghsia plain so famous. There is no cultivation nor are there any houses until the tree belt is reached. \n\nPassing the populous Mahommedan village of Schwangchügöl we reached Hsincheng again, and a couple of hours later re-entered Ninghsiafu. \n\n## Strip of Kansu along River north of Ninghsia\n\nThe Ninghsia Government also includes the strip of land lying between the Alashan range and the Yellow River for some 60 miles, this strip of land is at first some 25 miles wide and narrows down to some 2 miles. Formerly belonging to the Kingdom of Alashan it was at one time or another ceded to the Chinese, by whom it is now entirely populated. Its limit to the west is the foot of the range. The country is like that immediately round Ninghsia, well timbered, irrigated and fertile. Opium is as much cultivated as round Ninghsia. The district comprises numerous villages and one large town, Pinglobsien, \n\n## Ninghsia to Schischuisze\n\nLeaving the city by the north gate we kept in a north-north-easterly direction across the plain by an excellent level road, which wound about considerably to avoid the small canals. Sometimes one of these had burst into the main road; to attempt to go through the water was fatal, for the camels stuck deep in the mud up to their bellies, and had to be unloaded before they could be extricated. The country was delightfully timbered, and for the most part under cultivation. At mile 7 the conspicuous north pagoda outside the city walls was half a mile to our left. At mile 11 we passed the small village of Hsiaopanpu, which was followed at mile 14 by the large fortress farm of Wangchiapu. At mile 19 we halted at the large flourishing, mud-walled village of Lichangpu. At mile 24 we reached the district town of Pinglohsien and stopped for the night. Here we had some difficulty in inducing the gateman to open for us. There was another difficulty 200 yards before the gate was reached, for on a stone bridge across a canal a sentry was stationed at night. This man was of so nervous a temperament that he was shooting indiscriminately at anyone he heard approaching on the chance that he might be a robber. \n\nThe town of Pingho has a busy appearance, and seems in a flourishing state, but the inns are poor and the water execrable. \n\n## June 4\n\nOur camels being in an exhausted state the Taotai of Ninghsia had lent us a couple of ponies as well. These were to be changed at Pingho for two fresh ones, and the magistrate was very obliging in the matter. The garrison of Pingho consists of a captain and fifty-five soldiers, but they only do escort work. They have only a few rifles between them, and those of very old pattern. Their uniform is very peculiar and they wear what head dress they like. As many of them at this season of the year choose the flopping straw hat they look very unsoldierlike. My escort were practically in rags and looked more like tramps than soldiers. Their pay is one measure of wheat and 1 tael (3s.) a-month. \n\nOur direction being north we left the town by the north gate. There were a number of sand drifts just outside the walls, but curiously enough there was no other indication of sand, and the country was entirely under cultivation and well-irrigated. \n\nWe halted at the busy straggling village of Hwang si chow to change horses again. Here a Lieutenant and two soldiers, only for escort work, are stationed. The village has good inns, supplies are cheap and plentiful, the water is good and the place wears a prosperous air. The village consists chiefly of one long street about a mile long, through which the high road runs. At the entrance at either end the street is purposely crooked to prevent the passage of evil influences. A great deal of coal dust was on sale in the street; this is brought from the mountains close by and is extremely cheap. The Lieutenant acted in accordance with Chinese custom in order to obtain transport for us and commandeered a large quantity of animals; all the owners, save a couple or so, can then redeem their animals for a few cents, and avoid a longish march thereby. A more iniquitous system of procuring transport can hardly be imagined, but the Chinese are so accustomed to it that complaints seem to be unusual. \n\nTurning at once to the left, on leaving the town (to have kept straight on would have brought us to the banks of the Yellow River at Paofeng, from which place the countless irrigation canals would have prevented us marching in the right direction), we reached the village of Shayinsze, a mile beyond which there is a Roman Catholic mission station. Here we had the Alashan Mountains little more than 2 miles away to our left. The mission compound is unusually small; it is surrounded by a low mud wall, which could only serve as a protection against animals and ordinary thieves. The European priest being absent we continued the march, to halt for the night at a large farm called Chiu errh pa, a mile farther on. We passed two arrangements to-day in connection with the irrigation canals, which were of interest. One was a deep broad canal (at present dry) designed to carry off in time of flood the surplus water, back to the river directly the water reaches a certain height. The other was the measure taken in the opposite case, i.e., to bring the water to the higher lying fields in time of scarcity. A wooden construction 12 feet long and 1 foot broad with a wheel at either end, is placed in the entrance of the dry canal, and water is pushed up this from the full canal, in which one end of the instrument is placed. The rest of the entrance of the dry canal is choked up with earth, on which men sit and turn a handle which sets in motion some twenty paddles, which, revolving round the two wheels, drives the water up the canal. \n\n## June 5\n\nI only learnt to-day that the Lieutenant made some 6s. yesterday over the pony levy. The same system prevails at Peking, where if the Government require 10 carts, 100 are commandeered, and 90 owners redeem their property by paying so much, not to the Government, but to the dishonest Government servants. \n\nThe system is rotten and leads to perpetual abuses. \n\nLittle more than two hours marching over level ground brought us to Schischuisze, on the Yellow River. This name means the crossing of roads, and here the road crosses the river into the principality of Ottok, one of the Ordos tribes. The village looks poor and lifeless. It was evidently once much larger as is proved by numberless ruins, and also by the fact that the gate is now 300 yards from the village, the intervening land being covered with ruins. The inns are good as also is the water, and there is plenty of transport. The village should be thriving, it has plenty of coal in the mountains at its very gates, and lies on the river where there should be plenty of traffic; but being in China, practically no coal is mined nor is there any river traffic of any importance. \n\nIt is at Schischuisze, that boats are obtainable for Bantu. We saw some twenty of these tied to the banks; they are the same as are used for ferry work both here and near Ninghsia. A canvas can be arched over the centre of the boat if necessary. The boatman ask some 60 taels for the journey to Bautu (9l.), but the proper price seems to be between 40 and 60 taels (6l. to 9l.). The journey takes from five to ten days according to the wind. For the return journey the boats are hauled by five or six trackers. The boatmen are almost all Mahommedans, and said to be great robbers, nothing being safe in the neighbourhood of where they spend the night. On the east side the bank rises steeply from the water's edge, the Arbusula Mountains running parallel to the river, and gradually increasing in height from what is at first insignificance. On the west side, the Alashan on the other hand, dwindle from magnificence to nothing. \n\n## The Alashan Yellow River Strip\n\nThis strip lies on the left bank of the river, and extends from Schischuisze to the kingdom of the Orots, that is to say round the bend which the river makes to the east after flowing northwards past Ninghsiatu. On the west this strip is bordered by the Alashan Mountains. At the north end of the range the district becomes considerably broader; it is bounded on the north by the Mountains of Mongolia. Here it is several hundred miles wide, while in the south (i.e., between the Alashan and the river) it is never more than a few miles in width.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-362 - Public Offices - 1909.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 428879, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 220, "title": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "nature. The latest accounts indicate that the town is once more quiet, although no information has been received to say that foreigners have returned from the vessels to their houses.\n\nFrom the information supplied by the Chinese officials themselves, to which reference is made below, it is evident that an anti-foreign movement was in preparation throughout Hunan. It has partly miscarried, owing to the premature outbreak of riots in Changsha over a grievance between the people and the officials. But directly trouble had arisen the hostility of the populace is turned, as by command, against foreigners.\n\nIt will be found that the following letter from our Changsha correspondent embodies the most authoritative account that has yet been received of the riots in Changsha :-\n\nA Graphic Account.\n\nChangsha, April 19, 1910. Wednesday, the 13th April, to Friday, the 15th April, were days that will long be remembered in Changsha. The riots will be marked from the fact that a governor's yamên has been sacked and burnt, and a very extensive series of looting and burning of foreign property has been carried out as almost a by-play of the main aim of the riot.\n\nThat aim was to cheapen rice. It is the old, old story that our history books show us as occurring in the lands of the Mediterranean, and that Carlyle has so picturesquely taught us to connect with the French Revolution—a hungry mob is dangerous. Rice has been, of course, dearer and dearer on account of the Yang-tsze floods. For the same reason the caters of rice have been more numerous, for the refugees from Hupeh have been numbered by the thousand. The forbidding of export from Changsha had not the desired effect of dropping prices—if that effect was really desired by those who forbade the export. Promises of opening Government granaries were not fulfilled, and as the prices crept up disappointment and anger grew. On Wednesday night a rise from 82 cash a-pint to 84 cash provoked the gathering of an angry mob. Some four or five officials were sent to speak good words. But one of the speakers resorted to that last refuge of a weak man—bluster and bluff: \"Rice is not so dear here as at Hankow or Canton, or in foreign countries.\" A howl of derision greeted the untimely speech. \"Seize!\" shouted the official, and the order was left-handedly obeyed by the seizing of him on the part of the mob, instead of the seizing of the shouters by his runners.\n\nThe official, who was of no less rank than a taotai, was dragged by the mob right through the city to the governor's yamên with a crowd that grew rapidly. Soon after 8 P.M. all the immense space in front of the yamên was packed with people, and the first two series of doors and wooden divisions had been burst in. Messages were handed to and fro, until at last the military were called into action. There was certainly some stabbing with bayonets—that deaths resulted is both asserted and denied. At any rate, messengers and fragments of the crowd broke off and scattered in all directions. Then followed beating of gongs and shouting of orders. Every house door was set open and every lamp lighted. The city gates were all shut.\n\nThe Work of Destruction.\n\nThe crowds that went south divided into two main streams. The western one reached the Wesleyan Methodist Mission, perhaps a little earlier than the eastern one would reach the Norwegian. The Methodist Mission door had not been opened at the first gong beating, so it was hammered at by the crowd. As soon as it was opened attention was concentrated on the buildings rented by the Imperial Post Office and the Imperial Bank a little further on in the same street. The post office door was too substantial for such weapons as the crowd possessed. Not so the bank doors and windows. Showers of shattered glass were followed by showers of broken tiles, as the mob leaders got on to the roof. One huge stroke, followed by a loud yell, announced that the doors were burst in. Then there was comparative stillness on the night air. It was only comparative, and it only lasted while the maddened crowd could retrace the 50 or 100 yards back to the mission. The mission windows and lamps followed after the manner of the bank, and the largest chapel in the city within two minutes was a wreck. The missionaries, who had all got dressed, were able to leave quietly by the back door, while the crowd streamed across the lawn and looted, and made a bonfire of the loot on the lawn. The missionaries—five ladies and four men—walked quite unmolested through the 200 yards of back streets between the compound and the city gate. Then there was a delay of twenty minutes or so while the keys were being fetched. The refugees were taken into the shop that is used by the guard. While they were there a police-box was smashed up; but no attempt was made to molest them. The gates were opened, and the missionaries went at once on to the C. N. steam-ship \"Siangtan.\" News was taken to the British consul (whose temporary consulate has been outside the gates, with telephonic communication to the city).\n\nWith the missionary in the house, telling the tale of the looting and burning, the Customs taotai telephoned out that the premises were adequately guarded!\n\nThe eastern crowd had first reached the Norwegian Mission. There the same story of looting of houses and escape of missionaries was repeated. The Norwegians were in a much less convenient position for reaching safety. They spent some hours on the city wall, and were well cared for by the official in charge at the North Gate. He himself helped in the cooking of some refreshments.\n\nThe nearest foreign neighbours were the doctor of the Yale Mission and his family and one of the professors at the Government College with his family. Their house was rented, and was overlooked by the crowd. The two families were received first into the house of a Chinese gentleman, and after dawn made their way through the Eastern Gate to a camp under the command of a friendly colonel.\n\nNot much farther on was the China Inland Mission compound. There the crowd made rapid destruction, but once more the missionaries escaped.\n\nAs the day wore on refugees came from one place and another, until every European and American had left the city.\n\nAbout 11 A.M. the mob fired the governor's yamên, and for the rest of the day volumes of smoke rose up as building after building caught fire. Rumour was busy; the governor had been murdered, had committed suicide, was in hiding. Assuredly there was but little space for him to hide in his own extensive compound by nightfall. At 2 o'clock a column of smoke rose over the Norwegian Mission, and a little later another marked the site of the China Inland Mission. There was no mistaking that mob rule was the only rule in Changsha.\n\nThat night the river side was attacked; the custom-house not held by the mob to be Chinese property; the wharves and godowns of Messrs. Butterfield and Swire and Jardine and Matheson were all burned down. So was the Catholic Mission outside the North Gate, the Japanese consulate inside the city, and the Normal College outside the South Gate.\n\nOn the Steamers.\n\nDuring the night the C.N. steam-ships \"Kian\" and \"Siangkiang\" arrived, and early on Friday morning a number of the ladies and others left for Hankow by the I.-C. steam-ship \"Changwo.\" The three British steamers had been chartered by the consul on behalf of the Government. Still, that does not alter the indebtedness of all on board to the great courtesy of the captains, officers, and not least the heavily overworked staff of Chinese servants.\n\nThe boats were first anchored about a mile or two below the city and were able to see and were seen by the looting crowds. Some of the best of the military officials—men who had some claim to be listened to, if only on account of their great help in guiding parties of refugees to safety—hazarded the opinion that the military would more quickly regain control if the boats would drop 10 miles or so further down out of sight. That there was a turn in the tide was shown by the fact that two looters caught in setting fire to a Chinese-owned hotel (which was patronised by foreigners) had been promptly bayonetted and hanged. So the consul gave orders for our boats to get out of sight.\n\nThe Japanese community (with the exception of one or two who could not be reached) had gathered in the compound of the \"Nisshin Kisen Kaisha,\" and with the help of 200 soldiers—who had been drilled by Japanese instructors—held the compound safe and sound. They were now all on board the \"Siangkiang.\"\n\nOn Saturday morning, the \"Siangtan\" and \"Siangkiang,\" both crowded with foreign passengers, left for Hankow, and the \"Kian\" stayed on alone. During the day reassuring reports came from some of the interior cities connected by telegraph with Changsha. But at 10 P.M. the whole missionary community at Siangtan, with the exception of two gentlemen, arrived on board the governor's tender which had\n\n[2751 2-4]\n\nD\n\n218", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 458215, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-428 - Public Offices - 1915", "page_number": 308, "title": "CO129-428 - Public Offices - 1915", "content_text": "SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 6 NOVEMBER, 1915.\n\nYang-taze Insurance Company.\n\nYang-taze Land and Finance Company,\n\nYang-taze Poo Cotton Mill.\n\nYap Eck Liok, Amoy.\n\nYates, T. M\n\nYeo, Swee, Swan, & Co., Amoy.\n\nYishin & Co., Mukdeu.\n\nYokohama Specie Bank.\n\nYorkshire Insurance Company.\n\nYoshida & Co., Shanghai,\n\nYu Feng Kung Sau, Chefoo. Yu Tai.\n\nYuasa, T.,\n\nHankow.\n\nYuen Tal & Co., Tien-tsin,\n\nZundel Emile Manufacturing Company.\n\nForeign Office,\n\nSIAM.\n\nOctober 26, 1915.\n\nThe following is a complete list, revised up to date, of persons and bodies of persons to whom articles to be exported to Siam may be consigned, under the terms of the Proclamation of the 24th September, 1915:-\n\nThis list is to be regarded as superseding all previous lists.\n\nHis Majesty's Diplomatic, Consular, Military,\n\nand Naval Officers.\n\nBritish Missionary Bodies and Missionary Bodies of Neutral and Allied Countries.\n\nAbdool, Rahmin II., Bangkok. Adam, A. H. M., & Co.\n\nAdamsen Dab Fook, C. C. G., Bangkok. Alibhai Chinwala, Bangkok.\n\nAmerican Presbyterian Mission Press. Angullia, A., & Sons, Bangkok. Apothecaries' Hall.\n\nArracan Company Limited, Bangkok. Asiatic Petroleum Company Limited. Assumption Printing Press, Bangkok.\n\nBaboojee, A. K., Bangkok.\n\nBadman, H. A., & Co.\n\nBan Hin Guan, Puket.\n\nBangkok Dock Company Limited.\n\nBangkok Manufacturing Company Limited.\n\nBangkok Times Press Limited.\n\nBangkok United Club.\n\nBangaon Syndicate, Renong.\n\nBanque de l'Indo-Chine.\n\nDeebook Dredging, Renoug. Diana, A., & Co., Bangkok. Dickson, John, & Co.\n\nDiethelm & Co.\n\nDunlop, John M.\n\nDustakeer & Co., Bangkok.\n\nEast Asiatic Company Limited.\n\nEastern Smelting Company, Puket. Edgar Brothers.\n\nEducational Supply Association, Excelsior Ica Factory.\n\nFraser & Neave Limited.\n\nFrench Dispensary,\n\nGilitwalla, E. E., Bangkok.\n\nGoriawalla, A. H. A., Bangkok.\n\nGoriawalla, F. A., Bangkok.\n\nGroundwater, C. L., & Co.\n\nGulambusan Abdoolkader (Gulam Husain Abdul Kader) (Kader, G. A.), Bangkok.\n\nHabibar, Rehman, Bangkok. Halim & Co., B. A.\n\nHansen, Dr. C. (Lotus Dispensary). H arp Heng, Long, & Co.\n\nHarp Vour, Long, & Co.\n\nIock Chuan & Co., Bangkok.\n\nHong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.\n\nHoosain, A. G., Bangkok.\n\nHoosain, E. A., Bangkok.\n\nHoosain, Akbar, & Sons, Bangkok. Hotchund, Vichindas, & Co., Bangkok. Husseinally, A. K., Wasee, & Co.\n\nIkezaki, K., & Co., Bangkok. International Store.\n\nJawarad Dispensary.\n\nJooboalee, Bangkok.\n\nKader, G. A. (Gulamhusan Abdoolkader).\n\nKaj, Cotermall, & Co., Bangkok. Katib, E. M.\n\nKatoo Dee Book, Renong. Katz Brothers Limited. Kerr & Co.\n\nKiam Hoa Heng & Co., Bangkok.\n\nKiam Hoa Seng & Co., Bangkok. Kluzer, G., & Co., Bangkok.\n\nKong Hiap Hin, Puket.\n\nKwong Ngee Hoa & Co., Bangkok.\n\nLegations of Allied Powers.\n\nLegations of Neutral Powers.\n\nLeonowens, Louis T., Limited, Bangkok and Lampang.\n\nLotus Dispensary (Dr. Hanson).\n\nLuang Brohma Yodkee, Mrs. (Pradist Sookonta), Bangkok,\n\nSUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 6 NOVEMBER, 1915.\n\nMitsui Bussan Kaisha Limited, Bangkok. Mizokari, M., Bangkok.\n\nMogul, M. A.\n\nMohamed Meah & Co., Bangkok.\n\nMonod, C. E., & Co., Bangkok.\n\nMoosbhoy, M., Bangkok.\n\nMotiwalla, F. A., Bangkok.\n\nNai Lert, Bangkok.\n\nNana, E. A., Bangkok.\n\nNestlé and Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company.\n\nNooraddin Dawoodbboi, Bangkok.\n\nOriental Bakery, Bangkok.\n\nOriental Store, Bangkok. Oyama, K., & Co., Bangkok.\n\nPaknan Railway Company. Pappayanopoulos, C., Bangkok. Pereira & Co., E. M. Piroshajee, J. A. (Raja).\n\nPiroshaw, F. Mama, Bangkok.\n\nPisal Banniti. Bangkok.\n\nPollard, T. H.\n\nPradist Sookonta (Mrs. Luang Brohma Yodkee), Bangkok.\n\nPuket Dispensary, Puket.\n\nRaja (Paroshajee, J. A.).\n\nRamchiant, Mine.. Puket and Trang.\n\nRatanamala Company, Bangkok.\n\nRatrut Basin Tin Dredging Company, Renong, Royal Bangkok Sports Club.\n\nSae Thien & Co., Bangkok.\n\nSalehbhai, A. R., & Co., Bangkok,\n\nSampson, John, & Son.\n\nSarafally, G. A., Bangkok,\n\nSaw Hood Beng, Sengora,\n\nSee Kak Dispensary, Bangkok.\n\nSiam Cement Company Limited, Bangkok.\n\nSiam Commercial Bank.\n\nSiam Electricity Company Limited.\n\nSiam Forest Company Limited. Siam Free Press Company Limited. Siam Import Company Limited.\n\nSiam Industries Syndicate. Siam Motor Works Limited. Siam Observer Press. Siam Perfumery Store. Siam Stamp Company. Siamese Tin Syndicate. Siamese Tobacco Company. Siamwalla, D. H. A., Bangkok, Siamwalla, F. A., Bangkok.\n\nSin Kheng Seang, Puket.\n\nSin Sin Ha, Bangkok.\n\nSinger Sewing Machine.\n\nSmith Premier Typewriter Company.\n\nSociété Anonyme Belge.\n\nSophon Printing Office.\n\nSriracha Company Limited, Bangkok,\n\nStandard Oil Company.\n\nStars, A., Mme.\n\nSteel Brothers & Co. Limited.\n\nStephens, Paul & Co.\n\nStraits Trading Company, Puket.\n\nSui Kee, Puket.\n\nSwanson, J. H.\n\nSwee Hin, Puket.\n\nSwee Ho, Bangkok. Syme & Co.\n\nTachin Railway Company. Tay, K. C., Dr., Bangkok, Thonakitch Raxa, Bangkok. Tiseeman, S., & Co.\n\nTongkah Compound, Puket.\n\nTongkah Harbour Tin Dredging Company, Puket.\n\nTowfigue, M., Bangkok.\n\nTung Who & Co.\n\nUnited Engineers Limited.\n\nVacuum Oil Company.\n\nWasiamull, Assomull & Co., Bangkok. Whiteaway, Laidlaw & Co. Limited. Wing Yuen & Co. Limited.\n\nYamaguchi G., & Co. Bangkok, Yong Lee Seng & Co., Bangkok.\n\nBarrow, Brown, & Co.\n\nBéranger, Malcolm (Maison Béranger).\n\nBerli, A., & Co., Bangkok.\n\nBombay-Burma Trading Corporation Limited, Bangkok.\n\nBoon Long, Bangkok.\n\nBorgersen, H. B.\n\nBorneo Company Limited.\n\nBritish-American Tobacco Company Limited.\n\nBritish Club.\n\nBritish Dispensary.\n\nBuan Soon Lee & Co., Bangkok.\n\nBudroodin, F. H., Bangkok.\n\nChartered Bank of India, Australia, and China.\n\nChina-Siam Daily News. Couper-Johuston, D., & Co.\n\nMacbeth, J. J.\n\nMaideen, A.\n\nMaison Béranger (Bérauger, Malcolm).\n\nMalaya Tin Corporation, Renong. Malbary, H. A,\n\nMansoor Sahib, S. S., Bangkok.\n\nMarican, M. T. S.\n\nMarican, S. S.\n\nMaskati, A. T. E.\n\nMaung Hpo Min, Lampang.\n\nMeklong Railway Company.\n\nMenam Motor-boat Company Limited.\n\nMinistries and Departments of the Royal Siamese Government.\n\nPrinted and Published for His Majesty's Stationery Office by Wyman & Sons, Ltd., Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C.,\n\nSaturday, 6 November, 1915.\n\nPrice Four Pence.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-428 - Public Offices - 1915.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 462863, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-434 - Governor Sir May - 1916 [7-8]", "page_number": 652, "title": "CO129-434 - Governor Sir May - 1916 [7-8]", "content_text": "## CONFIDENTIAL\n\n**HONGKONG**\n\n`47018 REG 2 OCT 16`\n\n**GOVERNMENT HOUSE**\n\n24th August, 1916.\n\nSir,\n\nIn continuation of my Confidential Despatch of the 11th August, I have the honour to report that the situation in Canton has recently assumed a more favourable aspect. General Lung has been hard pressed but has succeeded in beating off many determined attacks upon his forces. The fighting has in some instances been severe and so close to Shamien that several Chinese employed there have been wounded by stray bullets, of which the compound of the British Consulate-General has received many.\n\nThe Central Government has recently adopted a considerably firmer attitude, and has despatched reinforcements from neighbouring Provinces to General Lung's assistance, while actively negotiating with Sham Tsen-huen to buy him off.\n\n### \n\n2. A new Civil Governor of the Kwangtung Province, Mr. Chu Hin-lan, arrived in the Colony on the 20th August and proceeded to Canton on the 23rd August. I exchanged visits with Mr. Chu, who also lunched at Government House. His mission is to get rid of Shum Tsen-huen and Li Lit-kwan and ultimately of General Lung himself. Chan Kwing-ming has also to be disposed of. Mr. Chu recognises that his task is a heavy one and he would not commit himself on the subject of the prospect of success.\n\nThe Right Honourable \nANDREW BONAR LAW, M.P., \n&c., &c., &c.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-434 - Governor Sir May - 1916 [7-8].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 468997, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-444 - Governor Sir May & Acting Governor Claud Severn - 1917 [10-12]", "page_number": 217, "title": "CO129-444 - Governor Sir May & Acting Governor Claud Severn - 1917 [10-12]", "content_text": "Sir,\n\nLondon Missionary Society,\n\nHongkong, 10th October, 1917.\n\nWith reference to former correspondence addressed by you to Miss Davies, of this Mission, on the subject of a new and greatly enlarged School Building, on the site of the present Training Home for Girls, within this Mission compound:- I have now the honour to state, specifically, in reply to your questions, that the land immediately adjacent on the side of the building under reference, has been granted, definitely, by the London Missionary Society, through its Foreign Secretary, and, together with the site already occupied by the present school premises, will be assigned to the purposes of the enlarged school.\n\nThe L.M.S. Secretary further instructs the local mission that the new building should accommodate three hundred Girl students, with Class rooms sufficient for the teaching of both Chinese and English subjects and with Departments ranging from Kindergarten to Middle School, with Normal Training. It is also in contemplation to provide accommodation for a certain number of Teachers, including Luncheon Room, Piano Rooms, Cloak Rooms and other apartments that properly belong to properly equipped and appointed schools of this type.\n\nTo carry out the scheme outlined will entail an expenditure of eighty thousand dollars ($80,000). The new section which it is proposed, in the first instance, to build, will cost, at the high rates now charged, at least forty thousand dollars ($40,000).\n\nThe London Missionary Society is prepared to meet a considerable portion of this expenditure. It is not, however, in a position to build the School, without very substantial aid from sources outside the Mission. A main purpose of this letter is to inquire, at the instance of the L.M.S. Foreign Secretary, whether the Colonial Government is willing to make, in due course,", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-444 - Governor Sir May & Acting Governor Claud Severn - 1917 [10-12].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 468999, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-444 - Governor Sir May & Acting Governor Claud Severn - 1917 [10-12]", "page_number": 219, "title": "CO129-444 - Governor Sir May & Acting Governor Claud Severn - 1917 [10-12]", "content_text": "215\n\nto date edit at [prob no?] nelloh to turn; giving a life de Iche aure silt To timil erð (000,0SR) ezellot kawenodd Vi eldame [[iw delo o2 pueno jee Il mob noŭ and Ya seotuoset edle sit ro žnik liud van end to erogiuq est vot do[Ir\n\nIon be deseeng edit of trosjka yletalkommi\n\nva beirra med zar neiq orið do Freq #idd ermett\n\n„gledemiyorqge (000,0%)etelah Freeradd ydrol to duco e do at beeborg Fre grib Flod bin mrt tot elet od banoqərq ei di yo miq edð eða femos of beteen noiðroq gatalemt adt Joera CME to \"been end tod ab iyong Ifly hequr ei die Erle Inedo2 vot noire il sida. To sesiqeve até tako „ebi\" vob roldesuki\n\nriday this\n\narhoffal ent natimonionh sai sửa sai ed nå afavor det to staðinu eðÍ NO .haddindam el doomedade tenneum at fremme rod and skrotage Fluow noiesi” eind „belbedme „damo gaib (tv8 a toì shem won desuper edd To Prðuðiðeno y [segong a bad (se(poemeT) foodƐ siNT (1) ummond top bedraitións a yď trigonð „trendraqal nedreû vehni” teilen her egbe bronal two to feed only of Tedrað dražegwan ¿f vrier acaog yrofol eet ni baki and to fɔodel timo edit al di thling meerdɛú enregifledni ni nenew*926 øst Legrðnavba vids\n\nsevol edd od ermen D meðrað-zobr£X erit davondt \"enq bile Dennerbe engra de foodes of gnimse „ode readð bæ ebrohendi at gainient runivero yo drodd be ebrahnat? eda očni se^q joge BIG7 trinite Fm balse yles the -ramel odd ni moitosuki vodnik vol aborde Iondse sɗT (5)\n\nFrØJECTBS GU!med at e fiquq frið di [Tere er der fonde\" velkommel ywdneme 15. Va etiek rede end [[e ni eredamað To Beton evidemeð Le na „Tedn[‚ativmq að borginab el *I deje dan of new x1710 70? „enmeio? citremo\" we deve\n\n# Instruction\n\nof instruction; should they desire to do this instead of taking one of this School's Middle School Courses.\n\nIt will thus be seen that the school stands for what is definite and specific in the Education of Girls in the Colony of Hongkong.\n\nFor the past three years in succession the School has had a small class taking a Middle School (High School) Course with Normal Training.\n\nThe Girls who completed their course last year are proving very efficient, as teachers, their work being highly satisfactory.\n\nThe question of adequate accommodation for this School has long been extremely pressing and is now become vital. It has been possible to continue its work during the past three years only by borrowing for the purpose one of the dwelling houses in this Compound. This dwelling house will, are long, have to revert to its original use thus depriving the School of Class Rooms for the whole for the Lower School.\n\nDuring the past year there have been more than two hundred and twenty pupils on the School Roll. The number limit of three hundred for the new enlarged School is, therefore, likely to be reached in the near future.\n\nThis local Mission of the London Missionary Society, ventures to ask sympathetic consideration for the needs and claims of the School as an important branch of Educational work in the Colony, leading to a recommendation of the new scheme as deserving the most substantial aid which the Government can vouchsafe for its realization.\n\nI have &c..\n\n.zniales) lemma\" sit edhe at\n\nJI (E) ,deilprể ni gaidened add Indi hegod rødtrut e\n\n- od [við sIdene IIb mil melom no,dar sine autre na\n\nA ci șìlar starts nloorib2 10 orson 10 marzik orů stri\n\nE. Ralphs, Esq.,\n\nDirector of Education.\n\n(SA.) T. W. Pearse,\n\nfor the London Missionary Society, Hongkong.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-444 - Governor Sir May & Acting Governor Claud Severn - 1917 [10-12].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 469435, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-445 - Public Offices - 1917", "page_number": 309, "title": "CO129-445 - Public Offices - 1917", "content_text": "305\n\n18\n\nadvanced; but the weather was by no means hot, and I was everywhere assured that the season was a late one.\n\nAt Nan-lung, Mr. Jamieson, of the China Inland Mission, gave me the same story that I had heard on other points of my journey; a considerable amount of poppy-seed had been sown in the autumn, but in January, following the instructions from Peking, proclamations were posted ordering the total eradication of the crop. According to Mr. Jamieson, the proclamation stated that the eradication was insisted on by Great Britain, and it conveyed the impression that the British inspecting officer would himself punish any person found with opium plants in his field. I tried to obtain a copy of this proclamation, but was informed that all had been destroyed, even the magistrate's own copy! The eradication had been carried out with official energy as great as that reported to me at other places. Punishments were freely inflicted on the recalcitrant - Fines, confiscations, imprisonment (in one case a sentence of ten years), and in some districts death by shooting.\n\nAlthough the streets of Nan-Jung were beflagged and decorated in honour of the visit of inspection, the symbols of joy scarcely reflected popular opinion. Opium-growers had lost a considerable amount of capital by the destruction of the crop, and their indignation was greater in that the local officials had permitted them to sow in the autumn, without any suggestion of possible interference. In fact, in order to test the magisterial view, a small plot near the magistrate's yamén was tentatively sown, and, no objection being raised by the authorities, it was taken for granted that opium cultivation was to be permitted in that locality. It was owing to this, no doubt, that the magistrate decided to throw the onus of responsibility for the destruction of the crop on Great Britain, in his proclamation. Destruction of poppy-crop had been carried on from January right into March, the last fields to go being at Mutsu, a village some 5 miles west of Nan-lung-Haingy main road, near the Kuangbisi border. There was very little opium grown in the Nan-lung district in the 1915–6 season; and the bulk of the seed for the 1916 autumn sowing was brought from Kuanghsi province. Kuanghsi opium was being sold in Nan-lung at 3 dollars per oz.; it was all being smuggled over the provincial border.\n\nMany opium-smokers had fled from Nan-lung a day or two before my arrival, fearing that I might detect them by their visages and inflict summary punishment.\n\nI received proof of the unpopularity of my visit the day after my departure from Nan-lung, when a letter which had been left for me at the China Inland Mission compound was sent after me. It was an abusive and threatening letter, accusing me of coming thither in order to spy out the wealth of the country, and stating that if I had really been in search of opium I should have stayed some days in San-lung and thoroughly searched the China Inland Mission premises and the magistrate's yamén; it ended with an impolite request to me to get out of China. I handed the letter to the Nan-Jung magistrate, who was travelling with us through his jurisdiction and requested him to return at once to discover the writers of the letter and to punish them adequately. I heard later from Mr. Jamieson that the magistrate did so, most if not too-adequately.\n\nBetween Nan-lung (former name Ising-yi) and Hong-yi (former name Huang-taao-pa) - 5 miles - I had some altercation with the Chinese delegates regarding the route. They were very anxious to keep to the main road, while I wished to take a less frequented route of which I had learnt through overhearing a conversation among some of our escort. I had my way, but only after considerable objection and opposition, of which I soon discovered the cause. The military official at Hsing-yi was General Liu, the elder brother of the Governor of the province, and the Chinese were expectant that he would come out to meet us. Their fear of the Governor made them anxious to do nothing at which the military brother might take umbrage; and the possibility of missing the General on the road, if my proposed route were followed, made the delegates very nervous. However, all went happily; the General, a rough and bluff person of the old Chinese school, had not come very far out of his town to meet us, and we converged to his temporary encampment without difficulty. The obsequiousness of the Chinese delegates to the Governor's brother was ludicrous, the more so as the General himself was most hearty and informal.\n\nPere Julien, of the Roman Catholic Mission at Hsing-yi, told me that in the Hsing-yi district, as I had heard in other parts of the province, opium crops had been sown, and had been stringently uprooted and destroyed in the early part of the year, in obedience to instructions from Peking through the provincial capital - instructions issued in consequence of the pending visit of inspection. Some opposition to the destruction of the crop had been raised in Hsing-yi, the chief offender being the Governor's own mother, an old lady 96 years old, who had vigorously urged the owners of opium crops to resist the instructions for the eradication of their property. This was corroborated to me by the Chinese delegates, who seemed to appreciate the humour of the situation caused by the aged dame setting herself up in opposition to the official orders issued through her son.\n\nFrom Hsing-yi to Chiang-ti, the small village on the river forming the frontier line between the provinces of Kueichow and Yunnan, was 23 miles of very rough country, with little cultivation. We reached Chiang-ti in the evening of the 1st May, and the Kueichow portion of my journey was ended. During the evening I received a message from Mr. Jamieson at San Lung (75 miles distant) warning me that he had reliable information that certain influential opium dealers of Nan-lung had arranged for my assassination: I was to be stabbed in the back with a long dagger. I carried this cheerful information with me across the province of Yunnan, and at Hakow received a further letter of explanation that my demise had been included in the programme by the authors in order to score off certain of their enemies, whom they hoped to implicate as the real plotters against me, and thereby to obtain their severe punishment.\n\nI append a map and an itinerary of my journey across Kueichow province. My caravan mileage through the province was 517 miles, but I myself covered much more ground than this. My methods of progression were three - walking, where the road was very rough or dangerous; riding, where the road was convenient; and sitting in a chair, carried by four coolies, in bad or very hot weather. On arriving at our destination for the night there was usually an hour or two of daylight left, if not more, during which I travelled on foot or on pony in the surrounding country, selecting high points from which I could cover a large expanse with my field-glass.\n\nI did not see a single opium poppy plant in my journey through the province of Kueichow. The letter of the opium agreement of 1911 has therefore been observed by the province. [But I am satisfied, from the information I have gathered, and from my observation of empty fields bearing out the destruction of the opium crops which the Chinese delegates in conversation did not attempt to deny - that had the visit of inspection not taken place, the Kueichow opium crop of 1917 would have been a large one, and would have shown no signs of diminution in accordance with the terms of the 1911 Agreement. Thus it would appear that any real desire to keep the spirit of the agreement or to abolish Chinese opium is entirely absent. The local officials, practically without exception, did nothing to suppress the cultivation until they were expressly ordered to do so by the higher authorities, under promise of severe penalties to themselves if the instructions were not rigidly carried out. And the local magistrates are the appointees of the provincial authorities. Any the least sincere desire to suppress opium would have curbed the crop at its inception, without waiting for the incentive of an official visit of inspection.]\n\nIn conversation with the Chinese delegates I did not detect any real desire for suppression of opium cultivation in China. They were rather hazy as to the 1911 Agreement, and seemed to be under the impression that the arrangement of the Shanghai opium combine with the Chinese authorities, fixing March 1917 as the last date for the sale of stocks into China, had superseded all treaties and agreements on the subject. Mr. Shen, the senior delegate, naively asked me whether - if the term set by the 1911 Agreement expired at the end of 1917 - Great Britain was precluded from sending an inspecting officer to the provinces after that date.\n\nI enquired of Mr. Shen why no practical steps had been taken to encourage farmers to reduce their opium cultivation and he informed me that the Governor of Kweichow had this spring distributed 10,000 packets of flax-seed among the magistrates in the province, with a view to encourage a cotton industry in place of opium. Those magistrates to whom I mentioned this, however, appeared to know nothing of the distribution of the flax-seed.\n\nOne point is worth noting here, with regard to any inspection carried out in Kueichow province. The northern parts of the province are much lower than the centre and south, the country sloping up southwards from the Yang-tze Valley. A traveller might reasonably expect, more especially in late spring, that the climate would become much warmer as he progresses southwards; but owing to the altitude of the highland plateau in the centre and south of Kueichow - an altitude ever increasing into Yunnan province - this is not the case in Kueichow. The season is later in the south than in the north; the crops I saw in northern Kueichow in the first days of April were more advanced than similar crops which I saw in the south a month later. It is advisable, therefore, that a journey of inspection in Kueichow should be taken from north to south in order to obtain the least variation of season through the province.\n\n19", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-445 - Public Offices - 1917.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 489907, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-471 - Public Offices - 1921", "page_number": 398, "title": "CO129-471 - Public Offices - 1921", "content_text": "# \nFrom Kwainer there is a Japanese telegraph line to Lungchingtsun, which connects the telegraph systems of China and Korea. The line, I understand, has been in existence for some years, though the Chinese Government has not officially recognised Japan's right to maintain it. From Lungchingtsun there is also telephonic communication with Yenchi, both of these places having telephone systems recently installed, but there is no telegraphic communication, messages being sent from Lungchingtsun by courier to Yenchi to be despatched by the telegraphic office there. From Yenchi there is telegraphic communication with Kirin, Ninguta and Hunchun. The Chinese postal administration appears to operate well in the district; letters from Mukden to Lungchingtsun taking about a week in transit, and letters to Hunchun from Yenchi about a day. Mails are sent by couriers, who travel day and night.\n\n## \nFrom statements made to me by Mr. P. B. Joly, the assistant in charge of the Chinese maritime customs at Lungchingtsun, by the missionaries resident at that place and by the Chinese officials upon whom I called in the course of my tour, I gather that conditions in the district are at present quieter than they have been for some time past. The withdrawal of the Japanese military forces was completed on the 8th May, and General Isobayashi left Lungchingtsun with his staff on that day. During their occupation of the district the military erected a wireless station at Lungchingtsun, by means of which they communicated with Kwainer, but this was dismantled on the 18th May, the day before my arrival, while the mast was taken down on the 20th. I saw no signs of Japanese (with the exception of a few police) anywhere during my tour of the district, except, of course, in the open marts, where there are Japanese residents, and there can, I think, be no doubt that the evacuation has been complete. There are, according to the Taoyin of the district, about 5,000 Chinese troops in the district, about half of whom have during the last few months been sent from Kirin to replace some of the men whose behaviour at the time of the Hunchun raids was so unsatisfactory. The headquarters of the army is at Yenchi. There are also a fair number of Chinese police and gendarmerie scattered throughout the district.\n\n## \nThe principal points in regard to which I was instructed to report were—\n1. Whether in view of the present disordered state of the country there is any danger to the lives and property of British missionaries in the district and whether it is necessary that any steps should be taken for their protection.\n2. Whether native Christians are suspected as such, and whether there is on the part of the Japanese authorities any interference in missionary work.\n3. Whether there are any signs that the Japanese are preparing to encroach on the district.\n\n## \nAt Lungchingtsun, Mr. Barker showed me the mission property, which consists of several buildings and a considerable area of land. The property belongs to the local Christian communities and is in no sense the property of the Canadian Presbyterian Mission. I fancy that there has been some misapprehension on this point, as I myself was certainly under the impression that the mission had property in other places, and while at Lungchingtsun, Mr. Barker showed me a copy of a letter he had written to the editor of the \"Japan Chronicle\" correcting a statement which had appeared in its columns from which one would imagine that they had property in many parts of the district. This letter, however, he seemed to think, had never reached its destination, as it was not published in the \"Chronicle.\"\n\n## \nThe missionaries at Lungchingtsun make periodical tours of the district, though I understand that they have never been molested in any way, even the ladies travelling unattended to some of the most distant parts of the country which the mission covers. Both Dr. Martin and Mr. Barker, however, told me that recently they had on several occasions when travelling into Korea been subjected to search by the Japanese police. In these circumstances, however, it does not seem necessary that any special measures should be taken for their protection.\n\n2. I put this question to both the Rev. D. A. MacDonald, of Kwainer, and to Mr. Barker, of Lungchingtsun. Mr. MacDonald has had many years of experience in Korea, and has also quite recently made a tour of the Chientao district, having been as far north as Hamatang, so that he is in a position to judge of the present position of affairs in this respect. Mr. Barker has also many years of experience, and both gentlemen answered without hesitation in the affirmative so far as the first part of the question is concerned. In Mr. MacDonald's view, however, the Japanese are not actuated by anti-Christian sentiments so much as by the fact that in many instances native Christians are in favour of and at times the prime movers in the independence movement. It seems to me, though, that this is only natural, as the native converts, coming as they do into more or less close contact with foreigners of education and enlightened views, must of necessity imbibe some of their ideas, and being in most cases better educated than the non-Christian natives naturally take a more interest in what is going on around them. On the other hand, it cannot be said that the majority of the supporters of the independence movement are Christians, as according to Mr. Barker the total number of Christian converts in the Chientao district is only about 10,000 out of a total Korean population of about 300,000. Mr. Sakai, the acting Japanese consul-general at Lungchingtsun, put the number of Christians at a much higher figure than this, but he cannot be in such a good position to judge as Mr. Barker, and the latter's figures may be taken as correct. There seems little doubt, however, that in several instances a deliberate set was made at Christians and Christian property during the outrages of last October, as Dr. Martin cited two or three cases in which native Christians had been shot by the Japanese troops for no other reason. The number of Christians actually killed was, according to Mr. Barker, about fifty, while the number of buildings destroyed was about fourteen (three or four churches and the rest schools).\n\n## \nBut the fact of the matter is that in Chientao, as in Korea itself, the Japanese have only themselves to blame for the force which the independence movement has obtained during the past two years. They have, by the ruthless measures adopted for its suppression, so antagonised the Koreans that an intense wave of patriotism has swept through the country, and that practically every Korean, Christian and non-Christian, is bitterly opposed to everything Japanese.\n\n## \nIn regard to (1), I think it can safely be said that the lives and property of the missionaries at Lungchingtsun are in no danger. The total number of British residents (including women and children) in the town is under twenty, and the majority of these are connected with the Canadian Presbyterian Mission. At present, the members of the mission are Dr. S. H. Martin, his wife and three children, the Rev. A. H. Barker and his wife and three unmarried ladies, one a nurse employed at the hospital, and the other two connected with the missionary work. An architect, until recently employed by the Chinese maritime customs, whose wife was formerly a member of the mission, also occupies a house on the mission compound. They have three children, so that at present the total number of British subjects living on the premises is fifteen. Mr. Foote, the head of the mission, is at present absent in Canada with his wife.\n\n## \nThe Canadian Presbyterian Mission, whose local headquarters are at Gensan, has no property anywhere in the Chientao district except at Lungchingtsun. Here their property consists of three pieces of land, the largest of which, about 15 acres in extent, occupies a fine position overlooking the wide valley in which the town of Lungchingtsun lies. Most of the land is let out to Koreans as farming land. The buildings on this piece of land consist of four residences and a hospital only. The other two pieces of property, which are situated in the town of Lungchingtsun, consist of a dispensary in one of the main streets of the town and a Korean building, used as a girls' school, standing in its own compound on the outskirts of the place. There is no other property belonging to the mission, i.e., British-owned, in the Chientao district, as though many of the churches scattered throughout the district have property (churches, schools, &c.), this is all registered in the names of the local Christian communities and is in no sense the property of the Canadian Presbyterian Mission.\n\n## \nOn the other hand, as far as I could learn, there is at present no direct interference on the part of the Japanese with the work which is being carried on by the missionaries, though at the same time there is little doubt that to a large extent the natives have been so terrorised by Japanese methods and by the fact that Christians are suspected and in many cases singled out for ill-treatment and petty annoyance by the Japanese police that they are reluctant to come forward. In October of last year, the Japanese inaugurated a new sect, known as the Chung Neim Kyo, the avowed object of which was to offset Christianity. At first, I understand, large numbers of the natives joined the sect, though later, when it was found that its members had to conform in numerous ways to Japanese rules and regulations, it met with less favour. In fact, the Koreans are in a sense \"between the devil and the deep sea,\" as if they become Christians they are at once suspected by the Japanese, while if they conform to Japanese wishes they are looked upon by their countrymen as unpatriotic.\n\n## \nWhile at Lungchingtsun, I duly called upon Mr. Sakai, the acting Japanese consul-general there, and presented to him the letter of introduction with which you had furnished me, and in which it was stated that I was visiting Chientao in order...\n\nPage 397", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-471 - Public Offices - 1921.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 489908, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-471 - Public Offices - 1921", "page_number": 399, "title": "CO129-471 - Public Offices - 1921", "content_text": "## was, 6\n\nto enquire into the missionary problem. Mr. Sakai received me very courteously and was most anxious to be conciliatory. He told me at the outset that he much regretted that there had ever been any misunderstandings between his office and the missionaries, and assured me that he respected the work they were doing and was most anxious that only friendly relations should exist between them and his consulate. He further assured me that he had always answered their letters and had never refused to see them or taken into consideration any complaints they had to make. He appeared rather to resent the fact that they had on one or two occasions appealed to you in matters which, he said, could quite easily have been arranged without your intervention, e.g., the incidents of the telephone wire, which was for a time placed across the girls' school belonging to the mission, and the use of the mission compound by signallers, in each of which cases he assured me he had at once brought the matter to the notice of the military authorities with a view to its speedy adjustment.\n\nWe then went on to discuss the allegations made from time to time, e.g., in Colonel Mizumachi's now famous letter that the supporters of the independence movement among the Koreans were encouraged by the missionaries.\n\nHe cited one or two instances in which he said they had proof that Koreans implicated in the movement had been connected with or taken refuge in the hospital attached to the mission, but though I asked him what proofs he had he gave me no definite reply, and I gathered that the only foundation for the suspicions of the Japanese authorities were statements obtained by the police from Koreans under examination. It appears, however, that the brother of one of the leaders of the independence movement is employed as an assistant at Dr. Martin's hospital, while on one occasion one of the ringleaders did for a time take refuge in the basement of the building, though on being discovered by the hospital authorities he was at once ordered to leave.\n\nI explained to Mr. Sakai that from the very nature of the work upon which they were engaged it was essential for the missionaries to make friends with the people among whom they were working, and that, in fact, they could not succeed in their work unless they did so. To this extent, therefore, they had to sympathise with the Koreans, but to say that they went further in their sympathies was incorrect, while it was ridiculous to suppose that they actually supported or encouraged the independence movement, as it was obviously contrary to their own interests and the interests of their work to do so. They were only hindered by disturbances such as had occurred in Korea in 1919 and in Chientao last October. I further told Mr. Sakai that while in Korea last year missionaries of many denominations had told me that they would as a matter of fact be sorry to see the Koreans obtain their independence, as they were not, in fact, fit to govern themselves and were much better off under Japanese rule, and that Mr. MacDonald, of Kwainei, had only a few days before expressed exactly the same views.\n\nMy conversation with Mr. Sakai was most friendly throughout, and as up to then I had not had an opportunity of talking things over with Dr. Martin or Mr. Barker, I said I would see them and let Mr. Sakai know if they raised any further points which seemed to need discussion.\n\nSubsequently I saw both Dr. Martin and Mr. Barker, and discussed thoroughly with them the present situation. It is hardly necessary to say, however, that I am entirely satisfied that the missionaries at Lungchingtsun have no hand in encouraging the independence movement, and, in fact, Dr. Martin told me that when, as mentioned above, one of the ringleaders had been found in the basement of the hospital he had at once been ordered to leave, and that strict instructions had been given to the effect that no one was to be allowed to stay on the compound without the permission of those in charge. Mr. Sakai had also raised the question of a history book, which he said contained objectionable matter, but Mr. Barker told me that the only passage referred to was one connected with the Magna Charta and that, as a matter of fact, the book was not now being used in the mission schools. It appears to be on small points such as this that the Japanese base their suspicions of the missionaries, and I am told that they even accuse them of conniving at the independence movement because Christian children are taught to sing such hymns as \"Onward, Christian Soldiers!\"\n\n## 1\n\nI saw Mr. Sakai again the following day, and told him the result of my interview with Dr. Martin, again impressing on him the fact that he need have no fear that the missionaries were in any way aiding the independence movement. I also pointed out to him that as British subjects enjoying extra-territorial rights in China, it was only natural that they should protest if they found their rights in any way infringed by action taken by the Japanese military. Mr. Sakai quite admitted this, and assured me that he was prepared to do all he could to avoid any misunderstandings in the future. Such misunderstandings as did arise during the Japanese military occupation were, I venture to think, as much the result of the different personalities and characters of the parties concerned as of anything else, as the somewhat rough and ready ways of the Canadian missionaries must be very liable to be misunderstood by Japanese officials with their love of formality of all kinds. At the same time there is little doubt that the military authorities while in the district acted in a most high-handed manner. The missionaries, however, came very little into direct contact with them.\n\n## 3. As I have already stated, I saw during my stay of eleven days in the district no signs of Japanese except in the open marts I visited, and in one fairly large village through which I passed on my way from Paitsaokou to Hunchun, where there were some Japanese police. The military have entirely withdrawn, while even a small force on outpost duty at Kami Sampo, which was still there on the 19th May when I entered the Chientao district, was, as I subsequently learned, withdrawn on the following day. There are, however, so far as I could learn, about 1,000 troops stationed permanently at Kwainei, while there are outposts at several places to the north of that place, notably at Keigen and Shojo, through both of which I passed on my return journey to Kami Sampo. I am not able to say how many men are stationed at each place, but, judging from the size of the buildings I saw, I should think not more than a company or so. More barracks are, I understand, being built at Kwainei, while the same is the case at Ranan, which is the headquarters of the army in the north-eastern part of Korea and the seat of a division.\n\nIn addition to the wireless apparatus mentioned above as having been installed at Lungchingtsun, the Japanese during their operations last year put in several new telegraph and telephone lines. At one time I am told they had field telephones in all directions, but these have, of course, been removed, while, according to the Chinese officials whom I questioned on this point, the telephone wires have, with the exception of a line connecting Kami Sampo with Lungchingtsun, also been removed. The telegraph lines, however, remain, and consist of a line from Lungchingtsun to Yenchi (two wires), one from Lungchingtsun to Towtackou, and another (three wires) from Keigen to Hunchun. Negotiations for the removal of these telegraph lines are now in progress, but were not, I gathered, proceeding very rapidly, as the Japanese had proposed to sell the lines to the Chinese Government, though they wished to make the use of the Japanese language over the lines a condition of the sale. The line from Kwainei to Lungchingtsun, which has been mentioned above, appears to be in common use, but the other lines are apparently not used at present, unless by the Japanese themselves, as, for instance, messages sent through the Japanese post-office at Hunchun are forwarded by mail courier to Keigen for despatch from the latter place. I was much struck by the size of the posts used for the line from Keigen to Hunchun. These were of good solid timber over a foot in diameter, and much more solid than the ordinary posts one sees in the country in Korea, so that they do not give one the impression of having been put in temporarily. There was also a telephone line from Huachun to a small town at the extreme north of Korea, but the wire has quite recently been removed, although posts, also very substantial ones, were still standing at the time of my visit.\n\nAlthough the military forces have been withdrawn from the district, there are still about ten Japanese army officers stationed at the five open marts as liaison officers. Most of these, I understand, have recently arrived, though some have been there throughout the operations of the winter. They do not appear to be in any way attached to the consulates, but to act entirely independently. The senior is a Colonel Harada, stationed at Yenchi, who, as reported in my other despatch of this date, called on me during my stay in the town and said he had received instructions from the headquarters of the army in Korea to do so. I did not see the officers stationed at Lungchingtsun, though the two stationed at Hunchun also called on me.\n\nIt is difficult, however, to see the necessity for the presence of these officers, and the Taoyin at Yenchi gave me to understand that negotiations with a view to their withdrawal were in progress, but that the Japanese had stated that the Chinese authorities at Mukden had consented to their being stationed in the district, though this had been denied by the authorities concerned, from whom enquiries had been made by telegraph.\n\nI also made enquiries from the Chinese officials as to the number of Japanese police in the district, and was told that there were now about 350, most of whom...\n\nPage 398", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-471 - Public Offices - 1921.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 490032, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-471 - Public Offices - 1921", "page_number": 523, "title": "CO129-471 - Public Offices - 1921", "content_text": "## 64\n\nThe personality of the Anshun magistrate, Mr. Wang, whom I found to be a superior type of magistrate.\n\nFrom Anshun, I took a devious route to Nan-lung (formerly called Hsing-yi); the distance was 141 miles and took one week. I particularly wished to visit Nan-lung to meet Mr. Jamieson, a Chinese inland missionary who had recently been writing letters to the Shanghai press on the subject of opium cultivation in the Nan-lung district.\n\nFor the first 70 miles from Anshun, the country is high and covered with rugged hills. I was not keeping to any recognized route, and on one or two days, the going was very difficult; on occasions, we were obliged to find a track by keeping up or down the dry bed of a mountain torrent. There are many aboriginal tribes, Miao and Lolo, in this part of Kueichow; they live by agriculture. Their villages are invariably placed a little way off the path or track, no doubt owing to their suspicion of the Chinese and possibly of each other. A fair amount of the hill land is under cultivation.\n\nAt Chen-ning, 20 miles from Anshun, I called on Père Roux of the Roman Catholic Mission. Père Roux has been forty-eight years in Chen-ning and is almost the oldest inhabitant of the town. He told me that strongly-worded proclamations for the suppression of the opium-poppy crops were posted in Chen-ning and district in January of this year, and that special deputies were despatched from the capital of the province to assist the local officials in seeing that the orders in the proclamations were carried out. Crops were accordingly uprooted and destroyed, and the fields were ploughed up so as to remove every trace of poppy. One man was shot because his ploughing was deemed insufficient. After the destruction of the poppy crops, the magistrate offered a reward of a dollar a plant to anyone who could discover a poppy plant in the district; he ordered every man, woman, and child to go out and search. Schools (including the Roman Catholic Mission school) were closed to permit the school children to go out and assist in the search. A few stray plants were found in this way, and the owner of the land on which they were found was fined to provide money for the promised rewards. The magistrate had shown himself almost too energetic in his measures of suppression; in cases where a poppy plant was found in a field of other plants, such as rape or barley, he had the whole field destroyed. He had prohibited all opium smoking and had closed the opium shops. Such opium as was sold in Chen-ning was Kuang-hsi opium, and the price was excessive — 4 taels per oz.\n\nNearing Nan-lung, the country became more rough and not so fertile; there was scarcely any cultivation on the hill slopes at all, while the red sand and earth, which is a feature of the south-west corner of China, began to appear. Crops were poor and consisted chiefly of peas and barley. Some rape, about 4 feet high, was well advanced, but the weather was by no means hot, and I was everywhere assured that the season was a late one.\n\nAt Nan-lung, Mr. Jamieson of the China Inland Mission gave me the same story that I had heard on other points of my journey; a considerable amount of poppy-seed had been sown in the autumn, but in January, following the instructions from Peking, proclamations were posted ordering the total eradication of the crop. According to Mr. Jamieson, the proclamation stated that the eradication was insisted on by Great Britain, and it conveyed the impression that the British inspecting officer would himself punish any person found with opium plants in his field. I tried to obtain a copy of this proclamation but was informed that all had been destroyed, even the magistrate's own copy! The eradication had been carried out with official energy as great as that reported to me at other places. Punishments were freely inflicted on the recalcitrant. Fines, confiscations, imprisonment (in one case a sentence of ten years), and in some districts death by shooting.\n\nAlthough the streets of Nan-lung were beflagged and decorated in honor of the visit of inspection, the symbols of joy scarcely reflected popular opinion. Opium-growers had lost a considerable amount of capital by the destruction of the crop, and their indignation was greater in that the local officials had permitted them to sow in the autumn without any suggestion of possible interference. In fact, to test the magisterial view, a small plot near the magistrate's yamên was tentatively sown, and, no objection being raised by the authorities, it was taken for granted that opium cultivation was to be permitted in that locality. It was owing to this, no doubt, that the magistrate decided to throw the onus of responsibility for the destruction of the crop on Great Britain in his proclamation. Destruction of the poppy-crop had been carried on from January right into March, the last fields to go being at Mutsu, a village some 5 miles west of the Nan-lung-Hsing-yi main road, near the Kuanghsi border. There was very little opium grown in the Nan-lung district in the 1915-16 season, and the bulk of the seed for the 1916 autumn sowing was brought from Kuanghsi province. Kuanghsi opium was being sold in Nan-lung at 3 dollars per oz.; it was all being smuggled over the provincial border.\n\nMany opium-smokers had fled from Nan-lung a day or two before my arrival, fearing that I might detect them by their visages and inflict summary punishment.\n\nI received proof of the unpopularity of my visit the day after my departure from Nan-lung when a letter that had been left for me at the China Inland Mission compound was sent after me. It was an abusive and threatening letter, accusing me of coming thither to spy out the wealth of the country and stating that if I had really been in search of opium, I should have stayed some days in Nan-lung and thoroughly searched the China Inland Mission premises and the magistrate's yamên; it ended with an impolite request to me to get out of China. I handed the letter to the Nan-lung magistrate, who was traveling with us through his jurisdiction, and requested him to return at once to discover the writers of the letter and to punish them adequately. I heard later from Mr. Jamieson that the magistrate did so, most — if not too — adequately.\n\n## 65\n\nBetween Nan-lung (former name Hsing-yi) and Hsing-yi (former name Huang-tsao-pa) — 50 miles — I had some altercation with the Chinese delegates regarding the route. They were very anxious to keep to the main road, while I wished to take a less frequented route of which I had learned through overhearing a conversation among some of our escort. I had my way but only after considerable objection and opposition, of which I soon discovered the cause. The military official at Hsing-yi was General Liu, the elder brother of the Governor of the province, and the Chinese were expectant that he would come out to meet us. Their fear of the Governor made them anxious to do nothing at which the military brother might take umbrage, and the possibility of missing the General on the road, if my proposed route were followed, made the delegates very nervous. However, all went happily; the General, a rough and bluff person of the old Chinese school, had not come very far out of his town to meet us, and we converged to his temporary encampment without difficulty. Père Julien of the Roman Catholic Mission at Hsing-yi told me that in the Hsing-yi district, as I had heard in other parts of the province, opium crops had been sown and had been stringently uprooted and destroyed in the early part of the year, in obedience to instructions from Peking through the provincial capital — instructions issued in consequence of the pending visit of inspection.\n\nFrom Hsing-yi to Chiang-ti, the small village on the river forming the frontier line between the provinces of Kueichow and Yunnan, was 23 miles of very rough country with little cultivation. We reached Chiang-ti in the evening of the 1st May, and the Kueichow portion of my journey was ended. During the evening, I received a message from Mr. Jamieson at San Lung (75 miles distant) warning me that he had reliable information that certain influential opium dealers of Nan-lung had arranged for my assassination: I was to be stabbed in the back with a long dagger. I carried this cheerful information with me across the province of Yunnan, and at Hokow received a further letter of explanation that my demise had been included in the programme by the authors in order to score off certain of their enemies, whom they hoped to implicate as the real plotters against me, and thereby to obtain their severe punishment.\n\nMy caravan mileage through the province was 517 miles, but I myself covered much more ground than this. My methods of progression were three: walking, where the road was very rough or dangerous; riding, where the road was convenient; and sitting in a chair carried by four coolies in bad or very hot weather. On arriving at our destination for the night, there was usually an hour or two of daylight left, if not more, during which I traveled on foot or on pony in the surrounding country, selecting high points from which I could cover a large expanse with my field-glass.\n\nI did not see a single opium poppy plant on my journey through the province of Kueichow. The letter of the opium agreement of 1911 has therefore been observed by the province.\n\n*Not reproduced.*\n\n`[6032]`", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-471 - Public Offices - 1921.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 499662, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-488 - Governor Sir Stubbs - 1925 [1-7]", "page_number": 66, "title": "CO129-488 - Governor Sir Stubbs - 1925 [1-7]", "content_text": "## FINANCIAL MINUTE.—No. 80.\n\nNo. 20 in 63\n\nR. E. STUBBS.\n\nThe Governor recommends the Council to vote a sum of One hundred and thirty-nine thousand eight hundred and ninety Dollars ($139,890) on account of the following votes:-\n\n### Public Works, New Works\n\n| Description | Amount |\n| --- | --- |\n| Erection of sheds for 60 Chinese and 60 Indian Police on Berlin Mission Compound, Hospital Road | $10,000.00 |\n| Alterations to Tramways between Ice House Street and Causeway Bay | $7,890.00 |\n| Improvements to the junction of Gascoigne and Nathan Roads, Kowloon, cutting away the hill | $122,000.00 |\n| **TOTAL** | **$139,890.00** |\n\nGovernment House, Hongkong, 13th September, 1924.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-488 - Governor Sir Stubbs - 1925 [1-7].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 499676, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-488 - Governor Sir Stubbs - 1925 [1-7]", "page_number": 80, "title": "CO129-488 - Governor Sir Stubbs - 1925 [1-7]", "content_text": "## Financial Minute No.\n\nLaid before Council and recommended by the Finance Committee.\n\nApproved by Council.\n\n| Vote and Service | Explanation | 18th September, 1924 | 16th October, 1924 | 3rd November, 1924 |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Imports & Exports Department. Special Expenditure. Embossing Press. | | $170.00 | | |\n| Police Department. Other Charges. Rent of Stations. | Pending erection of new stations in outlying districts it has been necessary to rent houses temporarily. | | $4250.00 | |\n| Miscellaneous Services Purchase of \"The Bracket\" | Purchase of house for a senior officer, opportunity being taken of an unusually reasonable offer. | | $50,000.00 | |\n| Police Department. Personal Emoluments. | Necessary owing to increase in force. | | $3880.00 | |\n| Public Works Extraordinary, Hongkong. Miscellaneous. | Owing to extensive development in Wan Chai Gap district it was found necessary to construct a dump where materials could be placed temporarily. | | $5000.00 | |\n| Post Office, Special Expenditure Motor Mail Van. | For increase in efficiency of the Postal Service. | | $1650.00 | |\n| Public Works Recurrent, & Public Works Extraordinary | These sums represent unexpended votes appearing in the Estimates which it was considered desirable to utilise for other more urgent works. | | $1,489,700.00 | |\n| Public Works Extraordinary. New Works. Erection of sheds for Police in Berlin Mission Compound. | Required to accommodate the police temporarily displaced while other stations are being altered. | | $10,000.00 | |\n| Alterations to Tramways. | Alterations and widening of roads necessitated moving the tramway lines. | | $7890.00 | |\n| Improvement of Roads. | This work has been in progress for some time and greater progress has been made during 1924 than was expected. | | $122,000.00 | |\n| Miscellaneous Services. Other Miscellaneous Services. | Provided to cover cost of experimental importation of cattle from Australia. | | $1660.00 | |\n| Harbour Master's Department. Special Expenditure, Rescue Tug. | | | $110,000.00 | |\n| Public Works Extraordinary. Kowloon. | | | | $100,000.00 |\n| New Territories | Found necessary to cover cost - insufficient provided. | | | $95,000.00 | \n| Miscellaneous Services | To cover possible expenditure during 1924 not provided in the Estimates. | See explanation under 79. | | |", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-488 - Governor Sir Stubbs - 1925 [1-7].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 502730, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-492 - Governor Sir Clementi - 1925 [12] - 1926 [1-5]", "page_number": 422, "title": "CO129-492 - Governor Sir Clementi - 1925 [12] - 1926 [1-5]", "content_text": "4\n\n406\n\nTo our beloved Labor Union...\n\n...said no one should violate the rules. Our servants were intimidated and threatened. Having joined the Labor Unions they were officially notified to strike. On the morning of March 23rd all personal servants on the Mission Compound walked out. Instructions were given to the coolies and cooks and other helpers that they should do nothing whatever for the hospital.\n\nA member of this organisation walked boldly into the hospital office and instructed the cashier that from that time forward all hospital funds were not to be turned over to the foreign doctor in charge of the hospital, but to this organisation. This demand was made upon the threat of the cashier being killed unless he obeyed instructions. The Foreign doctor in charge of the hospital actually caught this man in the act of passing this order to the hospital cashier.\n\nPickets were placed at all entrances to the Mission Compound. All foreigners were closely watched by the native pickets and nothing was allowed to be taken in or out of the Hospital for the foreigners. No food could be purchased or supplies secured.\n\nIn a few days the following ultimatum was addressed in writing and sent to us as follows:-\n\nDr. C. W. Leavell,\n\nRev. Tipton, Rev. Rex Ray,\n\nDr. Bailey,\n\nMiss McMinn,\n\nMiss Pearl Johnson,\n\nWuchow, March 26, 1926,\n\n3. That we approve of and look forward to the organisation of further Joint Boards of Control with our Chinese Brethren for the management of the Funds entrusted to us and the work of our Baptist Institution.*", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-492 - Governor Sir Clementi - 1925 [12] - 1926 [1-5].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 502734, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-492 - Governor Sir Clementi - 1925 [12] - 1926 [1-5]", "page_number": 426, "title": "CO129-492 - Governor Sir Clementi - 1925 [12] - 1926 [1-5]", "content_text": "The foreigners were allowed to go in and out without being actually stopped, but always in the face of a restless crowd of very angry looking and entirely irresponsible people. Each time we went outside of the gate our lives were in danger and we always heard such expressions as \"KILL THE FOREIGNERS\", \"DOWN WITH THE IMPERIALISTS\", \"CHINA FOR THE CHINESE\", \"TAKE BACK THE HOSPITAL PROPERTY\", \"KILL ALL THE CHRISTIANS.\"\n\nWe tried in every way to get help in removing some of our trunks. The workmen were willing and ready to earn a little money, but the strikers drove them off and threatened their lives. We were isolated, disgraced, insulted, and embarrassed. Seeing that the only way to get our trunks off the Compound was to remove them ourselves, the four American men on the Mission Station undertook with great difficulty the task.\n\nAs we went down the streets we were surrounded by an angry mob, howling threats and insults at us as we carried our heavy loads to the shipping office. At times the situation was tense with excitement and danger. One wrong move on the part of the foreigners would, without doubt, have caused violence.\n\nWe had notified the American Consul General in Canton of the situation. He gave good counsel and advice, and it was exceedingly fortunate for us and our safety at Wuchow that the American gunboat \"PAMPANGA\" came up to our relief from Hong Kong, arriving March 26th. Had this gunboat been one or two days later in arriving, perhaps the writer would not now be telling the story. The presence of the \"PAMPANGA\" greatly strengthened our precarious situation.\n\nUnder the Command Lieutenant-Commander G. W. Dugger, conferences were arranged on the \"PAMPANGA\" with ...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-492 - Governor Sir Clementi - 1925 [12] - 1926 [1-5].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 502735, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-492 - Governor Sir Clementi - 1925 [12] - 1926 [1-5]", "page_number": 427, "title": "CO129-492 - Governor Sir Clementi - 1925 [12] - 1926 [1-5]", "content_text": "Chinese officials, and the matter of protection of all foreigners and the American property of the Mission was insisted upon.\n\nThe Secretary of Foreign Affairs tried in every way to help, but the Military Headquarters gave him no support, and his hands were tied. The Secretary of Foreign Affairs is the official representative of the foreigners to the other Chinese officials.\n\nThe Chief of Police tried to help and protect but bolshevism knows nothing of law and order, and the mass of strikers and pickets seem to have entire control. Outnumbered by national movement the police could not afford to crash with the sentiment of the populace as expressed in their agitation and hatred and numerous demonstrations.\n\nIn the name of the United States Government and all fairness under the existing treaties appeals were made to every official department represented at Wuchow, which is the treaty port, but little help or protection was offered.\n\nFinally, after two days hard work and under the cover of the American gunboat the missionaries managed to get their baggage out to the river bank. No armed force was actually landed, but it seemed exceedingly dangerous for us as we went back and forth to the Mission Compound.\n\nWe are quite frank to say and with all possible emphasis that without the American gunboat and the assistance of the officers and men we would in all probability have been forced to evacuate without any of our effects or hospital equipment and leave the hospital, kindergarten, girls school, and the five mission residences at the mercy of the rabble to be looted and damaged.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-492 - Governor Sir Clementi - 1925 [12] - 1926 [1-5].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 504889, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926", "page_number": 154, "title": "CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926", "content_text": "# KOI TAMEN ZITIE\n\n1\n\n...\n\nWith regard to the danger to the lives and property of British subjects notwithstanding Mr. Pratt's opinion that the special circumstances at Hoihow are such that the foreign community would be far worse off than at any Southern port. I felt in any case that the problem was one not so much of defence as of providing facilities for the provisioning of and communications with the boycotted British communities in the South - a problem which would have to be left to the discretion of the Commander-in-Chief and the Hongkong Authorities whom I felt would be both able and willing to deal with any situation which might arise as in the case of Swatow last summer.\n\n4. I felt also that it might be as well, in order to ensure such co-operation as might be practicable amongst the foreign naval forces in the South, to approach my Japanese, United States and French Colleagues with a view to calling their attention to the situation and expressing the hope that there might be the closest possible co-operation between our respective naval forces if and when the occasion arose.\n\n27084.\n\n5. In view of the considerable American interests on Hainan Island itself, it was thought that the American Legation would not hesitate to promise a measure of co-operation in regard to the protection of our joint interests in Kiungchow and the neighbourhood. It was not, however, until after the attack on the United States Presbyterian Mission Hospital at Katsing (see Mr. Pratt's despatch No. 6) during which the American flag was pulled down from the mast, torn to pieces and trampled underfoot, the mission compound looted and several of the hospital assistants beaten and carried off, that the American Government...\n\nPage 153\n\n...\n\n \n.203 TEO 015209", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 504901, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926", "page_number": 166, "title": "CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926", "content_text": "Page 165\n\nMr. Acting Consul Pratt to H.M. Minister.\n\nH.M. Consulate,\n\nKlunghow.\n\n1st February, 1926.\n\nWith reference to my despatch No. 3 of January 23rd I have the honour to report that General Li Chishen (李濟深) arrived at Hoihow on January 26th and is now the highest authority in the island.\n\nNone of the officials and military officers of the previous administration found in Hoihow have been executed, but large numbers of the old troops scattered in various directions into the interior, looting and burning as they went. They are now being followed up by the Canton army. Report has it that a serious stand is being made in the neighbourhood of Lanko (陵高) to the West, where a Cantonese force is said to be surrounded.\n\nKachek near the East coast, where there is an American Presbyterian Mission station still occupied by American missionaries in defiance of the advice of myself and the American Consul General at Canton, has been occupied peacefully by the Cantonese. On Sunday January 31st however, after a meeting held in an anti-Christian school adjoining the mission compound, the crowd flocked into the Mission compound, tore up the boundary stones of a piece of land granted to the Mission by General Teng Pan-yin, tore up the American flag and beat some of the Chinese assistants in the hospital. This incident is being taken up directly with...\n\n...\n\netc.,\n\nPeking.\n\nPage [next]\n\n \n2462 #304", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 504916, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926", "page_number": 181, "title": "CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926", "content_text": "regard to the danger to the lives and property of British subjects notwithstanding Mr. Pratt's opinion that the special circumstances at Hoihow are such that the foreign community would be far worse off than at any Southern port. I felt in any case that the problem was one not so much of defence as of providing facilities for the provisioning of and communications with the boycotted British communities in the South - a problem which would have to be left to the discretion of the Commander-in-Chief and the Hongkong Authorities whom I felt would be both able and willing to deal with any situation which might arise as in the case of Swatow last summer.\n\n4. I felt also that it might be as well, in order to ensure such co-operation as might be practicable amongst the foreign naval forces in the South, to approach my Japanese, United States and French Colleagues with a view to calling their attention to the situation and expressing the hope that there might be the closest possible co-operation between our respective naval forces if and when the occasion arose.\n\n5. In view of the considerable American interests on Hainan Island itself, it was thought that the American Legation would not hesitate to promise a measure of co-operation in regard to the protection of our joint interests in Kiungchow and the neighbourhood. It was not, however, until after the attack on the United States Presbyterian Mission Hospital at Kuchek (see Mr. Pratt's despatch No. 6) during which the American flag was pulled down from the mast, torn to pieces and trampled underfoot, the mission compound looted and several of the hospital assistants beaten and carried off, that the American Government...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 504931, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926", "page_number": 196, "title": "CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926", "content_text": "Kr. Acting Consul Pratt to be. Minister.\n\n199\n\nH.M. Consulate\n\nKiaochow.\n\nSir,\n\n2.\n\nEnd February, 191⁄2,\n\nWith reference to my despatch No. 3 of January 23rd I have the honour to report that General Li Chishen arrived at Hoihow on January 26th and is now the highest authority in the Island.\n\nNone of the officials and military officers of the previous administration found in Haikow have been executed, but large numbers of the old troops scattered in various directions into the interior, looting and burning as they went. They are now being followed up by the Canton army, report has it that a serious stand is being made in the neighbourhood of Lankio to the west, where a Cantonese force is said to be surrounded.\n\nKachek near the East coast, where there is an American Presbyterian Mission station still occupied by American missionaries in defiance of the advice of myself and the American Consul General at Canton, has been occupied peacefully by the Cantonese. On Sunday January 31st however, after a meeting held in an anti-Christian school adjoining the Mission compound, the crowd flocked into the Mission compound, tore up boundary stones of a piece of land granted to the Mission by General Peng Pai-chai, tore up the American flag and beat some of the Chinese assistants in the hospital. The incident is being taken up directly with the Minister at Peking.\n\n...\n\n \nto kong. pal.\n\nPage 199\n\n \n\n(To be continued on next page)\n\nPage 199\n\n...\n\n \nrevised to \n\nKr. Acting Consul Pratt to be. Minister.\n\n199\n\nH.B.M. Consulate\n\nKiaochow.\n\nSir,\n\n2.\n\nEnd February, 1912,\n\nWith reference to my despatch No. 3 of January 23rd I have the honour to report that General Li Chishen arrived at Hoihow on January 26th and is now the highest authority in the Island.\n\nNone of the officials and military officers of the previous administration found in Haikow have been executed, but large numbers of the old troops scattered in various directions into the interior, looting and burning as they went. They are now being followed up by the Canton army; report has it that a serious stand is being made in the neighbourhood of Lankio to the west, where a Cantonese force is said to be surrounded.\n\nKachek near the East coast, where there is an American Presbyterian Mission station still occupied by American missionaries in defiance of the advice of myself and the American Consul General at Canton, has been occupied peacefully by the Cantonese. On Sunday, January 31st, however, after a meeting held in an anti-Christian school adjoining the Mission compound, the crowd flocked into the Mission compound, tore up boundary stones of a piece of land granted to the Mission by General Peng Pai-chai, tore up the American flag, and beat some of the Chinese assistants in the hospital. The incident is being taken up directly with the Minister at Peking.\n\nto Kong Pal.\n\nPage 199\n\nPage 199\n\nPage 199", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 505247, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926", "page_number": 513, "title": "CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926", "content_text": "30\n\ndistrict in different directions. I travelled 10 hours a day and covered 33 English miles daily, and saw poppy everywhere extensively cultivated. The farmers are compelled to plant by the military. Merchants from Honan and Hupeh provinces come here to buy opium. The city has to pay this year in taxes to the General in Chungking $500,000-\n\n\"Opium smoking is dreadful, out of 172 families in one village only 27 do not smoke. Children in home and school are indulging. Over 30 of our church members were suspended in 1925 for opium smoking.\"\n\nMy Mission work covers three districts and Clony Choo, itineraries cover 50 miles north and south of the river and 90 miles along the river. Little opium is grown in Changchow district, but in the other two districts of Fengta and Shihtzu it is plentiful. Poppy seriously affected the rice crop in 1925 and rice rose to $9 a bushel,\n\nOpium smoking everywhere, and dens well patronized.\n\nWest Szechuan.\n\nFachow. Increased planting this year, poppy fields come right up to the edge of school compound.\n\nHuvilichow. From this city all the way down the section of the province which dips into Yunnan, there is increased cultivation. This area adjoins \"Loiiland\".\n\nNing Yuen. There is heavy traffic in the drug, but figures not obtainable.\n\nTatsienbu. We are 8,500 feet up, no poppy grown here but plenty in the plain. 300 opium dens in the city. Big trade of opium into Tibet. Opium is bartered to Tibetans who are using more and more each year. No official prohibition of any description.\n\nSoutheast Szechuan.\n\nFoochow. We are living in the midst of a poppy field. We cannot imagine a time when more poppy was grown than at present. In a local meeting in Dec. 1925 the gentry, merchants and people protested against the demand of the Military Governor that $600,000 be raised by opium taxes. The Governor stated that this sum had been raised in previous years and it must be raised again.\n\nSouth Szechuan.\n\nLatchow. Not more than one-third of last year's planting. Use is general, opium dens everywhere.\n\nSuifu. Some sections show increased planting, others less, on the whole about half of that planted in 1925 season. Dry weather and heavy taxes in 1925 discouraged the farmers, most of them lost money. Townships on the Yunnan border have been compelled to plant by official proclamation.\n\nSmoking on the increase, 3,000 licensed dens in the city.\n\nTranshipment of opium is the main business of Suifu and the main source of revenue.\n\n\"I recently travelled for a short distance with a caravan of one hundred loads of opium, coming from Yunnan to Suifu. It was protected by 250 soldiers, and valued at $700,000\".\n\nCentral Szechuan.\n\nChengtu. \"In the four counties where I itinerate opium planting is about half that of last year. Lien Yang, which last year raised more than any other county in this part of China, has greatly reduced the poppy acreage this year. In Chengtu and all market towns opium dens are more numerous.\n\nMienchow, Chang Ming, Chang Yu, Loh Chuang. Not much to be seen along the highroads, more back in the mountain districts. Posters with a heading, \"Forbid Opium Regulations\", are seen everywhere. This means the tax must be paid for selling and opium dens. Opium smoking is obvious everywhere.\n\nChung Kiang. None planted here, the tax being far too heavy, farmers will not risk it. Opium plentiful, everywhere taxed. About 500 dens in the city. Each lamp in dens is taxed $2 a month and in private houses, $4. Smoking without tax permit is heavily fined. The whole traffic controlled by the military.\n\nTing You. The military attempted to force the people of this county to plant sufficient opium to furnish a tax of $30,000. The people tried to compromise by supplying $15,000, and at the time of writing, the question is not yet settled.\n\nJien Chou. Has more opium planted than any other part of the province. My travels take me over five counties, and opium forms about 1/3 of the total crops.\n\nLess planted this year in some counties because of heavy taxes. The area which suffered most from famine last year is the section of Jien Chou which grows most opium.\n\nHokiang. The people generally seem unwilling to plant, and five-sixths of those who do are forced to it.\n\nEast Szechuan, Kweifu/Kweichow. Poppy has been planted in this district more plentifully than ever before, and the harvest is very promising. The military are levying a large tax upon the output of opium, and this year, as formerly, all those who refuse to grow poppy in their fields have to pay a tax for exemption. The outlook is distinctly bad.\n\nYUNNAN\n\nThough reports this year are few, they indicate little change. The remoteness of this opium province, and its freedom from Central Government control, encourages extensive cultivation. As far as can be ascertained it still maintains its position as the premier opium province in China.\n\nYunnan opium is of high quality and the land exceptionally good for its cultivation. Its opium reaches all parts of China by land and sea. Shanghai combines both Naval and Military import from Yunnan, whilst both India and France complain of the amount smuggled across their frontiers. The Yunnan opium reaching Burmah exceeds that sold by the Government Monopoly. Much is smuggled to Hongkong and Malay States. Chinese Naval cruisers are credited with having annexed 400 cases of Yunnan opium en route to Shanghai.\n\nEastern Yunnan. More opium planted than last year.\n\nWestern Yunnan. There is no change this year. Opium cultivation and use is as general here as in the rest of the province.\n\nNorth Eastern Yunnan. Freely planted everywhere. Government tax imposed whether opium planted or not. Opium smoking is universal.\n\nNorth Yunnan. There is no limitation in area planted with poppy. Half to two-thirds of the fields suitable for its cultivation are planted with poppy. Opium smoking is general amongst all classes.\n\nSouth Yunnan. Cultivation general. No changes from last year. The...\n\n31", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-496 - Public Offices - 1926.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 505420, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-497 - Public Offices - 1926", "page_number": 142, "title": "CO129-497 - Public Offices - 1926", "content_text": "147. The comparative immunity of Amoy from the dangerous disturbances and riotous outbreaks was due to a great extent to the close and amicable relations between His Majesty's consul, Mr. Hewlett, and Captain Lin Kuo-keng, C.M.G., who served in His Majesty's navy at Jutland and was in command of the naval forces at the port of Amoy. The fact, also, that Mr. Hewlett had frequently entertained the local students, amongst whom he had many friends, was of considerable assistance.\n\n148. On the 25th June demonstrations of an anti-foreign nature took place from 9 A.M. to 1:30 P.M., but, in spite of the fact that it had been decided not to send for any British naval assistance, the demonstrations passed off without incident, which showed that the reliance placed on Captain Lin was not in vain.\n\n149. The situation was, however, still one of extreme difficulty and required the utmost tact on the part of the foreign consuls and their nationals. It was therefore greatly to His Majesty's consul's credit and the methods of peaceful persuasion which he employed, that Mr. Lim Tiong-hock, the prime mover in all the anti-foreign demonstrations, was won over to the side of the moderates. In consequence of this, the strike which had been fixed for the 11th July was postponed until the 1st August at a massed meeting, at which Mr. Lim Tiong-hock spoke up boldly against the strike. As he was returning from this meeting, it was most unfortunate that retribution in the form of the vengeance of the strikers should have overtaken him; he was attacked by four assailants and murdered in the street.\n\n150. The opportune arrival of H.M.S. Foxglove on the evening of the 1st August, which coincided with the arrival of telegraphic instructions from Peking, resulted in a most welcome stiffening in the attitude of Captain Lin and the Chinese authorities, in consequence of which the strike, which had been so much advertised by the students, was definitely shelved, and there were no further developments of importance.\n\nSwatow.\n\n151. The indignities to which Mr. Kirke, His Majesty's consul, was subjected throughout the course of the long summer can scarcely have been paralleled in the history of treaty-port relations with the Chinese. In order to account for the malignance of the anti-British feeling at this port, it must be remembered that Swatow is very easily accessible to the virus of Bolshevik propaganda from Canton. It is difficult, in fact, to see how His Majesty's consul could have maintained his position at all without the unfailing support and assistance of His Majesty's navy as represented by Commander Smithwick, R.N., of H.M.S. Bluebell.\n\n152. On the 1st July a mob broke into and completely wrecked three hotels and a store owned by British subjects of Chinese descent, as well as three hotels and two shops owned by Japanese. This destruction took place in full view of the police station and only a few hundred yards from the office of the Chief of Police, but no attempt was made to check the rioters.\n\n153. On the 2nd July all the household servants of British residents left their employers, as also did their clerks and office staffs. His Majesty's consul was therefore from now onwards without any assistance in either house or office, and was compelled to do the work of the lowest class of coolie. Even the British and Japanese gunboats were denied supplies, in direct violation of the Treaty of Tien-tsin. No sampan or ricksha would accept a British or Japanese fare, nor were any storekeepers allowed to sell food to British or Japanese nationals. In short, the unions had terrorised the whole population of the city, and the authority of the unions was the only Chinese authority in Swatow which was functioning.\n\n154. The agitation in this part of Kwangtung Province also assumed a violent anti-Christian character. This was evidenced by reports which reached His Majesty's consul from the surrounding districts. At Wukingfu, for instance, on the 11th July, the English Presbyterian Mission was attacked by Cantonese troops, and the whole staff was forced to flee at a few hours' notice. One of the missionaries was severely beaten, stripped almost naked, and threatened with knives; he was also made to gouge his eyes out. Two lady missionaries were also savagely beaten and narrowly escaped much worse treatment.\n\n155. The British missionaries from Chachowfu had already been withdrawn to Swatow, while His Majesty's consul also advised the missionaries at Shanghang and Tingchow (Fukien) to leave.\n\n156. In the course of the month of August the pillage of the Taikoo Club in Swatow was completed, and the Masonic Hall as well as the British vice-consul's residence were also looted.\n\n157. By the end of the year the situation as regards the personal discomfort inflicted on His Majesty's consul had been slightly mitigated by the importation of a staff of household servants from Amoy, but these could not be allowed out of the compound or they would have been immediately kidnapped, and all food had to be supplied from Hong Kong.\n\nCanton.\n\n158. The smouldering embers of anti-foreign hatred were ever ready to be fanned into flame in Canton, even without the assistance of Comrade Borodin and the other Russian advisers attached to the de facto Government of Kwangtung Province.\n\n159. On the 28th May His Majesty's consul-general (Sir James Jamieson, K.C.M.G.) had already invited the very serious attention of the Government to the grave danger of permitting a continuance of the inflammatory proceedings against foreigners indulged in by certain elements in Canton. The Government were reminded that two British Indian subjects had only a short while ago been wantonly murdered on the bund, yet no expression of regret had been forthcoming. An employee of a British firm had been kidnapped on the West River in broad daylight and had only been released on payment of a ransom of 2,500 dollars. The press and students were united in inflaming public opinion, yet nothing was done to put on the brake. \"Wilfully to allow so much powder to lie about,\" said Sir James Jamieson, \"is to invite someone ere long to apply a match.\"\n\n160. On the 17th June His Majesty's consul-general had informed Mr. C. C. Wu that he had learned that at a meeting that afternoon it had been decided to call a strike against the British, Japanese, and Americans as a protest against the Shanghai incident, and, fearing consequent trouble, he offered to meet the members of the Canton Government and to discuss the students' grievances, hoping thus to settle the matter in a spirit of equity.\n\n161. On the 19th June the Chinese crews of certain coastal and river steamers went out on strike. On the 20th June His Majesty's consul-general reported to Peking that a monster demonstration had been arranged for the 23rd and that he had warned all British subjects to keep out of its path. On the 22nd steamer traffic between Hong Kong and Canton was completely suspended, mails and supplies having to be carried by naval tugs. On the 22nd June, the day before the ill-fated procession, His Majesty's consul-general addressed a letter to Mr. C. C. Wu, the Director of Foreign Affairs Bureau at Canton, informing him that he had learned that in the course of a patriotic demonstration arranged for the next day the student agitators intended making martyrs of themselves by attacking the bridges leading to Shameen, and that should any unfortunate incident occur the blood of those who allowed crowd psychology to commit deeds of violence would be upon their own heads. \"I write in this serious strain so that it may not be said hereafter that brutal Imperialist rifles wantonly massacred unoffending Chinese youths.\"\n\n162. On the 23rd June the long heralded and anxiously awaited monster demonstration took place. Precautionary measures in anticipation of an expected attack on Shameen had been taken, and the naval and civilian defence units of the British and French Concessions had taken up their posts with strict instructions to keep out of sight; all other persons being forbidden to appear. His Majesty's consul-general, the senior naval officer, the superintendent of the Shameen police, and one or two naval officers were watching from the British bridge over the Shameen creek, and the processions had practically all gone by when suddenly a single shot rang out from the direction of the Whampoa Cadet Contingent, who armed the rear of the procession. Half a minute elapsed, and this shot was followed by a further volley aimed at the island, which killed one French citizen and wounded the Commissioner of Customs, a British subject, and several other Europeans and Japanese. This fire was returned from Shameen by the French...\n\nPage 26\n\n...\n\nPage 139", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-497 - Public Offices - 1926.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 506838, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-499-2 Canton situation- governor's despatches 15-1-1927 - 4-2-1927", "page_number": 150, "title": "CO129-499-2 Canton situation- governor's despatches 15-1-1927 - 4-2-1927", "content_text": "## THE FOOCHOW OUTRAGES. \n\n### STORY OF RIOT TOLD BY LADY MISSIONARY. \n\n#### FOREIGN WOMEN MALTREATED. \n\nThe following story with regard to the recent Foochow outrages is culled from the N.-C. Daily News, of last Wednesday, which states:- \n\nFurther interesting details of some of the atrocities committed against foreigners, principally missionaries, in Foochow by bandit soldiers who carried the emblem of the 17th Army, and an enraged mob, were brought to Shanghai yesterday by Mrs. H. D. Matthews, whose husband is superintendent of the Church Missionary Society Hospital. Mrs. Matthews' arrival yesterday evening was on the N.-C. S. Yusong.\n\nMrs. Matthews herself had her rings seized from her fingers by soldiers while threatened by others who pointed their knives at her, as much as to say, \"If you don't give us the rings, your fingers will be cut off.\" Mrs. Matthews was spared the personal violence to which several of the missionary women were subjected, but both her and her daughter's pockets were rifled and their house looted by the soldiers.\n\n### Tribute to Personal Servants. \n\nMrs. Matthews paid great tribute to her own personal servants and to the hospital servants, saying, \"they were simply wonderful to the foreigners.\" At the hospital, the local attendants dressed in uniforms of soldiers who had been treated there and stood guard outside, passing themselves off as part of the rioting army who were supposed to be doing guard duty on the premises. In this manner, they protected the buildings from being looted. By various pretexts, her personal servants managed to save many of the family's personal belongings, although much bedding and clothing were taken in the initial raid.\n\nMrs. Matthews credited her servants with great heroism in accomplishing a feat which the ordinary Chinese would not dare to think of. It was either the first or second night of the riot that the servants overcame one of the soldiers who was bent on looting the premises. They took him to the police station and he was turned over to the military to be summarily executed the next morning.\n\n### Lies About The Spanish Nuns. \n\nAccording to Mrs. Matthews, the trouble was precipitated through a ruse which had been prepared by the agitators and directed against the nuns in the Spanish Mission. These nuns' duty in part was to save infants from death by exposure or starvation. The agitators secured the bodies of about 25 dead infants and attributed their death to the Catholic missionaries boiling them. The mob became excited and in a short while were in sufficient mass to attack the nuns and priests.\n\n### Women And Children Attacked. \n\nAfter despoiling the Catholic Mission premises, the soldiers turned their attention to several other mission premises, including the Anglo-Chinese Girl's School, the Church Mission Society Hospital (Women's Division), and the Methodist Episcopal compound. It seemed as if in most cases the soldiers and mob attacked the women and children rather than the men. At the Anglo-Chinese Girls' School, the soldiers attacked a foreign school teacher and with their knives cut the women's outer garments to pieces, then seizing and tearing most of the remaining clothing from their bodies. The women ran screaming with the bandits in pursuit. They were finally rescued by friendly soldiers and escorted to safety amid the curses and epithets of the mob.\n\nIt was in her own home that Mrs. Matthews suffered indignities when she was forced to take her rings from her fingers and had to witness ruffians searching the pockets of her 13-year-old daughter. The soldiers then took other clothing from the beds. They became alarmed, it seemed to Mrs. Matthews, at the approach of other soldiers and left before they had completed their villainous work. The local police made very real efforts on their behalf, and both she and her daughter were taken to the police station and protected until they could go to the British Consulate.\n\n### Mr. Matthews Attacked. \n\nMr. Matthews returned to his home several days later and someone aware of his presence threw a miniature bomb over the fence which, as it exploded, struck a Chinese child. Mr. Matthews had also been attacked and stabbed slightly during one of the various melees. In deference to Chinese Christians, he has remained away from his home and the hospital since that time, a policy which all missionaries are now pursuing.\n\nA Chinese hospital, the head of which is a Chinese Christian doctor, was also looted, probably because the head did not subscribe to the theory of the infants' murder by the nuns.\n\nPage 150\nPage 151", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-499-2 Canton situation- governor's despatches 15-1-1927 - 4-2-1927.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 554018, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-561-7 Hong Kong University 4-1-1937 - 22-9-1937", "page_number": 61, "title": "CO129-561-7 Hong Kong University 4-1-1937 - 22-9-1937", "content_text": "# \n## \n\nQ \n\nApart from school education, the United Missions were anxious to initiate some scheme of welfare work. Considerable stress had been laid in the Report on the Copperbelt disturbances upon the importance of the provision of suitable literature, and the Missions hoped to help with this provision. Facilities for recreation and women's work were also needed.\n\nThe present situation in the Copperbelt was unsatisfactory, not only from the point of view of education, but generally. There were many elements of uncertainty; no Mission was fully informed as to the work which other Missions were going to undertake, and a difficult position consequently arose. There were 3,000 children of school age on the Copperbelt, but until recently, hardly any schools had been provided. The younger children loitered about the compounds and picked up bad habits, while the older boys put bad habits into practice. The Copperbelt disturbances had shown that these older children had become a real danger to society. (In passing, the Bishop mentioned that in any scheme for their welfare, it must be remembered that children in this area had an advantage over other children in that they were well fed and their physical condition good.)\n\nIt was proposed that school buildings should be established at each mine and that the Missions should provide six teachers for each school. These teachers would work under the direction of one of the ministers of religion who would be resident, one at each mine, and who would naturally be persons with native experience. The scheme also included the appointment of an educationist whose services would be utilized by all of these schools. At present, the Missions were the only bodies who could supply teachers in this area. The teachers would be very carefully selected, would be of good character, and appreciative of the importance of religious instruction and religious needs. The mining authorities were inclined to take the line that the building of schools was the business of the Government and showed little willingness to make any contribution themselves. But he had been led to understand that some of the mines might possibly contribute half the cost of the buildings. Little progress could be made until this question had been settled. And when schools were built, the question of fees would arise. In view of the many attractions outside the schools, the children might in any case not attend regularly, and if fees were insisted upon, the attendance might be still poorer.\n\nHe believed that the Government and the mining authorities were opposed to any kind of compulsion, but if the attendance of the children was irregular, it was doubtful whether the schools would be much use. He sometimes wondered whether pressure could be brought to bear on the children in the way resorted to by their parents, i.e., by reducing their allowance of food. The parents were generally anxious for the children to attend school. In the villages, the parents had very little control over their children, and in the Copperbelt area, still less.\n\nHe understood that the Nkana mine preferred to have schools inside the compound but wished them to be run by Government or by the mine management with Government help. The other two mines preferred schools outside the compound and would be willing for the Missions to run them, so long as they were not involved in inter-Mission disputes. There was a feeling in the mines that the Missions would be antagonistic towards each other, but he himself did not believe this. The present scheme of missionary co-operation would largely eliminate all danger of this.\n\nIt must be realized that, whatever scheme was finally agreed upon, the mine compound was a most undesirable environment for children or youths. When the present scheme had been prepared, he had been told that there was no possibility of the children being removed from the compound, but since then, it had been suggested that children over elementary school age should be sent away, probably back to their own villages, where they would be placed under the care of relatives.\n\nIn reply to a question, the Bishop said that a number of the mine workers came from Nyasaland. One of the difficulties in any scheme for removing the children was that transport facilities would have to be afforded by the Government. Directly the question of removing the children was faced, the views of the parents and the mining authorities had to be considered. The latter kept a close watch on the parents, and the parents would be opposed to the proposal. He added that he was in favour of a compulsory short-period contract.\n\nThe Bishop agreed that even if the proposal to send away children over elementary school age were to be put into effect, there would still be a great deal of work for the United Missions to do among the younger children and the adults. The men employed in the mines left their wives behind, but they took other wives in the Copperbelt, so there would always be children on the mines. He did not know if a great deal would be gained by endeavouring to remove the bulk of the children from the mines. A short service system, though helpful, would not perhaps be so satisfactory from the point of view of the mining authorities.\n\n## \n\nMR. MAYHEW asked what financial support would be needed for the upkeep of the staff.\n\nTHE BISHOP said that the Government undertook to give two-thirds of the wage of a teacher holding a Government certificate, and all teachers employed would hold such a certificate. It was admitted, he thought, that teachers in the mining areas would have to be paid more than those in the villages, owing to the higher cost of living. The Missions were prepared to differentiate. But when the Government first took the matter up, they had insisted that the Missions were not paying the teachers high enough salaries; that they could not expect to obtain or keep efficient teachers if they were paid so little; and that teachers must be paid on a scale which would compare favourably with the salaries which they might reasonably hope to obtain in other occupations open to them. The Government had accordingly suggested a scale on which wages would rise from 20s. to 40s. a month, and had offered, if this were accepted, to contribute two-thirds of the cost. This scale the Bishop regarded as a grave mistake, although he admitted that the Scottish Mission had been and were paying up to 40s. a month.\n\nReplying to further questions, the BISHOP said the native artisan in the mines was paid 17s. 6d. a month, plus food and housing, which was good pay for Northern Rhodesia. For the most part, the schools in European areas were Government schools. Where the Mission employed a teacher in the European settlement, a higher salary had to be paid. The training for teachers was long; there was a big wastage, and he did not think any Mission would find it easy to procure enough teachers, partly because the Missions were much hampered by what the Missions had suffered a few years ago when their grants and the number of teachers were reduced. Teachers were trained at various schools, each of the larger Missions having a training centre. The Government were now training teachers at Mazabuka, but none of them had had any Secondary education. In Northern Rhodesia, the demand for teachers seemed inexhaustible.\n\nAsked whether adequate teachers could be obtained at the salary offered, the Bishop admitted that this could be arranged only at some cost to the villages, which were already short of teachers. The mining authorities had agreed to give every facility for the buildings and would provide brick and corrugated iron. They had, however, no buildings which they could place at the disposal of the Missions.\n\nIn reply to a question from SIR JAMES CURRIE, the Bishop said there had been no proposals made for technical training, as the mining authorities considered it better for their workers to learn on the mines. The primary object of the present scheme was to give the children a general grounding and improve their intelligence. But the question of education was only more urgent in this area because of the congestion.\n\nMR. MAYHEW referred to the view of the Director of Native Education that, if an educationist were appointed to supervise these Mission Schools, he might find the work insufficient to occupy his whole time. He suggested that such an officer might act as a liaison officer between the Missions and the Government, advising the former generally on their educational work. THE BISHOP thought this a possible solution.\n\nThe Committee agreed that they could make no recommendation unless and until detailed proposals were received and referred to them by the Secretary of State.\n\nTHE CHAIRMAN thanked the Bishop for the information that he had been good enough to give the Committee.\n\n## 6. Training of Women Teachers in the Dependencies\n\nMR. MAYHEW said that his Memorandum (`A.C.E.C. 11/37`) on this subject, which had been circulated, explained the arrangements which the Board of Education were willing to make so as to allow teachers from the dependencies to take at the end of a teacher training course the same examination as would be taken by candidates from the United Kingdom.\n\nHe considered it would be desirable if the Committee could obtain information regarding Training Colleges which would be suitable for receiving women from various regional areas in the Dependencies, particularly African women.\n\nDR. BURSTALL said she had had an opportunity of visiting certain Training Colleges. She had been very much impressed with those she had seen and had heard about the excellence of others. As far as her knowledge was concerned, she would be very glad to make suggestions in regard to Colleges. She remarked that local and climatic considerations arose to some extent in this connexion. Chichester, for example, had certain advantages in this respect over Colleges situated in the North of England.\n\nMR. MAYHEW thought it important that African women should be discouraged from coming to England without giving previous notice.\n\nPROFESSOR CLARKE suggested that the Training Colleges Association in this country should be approached, but preferably not as an Association, for information regarding suitable Colleges. An informal confidential talk could be arranged with the President. This suggestion was noted.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-561-7 Hong Kong University 4-1-1937 - 22-9-1937.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 575754, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-590-24 Situation in Hong Kong 25-4-1905 - 25-4-1905", "page_number": 106, "title": "CO129-590-24 Situation in Hong Kong 25-4-1905 - 25-4-1905", "content_text": "105\n\nSwedish Government had very early on in the year sent a fund for the use of Swedish nationals, so that they were not in need. Just before I left he told me that he had had word that money was coming for the Irish also. Several thousand of the Portuguese were taken by ship to Macao in April, which relieved the situation in Hong Kong, but aggravated the position in Macao which is reported to be very much overcrowded.\n\nFather Joy had a most interesting document, the report made by twenty seven of the members of his Procurature who had been in and about Hong Kong ever since the outbreak of the war. Being Irish, those of them who were held prisoner were later on released by the Japanese. As is their custom, an account of what each man had seen and done was turned in and compiled in a detailed history of Hong Kong from the beginning of the war. There were a number of specially interesting statements. One in particular which struck me was a request made to Father Joy, as head of the Procurature, for six of his men to be stationed at the Queen Mary Hospital. This was early in December, and the request was made by Dr. Selwyn-Clark. When the latter was asked the purpose of this request, just what they were expected to do, what their duties would be, the reply was \"To step up morale\", that \"the hospital personnel had become demoralized to such an extent that it was feared that in the event of a catastrophe such as the shelling of the Hospital, or an unexpectedly heavy casualty intake, there would be a breakdown in routine.\" Father Joy's men were \"to infiltrate with the staff of the hospital and encourage them.\" Four men were sent; all the others were occupied with special work, most of them doing transport work. One man left soon after arriving, feeling that he could do better work in other places, and the report of the three who remained was omitted from Father Joy's record, as being too critical. I took issue with him on this, saying that it was a pity to omit it, as it all formed part of the picture of conditions in the Colony, which was the object of the record. Father Joy said that this was so and that he would put it in again. As what I am saying here is private, I can mention it.\n\nThe Queen Mary Hospital was fortunate in never being struck by a single shell, nor were there ever any nearer than several hundred yards. As I said before, the Japanese were careful not to damage it, wishing to use it for their own wounded.\n\nThe French Hospital, on the contrary, was a battle-scarred testimonial to heroic endurance. They had as many as one hundred shells and bombs in one day in their compound. In the top floor of the hospital, there is still a great gaping hole just above the flat which Dr. Selwyn-Clark has taken for his use. What a typhoon wind will do with that hole remains for this summer to tell. The roof of the whole building will probably go. There is damage everywhere, the hospital having suffered the most heavily. That whole district was the center of very heavy fighting for a long time, and many buildings near to the French Hospital were destroyed.\n\nAs the time came for me to go, four of us were going: Mr. Neprud, who had been stationed in Chungking as Commissioner of Customs; Mr. Inter of the 7th Day Adventist Mission; Dr. Henry, of the Methodist mission; and myself. People gave me messages to take out — so many, many messages, things to \"tell the world, let them know what is happening to us here.\" I promised to write to their wives, so many of them had wives in Australia and other places, and to do all I could to help them. As to \"telling the world,\" there will be plenty of people on this ship who will do that, I expect, far better than I can perhaps, although they may not have seen as many things as I have. Most, in fact practically all of them, were in Stanley. I was free to move about. But what I have to tell is for the information of the British Government, if they are interested. I wonder if they will be. No doubt they know it all already.\n\nI hear that two relief...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-590-24 Situation in Hong Kong 25-4-1905 - 25-4-1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 579371, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-592-4 Reports on current situation- Police 14-11-1945 - 1-7-1946", "page_number": 50, "title": "CO129-592-4 Reports on current situation- Police 14-11-1945 - 1-7-1946", "content_text": "Date. District.\n\nTime.\n\n6. Bay View.\n\n7. Western.\n\n8. Pokfulam.\n\n9. Gough Hill.\n\n10. Hong Kong.\n\n11. Aberdeen.\n\n12. Upper Levels.\n\n13. Emergency Unit Reserve.\n\n14. Aberdeen.\n\n15. Hong Kong\n\n16. Bay View.\n\n17. Shaukiwan.\n\n18. Aberdeen.\n\n35. 17.12.43\n\n50\n\ntions as the objective. Some bombs fell in the playground between Johnson and Hennessey Roads causing casualties to a food queue. A Japanese plane machine-gunned pedestrians in Queen's Road East. Severe bombing of the Taikoo Docks continued. One bomb hit a house of the Docks killing some twenty seamen sheltering in it. Early The tanks in the A.P.C. Installation were set alight by a.m. shell fire and burned furiously. The fire continued for several days. Police on duty at the Vital Post here moved to the new Bay View Station (Red Swastika Building at Dragon Terrace).\n\nFelix Villas and the area west of Hill Road were severely shelled and bombed. Attempts to loot burnt-out godowns had to be dealt with drastically by Police to quell them effectively. An unexploded bomb dropped in the Station compound near the Divisional Inspector's quarters. Police at the Vital Post guarding the Pumping Station came under heavy fire directed at Belchers Fort so moved to the Resident Engineer's quarters.\n\nPolice turned out to several small fires. Water and gas mains were broken. No further water supply was available on the Peak from this date.\n\nA The Commissioner of Police toured the Island with Mr. ASP Luscombe visiting stations, Vital Points, and Dispersal Points. A big fire at the A.P.C. Installation was noticed which prevented a visit being paid to the Hong Kong Electric.\n\n09.00 The Food Kitchen at Aberdeen was demolished by a bomb without fatal casualties.\n\n10.00 Sub Inspector R.J. Clark attached to No.3 Conduit Road Dispersal Point was slightly wounded in the neck by shrapnel whilst sheltering in a lavatory during a severe bombardment. A direct hit on the roof killed two Chinese civilians and wounded Sub Inspector Clark and two Chinese. Sub Inspector Clark had been to his quarters in Caine Road to fetch some clothes. (This was during the bombardment which preceded the arrival of the second Japanese Mission).\n\nA Portuguese member of the Emergency Unit Reserve was slightly wounded by shrapnel.\n\n11.00 The telephones in the Station finally went dead leaving only one line at A.R.P. Headquarters available which became very overloaded as it was connected with the ordinary service. Complaints were received concerning the hoarding of rice at rice shops. The Officer in Charge warned the shops concerned.\n\n12.00 A short armistice came into force ending at 16.00 hours during which the second Japanese Mission with a demand to surrender was received.\n\n12.00 The residents in Bay View district were cleared out of the area by Police as the Fire Brigade could not control the fire at the A.P.C. Installation and fire breaks by dynamiting had to be made.\n\n14.00 The Paint & Lacquer Works at 704 King's Road used as a Dispersal Point was evacuated by Police under Sub Inspector Daly and Sub Inspector Taylor by instructions of Mr. Heath, Assistant Superintendent of Police, due to heavy shelling, with several shells landing in the near vicinity and danger of fire from inflammable oil and paint. Personnel moved to the Hong Kong Litho & Painting Works. Severe shelling of the Pill Boxes along the waterfront took place.\n\n17.00 Two native boat yards were hit by bombs and set afire.\n\nPage 50\n\nPage 51", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-592-4 Reports on current situation- Police 14-11-1945 - 1-7-1946.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 589896, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-609-6 Future policy- Reuters reports on situation regarding Kowloon evictions 1-1-1948 - 31-12-1948", "page_number": 43, "title": "CO129-609-6 Future policy- Reuters reports on situation regarding Kowloon evictions 1-1-1948 - 31-12-1948", "content_text": "AIR 3 CHONGKONG) \n\nAMONG THE BRITISH MEN WHO LEFT CANTON WERE MR. J.L. MURRAY, PRESS ATTACHÉ, WHO WAS TO MAKE A REPORT TO THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT AND MR. JACK PARKHOUSE, THE WORST INJURED OF THE VICTIMS. ALTHOUGH HEAVILY BANDAGED HE WAS ABLE TO WALK.\n\nWITH THE EVACUATION OF THE LAST OF THE BRITISH WOMEN AND CHILDREN THE FOREIGN COMMUNITY IN CANTON WAS REDUCED TO ABOUT 100, MOST OF THEM AMERICANS.\n\nNOTHING HAD BEEN HEARD OF BRITISH RESIDENTS IN THE CITY'S OUTLYING DISTRICTS, INCLUDING MEMBERS OF THE NEW ZEALAND PRESBYTERIAN MISSION, 15 MILES AWAY.\n\nTHERE WAS NO REASON TO FEAR THEIR SAFETY, HOWEVER, AS THEY ARE CUSTOMARILY PROTECTED DURING LOCAL TROUBLES BY THE DISTRICT \"GUERILLA CHIEF,\" WHO, ON SUCH OCCASIONS, CAMPS IN THE COMPOUND.\n\nTHE STAFF THERE INCLUDES DOCTOR AND MRS. MILNE, TWO CHILDREN AND MISS ANN LILBURNE.\n\nCHERE PICK UP EVACUATION 1, PRINTER 0551, PARAGRAPH BEGINNING, \"THE FOREIGN POPULATION..\n\nPage 1000\n\n43", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-609-6 Future policy- Reuters reports on situation regarding Kowloon evictions 1-1-1948 - 31-12-1948.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 } ]