16
"
14
**
A RAILWAY FOR HONGKONG.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
November 13, 1895-
Supposing a hostile landing to be attempted, considered as grently enhancing the the troops under present conditions would putation of the Minister. It ould have to reach the threatered point on foot, been singular indeed if England had ex to find perhaps that the affair was a feint no reparation for the outrages in Szech and that the real attack was taking place à If our representative at Peking had couple of hours' march away, but with a light absolutely quiescent and not insist railway round the island any point at which anything he would have merited a landing might be attempted could be tion of his countrymen; that he reached by the defending force in a quarter remained quiescent does not entitle of the time required at present. The im- any large meed of praise, and any proved means of communication would instration that might be attempted fact be almost as valuable to the colony as a honour in Hongkong would be nothi large increase to its garrison, and would, better than a hollow mockery. He moreover have some commercial value and done much less than the community be useful for relieving overcrowding in the Hongkong expected he would do, and much city.
less, we are inclined to think, than he might have done. When a public officer has dis- charged his duties with conspicuous success it is right that the public should extend him some special mark of its appreciation, but when the success has been qualified or mediocre anything in the nature of a public address becomes a farce. It is said that Sir NICHOLAS O'CONOR's hands have been tied and that the home Government has preferred to be advised, by the foreign advisers of the Chinese Government. But, to use the expressive phrase of our American cousins, it is "right here" that a strong Minister should make his influence felt. If Sir HALLIDAY MACARTNEY is speaking loudly in one ear of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the Minister at Peking should speak still more loudly in the other until he commands undivided attention. Has Sir NICHOLAS O'CONOR done so? Has he not rather been himself a pliant instrument in the hands of the foreign advisers of the Chinese, Government and allowed himself to be used for the enhancement of their influence instead of making his own in- dividuality assert itself? It is even open to doubt whether the action which re-
The Land Commission which satin 1886-87 made a tentative suggestion for the construction of a railway or tramway to give communication between Victoria and the villages and outlying districts in order to afford relief from the overcrowding com- plained of. The following is an extract from the Commission's report :-"It is "impossible, at present, to say what effect the making of railways would have, but judging from other places it is reason- able to suppose that it would have the "effect of removing many workshops, and a large number of people, from the central part of the city, and, with better pro- The prospect of an attack upon the colony "tection, the better class of Chinese might we regard as a very remote one, but it be induced to remove their family houses is necessary to be prepared for all event- out of the city. The villages would be ualities. It has of course always been under "increased; a portion of the junk trade stood that the colony in the event of war "would find it convenient to go to the out-would have to rely principally on the forts ports, especially if some allowance were and garrison for its defence and that the "made with regard to the payment of fees, navy would be engaged elsewhere, that is, "and it would certainly make the Crown that it would be hunting out the enemy's "lands in the neighbourhood of considerably ships and that what the colony would have "increased value. If it is thought desirable to provide against would be a sudden des- "the construction of a railway as an ex- cent by a squadron that might have escaped periment might be tried, but seeing that if the vigilance of our own fleet. Latterly, "it fell into the hands of private persons it however, the idea has been suggested that "must inevitably be a monopoly, the Com- the bulk of the British men-of-war in the “missioners think if it were undertaken, Far East would be withdrawn to European (and there are no engineering difficul- waters and that the enemy in this part of "ties in its way), it would probably be the world would be free from interference better that it should be undertaken by the afloat, which would materially increase the Government, even if it were subsequently risk to this colony. We do not think that leased to a private company; and con- policy would commend itself to the home sidering the vast numbers of Chinese who Government, for if Hongkong were aban are constantly passing through this place "it would have a considerable effect in in- "troducing improved means of communica- tion, and railways, into the Southern part "of China, thus increasing the commercial "importance of the Colony." The Praya Reclamation now in progress bids fair to be largely occupied by godowns and hongs and, in view of the constantly in- creasing population, will afford but little relief from the overcrowding which is one of the chief evils that our Sanitary au thorities have to cope with. When the Re- clamation is completed, however, and there is a broad street available, a tramway to Kennedytown will follow as a natural sequence, and the development of that district will afford some temporary relief to the congestion in the city; but there is every prospect of the increased accommodation being rapidly overtaken by the increased demand, and sooner or later no doubt a railway or tramway to open up the southern side of the island will become an absolute necessity.
"
At the present moment, however, the question of making a railway deserves con- sideration, not only as a matter of municipal convenience, but also from a military point of view. The recent war scare has once more directed attention to our means of defence, and some uneasiness has been ex- pressed in reference to them. The south side of the island is of course our weak point. The harbour is well fortified and it is unlikely that a hostile squadron would be able to force either the eastern or western entrance. But what is there to prevent an army being landed on the south shore and attacking the forts from the rear? Only a very small garrison, the majority of which would be required to work the guns in the forts and would therefore be unavailable for service on the other side of the island. But whatever the number available might be, whether five hundred or a thousand, railway communication woulddouble the effi- ciency of the force by increasing its mobility.
doned to its fate and fell into the hands of the enemy Singapore would probably soon follow and the enemy would then be within striking distance of India. So long as there is a hostile fleet in the Far East, therefore, we think the presence of a British fleet to keep it in check may be depended upon. The probability, however, is that the ships of any European power with which we might be at war would try to get into their own waters as speedily as possible, and in that case the British fleet would follow them. That is assuming the theatre of the war to be in Europe. But it is possible that the struggle, or an important portion of it, might be fought out in the Far East. Wherever the war may be, however, whether in Europe or the Far East, we may take it for granted that where the enemy's ships are to be found British ships will go in search of them. To that extent. Hongkong may rely on the Navy, but as it is always possible that a hostile squadron might succeed in breaking through the cordon of the British fleet and might make. a descent on this colony it is essential that we should be prepared with the means of defending ourselves. A railway round the island would be a valuable addition to those
means.
SIR NICHOLAS O'CON‹ R.
Next week Sir NICHOLAS O'CONOR will pass through Hongkong on his way home. An idea of giving him something in the nature of a public reception has been mooted by his friends, but naturally has not been received with favour. Socially the Minister has had practically no connec- tion with Hongkong, and politically there is nothing for which the community could honestly thank him. A good deal has been made of the degradation of the Viceroy of Szechuen. Perhaps the import- ance of that affair has been overrated, per- haps not, but looking at it in the most favour- able light it is not a matter that can be
sulted in the degradation of LIU PING CHANG was not due rather to the pressure of public opinion as expressed through the press in England and the Far East than to the individual influence of the British Minister at Peking, who, we believe, acted in that matter under direct instructions from home. Individually no one has a word to say against Sir NICHOLAS O'CONOR; Of his good intentions and his readiness to exert himself there is no doubt; but he did not correctly appreciate the position of affairs, his judgment was at fault, and his ministry, if not such an egregious failure as it might conceivably have been, has cer tainly not been a success.
It would, however, be interesting and useful if His Excellency could be prevailed upon to meet the members of the China Associa tion and afford them some information as to the position of the various questions in which Englishmen in China are interested, more especially the opening of the West River, the prospective introduction of railways, and the attempts that are reported have been made hy certain powers to drive through the favoured nation clause. We observe that the N. C. Daily News makes a somewhat similar suggestion with reference to Shanghai. Our contemporary- says it is sincerely to be hoped that an op- portunity will be given to the British community at that port to learn from Sir NICHOLAS O'CONOR's own lips, with- out waiting for the appearance of the Blue- books, what he has actually done in the last few months, and what his view 18, of the present situation; and that * What "We want now to learn from Sir NICHOLAS, "if we can, is, whether it is due to himself or to the Foreign Office at home that more has not been done; has he had a free "hand and been allowed to call on the Ad-
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.