314
THE WHEELBARROW RIOT AT SHANGHAI.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
requisition calling that meeting, the attendance at the meeting itself, and the unanimity which characterised it from first to last, should have Shanghai. 9th April. convinced the Council that they are dealing So far as can be learnt the Council have with a very serious matter, that it is not determined to sit tight," and take no notice a storm in a tea-cup which will blow over in of the resolutions passed at, the Indignation the proverbial nine days if the Council lie low Meeting, which were sent in to the Chairman and say nothing. The letter which bears Mr. of the Council yesterday morning, with a Thorburn's signature could not have been request that he would reply as early as possible. written by anyone who realised that the meet- From further information that has reached us, ing of Wednesday was the stern expression of we are inclined to think that the Consular the determination of practically the whole Body are not so much to blame as has community not to be frightened out of the been generally thought. They, we be- course they had adopted, after sufficient de lieve, communicated to the Chairman liberation, by a mob of wheelbarrow coolies. and Vice-Chairman, the delegates of the No one who realised that could lightly write Council, the Taotai's proposition that the to the Chairman of that meeting: "Your collection of the enhanced tax should be post-communication will be considered by the poned until the 1st of July, at the same time Council at its meeting on Tuesday informing them that the Consular Body would next," as if the letter were an applica support them in whatever course they decided. tion for another gas-lamp in a new street in the on; and that it was the delegates of the Council suburbs; nor could he have written the conclud- who decided to accept the Taotai's proposition. ing paragraph, as if it were not a question of a Such strenuous efforts are made to wrap the great principle, but of certain "misstatements," negotiations in secrecy that we cannot affirm Misstatements there may have been, for such the correctness of this report, but there are are inevitable where proceedings are wrapped good grounds for accepting it. If the Council in secrecy, and those who are anxious to learn take no notice of the universal opinion of the the truth have to glean the facts where they can public as expressed so unmistakably on and piece them together as best they may; but Wednesday, it will, of course, be necessary no misstatements alter the main fact that the to call a special Ratepayers' Meeting, whose Council were directed by the ratepayers to resolutions our representatives will not be able collect a certain fee, and that at the bidding of to treat so lightly.
a riotons mob, whose actions never attained the importance of a riot, the Council backed down and struck a blow at the prestige of foreigners here whose effects will be felt for years. The allusion to a meeting of ratepayers made it seem probable that the Council themselves were about to call one, and would then lay their case, which has not yet been heard, before the community; but we understand that they decline to take even this step and the
payers who are naturally disgusted at the surrender that has been mada. There is one satisfactory assurance in Mr. Thorburn's letter; that at the proposed meeting the Chair- man will be quite prepared to correct misstate- ments. It would have been better if he had volunteered the explanation that he now com- mits himself to making.
All the naval guards at the Consulates and polico stations were withdrawn yesterday morning.
The respectable Chinese in the Settlements, who are as much opposed to rioting as the foreigners are, are disgusted with the Council's backing down to the wheelbarrow coolies, and they do not hesitate to say that it has gone for to annul all the prestige that foreigners have gained in their fifty years' occupation of Shang-meeting will therefore be called by rate hai.
A meeting of wheelbarrow headmen was held outside the South Gate yesterday afternoon, at which over 500 barrowmen were present and about a dozen headmen, The meeting was called to consider the report in the, Shen-pao that the enhanced tax is to be imposed on the 1st of May next, and the meeting decided to resist the imposition.
Shanghai, 10th April. The following letters are circulated for the public information :--
Shanghai, Sth April, 1897. Sir, I beg to hand you herewith copies of two resolutions which were passed unanimously at a public meeting held at the Astor Hall yesterday, and would ask you to kindly com- municate their contents to the other members
of the Council.
=
I would also ask you to be good enough to inform me, with as little delay as possible, of the Council's decision in this matter. I pro- -pose, with
Four permission, to publish this letter and your reply in the public Press for general information.—I am, sir, your obedient servant,
4
R. M. CAMPBELL, Chairman of the meeting.. E. A. Probst, Esq., Chairman, Shanghai Muni-
cipal Council.
Municipal Council, Shanghai, 9th April, 1897. Sir, I am directed to acknowledge receipt of your letter of yesterday containing copies of two resolutions, adopted at a meeting of residents on the 7th instant, relative to the Wheelbarrow Tax.
The requisition for a Special Ratepayers' Meeting, to be held at the Astor Hall on Wednesday, the 21st instant, at 5 p.m., will be circulated for signature this morning, and ratepayers who may wish to append their names to it will find it at the Chartered Bank at 11 a.m. to-day.-N. C. Daily News.
Notice was given at Shanghai on the 10th April by circular and by advertisement in the evening papers of a special meeting of rate- payers to be held in the Astor Hall on Wed- nesday, the 21st inst., to cqnsider the question of the collection of the licence fee for wheel- barrows plying for hire, imposed by the annual Meeting of Ratepayers held on the 9th of March, 1897, and the action in relation thereto of the Foreign Community of Shanghai, North of the Yangkingpang." There are ninety-six signatures to the requisition, in three columns, there being more than enough electors in the first column alone to call the meeting.
FRENCH PIECE GOODS IN COCHIN- CHINA.
*
We translate the following from the Courrier de Saigon:-
The trade returns for Cochin-China during the year 1896 confirm those which we have previously analysed as regards the export of Your communication will be considered by cotton goods to our great Asiatic colony. the Council at its meeting on Tuesday next, the Hitherto we have followed the trade movement 13th instant; meanwhile, I am directed by the month by month; to-day we are in a position Chairman to state that he will be quite pre- to give the results of the whole year. During pared fficially to correct, at a meeting of rate-the twelve months the import of unbleached payers, the many misstatements that have been cottons amounted to 866,595 kilos, of which made.—I am, sir, your obedient servant, 850,669 were of French origin and only R. F. THORBURN, 15,926 of foreign origin. French industry Secretary. has thus supplied nearly the full total R. M. Campbell, Esq. (Chairman of the Public of the import of this description of goods.
Merting), Shanghai.
As regards bleached goods, the total import amounted to 1,591,702 kilos, an increase of 50,000 kilos on that of 1895, which was. 1,541,120 kilos. In this total French goods figure for 681,153 kilos, or 43 per cent., while in 1895 they amounted only to 32 per cent.
It is a very great pity that the Council or its Chairman, whichever is responsible for the letter to Mr. Campbell, cannot appreciate the weight of the meeting that was held at the Astor Hall on Wednesday. The signatures to the
[April 22, 1897.
Thus the final result is a larger proportion of a larger total. To sum up, French industry has almost completely conquered the Coobin-China market as regards unbleached goods, and its share in the import of white goods has greatly increased, being now nearly one half of the total import.
The progressive conquest of the Indo-China market by our industry is strikingly shown by a comparison of 1896 and previous years. During last year French tikkues represented 62 per cent. of the total import, foreign tissues figuring for only 38 per cent. In 1895, on the contrary, the share of French tissues was only 37 per cent. and in 1894 only 24 per cent. There is thus an enormous progression in our favour. The share of the national industry has almost doubled from one year to another and in three years it has trebled itself. If we go back to 1888, the first year following the application of the present regime in Cochin China, we find that the import of French tissues then figured for only a tenth part of the total; to-day they represent about two-thirds. Our foreign competitors now play a secondary part on a market of which they were until lately the absolute masters. It is by a persevering initiative that our manufacturers have been able to conquer the place they now occupy and which they will go on increasing. It is thus by accomplished facts that they reply to those who from time to time accuse them of indolence and indifference.
▸
PRESENTS TO H.M. THẾ1QUEEN.
Our native correspondent at Peking sends the following:H.E. Chang Yin-buan, Special Ambassador to Great Britain, in addition to carrying the congratulations of Their Imperial Majesties the Emperor and Empress-Dowager to Her Majesty, the Queen-Empress, on the occasion of H.M.'s Diamond Jubilee, also carries with him a number of presents from both Em- peror and Empress-Dowager to the Queen. The Empress-Dowager's presents consist of rare porcelain and jade-stone cups or vases of fine workmanship and great antiquity; some of the 'rare celebrated Tibetan "joss" or incense- sticks (for burning on the altar of longevity); and a pine tree (emblem of longevity) made entirely of variegated candles moulded into all sorts of shapes and devices, but all aiming at the one motto "Longevity.
The foregoing are contained in six square boxes made of the valuable beautifully polished wood, called Tze t'an, resembling mahogany. In addition to the above there are also two rectangular boxes of the same material contain- ing it is said, gold and silver worked em- broideries and silk and satin stuffs specially woven for Their Majesties' use at the celebrated looms of Soochow and Hangchow, or eight boxes in all. On the top of the two rectan- gular boxes is engraved the legend
"Eternal Spring finds its home in the King dom of the Sea,
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And refulgent light, surrounds the Lady of the Moon."
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On top of the six square boxes is engraved the solitary character Show or "Longevity."s The gifts of the Emperor bore a certain re- semblance to those recounted above and were also endlosed in eight boxes made of the same material. Another instance of friendly feeling. to Her Majesty and through her towards Great Britain displayed by the highest nobles and officials of the land, is the fact that Their High- nesses Prince Kung and Prince Ching, H.E. Li Hungchang, Weng Tung-ho, ex-Imperial Tutor and President of the Board of Revenue, and the other members of the Tsungli Yamên, including the Special Ambassador himself, have also conjointly sent several valuable pre- sents to the Queen, through the hands of that official. The following is the list of presents:
Porcelain stand, four feet six inches high; eight-fold embroidered screens, the frames being made of the valuable wood called. Hung-mu; a pair of jade-stone sceptres, and a pair of ancient flower vases of porcelain of very large size.— N. C. Daily News.
There were 2,040 visitors to the City Hall Museum last week, of whom 200 were Euro- peans.
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