June 17, 1897.]
OFFICIAL VOCABULARY FOR CODE TELEGRAMS,
Read letter from Secretary, General Post Office, stating that the date for reception of code by the International Telegraph Office at Berne had been extended to 30th June.
REUTER'S POLITICAL TELEGRAMS. Read letter from Renter's agent, dated 13th May, announcing that, new arrangements having been made with the Telegraph Companies, subscribers will, commencing from the 11th May, be supplied with 1,250 words per month in lieu of 1,000 words as heretofore.
Acknowledgment sent on 14th May.
(Correspondence)
THE POSTAL SUBSIDY.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
why this colony should bear an undue proportion
of the cost.
revenue
revenue,
I
*467
to
the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., and it will be in the discretion of the inspecting medical officer to release any vessel after inspection or order her into quarantine and deal with her and her passengers in accordance with the Quarantine Regulations.
4. In connection with the demand now made, it must not be forgotten that 17 per cent. of
including | this Colony's total the gross
derived from the Post
a contribu- In order to avoid delay and inconvenience Office, is annually exacted "as
to shipping, it is proposed to have two inspect- tion towards military purposes. This con- tribution is considerably larger than is re- ing stations, one at the Western and one at the quired by the Home Government from any other Eastern extremity of the harbour, and an ade- Crown Colony, regard being paid to their re-quate staff of medical officers will of course Before, however, entering further into the lative gross receipts of revenue, and together have to be provided for the purpose. with the mail subsidy-both devoted to Im- perial purposes already form a heavy tax on particulars of the scheme, His Excellency the Governor would be glad to receive the opinion the inhabitants of this Colony.
of the Chamber of Commerce regarding the adoption locally of the Sanitary Regulations enforced at home and as to what modifications, if any are desirable, bearing in mind the great importance of the object in view.--I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient servant, J. H. STEWART Lockhart,
Colonial Secretary.
5.-My Committee protest most emphatically against the basis on which this Colony's share of the subsidy is proposed to be calculated. They respectfully submit that a mileage basis is Hongkong Chamber of Commerce, absolutely unfair and eminently inequitable to
Hongkong, 5th June, 1897.
this Colony and cannot be justified by any sound argument, or, they believe, by any exist- Sir,With reference to your letters of the 3rd February and enclosures on the questioning precedent. As well might the more remote of this Colony's contribution to the subsidy for countries in the Universal Postal Union be dis- the Eastern Mail Service (already acknow- criminated against in the rates on the ground of the distance the letters were carried. The ledged) and your letter of the 11th March on
Postal Union have eliminated all consider- the same subject, I am now in a position to state the opinion of my Committee thereon.
ation of distance, and have fixed the postal rates solely according to weight, entirely
1-At the outset the Committee cannot repress an expression of surprise that Hong-disregarding the distance letters have to be kong should again be called upon to pay a contribution so largely out of proportion to the value received, and to the means at the Colony's disposal to meet such a claim.
-66
In official correspondence from the Colonial Office to the Treasury, the case of this colony was very fairly stated, and in a despatch dated 23rd February, 1882, Lord Kimberley said:---
The latter Colonies are so well supplied with steamship service as to be practically indepen- dent of any contract, and in the event of any future contract being entered into for the carriage of mails by steamers calling at Cey- lon, the Straits Settlements, and Hongkong, these colonies may possibly not require to be included in it."
and, following up the argument, in a despatch dated the 7th December, 1882, it is set forth, in paragraph 3:-
carried. A half ounce letter from Hong- kong is ten cents to the nearest Postal Union country, and it is no more to the most distant
Postul Union country.
6.-Although the cessation of a British mail service would no doubt be viewed by the British and Foreign mercantile community with great regret, it should be borne in mind, when considering the proposed excessive cost to the Colony, that the opportunities for convey- ing correspondence hither are more numerons and more speedy than they were formerly.
The speed of the English Mail Service between Brindisi and India is 12.54 knots per Jonr as compared with 11.20 knots per hour between Suez and Shanghai, an important factor which should certainly be taken into account in calculating this Colony's contribu- ton to the Subsidy.
Another striking circumstance is that letters by the the cost of carriage of French and the German mails is 1.72d. per oz. letter, whereas by the English mail the cost is 2.12d. per oz. letter. Why the British Postal Service should cost the colony of Hong. kong 23 per cent. more per letter than the French and German mail services my Com-
"Lord Kimberly is ready to admit that in principle these Colonies may fairly be asked to bear a share of the cost of a mail service, provided that such share be reasonable and proportioned to the benefit derived by the colonists generally, but his Lordship feels himself obliged to point out that each of the Eastern Colonies is almost entirely inhabited and its revenue contributed by a native po-mittee are unable to explain. pulation making little or no use of the mail service, and that so far as its value for pur poses of correspondence is concerned, this population would have no objection to dispense with it altogether. It would therefore hardly
seem reasonable to ask communities so con- stituted to pay the large subsidies in question, amounting in Hongkong to 5 per cent., on the whole public revenue of the Colony.
· Besides the assistance which it affords to Her Majesty's Government in facilitating the ad- ministration of these dependencies and the direction of the Naval forces in the East, it may fairly be said that the mercantile com- munity of the United Kingdom who supply the capital for and control the operations of the commerce of these Colonies have a great- er interest in the correspondence than their Colonial correspondents and should bear more than half the expense."
sum
2.-On that occasion the Secretary of State, after much well founded demur, agreed to direct the Governor of Hongkong to propose to the Legislative Council an annual con- tribation not exceeding £6,000, the still paid, but, owing to the fall in exchange, it now represents an amount in local currency of nearly $60,000-as compared with about $32,500 at the commencement of 1883, the date at which the contribution was decided. It will be seen, therefore, that though the sterling sum has not been increased, the local currency amount of the contribution has, in consequence of the depreciation of silver, almost doubled.
7.-Should my Committee receive further information of value bearing on this question, they will have the honour to again address His Excellency the Governor. I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient servant.
R. CHATTERTON WILCOX,
Secretary.
Hon. J. H, Stewart Lockhart,
Colonial Secretary.
MEDICAL INSPECTION,
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong,
14th May, 1897.
The Secretary, Chamber of Commerce.
THE NAVAL YARD EXTENSION.
Hongkong Chamber of Commerce,
Hongkong, 14th May, 1897. Sir. In connection with the contemplated extension of the Naval Yard here, it has come to the knowledge of my Committee that it is proposed by the Naval authorities to carry
their reclamation five hundred feet further out than the frontage of the New Prays, the While hailing with satisfaction the increase eastern termination of which it will adjoin. of the Naval Establishment in this colony and tions to the development of the Naval Yard, being anxious in no way to suggest obstruc- my Committee cannot but view with disquiet such an extensive reclamation, which they think will adversely affect the property west- ward. They fear that it will not only reduce the fairway through the man-of-war anchorage, but that it will also cause a serious sitling up along the foreshore of the New Praya Re- clamation.
My Committee therefore ask leave to lay their views before His Excellency the Governor, and to beg that he will take such steps as may be considered necessary in the interests of ship- the harbour.-I have the honour to be, Sir, ping and for safeguarding the foreshore of
R. CHATTERTON WILCOX, your most obedient servant,
Secretary.
Hon.J. H. Stewart Lockhart, Colonial Secretary.
[
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 20th May, 1897. Sir, I am directed to acknowledge the re- ceipt of your letter of the 14th instant, relative to the proposed extension seawards of the Naval Yard, and to state for the information of the Chamber of Commerce that it has been referred to the Naval Authorities for consideration,— I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient servant,
J. H. STEWART-LOCKHART,
Colonial Secretary. The Secretary, Chamber of Commerce.
}
Sir, The Secretary of State for the Colonies having directed the attention of this Govern- ment to the wide divergence existing between the practice as regards quarantine followed in certain Colonies and the principles which the Local Government Board at bo regard as suitable for effective dealing with diseases, with a view to preventing their spread both on land and water, and the matter having been duly referred to the Sanitary Board for considera tion, I am directed to state for the information of the Chamber of Commerce that the Board has recommended a systematic medical inspec- tion of all vessels entering the waters of the The Secretary. Chamber of Commerce. Colony and that the intended place of destina- tion of persons landing from au infected port or vessel should in each case be notified to the inspecting officer in the manner provided for in the regulations issued by the Local Govern- ment Board, dated 9th November, 1896, of which a copy.is enclosed.
Colonial Secretary's Office. Hongkong. 25th May, 1897. Sir,-Referring to my letter No. 805, of the 20th instant, I am directed to transmit for the information of the Chamber of Commerce the enclosed copy of a letter from the Commodore relative to the Naval Yard extension.--I have
J. H. STEWART LOCKHART, the honour to be, sir, your most obedient servant.
Colonial Secretary.
If the above recommendation of the Board is 3.--The general advantages derived by the public from a regalar mail service are un-adopted, all ships entering the harbour will be doubtedly great, and from a national point of required to anchor at a certain station for view are so important as to render its main-medical inspection by a duly authorised officer, tenance essential, but that is no sound reason who will be on duty at such station between
**
Victor Emanuel," at Hongkong
20th May, 1897. Sir, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency's communication of Secretary of the General Chamber of Com- date 18th instant, enclosing a letter from the merce, and to assure Your Excellency that it
SWINTON C. HOLLAND. shall be brought before the Naval Authorities
Commodore. for careful consideration.—I have, &c.
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