114
Mr. Robinson said he might have several witnesses or he might have only one to call; that depended on circumstances and his judgment at the time.
His Lordship thereupon said the case could not be finished that afternoon and the Court adjourned.
The defendant was found guilty yesterday and sentenced to six months without hard labour.
THE GOVERNOR'S REPORT ON
THE BLUE BOOK.
We have received from the Colonial Secre. tary's Office a copy of H.E. the Governor's Report, dated 23rd July, on the Blue Book for
1896.
The earlier paragraphs are headed respecting Finances, Expenditure, Legislation, Population, and Education.
Under the beading of "Trade" His Excel. Jency says:-
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
[August 4, 18 97
"In short, despite its darker records—and happily they are few-the history of Hongkong is summed up in the single word "Progress. If, in some measure, my administration has contributed to that result the pleasure derived from the retrospect will tend to mitigate the regret with which I regard my approaching departure from a colony with whose interests I have for six years, without interruption, bean identified."
BELILIOS PUBLIC SCHOOL. THE CHIEF JUSTICE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
FOR WOMEN,
attending the Belilios Public School. There On Saturday, 31st July, Sir John Carrington (Chief Justice) distributed the prizes to pupils was a large attendance of parents and friends,
raw cotton. It is possible therefore that we may soon see Japan, for a time, supplying China with goods which she formerly obtained from Europe or India. It seems anomalous that whilst England should be striving to ex- tend her commerce and commercial relations in China on the one hand, she should on the other be countenancing measures which apparently have the effect of creating competition against herself and her own productions in the East. "Under these circumstances the attention of the community should be directed to the dosir- kong. The Government is in possession of ability of establishing cotton mills in Hong- several eligible sites,and if only capitalists,either European or Chinese, will come forward and in- deavour that, so far as the acquisition of land is vest their capital in such enterprises, I will en concerned, they shall be treated with exceptional other efforts of this nature in Hongkong ought, liberality. The success which has attended under these favourable circumstances, to lead to the introduction of additional local industries, such as cotton spinning and weaving, and no rington said it was a great pleasure to him to be After presenting the prizes Sir John Car. more fitting time than the present seems likely present that day. He claimed a title to be there the earnest consideration, not only of this composition and up-bringing a great admirer of to occur. This matter is worthy therefore of
on two grounds. First of all he was by dis- munity, but of capitalists in the neighbouring the fair sex- provinces in China."
-(laughter)—and secondly, he was by conviction a great believer in the benefits of female education. He had the more plea- sure in being there that day because last year he was to have been present, but unfortunately he was not well; whether that was due to a The concluding section, headed" General," is typhoon a night or two before he did not know. as follows :—
regret to state that from a local commer- cial point of view the year 1896 was somewhat disappointing. Trade was, generally speaking, unprofitable, and importers characterise it as one of the worst years they have experienced for some considerable time-a condition of things which is illustrated, to some extent, by the re- turns of the Imperial Maritime Customs for
The following paragraphs are headed respec- Kowloon and District, the statistics shewing a decrease in the value of imports from Hong-tively Shipping, Public Pence and Good Order, Public Health, Sanitation, Climate, and kong to China amounting to 434,935 Haikwan
Typhoons. Taels or some £72,722 as compared with the year 1895.
on
"I learn 011 reliable authority that all classes of goods-yarns, piece-goods, metals, and sundries-were imported a very limited scale, and sales were gene- rally unsatisfactory, being confined, for the most part, to the supply of immediate wants. Ship- ping employed in Eastern waters shared corres- pondingly in the general depression, freights being very scarce, and rates unremunerative. The dulness in demand and general absence of all speculative enquiry are commonly ascribed to the after-effects of the China-Japan war, but reasons may possibly also be discovered, so far as the experience of British merchants is con- cerned, by the light of subsequent remarks and statistics illustrative of foreign competition.
In the concluding paragraphs of this, my last Blue Book report from Hongkong, it may not be inappropriate to invite your attention to the following comparisons between the years 1891 and 1896 as indicative of the general pro- gress of the Colony during the period of my administration here.
1891 1896
REVENUE,
........
$2,025,302,51 .$2,609,878.94 ..$ 584,576.43
224,814 245,000 20,186
Increase
POPULATION,
1891. 1896
Increase
SHIPPING TONNAGE,
1891
14,005,698
1896.
Increase
16,515,953 2,510,255 TOTAL VALUE OF TRANSIT TRADE.
126,346,736 Haikwan Taels. 155,280,524
1891. 1896.
"The opium import for the year shews a decrease of 2,400 chests, and importers have sustained losses owing to the unfavourable rupee exchange without a corresponding rise in the price of the Indian drug in the China market. The price of the Indian product bus, however, necessarily risen sufficiently to give an impetus to the production of the native drug, and the shortness of the Bengal opium crops
Increase 28,933,788 year after year and the diminished auction sales "The history of every period and of every of the Indian Government, added to unfavour-country contains its darker as well as its able exchange conditions, are factors affecting brighter records, and the history of this colony the price of the Indian drug to such an extent, during the past five years furnishes no excep that, if such conditions continue, the native tion to the rule. There are the dark pages which product must eventually entirely supplant the record the general financial depression which imported drug.
greeted me on my arrival, the melancholy experience of the plague epidemic in 1894, followed by the unfortunate oubreak of war between China and Japan, and the re-visitation of the plague in 1896, but although these may be unpleasant reminiscences, they are perie ces which have taught this community a greater reliance on its own resources, and the test of adversity has been productive of good results in more directions than one.
A noticeable feature of the year was the marked displacement of Indian cotton yarns by the Japanese product in the Chinese market, and although this fact may be in some measure accounted for by the unfavourable exchange which similarly affected the opium import, and by the closing of the Bombay mils, which tends to farther penalise importers from India, there is every indication that the Japanese have taken full advantage of the situation, and there is little doubt, I fear, as to the ultimate result of the competition.
"The main exceptions to the general dulness in demand during the year were the flour trade and the kerosine oil trade. The former bust ness yearly increases, and yielded very hand- some profits owing to the high prices of wheat caused by the Indian famine. The kerosine trade also continued to be brisk, and the demand for the Sumatra product is advancing rapidly in China, and is being developed by German agency in this colony,
"Before concluding these general remarks on trade, it may be of some interest to quote the following extract from my speech to the Legislative Council on the 4th December, 1893, as bearing on the situation:-The Japanese are quite alive to the situation so far as it concerns them, and are not only erect- ing new cotton mills, to the number of 20 it is said, but are about to take the import duty off
4
@x-
A. W. Brewin, Inspector of Schools, read the Dr. Bateson Wright, in the absence of Mr. annual report,
This year, too, he was very nearly not able to come because he was engaged in the Court in a long case, and he had to plead with the jury to let him off. After touching upon the history of the school since its foundation, referring to the great obligation the public of the colony owed to Mr. Belilios in providing the school, to the way in which the school was hampered in its early years by head mistresses marrying a year or two after they got out here, and to the efficient work accom- plished by Mrs. Bateman, the present head mistress, his Lordship spoke on female educa- tion. In this, the Diamond Jubilee year of Her Majesty the Queen, they had all been taking stock of the results obtained during the Queen's reign, and he thought there could be
ng in which more remarkable progress had been attained during these sixty years than in the matter of female education. His memory, he was sorry to say, went back to more than thirty odd years and he could re- member that at that time the education of girls was of an extremely jejune, unsatisfactory type. Now female education had broadened and
our Own
widened very considerably and everyone saw that it was important that women should have a liberal education. In most countries, and more particularly in country,, there were admirable schools for girls and colleges for women. Only quite recently, as his friend Dr. Wright. of the one University, and Mr. Čob- bold, of the other University, knew, ladies had been endeavouring to get titles to degrees at the old Universities, but the Universities had not seen their way to go so far as that. Asuggestion had been made that the best way to give higher education to women was by having their own separate University for women, and, so far as he could judge, that would be the result of the The establishment of two large kerosine oil movement for the higher and better education depots, a feather-dressing factory, soap works, of women. When Dr. Eitel wrote his report. rattan works, match factories, coal bricquette
in July, 1889, he seemed to have thought that works, and the extensions of the large sugar the majority of the girls in the School would refineries, rope works, docks, besides other be Chinese girls, but so far as he (the speak enterprises of less importance, all furnish aer) could see, the percentage of Chinese girls was satisfactory illustration of the increasing public considerably less than the percentage of Eurasi- confidence in the success of local industries;
ans and European girls. Dr. Eitel's hope had whilst the Praya Reclamation, upon which several
not been realized, and he should like to know fine buildings are in course of construction, and the reason why. Mrs. Bateman mentioned in the rapid development of British Kowloon pro-
her report for the year that the possible cause vide ample evidence of the general expansion of was the disinclination of the Chinese to give the Colony. Add to these the extensive works
education to their girls. The girls who went which have increased the water supply to through the school must do their best to spread some 400,000,000 gallons, the fine Central the benefits of Western education amongst those Market, Cattle and Slanghter Depôts, which with whom they came into contact. After all, have a most important bearing on the food sup- they knew very well that the woman, the ply of the Colony, the Taipingshan Improve- mother, was the spring and source of culture ment Soheme, the new sewerage works, and the and refinement in the home, and they there- general improvement of the outlying villages, fore looked to these girls, who would become and we have further illustrations of progress in heads of households, to do all in their power to the direction of sanitation.
keep alive that light they had received and
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