218
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
In the run back to Stonecutters the wind got | Valley of the West River, and that the Valley lighter as the Island was neared, and the bouts of the West River dominates the Yangtsze all closed up on the leader. It was a drift | Valley. with a west wind until the first boat got near
OBSERVER. the finish, when the breeze piped up again and the line was crossed at the following :-
Corrected, Points. Total.
3 42 41
Erica
Times. 3' 42 41
Maid Marian 3 43 8
3 40 37
Phoebe...
3 46 27
3 39 44
4 10
1 14 10
Chanticleer
3 47 40
3 40 41
5
Meteor...
3 49 11
3 42 13
10
Dart
4 24 2
4 7 43
5
Hongkong, 13th March, 1898.
THE FEES AT QUEEN'S COLLEGE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRESS.
The prize was thus won by the Maid Marian step, as most of the parents are in poor circum- with 14 points.
CORRESPONDENCE
[We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents.]
KOWLOON WATER SUPPLY.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRESS.
DEAR SIR,-I observed in your paper the other day an official statement about the de- creased quantity of water in the Tytam and Pokfulum reservoirs. Doubtless when a similar statement is made up of the amount of water in the Kowloon reservoir it will be found that the decrease in quantity is remarkably small, as for some reason or other the Water Authority dismantled several of the hydrants over here some three or more weeks ago, without giving the residents the slightest notice whatever. Will the Hon. the Director of Public Works therefore be good enough to order the hydrants to be put in a proper state of repair at once, as surely the residents at Kowloon are entitled to some consideration in the matter of water supply, as they are charged for the article.- Yours truly,
.:
KOWLOON.
Kowloon, 11th March, 1898.
KWONGCHOW-WAN, THE FUTURE
PRINCIPAL PORT IN FRENCH
CHINA.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE "DAILY PRESS,'
SIR, A short time ago you puplished a com- municated article on the above topic, in which the writer mentioned that the geological forma- tion of the neighbourhood was of carboniferous age and that therefore coal would be probably found there if sought for. This statement has been partially verified by news appearing in your issue of the 9th inst., under the heading of Canton Notes;" for one of these notes is that coal had been found at Limehow and that the Viceroy was sending an officer down to in- vestigate the find,
34
Limehow, or Liemchow, is the name of the Prefecture adjoining Tonkin on the coast, and that in which is situated the treaty port of Pak- hoi. There is a town of that name a little distance up the river which discharges into the sea a few miles from Pakhoi. The town of Liem-
chow is about fifty miles W.N.W. of Kwong. chow Wan. This find of coal is likely to lead to Pakhoi being a coal exporting port and will thus add considerably to its importance, for vessels of the heaviest draft can find good safe anchorage there,
Further search will doubtless result in the finding of coal at Kwongchow Wan, itself, or the immediate neighbourhood, and if so that place will be of supreme importance as a paval station, offering as it does perfectly sheltered anchorage for an immense fleet and great facility of defence from attack by a hostile squadron, and with its double outlet convenience for entering and leaving in spite of blockade.
Is wongchow Wan to be a British or French possession ? It will never be retained by China in the coming dissolution of that gelatinous empire. I fear, as a Britisher, that it is destined to be French.
Kwongchow Wan, as noted in the article you published, dominates the Prefectures of Luicbow Kochow, and Liemehow.
The large peninsula on the mainland opposite Hainan constitutes the Prefecture of Luichow; Liemchow is on the coast to the westward of that peninsula and Kochow is on the coast to the eastward of it. It is well, also, to remember that these three prefectures dominate the
|
SIR,-In your valued paper of to-day I notice with regret that the authorities have decided to increase the fees of scholars of Queen's College. There can be no two opinions as to this unwise
stances and cannot afford, to pay $2 instead of $1 for an elementary education and $3 instead of $2 for education in the upper classes. This increase has caused much surprise and pain to most of the poorer parents (and they are many), who must either pay a high fee for their obildrens' education or leave them without any proper education at all. I believe there can be no justification for the above increase. Instead of encouraging education, which every European Government is doing, our Government is dis- couraging it. Their action will compel many of the poorer scholers to leave, as will soon be seen. I therefore sincerely trust that the Goverument, will reconsider their decision in the matter, and allow the present fees to remain in the interests of
EDUCATION.
Hongkong, 14th March, 1898.
SHANGHAI GENERAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
Minutes of a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce held at the offices of the Chamber, No. 1, Kiukiang Road, on Friday, the 11th of March, at 4 p.m.
Present-Messrs. E. F. Alford (in the chair), C. J. Dudgeon, J. C. Bois, J. Chapsal, Wade Gard'oer, F. W. Koch, A: Korff, W. D. Little, J. H. McMichael, A. Werth, and the Secretary. The Minutes of last meeting were read and confirmed.
March 19, 1898.
2nd last, I have the honour to forward herewith copy of a dispatch of the Dean of the Diplo- matic Body at Peking of December 8th fast, relating to the case between the Bank of China, Japan, and the Straits, Ld. (in liquidation), British Institution, and its Chinese share. holders.-1 have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,
C.
H. DE URIARTE, Consul-General of Spain and Acting Senior Consul, da J. Dudgeon, Esq., Vice-Chairman of the Committee of the Shanghai General Cham- ber of Commerce.
Copy.
Peking, 8th December, 1897. SIR, I have the honour to inform you that your communication of July 22nd last addressed to me as Dean of the Diplomatic Body relating to the case between the Bank of China, Japan and the Straits, Ld. (in liquidation), a British Institution, and its Chinese shareholders has | been considered by the Foreign Representatives. They have instructed me to say that on careful consideration of the papers connected with this case, it does not appear that the Shanghai Taotai has definitely expressed his inability to enforce written contracts entered into by his nationals with foreigners in all cases, but in this particular case.
As to the Foreign Representatives entering a protest against the general principle involved, they are of opinion that taking into considera- tion the diversity of the law of contract amongst nations, it would not be expedient for them to enter a formal protest against such general principle. I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant,
(Signed) CHARLES DENBY. Dr. O. Stuebel, Consul General for Germany
and Senior Consul, Shanghai,
Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce,
28th January, 1898. SIE,-I have the honour to acknowledge re- ceipt of your dispatch S. 2, of January 3rd, en- closing copy of communication from HE. Col. New Mail Contract:-The Chairman ex- Denby, Doyen of the Corps Diplomatique in plained that he had had a conversation with the Peking, relative to the liability of native share- Agent and the Inspector of the Messageries holders in a foreign company. His Excellency Maritimes Cie. lately at this port about the states that."Un careful consideration of the desirability of delaying the closure of the mails papers connected with this case it does not ap- until noon on Tuesday, and that those gentle.pear that the Shanghai Taotai has definitely ex- men offered to do what they could in the matter.pressed his inability to enforce written contracts The meeting decided to write to the Agent of the Company at Shanghai asking him to put the proposal before his Directors with the ob jectf effecting the desired change.
entered into by his nationals with foreigners in all cases, but in this particular case," and that consquently the Foreign Ministers have not made any representations to the Tsungli Yamên regarding the principle involved.
Native Shareholders in Foreign Companies: The Senior Consul's reply to the letter sent In appears to this Chamber that the Minis- him on the 28th of January last on this subject ters have overlooked the letter from the late was read, and owing to the unsatisfactory nature Taotai Liu to Consul-General Hannen dated of the communicatiou it was resolved to address 16th March last. In that letter, after combat- the Doyen of the Diplomatic Corps direct, calling the particular case, the late Taotai clearly ing attention to the seriousness of the questions involved, and that a copy of the letter should be sent to the Board of Consuls.
Methods to prevent the Adulteration of Tea: A letter from the Senior Consul was laid be- fore the meeting, which covered a dispatch from the Taotai embodying a decree from the Viceroy Liu concerning measures that it was necessary to take to prevent the adulteration of Tea. As the Taotai requested the assistance of the Chamber in the matter, it was decided to refer the dispatch to Messrs. J. W. Harding, J. Welch, and E. Davis, as representatives of the Tea trade, for their consideration and advice.
Exploration of Hunan :-The Chairman ex- plained the nature of the agreement made with Captain M. O'Sullivan, now exploring the pro- vince of Hunan, to furnish the Chamber with a report in his investigations, and stated that the preliminary letters received from Captain O'Sullivan were extremely interesting, so that there was every reason to believe that his report would be a valuable document.
The Annual General Meeting:-A draft of the Report for 1897 was considered and agreed to by the Committee, and the Annual General Meeting was fixed for Thursday, the 31st of March, at 4 p.m.
After the transaction of other business the following correspondence was ordered for publi- cation:-
Shanghai, 3rd January, 1898 SIE-With reference to the dispatch of the Senior Consul addressed to you under August
stated his view of the principle, or want of prin- ciple, involved. He asserted, 1st:-That com- merce between China and Foreign Countries is conducted on lines strictly laid down by Treaty. 2nd-That he cannot find any clause permit ting Chinese to take shares in Companies. 3rd: -That if (Chinese merchants go into partner- ship with foreigners for purposes of trade, and disputes occur, they cannot be settled according to Chinese law, nor can they be settled by Wes- tern law, nor do the provisions of the Treaties apply.
Acting on the reference to Treaties, we turn- to the Treaty of 1858, between Great Britain and China for information, and find that clanse 17 reads as follows:-
A British subject, having reason to complain of Chinese must proceed to the Consulate and state his grievance, The Consul will enquire into the merits of the case, and do his utmost to arrange it amicably. In like manner if a Chi- nese have reason to complain of a British sub- ject, the Consul shall no less listen to his com- plaint and endeavour to settle it in a friendly manner. If disputes take place of such a nature that the Consul cannot arrange them amicably, then he shall request the assistance of the Chinese Authorities, that they may together examine into the merits of the case and decide it equitably.
The brevity of this clanse is proof of its com- prehensiveness. The clause contains no limita- tion whatever but includes every class of dispute or claim. To argue that because there is no
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