June 18, 1898.]
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
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years our missionaries have been installed "there to watch over the tomb of St. "FRANCIS XAVIER, the first apostle of Asia. "St. John's has thus become a place of pilgrimage much frequented by the Portuguese and Chinese and even by English Protestant tourists; its climate, moreover, makes it one of the sanatoriums of Southern Asia. St. John's, the largest "island of the group, is said to have a population of ten thousand fishermen and "labourers. Chang-chuen, or high country, on account of its mountains, which rise to a "height of five or six hundred metres, is its "Chinese name, while its neighbour is "called Hachuen, or low country. The "third of the group is Mongchow, and there
are also several islets, and, nearer the. mainland, Tonka, where there are more Christians directed by Frenchmen."
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The villagers simply gaped at the doings" ignored, but from a respectful distance | " of the foreigners and probably had but the our sailors were insulted in the Chinese haziest notion of what was really taking language, and it is even said that as the place. It was very different at Weihai-"boat put off from the shore to return to wei. The Chinese and British warships "the ship stones were thrown by way of on the 23rd May having first jointly saluted "adieu." The failure to obtain the presence the Japanese transports as they steamed out of Chinese officials at the hoisting of the of port, the hand of the Narcissus playing French flag no doubt had something to do the Japanese National Anthem, the Chinese with this rather contemptuous treatment, flag was then hoisted and saluted. The but we hardly imagine it was the sole cause. next day, however, after formal notice had As a matter of fact, the French have, ever been given to all the inhabitants, the cere since the Franco-Chinese hostilities in 1884- mony of changing occupation was gone 85, been regarded by the Cantonese with through with all due formalities. Two profound contempt and dislike. The con- companies of sailors in charge of Comman- tempt has been out of all proportion to the mander NAFIER, R.N., with the band, and | causes which are said to have begotten it. one company of Chinese sailors from the Because the French Squadron under the Foochi, were marched to the West Fort, gallant Admiral COURBET failed to render where two temporary flagstaffs had been the blockade of Formosa effective, owing to erected, on one of which the Dragon flag the heavy weather and the insufficiency already floated. The sailors were here of the forces at the Admiral's com- drawn up in a square facing the flagstaffs, mand, and because the attempts of the band being placed between the latter, the French to make good their landing and there received the Commissioners, at Tamsui failed, many of the Can- namely, Mr. Consul HOPKINS, Captain KING- tonese have formed an opinion that the HALL, of the Narcissus, Taotai YEN, and French cannot fight and could easily be Captain LIEU, of the Foochi. Capt. KING- beaten by Chinese troops, all other things HALL then addressed the company, ex- being equal. They think, because the pressing his pleasure at having the com- Black Flags made a fairly successful stand pany of the Taotai to witness that free action in one or two instances in Tonkin, that the between two friendly nations, and then read French were obliged to make peace, whereas the commission authorising him to take the fact is that if the hostilities had been possession of the island of Liukungtau, prolonged a little the success of the French the town of Weihaiwei, and the mainland arms would have been far more decisive. in the neighbourhood tu the extent But whether well or ill founded, the impres- and on the terms agreed upon by the sion produced by the Franco-Chinese strug- respective Governments of Great Britain gle was most detrimental to foreign interests and China. The declaration was then also and prestige, and especially to that of France. read enjoining the inhabitants to continue And this feeling undoubtedly lingers among their occupations and observe the law, and the people of the Two Kwang. They have prohibiting any new comer from renting or now scant respect for Frenchmen, and they building dwellings or erections without first seem inclined to take the occupation of obtaining permission from the officer in com- Kwangchauwan as a sorry jest. They mand. The Taotsi then responded, but was are likely to find it, however, a very grim so nervous that his observations were inaud fact, especially if they provoke the French ible. The British flag was thereupon hoisted into harsh measures, which may be necessary to the strains of "God Save the Queen to compel them to submit to the rule of the and saluted by those present., Cheers for benign republic. the QUEEN and for the Emperor of CHINA were next given, and the assemblage then dispersed.
There are ways of doing these things, and we submit that the proceedings at Weihai wei were more decorous and more strictly official than the French ceremony at Kwang- chauwan. It was perhaps no fault of the French Consul or the Captain of the Pascal that no Chinese officials were present at the hoisting of the French flag, but it might have occurred to them that, for the sake of the impression likely to be made on the minds of the natives, it was most desirable that some person representing the Chinese Government should have been there at the formal transfer of the land to the new lessees, No doubt this accounts for a good deal that has occurred since. The Governor-General of Indo-China and the Admiral of the French Squadron recently paid a visit to the newly acquired port in the cruiser Vauban, and, according to the Avenir du Tonkin, they met with a most chilling recep- tion. "The Chinese Authorities simply "the Western barbarians. It was in vain," adds our Hanoi contemporary, "that one "tried to notify them of our arrival ; no one "could be found, for the numerous ad- "ministrative functions of the Chinese "mandarins had called them away to a "distance. Consequently there were DO "official communications, and full licence was enjoyed by a crowd of people, who "acted with the more boldness inasmuch as no responsibility rested upon them. Not "only were the party that landed officially
"abstained from all communication with
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ST. JOHN'S AN OPEN PORT.
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A paragraph appeared in the Peking and Tientsin Times the other day to the effect that "a report is being circulated that "China intends opening the Island of Chang-chuen, near Canton, as a treaty port, to prevent Germany or any other Power getting it, and two officials are said "to have been sent there to survey it." The island in question is better known as St. John's; it is situated to the south-west of Macao, between that colony and the new French possession of Kwangchau Bay. We are not aware that Germany in her search for a port on the China coast ever cast her eyes on St. John's, which could hardly be made to answer her requirements, as it does not possess any good harbour, but a possible French occupation has been more than once spoken of. In the Questions Diplomatiques et Coloniales (a Paris journal)' of the 1st May appears an article by CLAUDIUS MADROLLE, a French journalist and explorer who some time ago made a journey through Hainan and Southern China. In the course of his article Mr. MADROLLE says:-"To France is reserved
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St. John's possesses at present practically no commercial importance, nor is it likely that it will ever become a great emporium such as Hongkong, but as a treaty port it would no doubt develop into the trading contre of a limited district on the main- land. Politically its establishment as a treaty port would be desirable, as it would thus be thrown open to the world at large instead of remaining a possible prey to some Power of exclusive tendencies. From a British point of view this consideration is of importance, and it may turn out that the suggestion to make St. John's a treaty port emanated from the British Minis- ter. Great Britain does not want the islands herself, but she could not regard their acquisition by any other Power with equanimity. M. MADROLLE advances as one of the arguments in favour of their acquisition by France their proximity to Hongkong. France has come near enough to us, however, at Kwangchauwan, and any further acquisitions of territory by her in this neighbourhood would be regarded by Great Britain in much the same light as France would regard any British acquisition in the Gulf of Tonkin.
THE PACIFIC CABLE.
Judging from the announcement made by the Pacific Cable Company of New York that the surveys for a cable between the coast of California and the Hawaiian Islanda have been completed and that arrangements are being made for the establishment of the line within eighteen months, it would seem that the project of a Pacific cable is likely soon to be translated into a fact. If this be
the case, how about the proposed "all
"British" cable to connect Canada with
Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia as part of a British electric girdle round the expansive waist of the British Empire? The scheme is not dead; in fact, it is very much alive, but it needs some fresh stimulus to induce the British and the Colonial Governments interested to hurry up so that they shall not be forestalled in this great and truly national undertaking. Recent events have again in a most telling manner accentuated the great need for the better security of British political and commercial interests of a system of telegraphic communication which shall not be at the mercy of foreign ships or foreign companies. The shore ends the south of China. It is in this region of the cables should be landed on British "that are found the stations necessary to us, territory, secure alike from foreign ob- "Kwangchauwan, Hainan, and St. John's.servation or attack. This cannot be too "The last named group of islands is the best "known; its position at the mouth of the "rich valley of the Sikiang, its proximity "to Hongkong, the good refuge it affords on a coast which possesses so few, should secure for it consideration, for we are here “almost in a French country. For many
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strenuously insisted upon. It would be difficult to over-estimate the importance of keeping open communications both for the sake of preventing surprises and to nip in the bud any attempt to cut the cables, and thus win the first move in the game that may ang time be commenced, of which th
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