2805
SHOOTING,
Twelve members of the A Machine Gun Co., H.K.V.C., took part in the March competition with the following result --
200 400-500 Handi- To- yds. yds, yds. cap. tal.
16 26 22 29
Lieut. Fullerton
93
Sergt. Lammert
92
81
26
89
Bergeant Skelton * 26
34
26
86
Gunner Plummer.. 27
24
18
16
85
Sergeant Smyth... 31
29
24
Gunner King
21
17
22
23
84 83
Gunner, Holmes
80
17
20 14 81
Sergt. Underwood 16
28
16
20 80
Gunner Barrett
24
16
13
26 79
Captain Banders ... 22
27
11
16 76
Gunner Wodehouse 26 15 11
24 76 21 7 7 30
65
Gugner Touzalin
Lieut. Fullerton won the Nos. 1 and 2 Cups,
* Winners of Spoons.
CORRESPONDENCE.
We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents.]
"J
THE BARBARITIES PRACTISED ON FATHER VICTORIN. TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRESS.
Sir,-" Old China Hand in to be con- gratulated upon his keen perceptional faculties and prophetic power. He ought to get at least a province. when the division of China- for which he seema 80 anxious-takes place. If he had read my letter and his Daily Press only half as carefully as he seems to have gloated over the details of the above outrage, he would have understood the relation which my quotation bore to the case in question, and whence I obtained it. I was referring to the perpetrators of the outrage, and not to those who acquiesced in it. My conten- tion was, and is, that there are devils in all lands—which there are!-and that look ing round upon the world and considering some of our own civilised barbarities committed and acquiesced in under the flimsy veil of hum. anitarianism and other such-like latter-day platitudes, we should not be so ready to shriek at our neighbours when they sometimes get upon the warpath. But "Old China Haud was either too much blinded by race prejudice or else his mental vision is too cramped to see matters in this light
39
He says: "The details are not exagger- ated but the reverse or words to this effect. I ask: How does he know this ? Was he present on the spot at the time the outrage took place? If not, has he not lived long enough in the world to know that horrors of all descriptions, East or West, always are more or less exaggerated, generally more, and often so much so as to be beyond all recognition by those who are acquainted with the true facts. I might call to mind a certain so-called riot which happened not long ago at a port not a thousand miles from Hongkong. the raport of which frightened everybody half ont of their lives up and down the coast, but which in its origin, it progress, and its end was only" sound and fury signifying nothing "! Repeated experience of this kind of thing has in fact taught me to disbelieve at least half of every-" thing that I read, and to doubt the rest. This is no doubt a sadly pessimistic state to be in; but possibly: Old China Hand" may some day arrive at the same unhappy situation if he only lives long enough and grows wise enough.
As to the safety of China, he forgets that there are thousands of missionaries living at peace hundreds of miles in the interior of this great land; that they have been doing so for many years; and that these attacks are but isolated cases which would probably happen quite as frequently, if not more so, in other land under similar conditions. Let us suppose) for example, China were to send to Europe the same number of Confucian or Buddhist missionaries as there are Christian missionaries in China, would they enjoy such a happy time of it as the latter do in Ching on the whole?. I very much doubt it, with all our boasted freedom and civilization,
Anyhow, "Old Chinese Hand can hardly expect the enlightened public to accept his mere ipse dixit upon the subject as of much
any
家
March 18, 1899.
368.616,483, which is the highest on record. It trade yielded satisfactory results to those is gratifying to known that, on the whole, the interested.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND value as against the experience of so exception Characteristics," unless he is kind enough to tell ally keen an observer as the author of "Chinese us something of himself, who he is, and what he has done to unravel the tangled skein of Celestial idiosyncracy. It is quite possible to be a very “ Old China Hand" and still to know no more of 'Chinese Characteristics," thau one who has never travelled beyond the East end of London, or whose ouly ao- quaintance with B peacock's feather has been somewhere round about the neighbour- hood of Portland Place. I have known many such and they generally dogmatise more fiercely than those who know something. Apologising for encroaching so much upon your space-Tis 1,484,741,5, or an excess of Imports remain, sir, yours truly,
ANTI-PREJUDICE.
Canton, 10th March, 1899.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE " DAILY PRESS.
Dear Sir,-Allow me through the median of your valued paper to bring before the notice of the public the striking necessity of policing not only the Saukiwan, but the well-known aud much more frequented Praya East Road. Only a night ago, at about 8.45, a party of young ladius escorted by a gentleman was on its way for a quiet ricksha drive, when all of a sudden an R.A. rushed from some dark nook or other close by Fenwick's, and endeavoured to seize hold of each of the young ladies in turn. He of the third about the neck. The gentleman missed the first two, but managed to catch hold who was escorting the party immediately came to the rescue, and while politely asking the drunken R.A. what he meant by thus insulting the young ladies was landed a severe blow with a stick across the eye and had to be there and examination the wound inflicted was found to then taken off to the Civil Hospital, where on
the police? Where was the military picquet? be of a very serious nature. Now, where were
As for the police, I must say that though I the Hongkong Bank several times, the only rode my bike up and down from Fenwick's to guardian of the peace I met was a Sikh ex- amining some filthy rags a Chinaman happened to be carrying aloug in a basket. Whethar he was looking for the miscreant or not I cannot should be convinced by now that there is great say, but I think our worthy Superintendent
night. Enclosing my card, and thanking you need of a few more police along the roads at for the insertion.-I am, dear sir, Yours truly,
HODIE MIHI CRAS TIBI Hongkong, 16th March, 1899.
THE MARTYRDOM OF FATHER VICTORIN.
EXECUTION OF HIS MURDERERS.
We learn from Hankow that some slight atonement has been made by the Chinese officials of Hupeh for the barbarous murder and torture of Father Victoria. but it is en- tirely inadequate to the enormity of the crime, Six men have been executed for the murder, which is ridiculous, considering that thousands must have participated is the shocking outrage against every canon of humanity. What about the guilty officials? Are they to escape scott free P-China Gazette.
f
HE FOREIGN TRADE OF CHINA. Mr. F. E. Taylor, Statistical Secretary of the Chiuese Imperial Maritime Customs, in his report on the foreign tra le of China for last year, says ;~
Were any proof needed of the vitality of China's Foreign trade the figures for 1893 would supply it. Various parts of the country
were
disturbed by sporadio rebellions of sufficient gravity to check business; the Yellow River once more burst its banks sud flooded enormous tracts; an ominous war cloud during the greater part of the year made importers cautious; the political situation was full of menace; and in September the news from Peking completely disorganised the trade of the northern ports. In spite of these adverse circumstances, the value of the Import trade surpassed all previous records, while the value of the Export trade exceeded that of every past year with the exception of 1897. The total volume of the trade was valued at Hk. Tls,
•
|
vested in China that the condition of the ex• So much Foreign capital has been lately in- ternal trade of the country, as an index to the | national resources, is watched with a certain anxiety. On page 7 of this Report will be found the usual table giving the annual values of the Foreign trade from 1886 to 1898. It will be observed that in every year the value of For the whole period the Imports have amounted the Imports has exceeded that of the Exports. to Hk. Tls. 1,921,769,180, the Exports to Hk.
|
over exports of Hk. Tls, 437,027,679, mak- ing an annual average of about Hk. Tls. 34,000,000. These figures have given rise in some quarters to the strange belief that China is being gradually denuded of silver to pay for the balance, and it bas even been gravely stated that the country is approaching bankruptcy. It is pointed out that China has uot only to pay for her Imports, but has also to find funds to meet remittances abroad for the service of loaus, for the purchase of war mater in, and for the support of legatious, etc. The depressing picture thus presented to the imag
nation has a tendency to destroy credit and prevents many people from investing in Chinese securities, and it may be well the to show that, as far as can be ascertained, position is one that need canse the first place, that the figures given in the no anxiety. It must be explained, in table on page 7 represent the value of goods on the Chinese market: that is to say, in the case of Imports, the value after they have paid Daty to the Government and a profit to the Chinese buyer; and in the case of Exports, the valne on the market bafore they have been sold to the Foreign buyer and paid Export Daty. At the foot of this Report will be found the imports at the moment of landing and the figures for 1898 reduced to the value of-
that is, at the moment when value of Exports at the moment of shipment: a balance niay be fairly struck. Treated in this way, it will be found that instead of an 50,542,185, we have an excess of Hk. Tls. excess of Imports amounting to Hk. Tls. 7,331,144 only * But we must also take into account the value of gold exported (gold in China being simply a commodity), amounting” to Hk. Tis. 7,703,843, and the value of the tea snt to Siberia and Rusia via the Han River (see page 1), valued at Hk. T'is. 1, 72,099, and thus have an excess of exports over imports of Hk. 'Vls. 1,754,798. Moreover, a certain pro- portion of the imports, although arrived, were not sold at the end of the year. Further, it must be remembered that the figures which come under the coguizance of the Customs do not represent the whole of China's Foreign trade. There is a junk traffic to Korea and to the South of which we have no statistics, but which is certainly profitable; and there is con- siderable trade with Mongolia and Thibet. It is estimated, for instance, that 20 million pounds of tea are sent annually into Thibet. The large income derived from the expenditure of Foreign vessels. both mercantile and na tional, for provision- and other necessaries must not be forgotten; and the sums which are re- mitted or brought back by emigrants probably reach a total which would be surprising were figures available, and which would aloue be sufficient to cover all outgoings for the service of loaus. It has been stated, apparently upon good authority, that from California alone the remittancs amount to 10 or 12 millions of gold dollars annually. The expenditure of Foreign legatious and con sulats, the money spent by travellers who arrive in increasing numbers, and the preliminary dis. bursements of syndicates are all sources of in, come which must be taken into account. In the absence of definite information, the above con. siderations can only be put forward as presump tive evidence that the nation is well able to
pay its way; but the proof is to be found in the fact that the Government remittances to Europe for the service of loans, amounting daring 1898
• In 1897 this treatmen* showed an excom of expo over imports,
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