410
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
THE KOWLOON MISTAKES AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES.
(Daily Press, 19th May.) When the French went to Kwangchow Wan the natives offered some opposition, and there was a little fighting, in which a few Chinese were killed, while a considerable number were captured, taken on board the French ships, given a dose of the cat, and then sent about their business. The cruel Russians, too, encountered a little opposi- tion in their leasehold in Liaotung, and in suppressing it they are said to have shot as many as a hundred men at Kinchow, a circumstance so revolting to humanity as to be made the subject of a question in the British House of Commons. There was to be nothing of that kind in connection with the taking over. of the Kowloon extension: The British were going to show the world how such things should be done; the transfer of the territory was to be effected in an atmosphere of peace and good will; and the natives were to welcome their new
.
Was
Et
[May 20, 1899,
British, and the dull-witted populace, partly the criminal classes that they might find s by reason of their own inherent dislike favourable opportunity for the perpetration to change and partly influenced by design of highway robberies. The Police Force ing persons who inflamed them with tales none too large to begin with; its of the crushing taxation that was to be im- strength had, in fact, not been increased posed upon them and the restraints that were in proportion to the growth of the colony. to be placed upon their liberty, made a To subject it to n serious reduction fight for it, a fight as senseless as that of a in order to provide police for the wild animal caught in a trap. Their un- New Territory was therefore a policy of fortunate conduct for which the Colonial danger. The great delay that occurred in Government is really more responsible than the taking over of the New Territory was the ignorant people themselves-is bringing surely loug enough to have permitted the on them serious consequences, in which the completion of adequate arrangements for its innocent have to suffer with the guilty. administration, but instead of that the If one could associate any romance with Government was apparently as unpre the Chinese, the deportation of the in- pared as if the thing had come upon habitants of the walled city of Kowloon, it suddenly. In Mr. STEWART LOCK- with their goods and chattels, might almost HART's memorandum on the petition to recall the picture presented in LONG-
"the House of Cominons praying for an FELLOW'S "Evangeline." No doubt the "amendment of the constitution of the Government will give them pecuniary com- "Crown Colony of Hongkong" the hon. pensation, but it takes a deal to com-gentleman said that there was pensate a community for the loss of their homes. However necessary these drastic measures may be, they are not pleasant to reflect upon, especially when one thinks how easily things might have otherwise if the action of the Govern- ment had caly been guided by common sense at the outset. Public opinion from the beginning deprecated the delay in taking over the New Territory, but the Government declined to be moved or to accord any explanation. Now the cou sequences are before the world in their full unpleasantness and our French and Russian friends may jeer at the "superior person
JOHN BULL to wit-who has not brought things off quite so well as he intended no better, in fact, than they themselves.
been
PORCE AND K、· ÜK-DW'N RUB- BERIES ON LADIES.
"
rulers with gladness, or at least to accept them without resistance. Everything was to be arranged very thoroughly and neatly, for which time was required, and the Col- onial Secretary had to travel to and fro- between Downing Street and Her Majesty's new possession in order to place the Secretary of State in full possession of all material facts in connec- tion with the territory and to perfect the arrangements. At last the time for the transfer approached, the flag-hoisting cere mony was to be made the occasion of a brilliant display, the day was proclaimed
■ public holiday, invitations were issued for a picnic to be given to the officials and their friends at the public expense, and everything looked bright and promising, THE WEAKENING OF THE POLICE when lol-as the late Mr. BLACK would say-a strange thing happened. On the eve of the important day it was discovered
(Daily Press, 15th May.) that the natives had been making use of
It is many years since any particular the time consumed by the Colonial Secre- crime has so stirred the colony as the no- tary's trips to England to organise a re-sault and robbery committed upon two ladies bellion and that the country was up in arms. walking along that favourite promenade The programme for the 17th April was de- Bowen Road on Friday afternoon. A week clared "off" and, as the correspondent of the or two previously a similar robbery was N. C. Daily News put it, if the ceremony committed upon a young lady on Kennedy had been arranged for the first of that Road, but that was accompanied by rather month we could not have been made greater less violence, and, alarming as it was, it was regarded simply as an isolated outrage in which lawless characters had taken ad- vantage of an adventitious opportunity to plunder a defenceless girl. The speedy repetition of the crime, however, proves that there is a gang of thieves at work who have hit upon this particular scheme as being at once easy of execution and attended with a minimum of risk. To knock a lady down and strip her of her jewelry is the work of a moment almost, and then the highwaymen cau disappear up or down the hillside, where pursuit is almost hopeless. No ladies walking unaccompanied in the outskirts of the town can now consider themselves safe, and as the robbers are likely to grow bolder when they find how easily such crimes can be perpetrated perhaps a male companion would prove little protection to the ladies, but might him- self share the same treatment. It would seem, indeed, as though we were back in the old days of knockdown robberies, when every resident considered a revolver a neces sary part of his equipment.
fools of.
A rebellion being in progress it became necessary to suppress it, and, after the armed opposition had been broken up, to rule the natives with some severity in order to bring them into a state of thorough subjection. It was hoped originally that it could all "be done by kindness," but now it is held that force is the only thing the Chinese un- derstand, that fear must precede respect, and that we must use a rod of iron. The original mistakes having been nude, all this is no doubt very necessary to get rid of the consequences. A short and sharp sup pression of the elements of disorder will prove in the long run the truest kindness, but it is impossible not to feel some sympathy for the misguided wretches who are having such a rough introduction to the benignity of British law, or to avoid regrets that the floodgates of dis- order were ever allowed to be opened. Those who have been through the country before the transfer will bear in their minds picture of a fairly happy and contented population, well fed, well clothed, and well housed, living in a law-abiding sort of way-barring an occasional clan fight or armed robbery—and who had few taxes and few policemen to trouble them, and de- sired only to be let alone. Then ame the
A
This outbreak of crimes against the person has occurred simultaneously with the with drawal of a portion of the Police Force to the New Territory, and it is impossible to avoid a suspicion that it is the weakening of the Police Force that has suggested to
4
44
"
24
no
leisured class in this colony which has "the time, even if it had the will, to devote to matters of public interest," and be spoke of the European inhabitants as being notoriously ignorant of Chinese affairs. The regrettable occurrences in connection with the taking over of the New Territory have shown how disgracefully ignorant of Chinese affairs the Government is, and in the present prevailing state of insecurity, with ladies being knocked down and robbed on the most frequented roads of the colony, the question arises whether the community should not renew its agitation in favour of obtaining a larger voice in the management of its own concerns. If plain business men had had any voice in the matter they would surely have suggested that an adequate Police Force should have been provided for the New Territory with- out denuding Hongkong of its guardians of the peace..
RUSSIAN RAILWAY CONNECTION WITH PERING.
(Daily Press 18th May.) We are still left in a position of doubt as to the dividing line between the British and Russian spheres in China, and Reuter's telegram of the 15th inst. shows that all questions between the two Powers have not been finally settled. According to this telegram, Mr. BRODRICK, speaking in the House of Commons, said that until the full facts of the Russian demand to connect the Manchurian Railway system direct with Peking were known, the Government could not make any pronouncement whatever upon the subject. The Times, in a lending article, says that the Russian demand directly tends to frustrate the object of the recent Anglo-Russian Agreement, i.e., the avoidance of n cause for conflict. The article continues that British trade in China rests on British power and prestige, both of which are seriously endangered by the action of Russia. The Times, however, is soʻ pronouncedly anti-Russian that but little re- liance can be placed upon its views on any question in which Russian interests are in- volved. Prima facie it would seem desirable that Peking should be linked up with any and every railway system that comes within reach. A Japanese telegram says that various opinions prevail as to the dividing line between the spheres of interest arrranged between Russia and England, some be lieving it to be the Yellow River and others the Great Wall, but that in diplomatic circles it is generally believed that the Great Wall has been made the boundary. If the latter belief be correct it may be contended that a Russian line south of the Great Wall would be an en-
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.