November 18, 1809.]
CORRESPONDENCE.
[We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents.] THE SUPPRESSION OF PIRACY BY THE CHINESE AUTHORITIES.
TO THE EDITOR OF THA
DAILY PRESS,'
DEAR SIR-I note in your issue of to-day that you publish the translation of a notification inued by the Chinese officials intended for kill- ing two birds with one stone; it is truly a most ingenions and inglorious document.
The aforesaid "document opens out with the information that piracy on the North, West, and East Rivers and their deltas is solely due to the disobedience, by the launch owners, ---- who by the way are striving to develope trade, which it is to their interest to do of the orders of the Viceroy and the Commissioner of Customs, and it then proceeds to formulate rules by which each launch is to, at its own expense, supply four customs and lekin officials, by the ald of whom the foreign and native trade of the Southern Provinces is, under the pretence of searching for arms and the suppression of piracy, to be effectually squeezed to its utmost limit and the responsibility of maintaining order shifted from the shoulders of the proper persons, the officials, to those of the merchants and traders. No wonder the traders protest and feel the full force of the adage **Save da from our friends."
That those foreigners who are in receipt of
enormous salaries from the Chinese Government
and are interested in preserving the present order of affairs, i.e. rampant piracy and disorder, rather than call in the control of the British Govern- ment, are found to formulate specious excuses for the failure of the Chinese Authorities to maintain order, is not altogether strange, for they but exhibit a common form of human mature. You have dealt with their excuses in your leading article and showed their hollowness.
There is, however, a phase of the piracy you record, the holding up of salt junks for ransom, which you have not dealt with editorially and on which, with your permission, I will say K word.
The salt gabelle all over China is a perquisite of the Imperial Clan and all the Salt Commis sioners are Imperial Clansmen, as well as are
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
for my purpose, which is to show that it is some- what foolish to judge of Chinese methods from Western standpoints. Whether it is better for a people to learn to depend upon themselves or to look to others for support is a question upon that Chinese methods are best suited to Chinese which opinions may differ; but certain it is people.
The increase of brigandage of late years in increase of taxation due to foreign loans, etc., the province is of course to be deplored, but may account in part for it.-Yours truly,
SELF HELP.
Hongkong, 15th November, 1899.
21
TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRE88.” in your issue of the 14th, whilst fully admitting SIR,-With reference to "Observer's" letter the increase of brigandage of late years in these provinces I am inclined to think that he is him- self suffering from a "common form of human If an outsider were to read some of the lan- nature" by somewhat exaggerating matters. guage applied to the present state of things, he might be led to suppose that anarchy and chaos reigned supreme, and that all trade was at a standstill. He would be rather astonished if he visited Canton and saw the myriads of launches and cargo from all parts of the country, and he and native craft orammed with passengers would probably arrive at the conclusion that things are not perhaps quite so bad as they are often times painted.
Most of us, I suppose, recollect the story quoted by Spencer, of the Irish Catholic who asserted that to his certain knowledge two millions of famine of 1846; and how when the matter was men, women, and children had died in the great mentioned to a distinguished Dublin protestant lawyer, his grey eyes lighted up and he replied, "Did he say two millions, now; did he? Why five hundred." The correct number was about there were not a thousand died—there were not 200,0001 This was a case of political bias, from which I am afraid some of us in China suffer, specially when it involves profit and loss. I was only recently myself speaking to a man who has traded locally for many years upon this piracy question, and he waxed very wroth because he had been recently robbed of a fow packages of goods. Upon interrogation I elicited the fact that he had been trading in Chios for over twenty years, and that this was the first time that he had lost anything. bally about $10. yet he seemed to think that nothing short of the conquest of China and the annihilation of the whole Chinese race would compensate him or set things right.
WRECK OF A COAL HULK AT KIAOUHAU.
has the following official notics:-
The Ostasiatische, Lloyd of the 4th instant
"On the 15th of October the coal hulk Tagus stranded in the vicinity of Bay rock and sank in 7 fathoms, 0.8 mile 8.8.E. of the same. The following are the bearings:
Beacon upon Hoangtan bears Tunnisan bears
N.W. by N. 1 N. N.E.N.
Cape Evelyn bears £. by 8. † 6. The wreck is in an upright position; at low tide half of the masts and six feet of the funnel
1,912 tons (gross) built by the London and are above water, whilst at high tide only the masts are visible." The Tagus is a steamer of Glasgow Shipbuilding Co. in 1888 to the order of the Mercantile Steamship Co. London. Lon- ago with a cargo of coal consigned to Messrs. don. She came out to the East about two years Diederichsen &Co,and has been employed as a
hulk ever since,
THE CHINESE GOVERNnment and THE REPORTED ITALIAN DESIGNS,
The Central Government having, socording to a Peking oficial wire, received information view of reinforcements that are arriving, to that the Italian squadron in 'Chins intends, în make a descent on the Chekiang coast, has sent urgent_instractions to Baron Li Kuang-chin, oial Judge of Chekiang and Generalissimo of formerly Taotsi of Shanghai and now Provin the forces of that province, to concentrate all his men at Ningpo and Taichow, and to make the former city his headquarters so as to be in is also stated in manderin circles at Shanghai that accurate information has been received of a central position, in case of eventualities. lt
the intended movements of the Italian squadron and that the Central Government is preparing for all contingencies.-N. (7). Daily News....
ICHÀNG.
The Tebang correspondent of the China Gazette says:-This far away port up the many of the subordinate officials in that depart | Putting his profit at $50,000, his loss was pro- | panding on all sides. Land which a year ago Yangtase, 1,000 miles from Shangbai, is ex- ment. Hence in holding up salt junks, carrying
could be bought for a few hundreds of taels government salt, for ransom, the pirates show that they dare to and are able to levy black-mail
now commands thousands, and in many in- on the Government itself. The proclamation
stances owners hold for higher prices, refusing you publish a translation of shows the impotence
present rates. The Japanese Mail Company of the Government in dealing with the forces of
As to the measures taken to suppress the have bought up a large priced property be disorder, yet at this inopportune moment the piracy on the water, they seem to me to between the China Merchants and the Customs. British Government at the requisition of the right and proper than that they who are chiefly field & wire at a very high Agure. The perfectly wise and perfectly just. What more
The old oil factory has gone to Messrs. Butter- Peking Authorities hand over the Shamohnu interested should bear the burden? Surely the Standard Oil Co. of New York have bought district, bordering on this colony, to those failure of the measures already adopted should large tract of ground towards the Pagoda and foross of disorder rampant everywhere in the districts beyond the control of our own military not wish to be convinced of the fatility of the commodious godown is now finished on the old be sufficient to convince all save those who do their godowns" are in course of erection. ▲ and police. We may, surely, expect this foolish ordinary precautions. British gunboats, or a step to be followed, ere long, by the recrudes- British gunboat, has been patrolling for months,
Consulate garden, belonging to A. Little & Co. cence of armed robbery within the colony itself, and our own police authorities will have, thus, and how many pirates have been captured ? Not extra work thrown upon them, for which those, so far as I am aware. And if there were responsible for the retrocession of the Shamohan would probably be the same, as, like the pro- half-a-dozen gunboats, instead of one, the result distriot will be solely to blame.
verbial policeman, they would always be on the wrong spot when wanted or arrive too late upon the scene of action. How are they to detect pirates who board vessels in the guise of honest people?
OBSERVER Hongkong, 18th November, 1899.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRESS. Sir,-With reference to your recent some. what denunciatory article upon piracy and the means taken for its suppression, you seem to have overlooked one point in favour of the Chiness, viz., that their way of doing things is not ours. The tendency in the West to-day in to save people the trouble of doing everything for themselves, even to the rearing of their own children, whereas, in China they are generally able to take care of themselves.
Is there
As to observer's remark about the "
enormous
,"
salaries of certain officials, he must not forget that where officials draw their hundreds, traders extract their thousands, ayel and their tons of thousands from a country.—Yours, etc.,
SKIPPER.
Hongkong, 15th November, 1899.
|
CANTON NOTES.
"
CHUNG NGOI BAN Po
[FROM THE News has been received that some five hun dred bad characters have assembled in w moun- tain on the boundary between Samani, Ku-In, and Kuming districts to demand blackmail from the different shops and the junks passing there, each of which is required to pay them i certain sum every month. They also feme forth in large bands to commit crimes of every dee gription in broad day-light. Their number is daily increasing, for they invite all bad characters to join them. Their leaders are Li, Ngun, and An Im, and they have appointed a day in the twelth moon to raise the flag of rebellion. The Manila Times says:-The Retriever affair Beside this, there are at present three other is now cleared up and satisfactorily explained. bands of notorious robbers, the Fa-un briganda, bridge to be built, or a road to be made, it She came here to be transferred to the Q.M.D., under the leader Tong Chan; the Shuneak is the people who must themselves met about and it appears that a deed of transfer from the brigands, under the leader Lan Son; and the Sai. the work, which they generally accomplish Hongkong Harbour Master's office was needed ebiu brigands, under the leaders An San and Fo far better, perhaps, than any government and had not been obtained. could do it for them. And, as most of us Brown, owner of the Retriever, went back and-mitted on land or water were committed
That is why Mr. Tan-hoi. Nearly all the recent robberies know, even such an important undertaking denly to Hongkong, and there was no reason sa the postal services have been successfully | whatever to infer that his departure had any report has been made by the gentry
one or other of these bands. Report other significance. The surmises about Alibus local mandarins to the old Viceroy tering, sto, are all anfounded, and it is due to over, has so far made no attempta. 'Mr. Brown to put the story right.
cope with the briganda..
run in Chins for centuries by the people them selves. I could point out many other instances of the same thing, but the above arò suficient
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