120
THE DEFENCE OF SHANGHAI.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY: PRESS AND
[August 18, 1900.
tens to develop in Shanghai owing to the miserable intrigues and jealousies of those who are all equally interested in the safe guarding of the Settlements of that port. The Goorkhas and Bombay Infantry under the command of General CREAGH arrived wholly dissipated by the receipt of our tele- drawbacks, is a record; that th
+
from Shanghai, stating that the British immediate steps should be taken to remedy troops sent from here to that port in the it. We think Mr. BREWIN's suggestion of (Daily Press, 16th August.)
transports Itinda, Zamania, and Canning an increased grant is well worthy of consi- The Government benefits very Simultaneously with the effective co-oper- were not landed "owing to the intrigues of deration. ation which has at last been secured among the French and American Consuls with considerably by the enhanced value of pro- the various nations who are represented by "certain American missionaries in the perty, for, by the Report of Mr. CHAPMAN, troops up north, a serious situation threa-employment of the Chinese, helping to the Assessor, the rateable value of the en- frustrate the action of the British author. tire Colony for this year, compared with "ities." Here was an explicit statement that of 1899, shows the substantial increase which at the time we had no means of of 17.43 per cent. It is gratifying to know contradicting, though we entertained strong that the total number of children on the doubts as to its reliability, which were not rolls for last year, in spite of the many percentage of absentees is smaller than in the previous year; and that the number acquiring a grounding in English shows steady increase. Beginning with 1892, when Dr. E. J. EITEL was at the head of the Educational Depart ment, the number of Government Schools has been gradually lessened. It was imagined that these schools might be automatically and more economically replaced by Grant- It is now seen that in-aid establishments. the scheme has not succeeded as well as was expected; because, of the twenty-two schools closed, only eleven have been replaced. Seven other Grant-in-aid institutions were opened at different times, to take the place of schools closed, but after an ineffectual struggle had to shut their doors, although it is stated that two of them may eventually be reopened. The present Inspector of Schools significant- ly remarks that at least five of these Govern- ment Schools ought never to have been done away with. In one of his statistical tables, Mr. BREWIN has inserted a column which we do not remember having noticed before, and which is of the highest interest. It shows the ratio which the amount spent on education bears to the Colony's general re- venue.
there on Tuesday, but did not pro- ceed to land. The China Mail's Shanghai correspondent, in his despatch published yesterday afternoon, says that this was owing to the intrigues of the French and American Consuls with certain American missionaries in the employment of the Chinese, helping to frustrate the action of the British authori- ties. In the case of the French Consul this action does not occasion much sur- prise, for, as we have already pointed out, there was а very strong sus- picion that the Comte DE BEZAURE was engaged in a secret arrangement with LI HUNG-CHANG, who is not still stopping in Shanghai without a reason. But with regard to the U. S. Consul, strong doubts will certainly be entertained of his com- plicity in any such unfriendly action against the British, more especially after reading Reuter's telegram of the 13th inst., stating that the United States have decided to ignore the Chinese protests with regard to landing troops in Shanghai. In a leading article in its issue of the 11th instant, the North-China Daily News sums up the case for the landing of a small body of troops concisely. There seem unfortunately to be-and we suppose it is inevitable-cle- "ments in the community anxious to disturb the cordial understanding between all the Powers that has marked the operations in the North; but, after all, it is the common "sense of the majority that rules in the end, and the unprejudiced majority, even of the "non-British portion of the residents of Shanghai, must see that the bringing of a small force of Indian troops here is a wise precaution for the benefit of all re- sidents of Shanghai of all nationalities
แ
#
«
<<
K
<<
**
"
'equally, and for the injury of none except law-breakers. If anyone feels injured by their coming, it must be someone with whose private scheme it interferes, and "who has not the interest of the community
as a whole at heart."
of
C
**
"
#4
看着
"
Our contemporary concludes:- The at- tempt to show that Great Britain has some sinister motive in bringing these troops here must be the result of unreasoning jealousy. Our Government has formally disclained any intention of joining in or encouraging any partition of China, nor "has it any purpose of altering the status of Shanghai as an international Settlement." There is nothing to be added to this. The motives imputed to us in wishing to land troop at Shanghai are the invention of those who harbour designs of a general partition of China. For this reason we can hardly believe that Mr. GOODNOW, joined the represen- tative of France in his foolish and short- sighted action. Unfortunately, however, the protest, by whomever it was made, seems to have carried the day, and Shanghai may
ay be left to depend on her volunteers and such aid as the ships in the neighbourhood
00:
can give.
(Daily Press, 17th August.)
|
gram dated Shanghai, 15th inst., 8.40 p.m., to the effect that the transports with the Indian troops on board had "been ordered to sail for Weihaiwei to-morrow (Thursday) "morning, but there is still some hope that they will be allowed to land their men here." This message seemed to indicate that there had been a hitch somewhere, but it was difficult to believe that the United States Consul, who had been working so loyally with his British colleague, would join in an attempt to deprive Shanghai of the reassuring protection of a military force sent for the express purpose of restoring confidence there. We accordingly took the liberty yesterday to telegraph to Mr. GooDNow, the United States Consul at Shanghai, to ask if the statement was true, and promptly received an emphatic reply in the negative, with the assurance in addi- tion that "all the Consuls were working harmoniously." This official denial will, we trust, set at rest all fears and suspicions as to the accord of the Consuls at Shanghai having been disturbed. At the same time we cannot too strongly deprecate the put- ting into circulation of reports like the above, which are eminently calculated to bring about ill-feeling and to sow wide- spread distrust. At no time in the history of foreign intercourse with China has it been so necessary to avoid friction between foreigners. We ought all to have one com- mon end and aim in view, and it is little short of treachery to the common weal to scatter seeds of distrust and jealousy among the different nationalities.
*
ག
EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS IN HONGKONG,
(Daily Press, 14th August.)
This ratio now stands at the ridicul- ously low figure of 1.66 per cent. This is very far removed from what it should be. In England and Wales, the amount spent on elementary education is about 5 per cent of the national income. Paragraph 17 of this Report tells as that four Free School ar- ships at Queen's College were awarded in March. These are of the aggregate value of about $100 per annum.
Years ago, when the Colony was not so thriving as it now is, and when its future looked much less brilliant than at the present moment, in the days when the late Sir GEORGE Bowen was Governor, a valuable Govern- The schools falling within the purview of ment Scholarship of £200 sterling per an- the local Inspectorate may be divided into two num, available for three years, was open for classes- Government schools and Grant-in- competition to the students of English aid schools. In the former lot, the teachers' throughout the Colony. To the discredit of salaries are disbursed by the Government, all concerned, for some short-sighted reason and, with the exception of the Belilios Public or other decreasing revenue could certainly School, education in them is free; in the ot be alleged-this splendid Scholarship was discontinued. If we remember rightly, latter, the schools are maintained wholly or partly by the Government grant awarded it was won on three occasions; first by afterannualexamination. The Chinese schools Queen's College, then known as the Govern- under this head exact no fees, while the Eng- ment Central School, afterwards by St. Paul's lish schools, with a single exception, do. The College, and on the last occasion by St. summary eviction of a certain section of our Joseph's College; honours being thus fairly community from the central district-a sub-divided. A Scholarship of an exactly simi- ject we have previously dealt with-and the lar nature is still offered in the Straits Set- settlement of very big numbers of these people in the western parts of the city, have had a de- pionable effect on the poorer schools in Saiy. ing-pun and Kennedy Town. This was, how ever, more or less inevitable. The serious question of rent has also played no incon- siderable havoc with many institutions; and, as there seems every reason to believe that
A scheme is afoot to establish a large sugar house-property has not even yet reached its refinery in Tainan, Formosa, with capital of maximum appreciation, the absolute exis- 500,000 yen. It is said that the institution is tence of many schools is endangered. Mr. to receive a subsidy of 12,000 yen, for the pro- BREWIN points out that since 1893, the sent, from the Formosa Government Office, and year prior to the first plague visitation, there 200,000 yen of the capital is to be called up dur- has been a loss, in Victoria and Kowloon ing the year. Next year the subsidy will be in- or 6 per cent of the capital. Rumour says plied the wants of just under a thousand scholars. This is indeed lamentable, and will rapidly spring up, but they will receive no
Government protection:
tlements. We think that the Government might, with advantage, revive this lapsed Scholarship. There can be no question of the beneficial stimulus that such a prize would give to all grades of education in Hongkong.
are able to dispose of a mischievous blunder combined, of twenty-one schools that sup-creased to 30,000 Jent that similar factories
It is with the utmost satisfaction that we or misstatement. Yesterday our contem- porary the China Mail published a telegram
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.