Page
September 1, 1900.]
THE SERVANT QUESTION IN
HONGKONG.
(Contributed).
་ --
It is a pleasing sign of the times to note that native servante-boys, house-coolies, private bearers as well as their public brethren of the street-chair and ricksha, are not having matters wholly their own way. Scarcely a week passes but one or other of these gentry is hauled before the Magistrate's Bench, charged with disobedi- ence, disorderliness, or some such kindred fail- ing, and either fined or imprisoned. It is not many months since the scale of fares for hired chairs and rickshas was revised, owing to the general rise in the cost of foodstuffs and in rent. It is notorious that the wages of private ser- vants have risen inordinately during the past
three years.
There have been unmistakable restlessness and discontent, not altogether un- warranted, among the various servant classes, both licensed and unlicensed, for some consider able time. The unsettled state of the interior, together with a long succession of indifferent rice harvests, has sent up the price of fuel and rice. -- The unexpected influx of great num. bers of Phillipinos since the Americans went to Luzon to stay, as Compradore price lists will show, has also been a contributing factor in the same direction; these immigrants, many of whom have settled down permanently in our midst, more than filled the empty houses, and thus sent rents bounding up. The China Crisis on the top of all this has but made confusion worse confounded. The London cabby is po- liteness personified, when compared with the men who ply here in our streets; and the high- ly coloured eloquence of a Farringdon fish-fag is as mute silence when put alongside the abusive and redolent language shrieked out by them at the luckless occupant of chair or ricksha who, at the end of his journey, has the effrontery to tender legal fare. The men working public
take out a summons.
vehicles are licensed, and at the expenditure of a little trouble can easily be brought to book. All that is required is to take the number of the ve- hicle and give it to the Police, who will themselves The complainant will be informed when to appear, and, on establishing his charge, will have the keen satisfaction of seeing the defendants punished. It is, however, much more difficult to deal with the men em- ployed about our premises. Unfortunately, they are now unlicensed; and, in consequence, play fast and loose with the many immediate advan- tages this fact gives them. Native domestics were never so troublesome and unsatisfactory as at the present moment. The servant question is as vexed and acute in Hongkong as it is in London. The convenience of these menials has to be considered to such an extent nowadays that it is becoming a serious question in many households of doing with a smaller number of them. They are insolent and supercilious. If the slightest objection is made to their mode of work, they at once threaten to leave at the end of the month, and in some cases will go away at a moment's notice: or, after some disagreeable incident, they will allege a dead grandmother, demand, and in many cases obtain, wages up to date on condition of supplying a substitute, who is oftener than not bogas, and who, by a judicious smashing of valuable crockery, or by one of the thousand and one methods of torture that such a man has ever ready to hand, will manage to get turned away at the end of the first day. -House-servants are banded together in hongs or guilds, which no doubt support them in this disreputable work. Servants of all grades are much more highly paid in Hongkong than in any of the coast and river ports, and are infinitely less obliging, The native servant was always reputed as a nimble-fingered Autolychus: but, of late, he has developed into a mean low type of thief, so that nothing is too small for him to purloin. Domestic servants in the Far East have many more in- ducements to steal than the same class has at home; for, in addition to wages, they are given lodging, but no board. This is an impor- tant difference to bear in mind, because it ac counts for much of the constant wearing friction that occurs between employer and servant. We give a concrete example. Years ago, the food eaten in the servants quarters and that prepar ed for the table were quite different; and a
'CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT. OHINA OVERLAND T
165
pat
joint given to the book was served up at its and was taken round by the Staff, he realised proper weight, due deductions being made for that the Volunteers here occupied a very legitimate waste in getting it ready for the different position from elsewhere that they oven, as well as for what is ordinarily lost dur were not only a factor in the defence of Hong- ing the actual process of cooking. Then one's kong but that they had a very distinot part servants fed wholly on rice, with sung or accom in that defence, As the result of the paniments for rice is rigorously regarded as riotic feeling aroused by the troubles in the the staple food of every meal-in the shape of hinterland last year, and one thing and another, seasonable vegetables, fish, or pork, with the the Hongkong Volunteers were more than double occasional luxury of poultry at festival times. in numbers what they were when he first came, and To-day all this is vastly altered. Chinese com- they had certainly more than doubled their aff- monly eat bread, while beef and mutton not in- ciency. (Hear, hear). They now, in every sense of frequently form part of their diet. The result the word, might be said to form a practical part of is that there is much ceaseless petty pilfering the defence of the colony. (Hear, hear), There- going on, in kitchen and pantry, that of old did fore he considered it would not do for him to go not exist. Autres temps, autres moeurs. And back upon them. He felt he could not do any- then, in the eyes of these people, such theft is thing with the scheme proposed unless it was but a mere spoiling of the Egyptians. So viewed favourably by the Volunteers. Accord that it is next to impossible to detect them. If laid it before Sir John Carrington, who at onos cunningly are these little robberies carried out ingly when the scheme was forwarded to him, he the culprit be caught, flagrante delicto, it is, most liberally agreed that it should go forward. overlook his act: for, if the man be brought them in every possible way he could. One of the for many reasons, nearly always advisable to, He then looked into it with a view of helping into Court, convicted and summarily sentenced, impressions he received when the scheme was the complainant is sure to be boycotted: or it first put before him was that a body of gentlemen, may happen that his other servants will leave mostly sportsmen, were anxious to take part in him in a body—this has been done-or threaten the defence of the colony if necessity arose,
but to pass that some incensed householder, wit- number of drills and inspections--in fact, to the to do so. It does, however, occasionally come that they did not want to tie themselves down to a tingly risking all this contingent unpleasant drudgery of drill and inspection which would be ness, carries his just complaint to a Magistrate, entailed by joining the Hongkong Volunteers. and gets the offender smartly panished. Very He understood also that many of them, being obviously the remedy for this discreditable practical men and men of their word, said to effective registration. The local authorities and I find it inconvenient to attend so many state of affairs is some practical scheme of themselves, "If I belong to the Volunteers formerly had a system of registration for pri-drills and so many inspections, I shall perhaps vate servaats: but no one, in those good days, pull down the cared to go to the little trouble it entailed. enough to invite me to belong to it, and so I corps which has been kind Servants were then unspoilt; there were but do not like to undertake to do a thing which I few ladies in the Colony, and so the scheme cannot carry through." He also understood was allowed to die of sheer neglect. A private that what they proposed to do was to attain a Registry for servants was started about six certain amount of proficiency in the use of the lack of support. It is a thousand pities that arose, as scouts and rifle shots. Then he years ago, but it too fell through, owing to rifle, and to give their assistance, if necessity. the Government system of registration was hear-though he did not believe it that there vived would receive, not undeservedly, the allowed to die out. He who would get it re- thanks of the heads of every European house-
hold on the island.
HONGKONG HOME GUARD.
A RESERVE COMPANY OF THE VOLUNTEERS.
Hongkong Home Guard was held in the City The postponed meeting in connection with the Hall on Monday night, 27th ult. fair attendance. Mr. Gershom Stewart pre- There was a sided, and he was supported by Major-General Gascoigne, C.M.G., and Mr. A. Turner (hon. sec.). Colonel The O'Gorman and Captain the Hon. H. W. Trefusis were also present.
The CHAIRMAN said the meeting had been called to discuss the rules which the committee had drawn up, but after the committee had drawn up the rules they received a letter from His Excellency, Major General Gascoigne, saying that he had some suggestions which he would like to lay before them, and he thought they would be very glad to hear those sugges- tions before discussing the rules.
H. E. the MAJOR-GENERAL said it was very kind of them to let him come to their meeting, and he would keep them as short a time as possible, but he thought it would be better, after talking it over with Mr. Gershom Stewart and one or two others, if he made himself clear to them, and then they would be free to follow his suggestion or not, exactly as they pleased. He should like them to look upon him there not in the least as the General Officer Commanding, beyond the little experience they might be kind enough to credit him with. He laid his proposal before them, and he would like them to judge it on its merits. When the original scheme as to the formation of a Home Guard came before him he confessed it smiled upon him very much, but he felt that he could not return an answer until he had consulted the Hongkong Volunteers. He took that public opportunity of saying that he and he thought that all of them there and in Hongkong-owed a great debt of gratitude to the Volunteers (hear, hear)-and, there fore, he felt that unless it was quite clear in his own mind that the scheme proposed was not looked upon unfavourably by the Volunteers he should not have anything to say to it. When he first came to Hongkong
did
that by obtaining a certain proficiency with was an idea in the minds of some of them the rifle, the man who had obtained........that proficiency might, if trouble arose, remain in his own house to guard his wife and children, and so forth. He did not believe that such an idea did exist, but if it did he could have nothing whatever to do with it. Union was strength, and the only terms on which he could have they should all come into a certain line, anything to do with the scheme was that
derstood that in return for this he should whatever that line might be. Then he un grant them the loan of service rifles, let them have ammunition at cost price, and give them the assistance of a drill sergeant-he supposed there would be a little payment on their part-and the use of ranges. Having con sulted with the Volunteers, he wrote back say ing that the Volunteers had no objection, and that he would further their wishes to the best of his ability, and whatever the result of that meeting he said the same then. He did not go back from anything he had promised. Then the matter was referred to His Excellency the Governor, who viewed it very favourably; of the Crown it was pointed out that an armed but when it was referred to the Law Officers
body of men who were under no responsibili- ty at all was an unknown thing hither to. He thought that if they thought it over themselves they would see that it was an un- usual precedent. While considering this point an idea occurred to him from his experience in London years ago, when he commanded the Scots Guards. The Commanding officer of every regiment of guards had so many Vo• lunteer Regiments and so many Militia regi- ments under him, and when he command the Scots Guards he had eight regiments of Volunteers and two of Militia u him. years he commanded was really more with His principal duty during the five the Volunteers than with the Scots Guards. One of those Volunteer regiments was the Queen's Westminsters, which had a reserve company in connection with it. It was, if not the strongest, the second strongest Volunteer Corps in England, having ten strong companies. He was asked to inspect it, and he found the whole regiment—the active regiment drawn up in uniform on parade and then on the flank of each company, with a little space between
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.