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H.E. WU ON THE FOREIGN PRESS IN CHINA.
At a discussion in Philadelphia last Novem. ~ber on " The Causes of the Unpopularity of the Foreigner in China," the principal speaker was H.E. Wu Ting Tang, Chinese Minister at Washington, who seems quite one of the most popular speakers in the United States just now. His Excellency endeavoured to explain some of In the course of an interesting speech he made some severe remarks on the foreign Press in China. These we quote below. It will be seen that the Chinese Minister rather overstated his case. He said:
the causes.
I cannot help adverting to the character o: the foreign Press in China. Its general tone is calculated to set the whole Chinese nation against foreigners and things foreign. Take up any foreign newspaper published in China, and you will find that columns a devoted in almost every issue to denouncing the Chinese Govern. ment and its officials, and condemning every- thing which the people hold dear and sacred. Far be it from me to assert that all Chinese offi. cials are men of immaculate characters. I admit that in China, as in every other country, some of the officials are unworthy of public trust. But the foreign newspapers in China lead one to believe that the Chinese Government is no- thing but a sham; that the officials are all scoundrels; that the people are ground down by fearful oppression. It seems to be their set- tled policy to pick flaws in everything the Chinese do, and begrudge even a small crumb of justice which is their due.
"The recent unfortunate uprising in
China is a Godsend to writers for the foreign. Press. It unfortunately furnish- es them with just the kind of material for blackguarding the Government and people of China without stint. We Chinese represen- tatives abroad, as well as many high officials and intelligent Chinese, deplore as deeply and denounce as strongly as does any foreigner, the frightful atrocities recently perpetrated.
"It should be remembered that the violence of the Tientsin and Peking mobs was not directed against foreigners alone, but also against a large portion of their own country men. The crimes committed by the Boxers are imputed to the machination of the whole Even the diplomatic representatives of China abroad have not escaped the gen.
nation.
eral condemnation, but have been treat. ed as particeps criminis. Dr. Morrison, the correspondent of the London Times in Peking, went so far as to charge my colleague in London, Sir Chichen Lofengluh, and myself with barefaced mendacity in his telegraphic despatches.
"I hope to be able to live down all slanders of this kind. But the general mass of the Chinese people are not of so philosophical turn of mind. When they see such sweeping attacks upon their country, their public men, their traditions and their institutions made by the foreign newspapers in China, it is a wonder that they entertain anything of a friendly feel ing toward their slanderers. I should like to mention that I and those Chinese, who have a
knowledge of some foreign language, as a rule, stand up for the foreigners in China, and for this reason we are generally regarded Eth`sus- picion by many of our conservative countrymen. Events of recent years in China have done much to increase the bitter feeling already existing between the Chinese and the foreigners. The seizure of territory without proper com. pensation; the forcible taking of lands from
their Chinese owners, who have been in con- tinuous possession from time immemorial; the rough treatment received by those in defence of their rights, sometimes resulting in blood shed; these have added fuel to the flame and contributed to the unpopularity of foreigners among the Chinese. In saying this, I do not wish to convey the impression that the Chinese are entirely free from blame. They are at fault in that they generally are over-suspicious of foreigners, and do not study and appreciate the good points possessed by them.”
A court-martial was to be held at Shanghai on the 28th ult, on a private of the 14th Sikhs, who despatched a comrade with three bullets and several bayonet thrusts in the stomach.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
HONGKONG.
There was a small outbreak of fire at Quarry Bay on Thursday and a few matsheds were des- troyed.
The German battleship Weissenburg left for Amoy and the German eruiser Seeadler for Swatow on the 30th ult.
Through being overladened with coal, a junk (No. 10,540) capsized in the Harbour on Thurs- day, alongside the steamer Taising.
The 29th ult. was the warmest day that has been experienced in the colony during the month of December for the past fourteen years.
Dock launch No. 6 collided with the launch Guiding Star in the harbour on Thursday, The former craft was slightly damaged.
The body of the man who was found in the Sam-to Lane Nullah on New Year's night has been identified as a destitute seaman named Kelly who had recently arrived in the colony
from Manila.
The return of cases of communicable diseases in the Colony last week shows that, apart from the one fatal plague case, there were two in- stances of enteric fever, one imported from Shanghai. One of these proved fatal. harbour on board the German cruiser Hansa, Rear-Admiral Kirchoff, who arrived in the
landed at Murray Pier on the 2nd inst., and was received by a guard of honour composed of men of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Accompanied by his flag-lieutenant and Dr. Long (Acting German Consul), the Rear-Ad- to whom he also conveyed the greetings of miral called upon H. E. the Governor, G.C.M.G., Prince Henry of Prussia, and H.E. Major- General Gascoigne, C.M.G.
The many friends of Mr. Joseph Robert Grimble, late Inspector of Nuisances in the colony, will regret to hear of his death, which took place on the 31st ult. at his residence at West Point. Mr. Grimble, who was just fifty-one years of age, had served the Colonial Government for nearly thirty years, and in September, 1899, retired on a well-earned pen- sion. Diabetes was the cause of death. The deceased was a widower, but leaves four young children to mourn his loss.
Inspector McEwan, of the Naval Yard, with four members of the town police, on the 28th ult. celebrated his tenth year in the colony by enter- taining a number of the town police, with their
friends, to a dinner in Thomas's Grill Rooms,
[January 5, 1901.
The steamer Whampoa (Messrs. Butterfield and Swire) collided in the harbour on the 27th ult. off Kowloon Point, with ballast boat No. 469, capsizing her. The crew, numbering twenty, were picked up by the steam launch You Lee,
Thr return of visitors to the City Hall Li- shows that 259 brary and Museum last
non-Chinese and 99 Chin Feek the former,
and 337 non-Chinese and 1,721 Chinese the latter institution.
The four French sailors who were charged before Mr. Kemp with disorderly conduct in the public streets were brought up on remand on Thursday. Two were discharged, and the other two were fined $5 and $3 respectively, which were at once paid.
The Mother Superior of the Italian Convent begs to acknowledge the receipt of the follow- ing suins: --
Miss Hermogena Romero A Friend...
$50 25
Mr. H. E. Pollock, the Hon. Treasurer of the Seaman's Church and Mission Fund, acknow ledges with thanks the receipt of the following further subscription:
Messrs. Holliday, Wise & Co.
$50
The Hon. Treasurer of the Alice Memorial
with thanks the following donations to the funds and Nethersole Hospitals begs to acknowledge
of the Hospitals:-
Pawnbrokers' Guild A Patient
$100 *5
Mr. Kato, the Japanese Consul, informs as that the copy of invoice hitherto required to be filed at his consulate by an applicant for a certi-
ficate of origin of goods to be imported to Japan will not be required on and after the 1st of January, but, on the other hand, the ship- pers are requested to provide the forms of the certificate at their own expense, as they will not hereafter be issued gratis as formerly.
Through the courtesy of Mr. M. S. Northcote we are enabled to give the result of last Satur. day's shooting at Singapore in the Inter-port shooting match. The Singapore team succeeded in putting together a score of 909, which gives them second place. On the 14th November, it will be remembered, Hongkong made 930 and Shanghai 900. Hongkong are the winners, therefore, for the eighth time out of eleven con- tests and for the third time in succession.
A European, named R. Huddle, who recently came here from Manila, and who, it is believed, once held a position in a wholesale cigar house in the Philippines, committed suicide by taking poison in a honso of ill fame at Wanchai on the 3rd inst. He had made a call at the house, and receiving an unsatisfactory reply to the inmates, he swallow- a question put to one ed the contents of a small phial he withdrew from his pocket labelled "poison," fell back in a chair, and expired.
The company numbered twenty-five, and there were three pipers in attendance, who beguiled the evening with reels, schottisches, etc. Mrs. McEwan, wife of the host, sang several Scotch songs very creditably, after which Inspecters McNab and Cuthbert, on behalf of the com- pany, thanked Inspector McEwan for the entertainment so generously provided. Dancing
The 25th regular annual meeting of the Dis- was then indulged in until midnight.
There was a special service on the 31st ult.trict Grand Lodge of Hongkong and South China was held in the Masonic Hall, Zetland at the Roman Catholic Cathedral to commemo- rate the closing of this century and to herald in Street on the 29th ult., when the Deputy thanksgiving one, and started at 11 p.m. by Brother E. C. Ray) invested the following The service was a penitential and District Grand Master (Right Worshipful the clergy singing the penitential psalms, officers:-District Senior Grand Warden, Wor. followed at midnight by a High Mass, at which Bro. F. A. Hazeland District Junior Grand the Right Rer. Bishop Piazzoli officiated. Warden, Wor. Bro. T. F. Hough; District under the leadership of Mr. E. Danenborg, with District Grand Treasurer, Wor. Bro. G. P. The choir, composed of 25 ladies and gentlemen Grand Chaplain, Wor. Bro. A. Shelton Hooper; Mr. Baptista at the organ, sang Farmer's Lammert; District Grand Registrar, Wor. Mass in B flat. Immediately after the Mass a solemn Te Deum was sung, and the service concluded with the Benediction. The Cathedral
the new one.
was illuminated for the occasion.
We much regret to hear that Dr. Rieloff, the German Consul at Hongkong, is compelled, owing to ill-health, to return to Europe. Dr. made himself universally popular, fully carry- Rieloff came to Hongkong in 1898, and has 'ing out the anticipations which had been formed of him on his previous record. We are in formed that, for some time now Dr. Rieloff during his stay here has suffered from a serious malady, which only an excellent constitution has enabled him to resist. But he is still far from well, and his medical advisers are im- perative in ordering him to leave the East He sails by the N.D.L. steamer Prinzess Irene for Sues on the 9th inst, and, after a stay at Cairo to recuperate, will journey by easy stages to Berlin. The Consul will therefore be unable to visit his numerous friends to say farewell personally. A rapid convalescence | will be the wish of all his friends here.
|
Bro. H. J. Watson; District Grand President of General Purposes, Wor. Bro. G. J. W. King; District Grand Secretary, Wor. Bro, A. O.'D. Gourdin; District Senior Grand Deacon, Wor. Bro. F. B. Marshall; District Junior Grand Deacon, Wor. Bro. F. W. Clark, District Grand Superintendent of Works, Wor. Bro. F. D. Goddard; District Grand Director of Ceremonies, Wor. Bro. W. J.
Tutcher; District Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies, Bro. E. W. Mitchell; District Grand Sword Bearer, Bro. W. H. Wickham, District Grand Standard Bearers, Wor. Bro E. Wookey and Bro. F. T. Richards: District Grand Orgainst, Bro. A. G. Ward; District Grand Pursuivant, Worshipful Master of the "Ionic "; District Assistant Grand Pursuivant, Bro. E. V. Stanton; District Grand Stewards, Bros. J. J. Bryan, J. H. Underword A. Cum- ming, B. B. Harker, C. Gray and the Senior Warden of the "Ionio"; District Grand Tyler, Bro. H. W. Wolfe. Unofficial members, Wor. Bro. K. W. Mounsey and Wor. Bro. G. J. B. Bayer.
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