February 23, 1901.]
CHINA'S REPARATION,
+
(Daily Press, 21st February.)
155
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT. world has been exacted, the unpleasant facts sions to Seamen, they have been know on the other side will have been buried in to sell their tickets for drink, and by (Daily Press, 18th February.) Dr. MORRISON's despatch to the Times, the cerned. Who imagines that the case will others a few hours afterwards. It has in the past, as far as the Powers are con- repeating their stories of want to obtain substance of which is given in our special be re-opened? If there is any time at been estimated that there are over fifty telegram appearing in this morning's issue, which the question whether China has suf- such men in Hongkong to-day living upon supplies the outlines of the scheme which fered anything beyond her deserts should charity. They are men for the most part has been evolved by the experts representing be considered it is before the final settle- from Manila, who have either been deported the various Powers now engaged in bring ment. True, war is not a kid-glove affair, from the Philippines, ing China to reasion. The points concerned but no more should it be an affair of way here by the transports which call at or have found their by the scheme were accepted by China at hob-nail boots. the end of last year, and the Imperial Seal Dr. DILLON as
Do those who dismiss this port en route to was subsequently affixed to the Agreement perverter of truth deny that there were of any kind, and thus their chances of get-
a sensationalist and a
San Francisc... Cer- tain it is that very few of them are seamen of which they formed part. Since the ac- such outrages as he describes, or ceptance of the Agreement, the Chinese they hold that they were justifiable? There been known to have lived for nearly two do ting away are scanty indeed. One man has representatives have shown no little anxiety are plenty of other correspondents who years in this way, and there are others who to discover what form the military arrange- can be called in on the question of outrages; claim a twelve months residence with com- ment for the defence of the Legations the papers brought by the last mail give plete immunity from police interference. and the protection of the route from the opinions of the Daily Mail special cor- We are informed that private houses at the Peking to the sea-coast would take. The respondent, Mr. STEER, and he is only one Peak are visited by these men when the plan now lies before them. It is provided among a number. Perhaps, however, “civi- | owners are in town, and their tales of hard- that what practically amounts to an inter-lised bounds" national fortress, with barracks for two include the commission of murder, rape, etc. lar from the ladies who perhaps are alone are sufficiently elastic to ship are the means of drawing many a dol- thousand men and a store capable of lasting It is a matter of opinion, no doubt. for three months, shall be erected alongside
at that time of the day. The the Imperial Palace, which therefore it will THE SHANHAIKWAN RAILWAY. that certain representations are to
has become so great that we understan command. The troops which will undertake the duty of keeping open the communica-
made to H.E. the Governor on the sub. to be tions between Peking and the sea will num- ber eleven thousand, making thus thirteen don about the railway between Shanhai-sion provided work for a number of the As the information telegraphed from Lon- Those in authority at the Naval Yard Exten- ject, with a view to redressing the ‘evil. thousand men employed in guaranteeing kwan and Peking is based on an official report unemployed, but it is principally unskilled the life of the international representatives by Count VON WALDERSEE, we may at last labour, and the wages the men received, and the other foreign residents in Peking. rest assured that the line is at last to be from $1.90 to $2 a day, fail to offer a tithe If this scheme is carried out, as presumably restored to its rightful owners. it will, for China is not in a position to oppose ment has actually been signed, we learn, to
An agree of the inducement that is obtained by a few the demand, the Chinese will have before hand over the Shanhaikwan-Peking railway the evil, we hear that the Governor is to be calls daily upon the charitable. To remedy their eyes & weighty reminder of the sanctity to the British on a date between the 21st asked to start a fund somewhat on the of ambassadors. No one can say that the and 28th instant. price which they have had to pay for their agreement deals with the questions of the Calcutta, &c., so that in truly deserving Presumably also the lines of those in existence at Singapore, outrages against the comity of nations compensation to be paid for the loss of cases the Captain Superintendent of Police too heavy, but the humiliation is neverthe-rolling-stock, material, etc., but this we are less a great one. The question how long
away to another port, with instructions that or some other authority may pay the passage it may be considered necessary to maintain
punishment will follow on a return in the this army of occupation-for it amounts to
same condition. It is certainly high time nothing less-in the capital province of the
that something should be done to abate the Empire is one that depends on China her-
nuisance to which the Colony is at present self. If the rulers honestly set out to re-
subject. form abuses and bring the Empire, as far as international dealings are concerned, into line with the other great countries of the world, it may be accepted as certain that the Powers will not find it to their advantage to maintain indefinitely an expensive force at a considerable distance from the nearest base of any of their number. We need not here discuss the difficulties of the scheme as far as the Allies are concerned-they will, we fear, be considerable at the outset-for the details, of course, have not been worked out yet sufficiently for their publication. The continued occupation of Chibli, for at least some time to come, must be regarded in the light of an act demanded by justice, against which the Chinese Governmeat grievously offended last year.
The word "justice" beings us once more to the point which we have already discussed, the behaviour of the European troops in China. Willing, indeed anxious, as we may be to admit that there may be much exaggeration in the accounts given of the crimes against defenceless men, women, and children, committed by the vi torous soldiers of the Powers, we cannot conceive on what grounds it can be considered right to bush up matters which threaten to disgrace the name of Western civilisation. It is not a worthy line of argument to adopt to say: "It is dangerous at the moment to "create any sympathy for the Chinese. It "will not do to admit that we have “done any wrong. When the account has been settled, it will be time to consider whether we have acted up to the standards of our own civilization. ** Such a method, of course, 18 convenient. When full com- pensation for China's crimes against the
|
not told. Nor do we know what is to be dore with the Northern Extension line be tween Shanhaikwan and Newchwang which is financed by British capital. We have had many contradictory reports about this, as about the line south of Shanhaikwan, but it is impossible to gather the truth from among them. One of these reports was that Rus- sinn agents were trying to buy out British interests, but officially nothing was known of this when the last mail left England. It is satisfactory that, late in the day, some recognition has been made of the rights of British investors. Eome of the delay in the matter of the railway was dictated by mili- tary considerations and was perfectly justi- fiable. The final delay for a period of nearly two months-is unexplained.
I
THE "BEACHCOMBER”. NUIS- ANCE IN HONGKONG.
(Daily Press, 21st February.) For some time past Hongkong has been singled out as the "dumping-ground" for destitute persons of all ages and nationalities from the neighbouring ports of Singapore, Manila, Shanghai, Kobe, &c., and in the endeavour to provide for the wants of the truly deserving, a tax has been imposed upon the benevolent public, which bas grown to such dimensions, and, been so persistingly enforced, that it has now become well-nigh intolerable. Complaints have been made, by no means in isolated cases, that able bodied men have boldly entered offices as well as private houses, and by plausible tales of destitution and want have received from the charitably disposed money and clothes, which shortly afterwards have reached the drinking bars and the second-band shops of Taipingshan. Not only that, but where it has been found advisable to give these habi- tual mendicants tickets to get food and rest at the Star Coffee House in D'Aguilar Street, conducted under the auspices of the Mis-
|
THE PACIFIC CABLE.
(Daily Press, 21st February.) British Empire are being linked together by By slow degrees the various parts of the telegraph lines which are controlled entirely by British hands, and with the opening of the new century one of the most important of these links has been decided on. The details of the all-British Pacific cable are now public, and we are told that by the end of 1902 the work on this great line of com- munication will be finished. The route of the cable as now decided on is as follows. Commencing at Vancouver Island, there will be a straight run of 3,500 miles to Fanning Island, a small and practically unknown tract of land which nevertheless has formed part of the British Empire for about a dozen years.
stretch is one of 1,700 miles to Norfolk Island, From Fanning Island the next through the Fiji group. From Norfolk Island the cable will run to Brisbane, some 900 miles, between numerous islands and in comparatively shallow water. New Zealand will also be connected with the system at Norfolk Island. The enterprise is a great one, especially when the depths through which the lines have to be carried are taken into consideration. It has been estimated that the two actually deepest points touched will be the Tuscarora and Belknap Deeps, 16,500 and 17,500 feet below the surface of the ocean. known in the Pacific is, it is true,
The greatest depth five miles and a quarter (this deepest sounding taken by the OA but though not reaching this figure the depressions through which the
ال
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.