172
THE CENSUS.
Daily Press, 26th February.)
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
THE LOSS OF THE CITY OF RIO."
[March 2, 1901.
an amnesty has been granted d to political prisoners who escaped the Board of Punish- ments when the Allied troops entered Pe- king.
Governor Yuan Shikai is sending 8,000 picked troops from Shantung to escort Emperor on his way to Peking,
SHANGHAI, 28th February, 7.81 p.m. "It is officially stated that Yu Hsien was beheaded at Lanchou on Friday last.
Native reports are current to the effect that Li Lai-chun, the protégé of Prince Tuan, and General Tung Fuhsiang have reballed with 5,000 troops near Lanchou.
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE
COUNCIL.
of the Hongkong Legislative Council was held On Monday afternoon, the 25th ult., a meeting
in the Council Chamber at the Government
Offices, there being present:-
His EXCELLENCY thɔ GOVERNOR (Sir Henry BLAKE, G.C.M.G.).
Hon. J. H. STEWART LOCKHART, C.M.G.
(Colonial Secretary).
Hon. W. MEIGH GOODMAN, K.C. (Attorney- General).
Hon. A. M. THOMSON (Colonial Treasurer). Hon. R. D. ORMSBY (Director of Public Works).
Hon. F. H. May, C.M.G. (Captain Su-
In looking at the figures arrived at by the
(Daily Press, 25th February.) Census of the Colony taken on the 18th
We give to-day what particulars are ob- January, it is interesting not only to com-tainable of the fearful disaster to the Pacific pare the figures of the 1897 Consus (as is Mail Steamship Company's steamer (ity of done in the return supplied to us by the Rio de Janeiro, which left this port on the Colonial Secretary), but also those of 1891. 22nd ult. and was to have arrived at San By doing so we see before us a record of ten Francisco on the 19th instant. Instead of years' growth of our Colony. The full re-
so doing, she was wrecked in the harbour port on the returns is not yet published, so of the latter place on Friday and one hun. that it is impossible as yet to estimate the dred and twenty-two lives have been lost. growths of the different nationalities except Details of the actual catastrophe are at as distinguished into the two classes of non- present almost entirely lacking, and we Chinese and Chinese. In the year 1891 the
can hardly hear much of the circumstances strength of the non-Chinese population (of of the wreck for some weeks. What we do whom 3,115 were naval or military) was 7,891 males and 2,555 females; that of the shock to residents in Hongkong, for a very know unhappily must come as a terrible Chinese, 119,694 males and 61,301 females; well known figure in the Colony has been giving thus a total of 10,446 non-Chinese removed for ever. and 210,995 Chinese, and a grand total of WILDMAN for four years has worked in Mr. ROUNBEVELLE 221,441. Now the non-Chinese population our midst us Consul for the United States exclusive of the naval and military forces, at this port and has been familiar to us alike is 5,824 males and 3,403 females; the in his official, literary, and social capacities. Chinese, 196,351 males and 72,065 females; His consular work won the appreciation of giving totals of 9,227 non-hinese and his own Government and his compatriots in 268,416 Chinese, and a grand total of the East, and at the same time he was 277,643. Thus the non-Chinese civil in- always courteously ready to impart such crease in the ten years is 1,048; the Chinese information as he could to all of other increase is 57,421; and the total increase, nationalities who asked for it. His earlier exclusive of army and navy, 58,469. Tak- editorial experiences left him with a ready ing into consideration now the census of pen, and his various books have been re-perintendent of Police). 1897, we shall find that the deduction of ceived by the reading public here with as this rather bewildering array of figures is much pleasure as in America. With Mrs. that while in the first six years of the decade WILDMAN he has been well-known as a social the increase to our Chinese populat on was
entertainer, and even as host and hostess roughly seven times as great as that to the alone they will be sadly missed. The sud- non-Chinese element, the proportiou in the den fate which has befallen them and their last four years was not five times as great. two children comes as a great blow to their But, nevertheless, numerically the Chinese friends here, and all will join us, we are majority is growing at a vast rate and threatens to become a serious problem, es- pathy to the families of both, and particu- sure, in offering a sincere tribute of sym- pecially on the mainland. We shall have farly to those near relatives who are known an opportunity, when the full results of to residents of Hongkong, the brothers of last month's Census are made public, of the Consul and his wife, the latter of the considering how
the various districts two now Acting Consul to this port. into which the Colony is divided have fared. Then also the different elements composing the non-Chinese section will have been separated. At present we can see that the growth of population is not flagging and that the failure of the years 1891-1897 to attain the estimated figures- has been compensated for by the rate of increase in the years 1897-1901. Various reasons tend to make a Census not al- together reliable, particularly in such a place as Hongkong, and the unexpectedly small figures of 1897 were perhaps to be attributed to some of the causes suggested at the time. But in the present year the date appears to have been well chosen, and except that the entry under the heading of Mercantile Marine is obviously unrepie- sentative, the figures should represent the true state of affairs. details are to hard it will be possible to When the fuller estimate the true value of the returns.
Mr. Joseph Hodges Choate, who has been appointed arbitrator between England and China in the case of the wrecked Kowshing, is perhaps the most popular man in England who is not an Englishman. His speeches are always as interesting as they are eloquent, and often Mr. Choate has taught us things about our- selves which many of us did not know before. His,
saorificing an income of £20,000 a year by devoting himself to the public service. He is the first lawyer in America. It was he who got à declaration from the Supreme Court of the United States that the Income-tax imposed a few years ago was unconstitutional, and for this
speech on the history of Downing Street is
THE CRISIS: TELEGRAMS.
[FROM OUR CORRESPONDEN 18.]
SHANGHAI, 22nd February, 7.30 p.m. The Rev. W. S. Ament, the Peking mis- sionary charged with abetting converts in looting, has been entirely exonerated.
Under pressure of Count von Waldersee's at Hsianfu has conceded all the Powers threatened expedition, the Imperial Court demands.
An Imperial Edict has been published ordering the officials at Peking to prepare the Palace in the Forbidden City. The Court is starting for Peking at the latter end of March.
The Tientsin-Peking Railway was posi- the 21st instant. tively handed over to the British yesterday,
Hon. BASIL TAYLOR (Acting HarbourMaster). Hon. C. P. CHATER, C.M.G. Hon. Dr. Ho Hai. Hou, J. THURBURN. Hon. R. M. GRAY. Hon. J. J. KESWICK. Hon. WEI A YUK.
Mr. R. F. JOHNSTON (Acting Clerk of Coun- oils).
PAPER.
the returns of the Superior Court for the year
The COLONIAL SECRETARY laid on the table
1900.
FINANCIAL.
The COLONIAL SECRETARY laid on the table Financial Minute No. 9, and moved that it be referred to the Finance Committee.
The COLONIAL TREASURER seconded, and the motion was carried.
The COLONIAL SECRETARY laid on the table the report of the Financa Committee (No. 3) and moved its adoption.
--
The COLONIAL TREASURER seconded, and the motion was carried.
1
THE PUNISHMENT OF FLOGGING. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL proposed the first reading of a Bill entitled an Ordinance to gon- Punishment of Flogging. He said--I should solidate and amend the Laws relating to the like to say that this Bill does not alter the law, but makes clear the present state of the law, which is rather difficult to gather from the various alterations in the different Ordinances.
The COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and the motion was carried..
THE LAWS RELATING TO TRUSTEES,
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL proposed the third reading of the Bill entitled an Ordinance to
consolidate and amend the Laws relating to Trustees. He said-This Bill was referred SHANGHAI, 24th February, 7.15 p.m.
some time ago to the Standing Law Committee. It was examined by that committee and certain Being greatly unpopular at Hsianfu, Luamsudments were made. As amended by the Chuan-lin, the reactionary Grand Council- committee I propose that the Bill bɔ read a lor, has asked the Emperor's leave to ex- change posts with Wei. Kuang-tao, Viceroy of Yunnan and Kweichau provinces.
SHANGHAI, 25th February, 7.55 p.m. Reliable private advices from Hsianfu
third time.
the Bill was read a third time and passed.
The COLONIAL SECRETARY seconded, and
THE LAWS RELATING TO RATING.
The next item on the agenda was—“ Third reading of the Bill entitled an Ordinance Rating."
case in point. Mr. Choate is said to be state that Princes Tuan and Chuang, Duka Consolidate and amend the Lawa relating to
triumph against the Revenne, Mr. Choate received one of the biggest legal fees on record
-£20,000.
Lan and General Tung have all fled to Ninghsia for refuge,
SHANGHAI, 27th February, 7.31 p.m. The Chinese Plenipotentiaries at Peking have wired to heng Tajen announcing that peace is now close at hand and expressing their congratulations on the good news that
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said—Just fore coming into the Council it was pointed out to me that in the definition of the city of Victoria the eastern boundary is described as A straight line from
the skew bridge at the south-west corner school house, produced southward until it Causeway Bay to Wong-nai Chung public
meets the southern boundary.
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