September 9, 1901.]
has happened that in the eclipse of the nominal head of the States every one, how- ever small his post, has become a law unto himself where the only indicator of right is might, and the official considers not what is best for the state but what is good for himself This seems to be the only explanation of the very remarkable position of affairs in Eastern Asia. Times without number the Government or what remains of it in St. Petersburg has disavowed the acts of its subordinates in Marchuria, and has given orders that no acts of encroachment were to be perpetrated. Yet those instruc- tions have been deliberately set at nought, and we are left to choose between assigning the issue to insubordination on the part of the officials, or to some gigantic and super- fluous exhibition of ill faith on the part of the Tsar. It is true that instances of this apparent opposition between the Office at St. Petersburg and the camp in Asia have at all times been characteristic of Russia's advance, yet we doubt if ever befofe the phenomenon was so shamelessly exhibited in the face of open day. The recent case of Colonel POWELL was one of the most bare- faced of all. This English officer, with letters of credence from both Russian and English Governments, was arrested in Chi- nese territory by an officer pretending to be under the control of the Russian Govern- ment We are so accustomed to the exercise of arbitrary powers by the Russian Govern- ment that the fact of the arrest of a British subject with papers all in order, and travelling for perfectly legal purposes, and with the full knowledge of the Russian Government, has almost ceased to excite more than the most passing notice. The case of Colonel POWELL, however, was re- markable in that the officer was not travel- ling in Russian territory at all. Doubtless the act has been disavowed at St. Peters. burg, but the fact remains that the Russian Empire has already so far advanced on the road to disruption that an official at Mouk- den finds that he can with impunity con- travene the explicit orders sent to him from St. Petersburg and that his Govern- ment is not powerful enough to see its own orders obeyed. Such a state of affairs has at all times been dangerous for the peace of the world, and has in every case proved disastrous to the Government itself that permitted it. Russia in fact is not far from a military dictatorship, and the indication given by the personal weakness of the Tsur is not one that Europe can afford to witness with complacency.
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
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201
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Board, which it is now so anxious to prove | become permanent, while we accumulate a that it does. The Board, if it conscien- reserve fund as fast as we can hoard it tiously works its hardest to combat the and are we to have Chinese in an annual greatest curse of Hongkong, absolves itself state of discontent, driving them to leave from blame in the performance of its duty the Colony during the plague season in toward the Colony. Dr. ATKINSON's speech vast numbers? Or, on the other hand, are may be taken as an earnest that he, as pre- we to make an effort greater than we have sident, will do his utmost, and the nugury is ventured on before to get rid of the disease a good one.
from our midst? In the present state of our knowledge of plague, it may be said that only experts have a right to speak on the question how to combat it. Nevertheless, weare certain that the mass of residents in the Colony welcome the fact that Dr. ATKINSON Inst Thursday ranged himself plainly on the side of those who would deal vigorously with the scourge and make a great attempt to drive it away bodily. We see by results that tinkering with it as we have in the past has only allowed plague to become firmly rooted in the soil of the Colony. In the circumstances the want of a change of policy is clearly indicated. The Sanitary Board has a tremendous task before it, but such a declaration as that of its president is at least encouraging as indicative of the spirit in which it is prepared to force that task.
The measures which are to be taken to prevent the introduction of plague into Hongkong next year, says the Principal | Civil Medical Officer, will be by a rational quarantine to attempt to stop the introduc- tion of fresh cases from infected places. This in itsef is a necessary step, but is very difficult to enforce owing to the peculiar position of our Island. A rigid quarantine, such as Dr. ATKINSON described, is of course out of the question. A rational quarantine presumably means that kind of precaution which we take now from the beginning of each year. Stricter measures seem almost impossible without paralysing the trade of the port and throwing on the police work which they cannot perform in the present circumstances of the force. Apart from quarantine regulations, it is to general sanitary principles to which we are told by Dr. ATKINSON to look, combined with the following procedure:-"(a) The speedy dis- covery and isolation of every fresh case (b) The thorough disinfection of infected houses, combined with the temporary evacuation, or better still the destruction of infected houses, or even neighbourhoods. (c) The disinfection of infected clothes and bedding." All these measures have been, as far as possible with the means at our com mand, adopted during the epidemics which we have suffered hitherto; but the extreme step of destroying the whole of an infected neighbourhood was only resorted to in the case of Taipingshan in 1894. We have been unable to keep down plague by these measures so far, partly no doubt because of the sanitary staff being inadequate to carry them out with such strictness as is neces- Bary. Dr. ATKINSON further advocates strongly the cremation of dead plague bodies dumped in the streets, a step which would certainly arouse a strong opposition but which is nevertheless eminently desirable. Those who talk about the offence to Chinese prejudices are in this going too far. Seru. polous Chinese do not throw the bodies of their dead into the street. vinced that the radical measure, as Dr. ATKINSON styles it, is alone likely to stop this disgusting and dangerous practice which has caused our sanitary and police THE FUTURE OF THE SANITARY authority such endless trouble during times
BOARD.
of epidemic. As to the advocacy by Dr. ATKINSON of the destruction of all vermin proved to spread the disease, the proposal is admirable, but surely not feasible. Does "vermin" simply meau rats and mice, or are fleas, etc., accused by some authorities of helping to spread plague, included in the term? Even with rats alone we cannot cope.
(Daily Press, 7th September.) Thursday's meeting of the Sanitary Board was a quiet and practical affair, devoid of the unnecessary discussions which have marked so many meetings of this body. The absence of some controversial members may partly account for this fact. The most notable point was the assumption of the presidency of the Board by Dr. J. M. ATKINSON, Principal Civil Medical Officer of the Colony, with the inaugural speech which he delivered. Dr. ATKINSON pro- ceeded without hesitation to the most important matter which can engage the attention of the Sanitary Board, and, as will have been seen with gratification by Hong- kong residents, avowed himself in favour of a vigorous campaign against bubonic plague. Upon the deliberations of the Board, he observed, depends to a great extent the Colony's sanitary well-being in the future. This is true, provided that the Government accepts the recommendations of the Sanitary
We are con-
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PRINCE CHUN'S MISSION IN GERMANY.
The
(Daily Press, 4th September.) The difficulty which has arisen in connec- tion with Prince CHUN's mission of apology to Germany is extremely unfortunate, but not surprising. It appears now that the kowtow is not required from Prince CHUN- indeed Germany could not have asked for this but from his staff. The Prince him- self, it is reported, is to be accorded the honours due to his birth, but his followers are expected to perform the "humiliating kowtow," as REUTER's telegram describes it, before the German Emperor. followers, however, have expressed their preference for death rather than this-a position which can be understood in a Chinaman, and perhaps in a Chinaman alone, on whom the lessons of recent history have no effect. The days when ambassa- dors made humiliating obeisances to their Emperor are not forgotten by the Chinese, while Chinese officials have never done the like to other sovereigns. In the circumstances, therefore, the attitude of Prince CHUN'S staff is natural enough. Nevertheless, it is necessary for Germany to maintain a firm position. A particularly treacherous act is being atoned for by the Mission at Basle, and the Chi- which is nese Government is not able to clear itself of complicity. Consequently there must
half-hearted no
оп apology
the be part
Chinese representatives. There need be no vindictive insistance on behaviour from Prince CHUN which will degrade him in his own eyes and in those of his fellow-countrymen; but Germany cannot allow the apology to be otherwise • than full aud marked. There are many who would have liked to see the Mission
Now
of the
Finally the new president of the Sanitary treated with less courtesy and not recognised Board indicated the action which might at all on its way to Germany. Such con- become necessary if the above procedure duct, however, would have been unreason- failed to stamp out plague. It is modelled able and an uncalled-for slight on a Prince on the mensures taken at Osaka in 1899, whose influence on China may possibly be and includes the destruction by fire of all considerable in the future. To have treated houses where fresh cases occur after a few the Mission as some have suggested would months' immunity; the burning of all in only have alienated Prince CHUN's mind fected clothes and bedding; and the crema-entirely, and would have defeated the object tion of all plague bodies. Such a scheme involves an enormous expense on the part of the Government, and would also cause an outcry among the natives. But the question resolves itself into this: Are we to be put to heavy expense every year and see our commerce suffering losses which threaten to
of his journey, even if it had not led to an open rupture. Had the desire of Germany been merely to cast indignity on China, the hearty support of the other Powers would not have been forthcoming. However, this of course was not Germany's desire, and it is to be hoped that the present difficulty
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