216
sincerity, that the organisation concerned in bringing about these strikes is nothing less than the notorious Trind Society. Now it is not within our province to make minute enquiries into the working of this Society among the native labourers of Hongkong We can but bring before the public the opinion of a small but very important section of the community, a section which should naturally be well informed in this particular matter. There is, however, a department of the Government service which such a question must concern not a little, and we therefore cannot do wrong in expressing the hope that the Police will strictly investigate the matter. Consider able attention in the past has, we are well aware, been paid by our Police force to the work carried on in the Colony by the Triads. But naturally so powerful an organisation, with which the Chinese Gov. ernment itself is entirely unable to cope, is not easy to check in a place so peculiarly situated as Hongkong is. China is the home of secret societies, and no secret society is better managed, with a view to maintaining influence over its members, than is the Triad confraternity. It has always proved a thorn in the side of the Hongkong and Singapore authorities, the latter having shown more ability to deal with it than we have, Nevertheless we are sure that our local Government does not under-rate the power of the Sam Hop Hui, and we cannot believe that at the present crisis the Society's actions will not be most carefully watched. A very difficult state of affairs has been brought about by illicit means, and in order to counteract this decided action is necessary.
35
"BEACHCOMBERS IN
HONGKONG.
""
(Daily Press, 13th September.) We wrote recently about the desirability of the Hongkong Government deporting from this Colony, after due punishment, Chinese "undesirables" who had been convicted of offences such as watch-snatching and other petty thefts.
It is generally recoguised that such persons have no business in Hongkong and that the Colony would be much the better for their absence. In the majority of cases the Police must be well aware of their character, and it is possible therefore to argue that to wait until they commit some crime is a mistake. Suspicious persons are arrested at home and indeed, in certain circumstances, out here. Why then, it may be asked, give them the opportunity to injure the peaceable residents in the Colony ? It is nt, however, only the natives who contribute to the large class of undesirables in Hongkong. We have always with us a numerous body of those whom it is usual to style beachcombers." Hongkong is not the only place in the East, to say nothing of the world in general, where such persons congregate, but certainly of late we have had more than our fair share. These people are no less undesirable in their way
than the Chinese loafers. They do not indulge so much in petty theft, but on the other hand they are continually being brought up at the Magistracy for being drunk and disorderly, and in the intervals they pester the inhabitants for alms in the most impudent way. Oc casionally among them are met meu of education, the more plausible thereby but not, we fear, the more deserving. In what proportion of cases do these wrecks of humanity really seek and obtain employ ment? Those who are familiar with their faces, week after week, can best answer that question. It is obvious that our present
[September 22, 190 2.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
| system, in which the main part is horne by Macao is now unprovided with any periodi-' the House of Detention, does not sufficientlycal journal, whose place is taken by the protect the Colony against these parasites. Portuguese Press in Hongkong, we do not it is of no use to house a man at night and believe that our neighbouring colony's turn him out in the day to beg money for officials will upset the teachings of previous drink. We do not wish to return to all history by boycotting successfully the the old severity of the laws against rogues expression of opinion in newspapers. and vagabonds, but we do think that less latitude should be given to those among the destitute vagrants who refuse to try for any reputable work and content themselves with inventing plausible tales whereby to obtain from the charitably minded money which they can spend in drink. And in the first place we should like to ask why such ne'er-do-wells are allowed to land in Hong- koug at all when deported from other places.
A PRESS CENSORSHIP AT MACAO.
(Daily Press, 17th September.) To be the agent of despotic government is at all times thankless, and even ridiculous. We are therefore moved to feelings of pity rather than to any other sentiment for that official of the Macao Government to whose lot it falls to examine copies of all news- papers arriving in Macao from this Colony, English as well as Portuguese. The official in question is now deputed to read each issue of the Hongkong journals and, if he should find anything in any way adversely criticising the Macao authorities, to prevent the paper's circulation in the colony. This is in accordance with the new Press law which is being put in force in the colonial possessions of Portugal. As one of our Macao correspondents informed us yester- day, by the new rule all Portuguese who write against the Government and its officers even in a foreign paper are liable to punishment, and if offenders are foreigners within Portuguese jurisdiction they will be expelled for twelve years from Portuguese dominions. This law has just been published in the official Boletim at Macao, though it has never been submitted to the Executive Council there. Yet it is stated on good authority that two Macao officials were really responsible for the drafting of the measure. What the exact meaning of this piece of retrograde legisla- tion is, it is only possible to explain upon oue supposition, that the Macao Government does not wish to be criticised and therefore that it will not bear close criticism. The English papers in Hongkong have certainly never been animated by a hostile feeling for the authorities at Macao, the old established colony of our Portuguese friends. Relations between Great Britain and Portugal have been particularly cordial for many years past. What then is it that the Macao Government has reason to fear? According to many who have a good know- ledge of the inner working of our neighbour, there are not a few matters which will not bear investigation. Now it is not within our province to enquire into the internal affairs of Macao. Since, however, the government there has taken up an aggres- sive attitude toward the Hongkong Press, we are compelled to think that there must be something very wrong there. Portugal, itself a country enjoying liberty of the Press, has adopted an attitude toward the Press of its colonies worthy only of Russia and countries similarly misgoverned. There must be some reason for this despotic procedure, and if the Macao authorities complain that bad motives are attributed to them they have only themselves to thank for it. We know of no instance where a government has won its struggle against the freedom of the Press and, though
t
HONG KONG AND THE ST. LOUIS
EXHIBITION.
(Daily Press, 20th September.) Of the presence in this Colony of a repre- sentative of the Louisiana Purchase Exposi tion or World's Fair, which is to be held at St. Louis, Missouri, in the summer of 1904, our readers are already aware, and they know that Mr. JOHN BARRETT, the repre- sentative in question, has been making Hongkong his headquarters in South China. To the idea of Hongkong taking any part in the Exhibition, however, probably few have devoted any attention since the January meeting of the local Chamber of Commerce. This is scarcely to be wondered at, for the Chamber stated in reply to Mr. RUBLEE, United States Consul-General, who first approached them in the matter, that as Hongkong's manufactures were so incon- siderable and its productions so limited it would be impracticable for the Colony as such to participate in the Exhibition. The Chamber could_only_suggest that the Chinese workers in gold, silver, blackwood, etc., should be encouraged to send exhibits to St. Louis. No further discussion on the matter has taken place in Hongkong until the recent arrival of the Commissioner here. We confess that at the time the answer of the Chamber of Commerce seemed to us conclusive. Nevertheless a new aspect of the matter has been presented to us, and we think that some consideration is due to the suggestion which is now made to Hongkong. The flood of matter which has poured from the United States about what is being done at St. Louis cannot fail to convince one that no expense is to be spared to make the Exhibition what it claims that it will be, the greatest exhibition on record. We need not expatiate on such facts as that St. Louis is the fourth largest town in the United States and the second largest railway-centre. The importance of the Exhibition" consists rather in that it will be visited by people from all parts of the United States. Now Americans in general know little or nothing about Hongkong, not differing in that, we fear, from a majority of the people of the British Empire itself-in London, for instance, we are sure that many persons' sole knowledge of the island is derived from its representation in au advertisement of a popular blue dye. But, it may be asked, what advantage is it to Hongkong that Americans should know anything about us? The Commissioner replies, forcibly: Because Hongkong will get a big advertise- ment at a very moderate expense. If the people of the United States can be brought to recognise what an important place Hong- kong is and its relation to the Far East in general and the Philippine archipelago in particular, then the result cannot fail to be increased trade passing through Hongkong. Now, it is perfectly true that Hongkong has but inconsiderable manufactures and pro- ducts to show. Therefore the exhibit must be of a different kind, if there is to be one at all. And this brings us to Mr. Barrett's suggestion to which we alluded above. It is that Hongkong should make a strictly educational display, that is to say an exhibi- ion cf maps and diagrams showing the island's position with reference to the China coast, the Philippines, etc., of en- larged photographs, and such instructive
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