October 11, 1902.]
the two leading parts it becomes less easy to discriminate. Mr. Gardner Crane as the Marquis of Quarmby, Mr. Ashton as the Hon. Crosby Jethro, and Mr. Wallace Shaw as Brabazon Tadway were all good in their part, but Mr. Jack Amory as Swepson, the valet, can only be described is excellent. Among the ladies the strength of the Company was weil maintained, and Miss Elizabeth Stewart made a charming Mcs, Tudway, only (if we may suggest) insisting too strongly on the tight la ing in the second act.
It is much to be regretted that we have to wait several months more before we see this talented co ubination of actors ad actresses once more in our Theatre. We can only hope that when they return they will so their way to make a gool stay. There are many plays in their repertory which we should much enjoy to 83. them put op.
The perform ince finished by 11.5, and there were no tedious waits such as were unavoidable ou the first night,
ORGAN RECITAL AT THE UNION CHURCH,
}
|
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
HONGKONG'S TRADE AND FINANCE IN 1901.
281
The following is the more important part of he report on the Blue-Book for 1901 prepared, ¦ poor and disappointing, and the prices obtained by H.E. Major-General Sir W. J. Gascoigne K.C.M.G. :
owing to large stocks early in the season and a declining exchange in the latter half of the year, the business done, though considerable, i native dealers. The demand for Malwa was was productive of loss to both importers and
FINANCES.
!
The revenue for the year 1901, exclusive of land sales, was $3.973 578, or 8636,523 more than the estimate; inclusive of land sales the tufal revenue was $4.213,893. The expenditure, exclusive of the cost of Public & orks Extraor- dinary, was $3,7 3,249. or 8455,317 more than the estimate: including the heavy onfly on Public Works Extraordinary, the total ex- penditure was 88,111,722. There was thus an excess of revenue, over expenditure of $102,171. The sources of revenue which proved most productive and yere chiefly responsible for the excess of actual over o timated receipts were the opium monopoly, the assessed taxes, chair and jinricksha and some other forms of lic nces, the Post Office, and stone quarries. The items which yielded a smaller sum than the estimate were not numerous, and represented no very large amounts, with the exception of the item of New Territory Laud Revenue. from which a sum of $140,000 had been autic puted and only 82-783 rec ived. This return, however, com- pares well with that of 190, when only $1,3 o was collected from the source. As has already born pointed out in New Territory reports, the difficulties in connection with the settlement of lan clains make the collection of Crown rent a slow process. The figures quoted abore do not repres at the whole of the revenue derived from the New Territory during 1901, as they do not include its share in the considerable increases to general revenue derived from the opium monopoly and other miscellaneous
The amount realised from land sales was much I ss than that roised in 1940, In that year more than 8316,00 ( was received from this source; in 1991 only $240315, or nearly
16.000 less than the estimate.
ASSETS AND LIABILITIES.
At the end of the year under review the total assets of the Colony amounted to $2,023,581.60, and the liabilities to $987,058.06, thus leaving a credit balance of $1,036,523.54 not including certain arrears of revene amounting to $61.132.
It is usually the case that the pe: former does not do the instrument jaslica, but Mr. Geo. Grimble at his orgau recital on the 6th inst. was an exception to this rule, and played the excel- lently selected pieces with bis accustomed skill. The organ in the Union Church his seen its best days, and it is creditable to the patience of those, concerned in th repiring that the instrument was playable-if no more. Mr. Grimble's four sol uumbers, w believe, hare not bạn playei bởi ra in Houg kong, and, with the exception of Batist's Grand Offertoire in F. are new compositious. Special interest contred in the Prelude (Intersures. mezzo) from the Site to Henry VIII by E. German, which has beu arranged for the orgau by M. C. F. A. Singster. who will be well remembered locally as the lite organist of S. John's athedral. Mr. Grimble who was a pupil of Mr. Sungster, was presented with the original S. of the arrangement, and played from it as night. Nos. 3 and 5 are edited and a ranged for the organ by E. Lemare - - who is himself an excellent organist-and are published in his "Organ Recital Series." The two items of No. 5 are. very sweet and the arrangement is perfect. The Salut d'Amour" (Elgar) was played as a violin solo by Mrs. Ong at Mr. Ward's subscription concert last March. We notice that Mr. Grimble put the heavy pieces in the first part of the programme, leaving the light, extra melodious, numbers for the litter part: a r..ther good plan, and one which was entirely successful. Mrs. Malie aud Miss Ramsay were the vocalists The former lady is still the first soprano of Hongkong Her sing ng of Gounoi's "Are Maria held the attention and interest of the audience, which in itself was an unwitting compliment to her talent. Miss Ramsay's recitative and aris from Mendelssohn's St. Paul were tastefully sung. Besides having au excellent contralto voice, Miss Ramsay sings with expression, and it is a pleasure listen to her. It is to be hoped that Mr. Grimble will have another recital at an early date, even though he is sadly handicapped by the organ. Notwithstanding the large atten i- ance,
the collection on behalf of the orgau fund only amounted to about $67. The programme was as follows:--
1
1. Grand Offertoire in F.
2. Soprano and Contralto Duet,
(a) "The Angel,"
(b) The Wanderer's Night
Night}
Song,"
to
E. Batiste
Rubenstein
Mrs. MUDIE and Miss RAMSAY.
3. Grand Chorus
H. A. Wheeldon And He Journeyed with 4. Contralto Recit. Companions towards Da-
mascus.
PUBLIC DEBT.
|
The nature of the loans contracted by the Colony and the conditions governing their repayment may be ascertained by reference to I (D) of the Blue Book Report for 1898, page 3. TRADE, INDUSTRIES, FISHERIES, AGRICULTURE, AND LAND.
Trade and Shipping.
There was a considerable decrease in coal imports as compared with 1900, but the amount imported in 1900 was far above the average. The coal imports for 1898, also, were stated to have been abnormally large, but the returns for last year show an increase as compared with that year of nearly 10,000 tons.
The principal features to be reina ked in the reported trade of the port for the year 19 1are:- 1. A decrease in the coal imports of 12.3 per
ceut.
2. A decrease in the cotton. imports of 27.8
per cent.
3. A decrease in the rice imports of 8 per cent. 4. A decrease in the timber imports of 18.7
per cent.
5. A decrease in the hemp imports of 42.3
Fer cent.
6. An increase in the general imports of 9.8
per cent.
left no margin for profit. Owing to the For- mosan Government being practically the only buyer of superior Persian, the rates for this drug fell from $825 per picul, the opening quotation, to $640 per picul in the latter end of the year.
7. Also small increases in caso and bulk
kerosene and in liquid fuel. The nett decrease in import cargo is 123,335 tous or 3.4 per cent. In exports there appears to be an increase of 150,823 tons or 7.7 per cent. In transit cargo, a decrease of 9,163 tons or 10.4 per coat. The import trade was very depressed throughout the year. In the interior of China there was much poverty, and trade was bampered by unauthorised exactions goods beyond the confines of the treaty ports. The fall in the exchange of silver and the high values ruling on the home markets-especially in raw cottoa and all cotton fabrics-also militated severely against this branch of trade.
Th opium trade was far from prosperous Edward German during the past year. In the Bengal drug,
Aria" But the Lord is mindful of His own (From the Oratorio 8. Paul) Mendelssohn
Miss RAMSAY.
5. (a) Perceuse,"
F. Dreyschock (b) "Salut D'Amour," (Liebesgrus), E. Elgar 6. Soprano Solo, “Ave Maria," Bach-Gounod
Mrs. MUDIS. 7. Prelude (Intermezzo)
from Suite to Henry VIII,
00
the year under review shows a decidedly marked As regards the trade in Indian cotton yarn, improvement over the previous twelve months.
The Imports to Hongkong and Shanghai, which showed a shrinkago of close upon 60 per cent. in 19:10, increased again over 100 per cent. during the past twelve months, whilst sales in Hongkong showed an excess of 45,715 bales and those in Shanghai of 69,083 bales.
A great and important movement has inken place which has opened the whole of the markets of inland China to the world. Manufacturers ou the spot will e rtainly be unable, at least for some time, to meet the greatly increased demand which wil: thus he occasioned; and in the mean- time India may fairly hope to reup some share of the harvest, more espe ially if lekin—s veritable millstone rouud the ueck of this trade --is effectually removed.
tous
to
Shipping.
The total fonuago entering and clearing during the year 1901 amounted to 19,325,384 tons, being an increase, compared with 1900, of 80,248 tons, and the same in excess of any previous year. Of this increa, 165 128
are due
the fact that steam launches trading to ports ou'side the Colony have been include this year, where as in former years they have been returned separately. There wera 45.349 arrivals of 1,681,203 tous, and 4,171 departures of 9644,1-1 tons. Of British occean-going ton- cleared. uage, 1947.780) tons entered, and 2,897,2- 0 tons Of British river steamers, 1.697,242 tous entered, and 1,701,417 tous cleared, making a grand total of British tonnage of 9,213,639 tous entering and clearing. Of foreign ocean- going tonnage, 2,637.552 tons entered, und 2,609,902 tous cleared. Of foreign river steamers, 48,545 tons entered, and 49,503 tous cleared, making a grand total of foreign tonnage of 5,345.430 tons entering and clearing. Of steam launches trading to ports outside the Colony, 82,564 tons en'ared and 82,564 tons cleared. Of junks in foreign trade, 1,631,272 tons entered, and 1,634.896 tons cleared. Of junks in local trade, 666,248 tous entered, a. d 663,699 tons cleared Thus-British ocean-going ton- nage represented 30.1 per cent. British river 17.2 per cent.; foreign ocean-going 27.5 per cent.; foreign river 0.5 per cent.; steam launches 0.9 per cent., junks (foreign trade) 16.9 per cent.; junks (local trade) 6.9 per cent.
The actual number of ships of European construction (exclusive of river-steamers and steam-launches) entering the port during 1901 was 682, being 337 British and 345 foreign. Thus 682 vessels entered 3,570 times, and gave a total tonnage o£5,555,332 tons. The shipping returns for 1900 and 1901 showed that though there was a large decrease in the number of vessels under the British flag (chiefly due to the withdrawal of some river steamers) there was an increase in British tonnage of 58,441 tons. This did not include jaaks in local trade, the busines of which showed an increase of more than 700,000 tons over that of the preceding year.
The problem of providing berthing accom modation in the harbour for the ever-increasing toupage frequenting the port is one that is getting more difficult each year, and though there may not be any very pressing necessity just at pres ut, there can be no reasonable doubt that, with the constant advance in size, draught, and number, as well of ships-of-war as of the mercantile marine, and of foreign as well as British shipping, the water space will soon be found inadequate.
INDUSTRIES.
During the year 1971, most of our local industries, which are chiefly carried on upon joint stock principles, were well employed throughout the year, with satisfactory results. Cotton spinning by the local company was hampered by the plague. The results to original shareholders were not good, owing to
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