June 1, 1903.]
his threatened descent of armed rebels upon his place of residence and views the robellidu with alarm. There are quite a number of freighers in Mengtsz, and it will no doubt be the next object of attack by the insurgents, who may, however, have the sense to know that any interference with foreigners will speedily recoil on their own heads.
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PREPARING TO ABOLISH
LEKIN
(Daily Press, 25 May.)
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT. following day it was announced that the collection of the tax was suspended until the tenth moon. The new ad valorem system, the report says, is looked upon with favour, but it is hardly likely to be tried again in Yangchow, we imagine, until lekin is-first abolished.
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PROPOSED ERIDGE ACROSS THE HARBOUR.
(Daily Press, 27th May.)
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In what he thinks is likely to be his farewell It was agreed between the negotiators of report, the Hon. R. M. RUMSEY, Harbour the new British Commercial Treaty with Master, winds up with some remarks on the China that in order to meet the loss of proposal he brought forward last year for revenue on internal trade, which would be a bridge across the harbour of Hongkong eutailed by the abolition of the lekin system, Capt. RUMSEY puts forward some very cogent the Chinese Government should be at liberty arguments in favour of his scheme for easy to impose a consumption tax on articles of and rapid communication between both sides Chinese origin not intended for export. of the harbour. He says that the ery is China is ponderously slow over most things, for more room, both for the juhabitants but the matter of imposing taxation dila and for the shipping, and from a sanitary, toriness can never be charged against her economical and commercial point of view, it is desired. He urges that more room officials. Already the system which is to take the place of leken, in so far as the in- for shipping can only be obtained by ternal trade is concerned, is apparently dredging some of the shallower parts of the cut and dried," for from Yangchow comes harbour, and more room for the inhabitants news of an effort to apply the new system, is already at hand on the Kowloon side of the water, and he thinks "it would be well which, however, has ended, as it deserved to
'if, instead of providing further space for the end, in failure. The day when lekin will be abolished is some distance off yet. The increasing population by means of reclama. tions from the water area, already insuffi- Powers entitled to most-favoured-nation
cient for the needs of shipping, all reclama- treatment by China have not yet announced
tion at or about the barbour frontage was their agreement with the eng gements
prohibited and Kowloon and the New Ter- undertaken by Great Britain in Article
ritory utilised and developed, a course VIII, and the provisions of the Article can-
which cannot be thoroughly carried out not come into force next year unless all the
until communication is made easy." This. Powers have signified their acceptance of theseengagements. But the Chinese Goveru. of course, is a matter of opinion. The recla- ment, as we have said, is taking time by mations so far made have, we think, donc no the forelock, and has attempted to apply the harm to the harbour; on the contrary they new system of taxation concurrently with the have deepened the channels and freed the old According to the Yangchow correspon-city from what were formerly very unsavoury dent of the N.-C. Daily News, the officials of foreshores. Nevertheless it may be conceded that city issue I a proclamation a few weeks that these reclamations will presently reach aso notifying that as the lekin was to be their limit, and in any case they are not abolished, it was therefore necessary to likely to satisfy the needs of the growing devise some other way of taxing thy people, population. More room will still be wanted, and it will eventually be imperative to and they accordingly announced the new
Whether system, the popular name of which is unite both sides of the harbour.
this will be effected before or after the rail- translated as "Known Contribution"--pre- sumably in humorous contradistinction to way connects Kowloon with Canton is lekin, the limits of which are often unknown. perhaps a moot point. It will be eminently There can hardly be a The new device," says the correspondent, necessary then. proved to be an ad valorem duty on just about every article of exchango eutering the city gates. An examiner's office was "located at each gate; the examiners de- clared the amount of tax to be paid on "each lot of merchandise entering: a bill to the of the amount was delivered Furchaser along with his goods and he "was required to step round to the "Collector's office and pay up. Specific cates.
rates were assessed on certain articles. as for instance, pigs, 200 cash, rice, 50 cash per picul, eggs, 40 cash per load." This, the report adds, gave the gate-keepers an opening, and rumour declares that they did a little side business not down on the tax list, such as imposing a tax of three cash per load on the coolies who carried the supply of wa er for the city, and making other little squeezes of a similarly pre- posterous nature. It did not last long, however. Without making any commotion, the principal shopkeepers simply put up their shutters, and the officials saw that if they persisted every place in the city would close and business be entirely suspended. As indicating that the local officials were acting upon orders received from a superior authority, it is mentioned that the Prefect, when he learnt the temper of the people, went to Nanking, and the
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difference of opinion as to the desirability of a connection being established; the question of costs, we imagine, the rock ou which the project will, from time to time, be delayed.
No doubt a bridge would, from any points of view, be more advantageous than a tunnel as a means of cotamunication, but both schemes will find their advo-
Captain RUMSEY says he is not pre- judiced, but adds that he is, after conside- ration, in favour of the bridge. Probably the general public, before coming to a decision, would like to know the pros and cons on either side. In the first place it would be interesting to know how the two schemes compare as to cost.. Expense is always an important factor in the decision of any question, even though it has to be borne by a Government. We have no means of forming an estimate ourselves, but should be glad to see this worked out approxi- mately. For the rest it seems to us that the Uridge would supply the pleasauter means of communication, and there would not be the necessity of descending into a depth to the tunnel, involving a correspond- ing ascent on the other side. would also probably be hot and stuffy in the summer months. Nor would it pro- bably be commodious enough to carry
A tunnel
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vehicular or goods traffic, whereas the bridge might provide for a railway or tramway as well as for ordinary vehicular and pedestrian traffic. On the other hand the tunnel would be open to traffic in all weathers, whereas the bridge would hardly prove a desirable highway during typhoons or very rough weather. Moreover, though there are two entrances to the harbour, a bridge would in some degree interfere with the traffic, though perhaps not to such an extent as to outweigh the undoubted advantages it would confer. These are matters that would require a good deal of consideration before embarking on a work that Captain RUMSEY estimates would cost some nine million dollars.
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That the bridge is both practicable and desirable no one will deny, but as to the kind of structure that would be most suit- able and best adapted to stand the strain of the gales to which we rre subject during the prevalence of the south-west monsoon there would perhaps be several opinions. If the people of Sydney find it necessary to bridge their beautiful harbour, we shall eventually, doubtless, see fit to follow their example. But we shall not be in a hurry. The desirability of a public We never are. work may be ever so apparent, its need ever so urgently felt, but we shall, after customary fashion, carefully and systematically procrastinate.
We may get plans made, approved by the Consulting Engineer to the Colonial Oice, sanctioned by the Secretary of State, estimates pre- pared, and the work actually provided for in the budget; but it not follow that the bridge would then Years might elapse, another be made. administration might disapprove, and the work be relegated to some distant date corresponding to the Greek Kalends. That is, of course, providing that the local. Gor- ernment thought well to carry out the work. If a limited liability company undertook to finance and erect the structure it would, of course, be completed in a reasonable time, and it is sincerely to he hoped that, if ever the scheme for bridging the harbour is agreed upon, a private company will be allowed to construct it. The French order some things in their colonies better than They we do; others very much worse. build such a tariff wall round their imports and exports that they sucessfully throttle trade and prevent the natural growth of
would
their colonies; at, on the other hand, it must be conceded that they lay out and build public works with a much more liberal hand and plan them with more frosight : have than we do. For proof of this faci only to turn to the neighbouring color of Indo-China, which is of mushroom growth compared to Hongkong. While in Hong.. kong we have not even a tramway on the level, in Tonkin there are lines of railway built regardless of cost, one to Hanoi cross- ing the Red River there over a bridge almost, if not quite, as lengthy as that required to cross the harbour to Kowloon. Their public buildings, too, have been erected whilst we should have been think- ing of them.
That the proposed bridge across the harbour would pay is probable, but if it is to be a great public benefit, to lead to the expansion of the place, and to add indirectly to the revenue, then it might fairly claim a contribution from the Govern- ment towards the cost or a guarantee to the promoters against actual loss. Better still, perhaps, it would be for the Government to undertake the work, but to confide its construction to a great firm of English engineers under contract to complete it in a Under those circumstances given time.
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