July 18, 1903.]
is valued at $350. The matter was reported at once by Mr. Jorge, personally, at the Central Police Station.
The moment may be an opportune one for warning ladies - against walking out with their purses dangling from their waist-belts. The above are not the first cases of the king, but the police are practically helpless, however anxions to prevent such occurrences. In the oircumstances the remedy lies with ladies them- selves.
was.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
not
seem to spoil the enjoyment of the drive. Cruelty to animals is scandalously prevalent in the Colony, and the existing state of things calls for systematic prevention of these cases of which the one described above is a glaring example. Should the police not yet have received a complaint, we may state that evidence of the occurrence can be had from Captain Kellett, Sherwood Foresters; Mr. White, verger of S. John's Cathedral; Mr. J. E. Sinclair, Messrs. Jardine. Matheson Co.'s East Point todowns; and Mr. E. F. Skulls, trainer to Mr. Master.
"
12
The police are investigating at present one of the biggest robberies, so far as the value of the property stolen goes that has occurred in the Colony for some considerable time. The victim In connection with this same case a corres- is Mr. Esmailji Tajbahin Mohammedan gentle-pondent signing himself Keiss man residing with his wife, an Australian lady, follows under date 9th July:
writes as at 45-46, Elgin Road, Kowloon, and the facts of the case are as follows. On the 8th instant afternoon Mrs. Tajbahi, accompanied by her amah, called on a friend. The husband remained at home, and some time after his wife's departure the amah returned and said Mrs. Tajbahi wanted him to go to her. He locked up the house and went along with the amah to where his wife Arrived there. he sat down without troubling to ask why he had been sent for, apparently taking it for granted that it was simply to escort his wife home when the visit was over; the amah however, went away. An hour later the husband and wife arrived back and found to their dismay that the house had been turned upside down, and an investiga- tion of the loss showed it to be a serious one. Promissory notes to the amount of £3,000 were missing, as well as 417 sovereigns, six gold nuggets worth about £50, aud jewelry and miscellaneous articles of the total vains of nearly $1,000. The police were immediatly communicated with, and they arrested the amah, whose term of service expired next day, when she was to be dismissed. No trace of the stolen property had been found up to yesterday.
CRUELTY TO ANIMALS IN HONGKONG.
On Thursday afternoon a shocking case of cruelty to a pony occurred at Happy Valley. A party of Chinese were out driving in a gharry, which was crowded to du extent that taxed te pony's powers to the point of exhaustion and the poor brute fell down between the shafts, unable to move a step farther. This happened close to the Golf Club. The Chinese undid the harness, but even then the pony was unable to rise although it was unmercifully thrashed to make it get up; and when the Chinese saw that their efforts in this direction were of no avail they procured topes and crowbars and began to shift the tortured animal to the side of the road in the same manner as workmen move a slab of granite or a log of wood. Ropes were tied round its bally and hauled upon to such an extent that it seemed a wonder the skin did not burst, and all this time the pouy was beaten with sticks and lashed with rope's-ends in a most cruel manner. Meanwhile several Europeans had been attracted to the scene but as there were no policemen in the neigh bourhood at the moment they were unable to interfere with the Chinese in their heartless
treatment of the beast
*
At last a canvas sling with ropes attached was brought from the Chun Wah stables and placed under the pony's belly and, the ropes having been passed over the branch of an adjoining tree, the animal was hoisted into ад erect position and left there for about an hour with its hoofs dangling half
off and half on the ground. It so happened that a medical gentleman the Hon. Dr. Atkinson, we understand was passing on his way to the Club when he was attracted by the sight of the pony slung up to the tree. He at once ordered the tortured beast to be shot, but the Chinese had by this time procured a barrow and in this vehicle the pony was removed to the stables, its owners apparently being desirous of preserving for their own gain that little life remained
in it.
cruelty to animals in this part of the British I think it is time something was deue to stop Empire. This afternoon John Chinaman and some of his friends had their usual drive along the Valley, and after thrashing the pony and driving it until it could not stand they simply uubuckled the harness and left the poor animal not to die but to be tortared to death by the wayside. I was not the only observer of this case of cruelty. Hon, Dr. Atkinson, and Mr. E. F. Skulls were also witness s of the affair and I am sure these gentlemen know when animals are ill-treated. It is not an unusual thing for Celestials to go out with horses and thrash the very life out of them. When the poor pony had fallen down from sheer exhaus- tion, the coolies belonging to the Chun Wah stables showed little mercy to it; they tried to shift it to another place with marling-spikes and iron bars, and tied ropes round the animal's middle until it was like an hour-glass in shape.
This is by no means an isolated case of cruelty to these gharry ponies. Almost any evening one can see parties of well-dressed Chinese driving in carriages in numbers far in excess of the little ponies powers of endurance. The fact that the pony is distressed does
think the Government might appoint some this Colouy, as it is a cruel shame the way officers to look after the welfare of animals in horses and others animals are dealt with at the hauds of some of their Chinese owners. I trast that some of the right authorities will see to this.
CHINA'S
CURRENCY.
SIR ROBERT HART'S SUGGESTION. The N.-C. Daily News publishes the following special translation of a memorial containing presented to suggestious concerning an uniform currency, Hart, Inspector-General of Imperial Mari- the Waiwupi by Sir Robert
time Customs:-
27
rency, shall sofizan uniform exchange between silver and gold that there may be no danger of uncertain fluctuations. With this object in view I now proceed with my suggestions.
2. If the Chinese Government possessed as large quantity of gold this metal might be struck into gold coins and then a fixed exchange could be decided in their relation to silver money. This naturally would be an easy matter to put into force. But when we have no gold and only use a silver and copper currency, it becomes incumbent upon us to decide upon some method to bring about a fixed ratio of exchange between gold and silver. If it could be possible to do this by making only slight changes in the old methods of exchange, so much the better, as it would obviate the necessity of making the people suffer on both accounts. to maintain a fixed ratio of exchange between When there is no gold and yet it is determined
currency of an uniform weight and fineness, and gold and silver, it is necessary to create a silver in quantities sufficient to meet the needs of the whole empire. To do this a Mint to strike these coins is of paramount importance and indispens- able. The Central Government must establish a special Mint of its own which shall strike all the coins needed according to fixed regulation and no branch mints must be permitted to be established elsewhere. to start a Government Bank, while there are, of As for the proposal course, certain benefits and advantages obtain- able from such an institution, as a matter of fact such a Bank can have little to do with of gold and silver. the making of a fixed ratio in the exchange
要
3. If it be decided to coin money to supply the currency needed for the whole empire it would be advisable to continue to retain the terms and weights of "tael." " mace,
"candareen" Li) as the people are accustomed to their use. and "li" (Liang, Ch'ien, Fên, But in minting the uniform currency it will be necessary that it should not only be accepted at a fixed value throughout the Empire, but be also recognised and accepted at a fixed value in exchange for gold in the other countries of the world. This must be the main object in view and is of greater importance than that of being the accepted currency in our own Empire. Hence the "tael" must be made of such a weight as to correspond in value to decided afterwards, with the object of making a cerlain amount of silver, which should be
it a recognised coin in other countries. It has been recommended by certain persons that in coining the American dollar should be made the standard, new currency the
because the American dollar has already a gold in recognised and fixed value in relation to have also recommended that the new silver cur- other countries. Others again
Kuping tael in weight, because the present rency be made each into a piece of coin one market rate of gold exchange is eight Kuping taels for £l gold. Either of the above sugges- tions is feasible, and in making the new currency it should be made into four kinds namely, one- tael, five-mace, two-mace-and-a-half and one-mace be also struck two kinds of copper money coins. Besides these silver coins there should namely ten-cash pieces and one-cash pieces (10 cash-one fen; one cash-one li). After the establishment of the Mint and the striking of coins of all kinds, it will then be time to decide when the new currency shall be launched upon the country. No other coins should be permitted to circulate in the Empire after this.
1. While the various countries of the world possess a gold standard, China at the present day is still without it and yet continues the use of silver money. It is not because other began to have a steady value regulations were countries have no silver money, but since gold made for a fixed ratio between gold and silver, silver money even has no uniform weight or China not only has no gold currency, but her appearance, nor has she a fixed ratio of exchange batween the two metals, so that whenever there is need for gold it must be obtained at market rates. For this reason people in China labour under the difficulty of fluctuating Moreover the silver dollars in nse are limited rates of exchange at various hours of the day. in number, the balance of the currency being largely made up of silver ingots and lumps. These lumps and ingots of silver are merely so much silver in the mass, and in the barter for goods are much inferior to the silver dollar. During the past twenty to thirty years the output of silger-mines has been exceedingly great and much more than is needed for use by the various countries of the world, and it is increasing from year to year so that silver has become cheaper and cheaper and the purchase price as compared with gold gradually less and less. Hence it would be much wiser for China to maintain a gold standard instead of dropped down to such a degree and moreover a silver one as at present since silver has
possesses no certain
or uniform, exchange, even within the limits of a single day. The hundreds of trades are all disastrously affected by the present state of the currency while debts in gold, both country the Government having to pay its foreign are being plunged into the depths of financial and people distress. foregoing therefore compel one to seek some The conditions pictured in the plan whereby they may be ameliorated, and so make it that China, while sti'l using a silver cur-
4. As soon as it has been decided what coin are to be struck; proper regulations should. made with regard to the mint to be establi If too many brauch mints be allowed it is apprehended that the money may no form weight or fineness, and so co., u be caused such as is now prevalent in this st pire and thus infiuite trouble and to the reforms suggested may arise. The way would be to select some central spot for construction of one principal Mint which shall coin all the currency that may be needed by the provincial governments.
With the exception of this principal Mint no other mints shall be machinery now in use in the various provinces allowed to be established. All the minting
should be without reserve sent to the principal Mint in question so that there may be no waste of the money expended upon it. Besides the native workmen to be employed in this Mint
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