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January 9, 1905.]
after deprecating the fact that the Law Officers of the Crown have not advised that a protest be made, points, out that the accepted rule is that merchant ships may be sold by a neutral to a belligerent Government despite the fact that at the time of sale it is well known by the vendors that if these ships are delivered they will be converted into cruisers; but he goes on to state with justice that the test is not whether or not ships can be rapidly transformed into cruisers -as many mercantile ships can - but whether their primary and original function was mercantile and nothing else. A ship to come within the rule above set forth "must not be capable of putting on and off at pleasure an original belligerent capacity; and if such ships are sold for belligerent purposes, it is impossible to say that they are not sold in their belligerent capacity." Russia, however, has even gone further than this by sending so-called volunteer vessels through the Bosphorus unarmed with the express object of arming them after they had passed; and, if we compare the attitude taken up by her in this matter with that which she has adopted as to cargoes as above explained, we cau form some idea of the extent to which she is ready when it suits her to set all principles of international law at defiance.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT. unsolicited. Not only on New Year's Eve, but on the night of the first day of the year in some parts of the Colony candles and lamps had to be requisitioned to supplement the feeble glimmer of the gas burners. The favourite song after dinner was: In the Gloaming." My grievance against the Water Authority is that they will give us no water when we want it most. From 7 to 8 a.m. is a much more convenient hour for our daily ration of water than 7 to 8 p.m. [Since the above was written, | I have learnt with satisfaction that the public convenience is being consulted in this respect
A few years ago a man who described himself as "Professor Richard" toured the East, claim ing to cure all manner of ills by electricity. He claimed ability to make the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and, briefly put, it seemed that he claimed to do anything in this line short of rais- ing the dead. He succeeded in taking home a good many dollars from the East notwithstand- ing that he was practically hounded out of some ports as an impostor and a charlatan. By the last mail I received a newspaper-probably from the "Professor"-containing a glowing account of the miracles achieved by this wonder worker in the great seaport of the English Channel. I wonder whether in all the East there is a single case of a permanent cure among the many persons Richard operated upon in the course of his tour in these parts? From what I know of his "cures I should say it would be difficult to discover a case.
An incident occurred in the harbour last
week which I think deserves more public notice than it has received. It was a gallantand happily successful rescue by Dr Forster, the assistant Port Medical Officer. While out in his launch at West Point he saw a sampan overturned, and
on board
The policy, however, of adopting such a position is as much open to question as its justifiability even under the greatest stress. If vessels of this kind described can be sold to Russia, they can also be sold to Japan- and it may be greatly doubted, therefore, proceeding at once to the scene of the collision, whether in acting upon a principle radically divesting hims If of part of his clothing on the wrong, Russia may not be opening a doorway, he dived for two children whom he found some day to serious injury to herself. underneath the boat entangled in the wreckage It is not difficult to conceive circumstances He had great difficulty in releasing them, and in which Russia might berself be deeply having in fact, become entangled too; and to was under water himself quite a long time, concerned in the opposite principle to that upon which she has acted being maintained if indeed she is juot in that position in respect to the present war. It is, of course, not easy absolutely to prove that a given vessel has been ab initio designed for possible warlike
There are many easy ways purposes. of making vessels very hanly stand-byes in case of war without its being apparent that they were from the first intended for this object; and upon this ground the position taken up by the Law Officers on the subject is comprehensible. In such cases the sale of the vessels could not be con- sidered a breach of neutrality; but if from their character and construction there can be no doubt that they were from the first intended for warlike purposes, should occa- sion arise, there can hardly be a doubt that their sale to a belligerent amounts, as Mr. DE MONTMORENCY argues. to a breach of neutrality. It is to be hoped that the ques- tion will be made the subject of international conference, so that some understanding may be arrived at with regard to it.
HONGKONG JOTTING".
Ex
3rd January.
14
It is olo custom on the threshold of a new year to reflect on one's sins of omission and commission during the old year and to make good resolutions for the new. Individually, we have no doubt all have done this. But there are Corporations who, as somebody has explained to the world, have no bodies to be kicked or souls to be condemned. For them we pray, and a few prayers which the experience of the past few days have suggested may be briefly set down as follows :
us water
To the Gas Company-Give us light. To the Water Authority-Give
when we need it most. There is something tragic about the last moments of an expiring year, but the Gas Company's assistance in adding to the gloom of the occasion was as unwelcome as it was
add to his peril some Chinese who were using bamboo poles in an attempt to right the sam. pan unwittingly struck him a heavy blow on the shoulder. The gallant doctor succeeded with much difficulty in bringing the two children to the surface, and they were taken the steamer Telemachus in a lifeless condition, where Dr. Forster with the assistance of the officers of the ship at once set to work to restore animation, and after working hard for about an hour and a half he succeeded in restoring them. I do not kuow what means exist in Hongkong for bringing acts of gallantry to the notice of the Royal Humane Society, but I venture to suggest that the Society's Medal was well earned by Dr. Forster last week, and if there is any authority in the Colony which attends to these matters, I think this is a case which will readily commen i itself to their attention.
Some
amus ment
was
caused at
the
Supreme Court last week when Mr. H. E. Pollock, K.(. was examining an aged Chinese witness. The old gentlemen, in de-cribing at length a visit to a certain party, spoke of how the other man and he drank tea together, and exchanged various courtesies. Enquiries were made after each other's relations, how long since each had been to Canton, how they had spent their lives, etc. His Honour at last inter- rupting asked "What next?" The other blandly
I then went away; nothing else." replied
A
|
5
cruiser
The man-of-war anchorage appears pretty well occupied just at present with some of Great Britain's best fighting ships on the China Station. The first class twinscrew. Hogue has come out from home and a portion of the squadron has come down from Wei-hai- wei. There appears also to be more than the average number of merchant steamers in the harbour just now, and the observer will note that, magnificent as our harbour is, the Har- bour authorities must at times experience & good deal of difficulty in meetin: the demand fr accommodation in the more accessible parts of the harbour when any considerable portion We have not of the China Squadron is here. for many years seen so littl of the squadron as we have done this year.
|
BANYAN
THE TRADE OF HONGKONG FOR 1904.
The following summary of the trade of Hongkong for the past year will, it is hoped, prove interesting to our readers. It has been carefully compiled, and the facts have been gleaned from the most reliable sources.
YARNS.
English Yarns-In 22/24s. there has been but a small business, price being too high. Japanese and Bombay Yarns to a great extent taking their place. In 28/328. a very small business has passed, 4s, were in more demand this year, with delivery running well into next year; dealers commitments were rather heavy at high prices. Spinners apparently being well engaged, are now asking late shipment as a rule.
Bombay Yarns.-The trads in Inlian grey yara during the year has shown a marked de- cline, as will be seen by the arrivals and sales given below:---
!
Arrivals.
Jn 1903-293,850 bales. 1904-224,820 bales.
Sales. 170,485 bales. 147,519 bales.
Decrease 69,03 bales. 92,966 bales. This shows decrease of 23 per cent. on
sales import and nearly 13 per cent, on respectively. This shrinkage was chiefly due to the abnormally high prices of both cotton and yarn consequent on scarcity of raw material and the manipulations of the American market. Prices steadily advanced, with a few occasional lnlls, throughout the year. Fire of the Bombay mills were closed during a great part of the year, but some improvement has set in latterly, and most of the mills have secured favourable contracts as far ahead as July-August next to the tune of 80,000 bales for the China markets and are now working full time.
The local cotton yarn mill suffered with the rest during 1904, but with a better supply of raw material at lower prices is fucreasing its production.
Japanese Yarns.-Owing to the warbusiness has fallen off considerably, production being On the curtailed, and high prices asked. dealers' side the result of their transactions in Yarns generally is the admission "small chance." OPIUM,
}
Was
The trad in opium during 1904 characterised by heavy fluctuations, and owing to the speculative nature of the business it is impossible to say how far it was remunera tive to importers. For the Chinese dealers, how- ever, the results have not been favourable. The trade was unaffected by the war in the North. Prices for Bengal drug fluctuated with ex- change, but on the whole ruled higher than in 1903, and demand showed no falling off. Malwa was in somewhat less inquiry, and that for Persian showed a heavy decline. The fol- lowing table of Imports and Exports, from January to November, 1903 and 1904, shows the course of the trade:-
Imports. Malwa Patna Benares Persian kish nese
.6,521) 19 04~ 16,031) chests
4,558 33 111=42,221
Looking at a service paper the other day my attention was canrally arrested by the
as follows word Hongkong, and I read "General Tulloch's plea for stifling commerce in Gibraltar will not commend itself to a commercial nation. Trade is quite sufficiently stifled already in most garrison towns and naval ports. There seems to be something 1908-8,679 22.253 8,468 inimical to the growth of commerce in all garrison centres, with, perhaps, one or two exceptions, such as Hongkong. gainsaying the fact that commerce has flourished in this garrison centre, but the local men of commerce nevertheless have their grievances against the naval and military authorities, and many a time and oft they have cried them aloud.
There is no
1904-7,303) 20,351 9,364
Tur- Chi-
Total
督导
Exports.
8,923 20 94-46,051 chests 4,517
7 34—39,762 PIECE GOODƐ.
1903-8,004 22,287 8,718 1904–7,048) 19,220 8,638
11
Cotton Goods,-In the first few months of the year the business done was very moderate, but matters improved considerably about June, and fair quantities of goods have changed hands
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