290
A CHEESEPARING COLONY.
(Daily Press, 4th April.)
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
"
who sends her " boy to market for a cab- bage. Legislative Council meetings do not occur every week. While we are waiting Our correspondent BANYAN in his for the unofficial member to utter our pro- jottings has thrown a new, and it must be test, can we not assail the walls of Jericho confessed, a rather startling light on to the for ourselves, by making such a united increase in the price of provisions at Hong-noise as even our local bureaucracy must kong, which increase has been so much give ear to ? From Sir MATTHEW NATHAN, bewailed and commented upon lately. A who has so far shown himself a fair-minded new light we have called it, because a for- man, with a desire to rise above the narrow gotten old light suddenly revived comes official rut from which Hongkong official- with all the brilliance of a new. Who dom has seemed unable to escape hitherto, remembers the Food Commission of five
we might even extract a pledge that, should years ago! Certainly among the numerous he in his wisdom deem another enquiry members of the community who contributed desirable, some attention would be paid in to the recent discussion of rising prices we responsible quarters to the conclusions of can remember no particular reference to the new Commission. The public has been the feature of the Food Commission's accused of laziness, indifference, and what
report which
富豪
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[April 8, 1905.
on the British naval re-organisation scheme, Our contemporary says: Unfortunately for us, the very heterogeneous concourse of political atoms composing Mr. BALFOUE'S Cabinet is strikingly destitute of im- agination. No member of it, frora Lord LANSDOWNE to the present Lord SALISBURY, seeing to have the least idea of the value of prestige. The sacrifices which the British army and navy made in the past in the Far East were repaid not only in the immediate results, but even more in the prestige they conferred on the British nation and its representatives here. Intangible as prestige may be, it is yet an invaluable assel, and its value can be maintained by a very little care and attention, while it can be very easily lost, and it is recovered with difficulty
"Banyan " has
not, because it has not always jumped at if it is once lost." In this there is much phasised. As he reminds us, the cry was
the characteristic every panaces that was proclaimed from the
with which, knowing all against Chinese squeeze pidjin." housetops. We do not think it is laziness, Chinese capacity for estimating the values Well, because they are perhaps not so black and we are certain it is not indifference, of others, we may not quarrel. But in as they were painted, we have no intention for everywhere the cry is the same-an referring to the absence of the imaginative of suggesting that the Chinese market stall almost comic despair at the constant upward gift in the British Government, does our holders are innocent of complicity in the trend of prices, and the almost as regularly esteemed contemporary not lay itself open
" squeeze which we, as residents, are all diminishing value of money. When the to a straight tu quoque? Why suggest, as experiencing. But squeeze begets squeere, public is really of one mind on a public it suggests, that we intend to rely upon the The contractor who has a too close-fisted question, and nothing seems to be done, the Germans for help in policing the Yangtze, employer is not likely to be generous with reason must be sought elsewhere. It is in any case where our remaining forces prove the sub-contractor; and our correspondent's often said by old residents here that "it is inadequate? Has the history of the past year analysis of the market revenues seems to
no use expecting Mr. So-AND-80 to move in no stimulating power over our contem show beyond all reasonable doubt that the the matter, because Mr. SOMEBODY ELSE porary's imagination! Is there no Japanese In squeezing native meat-seller is forced into wouldn't like it, and he puts a lot in his fleet, and no Anglo-Japanese alliance? his repeated impositions by official imposi-way "! It does not, as the saying is, need our earlier comments we remarked that tions which, in view of the representation half-an-eye to see that much progress. ia "the survival of the Japanese fleet, after a of the Food Commission in 1900, we may impossible if that sort of thing is the rule formidable struggle, should argue, sup fairly call "squeezes" committed by the But is it? We think there must be numbers posing our alliance to hold firm, less need Government in open defiance of public of influential citizens with sufficient courage for the services of this [China] squadron opinion. A tax ou the food supply of this
to speak the truth that is in them. Let in the future." That alliance, which we Colony,
them now speak, and let every Toм, DIOK' believe will be renewed and strengthened, and HARRY add his testimony, remembering was not made without any imagination as that the GOVERNOR, like the TBSAR, must be to its possibilities; and it was undoubtedly guided to a great extent by what he is told. intended to benefit both parties. Does this We must appeal to the GOVERNOR personal-scheme of Admiral FISHER's not exhibit ly, rather than to that somewhat abstrac- thing called the Legislative Council, if we want any attention paid to our case. For who knows of a recorded case of an official
"BANYAN " calls it, and with
justice. The Government must have revenue, of course; but surely there are forms of taxation that do not involve such penny-wise levies as are to be got by annual increases of market rents; and, we might add, by peddling timber from the hillsides Perhaps the Government thinks there should be advances in market rents to
correspond with the ever rising shop rents; but it will need a wise resident to say why this should be. "BANTAN puts the increase in market revenue, accomplished since the Food Commission requested the Government to keep market rentals as low as possible, at $20,000; but it appears to be nearer $25,000. It does not need to be pointed out that nearly every cent of that amount has been paid, not out of the stall- holders' profits, but out of the pockets of the consumers. The increase for this last year is given as $7,832. Is there any cause for wonder that prices should have gone up so much as to give rise to all this futile talk of meat clubs ? Avaricious as they may be, we cannot help regarding the market renters as to some extent fellow victims with ourselves, suffer- ing only in a lesser degree than their customers; and all because we have the misfortune to live under a Government that bappens to be placed by circumstances above criticism. It certainly behaves as if it were. Outsiders think that, as a "free port, Hongkong enjoys cheaper imports than they do. Every resident has reason to know what a fallacy this is. Importers who retail cannot give their customers the benefit of untariffed prices, because their other expenses are so high. Everything cannot be set down to absentee landlordism. The price of necessaries interacts on rates of rent; in no place more than in Hongkong is the inter-relation of one business with another more apparent. The evil influence of a chesse paring policy in the Government makes itself felt by the official's lady who goes to buy a piano, and by the clerk's wife
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member voting "agin the Government" The GOVERNOR is the Government, if it be not high treason to say so, and it is but wise to act accordingly. To sum up, has that extra $25,000 extorted in market rentals (since a specially appointed Com- mission recommended that such rentals be minimised) anything to do with the corres- ponding increase in cost of necessaries? If it has, does the public wish the Government to continue its present policy in this parti- cular, or not? Those in favour may write to their newspaper saying aye," those against saying
CC no. "It is a free country.
k
THE CHINA SQUADRON.
one form of benefit that we receive? Re-
garded in this way, a way that, after all, needs no colossal imagination, we are un- able to see how the wholesale reduction
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of the British naval force in these waters is not merely a very henvy blow to our If prestige, but it is a serious danger." we did not know that the N.-C. Daily News was sound on that point, we should take "serious danger to be another that Yellow Peril story, Oa reading further, it appears that our Shanghai friends have in mind another anti-foreign rising, and that it goes so far as to suggest that a retention of the pre-reform system would prevent that. Were there no British ships on the China station five years ago? Why did "the sight of the flag on a British man- of-war
not operate preventively then?` The further suggestion that Sir GERARD for such a NOEL is at present "helpless (Daily Press 5th April.)
small job as that of hunting up and explod- The last word has not been said about the ing the derelict mines now endangering naval re-organisation of Sir JOHN FISHER, shipping in the north is nonsense. The which is responsible for the departure of a fact probably is that in this matter every number of obsolete British craft from boly's business has been regarded as Chinese waters. Hongkong opinion, whe- nobody's business. The ship that China ther swayed by Imperial thinking ' detailed for this work was, quite naturally, not, was by way of approving the change, laid up in Taku dock, and is there yet, and as well as the ideas which inspired it. the British ships have been too busy with Further north they have been longer in Flest boxing competitions and the like to making up their minds; and it is only on
worry about interfering with a task that the 80th March that our Shanghai con- merchantmen are spasmodically performing. temporary gives voice to opinions diametri-As for the Teal and Widgeon being far less aally opposed to those we ventured to offer on the 24th January. On that occasion we incidentally remarked, a propos quite another issue, that "it is ouly those who disagree with and oppose us that we dub stupid," so perhaps it is wise to hasten to add that disagree with our contemporary as fo we have no desire to allow our contemporary the importance of prestige. Nor do we, but to apply this casual remark to itself, while there may be more than one way of securing we proceed to consider its belated comments' and retaining it. Sir JOHN FISHER'S ships,.
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useful than the discarded Bramble and Britomart, that is a point for experts, who apparently differ, for we have listened to contrary opinion.
We have said that
we do not
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