May 28, 1906.]
CHÍNA OVERLAND TRADE ŘEPORT.
REMARKAble censuS FIGURES.
to assist an alien Chinaman to recover a debt | SHANGHAI FRENCH CONCESSION., and such a paltry sum? The Chinaman's remedy was to apply to the Sultan. As you may imagine very bad blood has been created in Brunei, and the Resident may find great difficulty in managing the place; in fact, he cannot run both Labuan and Brunei ; it is bound to and in flasto.
The objectionable duties (on fresh fruit, etc.)
have now been taken off.
·MAUDLIN SENTIMENT.
The Paking and Tientsin Times thus deals with the questions that Mr. H. H. Marks asked the Secretary for Foreign Affairs (whether his attention had been called to the report of the superintendent of police of Hankow to the British Municipal Council of Hankow for the year ending Dec. 31, 1905, from which it appears that during the year 514 persons charged with various offences were flogged with bamboos, and 76 persons tortured with the cangue; whe- ther such punishments were allowed by the British Consuls in concessions in China; and what steps, if any, Ais Majesty's Government intended to take for the purpose of stopping them).
****
Bambooing is by no means a punishment which we uphold, but the lamentable ignorance displayed in the above enquiry is to our thinking of far greater consequence to the credit of the nation than the "awful barbarities" which are supposed to have called it forth; and it is, moreover, inexcusable ignorance, as there are sufficient people of prominence now at home for the conditions under which municipal affairs in the ports are conducted to have been easily ascertained, and so have saved the time of the House and the patience of many thons. and readers. Even the nature of the ongus is clearly misunderstood, or the world "torturo would not be applied, as like the stocks of old the main object of the instrument is its public ignominy, though in Chinese hands it has been known to be converted into an instrument of
17
forture no doubt, as any other simple instrument may be when ingenuity turns its attention that way. The fact is the folks at home are getting so sentimental and tender-beartel we shall have the treadmill and even oakum-picking abolished soon ás barbarism, and a few other premiums introduced on orime and rascality, already in- creazing at an appalling rate. The Liberals with their anti-slavery ory bave started a new craze which may have very serious results.
CHINESE "HOWLERS."
From the Yellow Dragon we quote the follow- ing quaint memoranda by Chinese pupils at Queen's College, Hongkong :-
"I am also to tell you that the Governor of H.K. has reached our college to examine all of us and two gentlemen accompanied him. This Governor is very young and strong.
"But in this year the Governor wrote a new book named Hygien and ordered all the school- boys of this colony to learn this book by hard.
"This is the subject to which I have paid, p、y and shall pay my greatest attention.
"
In the year 1905 H. E. the Governor came this college and gave us a lot of prizes and golden rules. When he said the more we learn the better we get I thereby make up my mind and try to get the first seat.
The new subjects introduced into Queen's College are by the order of His Excellency Sir Nathan Mathew after his arrival at Hongkong, He is an excellent man and loves people of all classes to have full of knowledge and good education.
“About a fortnight ago, some peculiar thing brought to this college by Bainsborough who gave out the pictures saying about the country. men who have never been known to us. The men that I spoke of have no clothes or trousers to put on and devour or kill each other. Greatly we hope that we will never go to such place".
A great beneficial strange subject to me is that än Englishman came to the college and gave a disposal of delivering on the southern ens and the various kinds of" beautiful girls."
A bulky volume, the statement of the Municipal Council of Administration in the French. Concession at Bhanghai for 1905 is not without interest, showing as it does the several important undertakings which the anthoriti s have had in haod during the year. The tram- way system, electric lighting, and the raising of loans have been the principal subjects dis- onssed at the meetings, while the reports of the various services are by no means unattractive.
Looking at the budget for 19.15, we notice that of the total receipts which come under budget ordinaire Tls. 158,221.46 were derived from local duties and enstoms, Tis. 103,497,4? from licences, Tix. 33,212.94 from taxes. Tis. 79,717 from divers receipts, Tis, 16,062.64 from Tls, 18,432.79 from electric light, Tis. 32.637.68 accidental receipts, Tis, 885.29 from interest.
from distribution of water, and Tis. 13,773.51
from abattoirs. On the other side of the account the secretariat absorbed Tls. 30,768 08 for divers services, including light. water, telephones, bells and clocks, mediosi miscellaneous expenses, volunteers and defence service, semaphore, allocations and donations of the concession (Ils. 2,378.93) and loans Tla. public works The. 75.294.93, electric light Tls 120,715.09, garde municipale Tis. 90,140,18 11.821.28, water Tle, 652.37, and abattoirs Tls. 8,678.54.
¦
s
The census, taken in the French concession on 14th October, 1995, provides some interesting figures of the total foreign population of 631, there were 463 males and 368 females, 47 of the former being under 15 years and 221 of the latter.' ¡A remarkable disparity is here revealed, the girls being about five times more numero than the boys, a circumstance which is indeed remarkable in China. Moreover, it shows that the male adults are much more unmorons that the other. In this total of 831 are only found the females, there being 416 of the one to 147 of
274 French, the next highest in point of number being the British with 109, followed by 73 Japanese, 6 Russians, 51 Portuguese, 47 Germans, 30 Eurasians, 28 Filipinos. 20 Parsees, 21 Americans, 15 Belgians, 14 Italians, 12 Swiss, 7 Greeks, 5 each Spaniards, Austrians, and Dutch, 3 Danes. 2 each Turks and Argen. each Norwegian, ¡Armenisu, and tines, and Chilian. There were 84,791 resident Chinese, of whom 1,277 male and 19: female were in the service of F'uropeans. This, with a floating population of 4,340 and 7,000 on voyage, gives algrand total of 96,132 Chinese.
INTERNATIONAL BANKING
CORPORATION.
¦
di
being drawn mainly from the professions of law and engineering. The Wall Street Station of the New York Post Office occupies the ground foor, and several large business concerns have leased offices in the upper floors. From the first of May the building wil earn a net income over all charges and may be expect ›d, in addition to providing good quarters for the Corporation, to show a fair profit on your investment during the present year.
We have been favoured with the following report, dated New York, April 9.h, and the Corporation's seventh semi-annual statement, that of, December 30, 1905, which follows it :-
The uncertainty attending the final stages of! the Russo-Japanese war and the unsettled ¡ ourrency condition in the Straits Settlements, made it advisable for us to carry on our Orion fal business with extreme caution, and the branches were therefore obliged somewhat to curtail their transsotions with a corresponding decrease of pri fit, but meanwhile we have been steadily building up our resources at the various points and are now established in the Phili⚫ pines. Hongkong, Shanghai, Japin and the Straits Settlements. The corporat on his now no office which does not either earn on its own account a fair profit or otherwise render service indispensible to the Corporation as a whole. The half-year under review is the first for which this statement could be male.
Our temporary premises in China and Japan having become too small for the volume of our busin-se, we were obliged to obtain larger and more suitable offices in Hongkong, and in the course of the next few months our Yokohama Branch will be moved into a floor secured ia a building now nearing completion. We are also in treaty for offices in a new building in Shang hai, where we have outgrown our present premises.
New York has increased and in the latter part of 1995 its capital was raised from $1- 0,00 1 to $500, 0, the new stock being taken by your gorporation. It is earning a profit and will begin paying dividends in the present year.
The business of the International Bank of
|
|
The Board express their acknowledgment to the officers and employees for their fidelity and efficiency during the year.
Very_respectfully.
THOMAS H. Hubbard,
President.
ASSETS.
Demand Loans and Advances
Time Loans
Bonds and Stooks Commercial Credits
Bills Discounted Furniture and Fixtures (Less 10 per Bullion and Remittances in transit..... cent. Depreciation semi-annually).... Due from Banks and Correspondents...
|
$1,930,435.21
1,019,560,80
4,482,101.15
8,308,655,88
6,023,237,16
*
81,480.03 8,945,775.53 449,314.06
Cash on hand and in Local Derositories 4,674,189.87
Capital Surplus
LIABILITIES.
Profit and Loss Dividend Payable April 10, 1906.. Acceptances, Bills and Drafts on and
Payable by Branches and Corres- pondents. and against Bills Receivable or tullion in transit Due Banks and Bankers
Deposits, Time Deposits, Demand
$34,004,7-9.4!0
$3,250,000,00. 3,950,000.00 143,686.99 15,000,00
13,06 1,754,21 1,914,315.28 3,214,336.92 9, 93,616,09
$34,04,700.49
THE LATE SIR GEORGE O'BRIEN.
A letter from the London correspondent of the Daily Press on May 25 contained the following reference:-The death has been announced since I last wrote of Sir G. T. M. O'Brien, at one time Colonial Secretary at Hongkong. Sir George
was one of the ablest officials that ever served
*
in the Colony. Like most men of outstanding ability, he was never popular, and his ruthless abstention from the social inanities of the place did not add to his popularity. It may be that ill-health was the chief reason why he preferred the society of his sis er to that of the residents. but, whatever the cause, when he left for home there was not much regret expressed. One thing the community had to thank him for was the enlivenment of the debates—if debates they can be called-in the Legislative Council. A reference to your files at the latter end of 1892 will bear out the truth of my statements At that time the Colony was recovering but slowly from the spell of over-speculation which ruined so many of us, and when on the top of this came the first great slump in silver it looked as if the Colony would be submerged by financial disaster. When the Government proposed to revise official salaries with a view to their increase, there WBS, of course, much indiguation. The Unofficials spoke in terms of praise of the Officials, but pleaded that the moment was inopportune for an increase of salar ́es. Then it was that Sir George quoted the well-known couplet-
*
'It's all very well to dissemble your love, But why do you kick me downstairs.”
The one mistake of his Hongkong osreer was the forcing through the Council of the last silver loan. If I am not mistaken he was one of the few who asserted that the dollar would never go below two shillings and sizpanos. Ha lived long enough to see the falsity of his prophecy.
Residents of Hongkong are so familiar with fevers, headaches, and so on, that many of them have acquired the habit of self-doctoriog «od drug taking. Quinine and phensostin are played with us sulphur and treacle used to be at- The building, Sixty Wall Street, in which Home. It is not the wisest thing to đỡ. On your Corporation is interested, was opened less ¡ Thursday a lady at one of the hotels nearly than a year ago and is well occupied, its tenants ~ died of phenacetin poisoning. ›
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.