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August 17, 1908.]
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CHINA OVERLAND TRÅDE REPORT.
POPULATION STATISTICS IN CHINA,
streets in Canton, ie., both walled cities, the suburbs and Honam"; the total number of registered and numbered shops and houses were returned as 90,863, and the total population as 487,336. Our correspondent characterised the figures ridiculous,"
"simply
الأمة
disastrous effect on the business prosperity of the port and these views were held to outweigh all other considerations on the subject. Not more than about two years
(Daily Press, August 14th.) ago the Government of the Straits Settle- About three years ago Sir MATTHEW ments drew up a Bill and referred it to a NATHAN made an effort to get a reliable Select Committee for consideration, and estimate of the population of Canton in order in the end had to abandon the Bill. In to form an approximate estimate of the rate India the question of providing by of mortality from plague in that city, and he legislation for the registration of native came to the conclusion that the population of partnerships has been under consider Canton was not known within a quarter of a ation at various times within the last million. Every writer who has ventured to forty years, and the Indian Government, give an estimate differs froin every other on which has just made another attempt at the question. It was estimated in a Customs legislation on the subject, still finds itself trade report about ten years ago as 2,500,000, unable to frame a satisfactory Bill. The but a uative official report not many years Government of India fully recognise that before gave the population as 499,288 there has been a general and continued exclusive of the boat population. We have demand for legislation on this subject and are
seen the boat population estimated at 20,000. quite prepared to consider proposals for legis. When Consul-General MANSFIELD was asked lation." They believe however that it will for information on the subject in 1904 he be readily admitted that they cannot move in replied: "There has been a recent census, the matter until the several Chambers of but it is confined only to certain areas, aud Commerce in India are in closer agreement | does not include the floating boat population, as to their precise requirements, nor until it Honam nor the villages in the outskirts. is conclusively shown that the difficulties The estimate is 90,000 houses with an with which the matter is beset can be satis. average of ten persons in each house. factorily overcome. The Bombay Chamber
Our Canton correspondent, about ten has been conspicuous in its opposition to days ago, furnished some particulars of a the tentative proposals put forward, census which the police of the city had but continued discussion on the pro-
taken quite recently in which the Superin- posals in dispute may finally result intendent reported that "there are 3,858 some practical legislation for India. Com- plex as the question is in India, the difficulties in the way of such legislation in Colonies like Hongkong and the Straits Settlements are much greater, and in both Colonies the prospect of patting on the Statute Book an Ordinance providing for the registration of Chinese partnerships must be considered remote. In legislation of this kind the object aimed at is prevention of fraud. That flagrant cases of fraud on the part of Chinese firms are sometimes disclosed in the Bankruptcy Courts both here and in Singapore cannot be denied, but it is very much open to doubt whether any legislation providing for the registration of Chinese partnerships would effectually put a stop to cases of the kind. There can be no doubt that, if an official register of Chinese partnerships were kept, it would be of great advantage to Foreign firms having business relations with Native firms, and the work of the Courts would doubtless in many cases be greatly faci- litated. But without striking a serious blow at trade it would be impossible to shut the door against fraud. The registration of persons resident in Chioa as partners in a firm doing business in the Colony-such registration cannot well b3 prevented-would keep the door always open and the Chinese objections which were made to the proposed legislation at Singapore a couple of years ago rather suggested that legislation of this kind might have the effect of increas ing fraud by the fraudulent registration as partners of persons resident in China. The object of the Ordinance would thus be defeated while the persons whose names had been fraudulently registered might be put to great hardship and inconvenience. Since the complexity of the problem has been shown the subject has ceased to possess little more than academic interest for Hongkong, but should the Government of India succeed in framing a Bill accept- able to the whole of the Chambers of Commerce in India, the Far Eastern Crowa Colonies might be encouraged to again consider the question.
census
and pointed out that the population give an average of little more than five persons to every house. No one who knows anything at all of life iu a Chinese city can accept figures like the above as reliable. To give an average of ten persons to every house would probably be very much under the mark, and then in addition to the registered houses, our correspondent says there are hundrels of small houses and huts both in the city and its suburbs which are not registered or numbered 80 that the official lamentably fails to supply the information which is needed, especially if it is true that a poll tax is under consideration. MORSE, in his recent bak on The Trade and Mr. Administration of the Chinese Empire, after remarking that the estimates of the pula tion of Canton have ranged from 500,000 to 2,500,000, says the figure now generally accepted is 900,000. If this estimate is based on the return of the number of registered houses and shops, it is probably much nearer the mark than the estimate recently furnished by the Superintendent of Police to the higher authorities, but as it would still take no count of the hundreds of small houses and huts" which are neither registered nor numbered, nor of the large boat population, it must be regarded as a wholly inadequate estimate.!
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conclusion that all the official estimates made within the last 150 years were far in excess of the truth, and that the num- ber of the inhabitants of China Proper was probably less than 270,000,000. Âud Sir ALEXANDER FE, the British Commercial - Attaché in his report for 1906, referring to the population of the whole Empire, not a Customs abstract of statistics which placed including Mongolia, at 438,214,000, said: of China proper as well as the three Man. Having visited 15 of the 18 provinces churian provinces and seen how scantily many of them are peopled, I doubt very much whether the whole of China, Man- churia, Mongolia and the Hsin Chiang or New Dominion contain a population at all approaching 400,000,000." Now, Mongolia, and the new the usually accepted Dominion (Tibet, Turkestan &c.) is in area nearly 500,000 English square miles larger than China Proper, so we may take it that Sir ALEXANDER HOSIE would agree very closely with the estimate for China Proper made by Mr. ROCKHILL, if indeed he would not regard even that figure as too high for an area of 1,535,000 English square miles out of a total of 4,300,000 square miles, which is the total area of the whole Empire.
RANDOM REFLECTIONS.
Thursday's meeting of the Legislative Council. Usually he sits back in his chair with a twinkle in his eye or leans forward, with cheek resting on hand, to catch the points of the speakers during debate in the Legislative Council, bat this weak he held the floor himself for the greater part of the meeting. His opening speech occupied an hour in delivery, but in his reply he exo-lled himself. It was his most forcible utterance since he came to the colony. vigour, and the applaus, with which he was He pressed home his points with astonishing greated at the olos was ment, but a genuine appreciation of a well
no hollow compli reasoned, well delivered, an i convincing speech. His perfor dance was not a bad one for a min who dislikes public speaking.
The Governor did most of the talking at
But why can't we do without tares? I dislike 'em and I know many people who positively hatı dodge them, but in spite of that governments them who resort to all sorts of subterfuges to
people they are supposed to protect acquainted and municipalities will insist on making the with the tax collector. Nobody wants tỏ sao the tax collector, far less to hear his voice, and bis presence at the entrance to one's house can only
be regarded as an insult I have seen peaceful men roused to fury by the placing of a little sympathies with them, that is those who have piscs of blu paper in their hands.
We osa been or are in the same plight. We remember who the world looked bright and beautiful, and all at once life bardly faded worth living. T'he demand note for some legalised exaction had been presented. But hope springs eternal in the human breast; we have paid up and tried and we contemplated whether it was any use t farget our ills. The came another demand struggling on or filing our petition at once. would b an experience to go through the Bankruptcy Court, bat-Aya, there is much siguifionce in a but." Bally though, don't you think that it is a reflection on the intel.
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ligence of the age that men have not devised Having seen sil the wonderful inventions of the a means of ridding themselves of this burden?
that some genius will arise and free us from new pentury surely it is not too much to expect this old man of the sea,' this weight that prevents us rizing to great financial heights and keeps our bilinces at the Bink very small, “Wo await the deliverer.
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If it is a matter hay oud the power of the authorities in Cauton, where a police force is maintained on modern lines, to take a reasonably accurate census of the population of that one city, we can hardly hope to get reliable informations as to the population of the catire empire. The population of the Empire has been variously estimated from 270,000,000 (ROCKHILL, 1904, and HIP- PISLEY, 1876.) to 421,000,000 (PoPOFF 1894). The Chinese Government, as the result of an estimate made for the purpose of
to the Powers set down the apportionment of the Boxer indemnity, assets on May 31st at $3,612,792.98, and the as 407,253,029. Mr. ROCKHILL, a former safety of nativa oraft, but some of them, it s'ems
the population
The Colonial Treasurer places the Colony's liabilities at $2,287,116.18. There is therefore a balance of $1,405,676.80 of assets over liabi lition.
American Minister at Peking, after a careful inquiry, came, in 1904, to the
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We have been hearing a good deal of late regarding measures to be taken to secure the to me, have been made without due consideration for the portion of the residents who live on shore. The bay in the north of Stonecutterf
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