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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
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[October 8, 1908.)
The retort of the famous Irish parliament- arian might very well be made to that part of the Governor's budget speech where he said “I confess I do not look for any sympathy with posterlly from the taxpayers of the present day. Why should we consider posterity ? What has post rity done for us?
Whether succeeding generations will rise and bless the name of Sir Frederick is a question which does not concern the taxpayer of the present day, but the present generation will doubtless regard His Excellency as a very He has tided present help in time of trouble. as over a time of difficulty and the evil day of arsed taxation which we all dreaded has been postponed. For such small mercies we are truly thankful. With the low dollar and the enhanced priod of commodities we should have felt that bankruptcy was not far off if additional bardeos had been imposed upon us, but happily we are still left with the hope of the good time coming. And as Robert Burns rings:
cruisers and 120 destroyers. Submarines Germany, Prince von BUELOW declared, | but if my correspondent had written earlier I are being built at the rate of ten a year. dreamed of a quarrel with England, which might have brought the subject under the notice Of the 18 battleships, 12-three each year would irreparably injure both. The British of the local St. Andrew's Boolety who mat in
conclave on Friday last. are to be laid down in the first four years. We nation certainly does not wish for a conflict, gather from the shipbuilding statistics as but it is bound to ask itself the meaning and they are presented in the Service journals object of Germany's naval expansion. In that at the end of the next four years a recent number of the Spectator there was Great Britain will in ships of the "Dread- a letter purporting to give the substance nought" class alone be nominally 5 or 6 of conversations with the commander of one below a two-Power standard based upon the of the German Mail steamers running to the formula of two to one against Germany, Far East. He was represented as saying In British Naval circles the present position that the German nation was firmly resolved is not, however, deemed an unfavourable one to wrest, or at least make a determined in view of the fact that much quicker-effort to wrest, the command of the sea from progress can be made with shipbuilding in Great Britain for the obvious reason that the British yards, while the delay which Germany must expand, must have an has occurred has enabled the British outlet, both commercially and in the way Admiralty to gain full knowledge of foreign of remunerative and desirable colonies. designs. But there is no intention either on Britain alone of all the nations stood in her the part of the Government or the nation at way in these directions, and until Britain large to abandon the two-Power standard : was taken out of the way by being deprived hence there are rumours of new programmes of the command of the sea, Germany would and huge naval loans.
never full her true destiny as the first If this belief is as common world-Power." in Germany as it is represented to be by the German commander alluded to, it goes a long way towards justifying "the morbid excitability" displayed in England. It is worth pointing out, however, that the alarm of the politicians in England does not seem to be shared by the officers of the Navy, and this prepares us to some extent, to accept the statement of Mr. SYDNEY WHITMAN after his interview with Prince von BUELOW that "there is good reason to believe that Germany will shortly prove that she harbours no warlike intentions, especially against Great Britain, but that she
bent
all round." on conciliation is What the precise meading of this cryptic observation is, must be left to Time to revcal. Meanwhile, though we do not share the uneasiness and alarm displayed by Lord CROMER, we recognise, as everybody must, that the situation would be vastly improved by some tangible evidence that the historic words of the KAISER-Our future is upon the water"-have not the sinister import so widely credited to them apparently alike in Germany and in England.
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Lord CROMER in the House of Lords quite recently declared that in the present condition of Europe the main duty which devolves on the British Government is " to make provision betimes for the European conflict which may not improbably be forced on us before many years have elapsed danger of which he in common, he believed, with most people who could speak with real authority ou foreign affairs was very firmly convinced. His Lordship did not mention Germany, but there was no mistaking that it was to Germany he was alluding. It is neither
necessary nor desirable,' Le added "that I should state my reason for holding this opinion. I will only say, in order to justify it, it is quite unnecessary to impugn the good faith of those high authorities abroad who constantly reiterate their peaceful inten- tions. Neither is it necessary to bold that any deliberate intentions hostile to this country exist.
We are, however, living in times when the influence of individuals, however highly placed, is limited. When national interests are involved and race passions are excited there is always a risk, and more than a risk, that a collision be- tween rival nations will take place, however pacific may be the intentions of their rulers."
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RANDOM REFLECTIONS.
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A correspondent writes to tell me of the mild shook he received the other day when engaging a ricsha noolis. He was trying to elicit from his " boy," who soted as interpreter, if the big raw-boned fellow had palled a rioshs before, but the purport of his question was evidently mis taken by the boy who explained "He belong Scotohman." This explanation was no explana. tion. The coolie had all the appearances of a real Celestial and there was nothing about him to suggest the son of Caledonis.
There is no doubt that Lord CROMER in I have heard a good deal of discussion since these outspoken observations voiced a sen- the harbour swim about the abilities of the timent which is widely entertained is Eng leading men. Not a few ascribe the win of Thomas to his greater knowledge of the harbour land, though his lordship could not but
and suggest that Cooke is the stronger swimmers admit that the mass of the people
That may be so, but ode would have thought are not so alive to the possibility of any the experience of last year would have led such conflict taking place." He put this Cooke to watch his dangerous rival more closely down, however, to their ignorance of foreign The fact that Thomas has won twice in succes- affairs. It may be mentioned as a note.sion, and that the same men finished in the worthy feature of the agitation in England same order is a fair indication that the honours
are not misplace i. that even Socialist leaders are joining in the demand for the maintenance of a two- Power naval standard. Great Britain's position in the matter can be understood. The command of the sea is essential to her existence, and, therefore, for the nation to allow itself to fall into a position where its power at sea will be weaker than that of some other Power or some likely combin. ation of Powers would be suicidal. Germany's excuse for the big navy she is developing, and the still bigger one advocated by the German Naval League, is not so apparent, when we bear in mind the desire for peace re-iterated again and again by the KAISER. By telegram a few weeks ago we learnt also that Prince von BUELOW had denounced as insane the writers of such articles as that which appeared in the July number of the Quarterly Review in which the writer discussed the situation much upon the lines suggested by Lord CROMER in the speech to which we have alluded. Nobody in
be
My correspondent must be a griffin of would know that a Scotchman among the Chinese is a Hakke. But the reason for eo describing the Hakkas I have not discovered. It may be that the name was given them as an acknowledgement that they were bigger than the other Chinese or it may have been an appreciation of that character- istic which makes them more careful in the distribution of their money. qualities which they have in common with the canny sons of Scotia may be an explanation,
These two
Who will say that Fortune grieves him, While the star of hope she leaves him.
•
I thought we should not have to wait long for the appearance of the Chinaman who realised the ommercial possibilities of the Sanitary Board's recommendation to the in habitants to keep cats. According to the Daily Preis a genius was discovered the other day hawking cats, and as the proouring of licence is a necessary prelude to hawking a formality with which this worthy had <mitted to comply-he was haled before In the nosympathethetic magistrate. an presence of the “beak" he showed himself ready witted and explained that he was not selling cat but merely distributing them with a view to helping to carry out the intentions of the Sanitary Board. The excuse however did not go down with his worship who showed his dis- approval by inflicting a fine of four dollars.
4ttention, dear readers, for the gentleman ja returned from Rangoon who proposes to tell us something we don't know about osta. 'Indians "—that is the nom de plume of my
repondent-declares that cata are great peta in that city. They are very amiable and never keep late hours or exercise their vocal cords ou the tiles. No, their behaviour is exemplary, They are never found coming home with the milk in the morning bleary eyed and shame- faded. But here is the burden of his homily! they are good rat catchers. If local live stook dealers, he adds, import the breed they will be able to dispose of oats at $5 per head.
"Ia- diens's" suggestion will doubtless be welcomed by the Government and the Sanitary Board, and I can imagine that the next list of honours from home will include a C.M.G. or D.8.0. for the gentleman from Rangoon.
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· Stand'ard and fast," who writes sarcastic, wants us to boost the idea of Down South' for more public entertainment. “Stand'ard I hope he will forgive my familiarity in ferring to him only by the first part of Kis name -is AD American, and Americans a
great people, you know, for doing things. They got Manila about ten years go and now they are building a decent hotel. But maskeo. “ Stand'ard” tells me that when Seattle was a babby township he and a few others made things ham by themselves. He and a few of his friends are in Hongkong now. Bow quiet Seattle must be. Why doesn't he hom in Hongkong?
On top of this letter comes another from a fellow whose signature I cannot decipher. He complains of Indian policemen singing in the streets at night while on daty. Good gracious!
suspected them of many things, but my fancy lumbering-not slumbering-fellows capable of never ran riot to the extent of imagining these singing. My correspondent says these musical efforts disturb the children and make them cry. That cannot be tolerated. Midnight warbling, Whether by cats or Sikh policemen, must be stopped, and doubtless the O. 8, P, will pu instructions to that effect.
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