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by such portion of Home and Colonial Terri- torial Forces as volunteer, while in times of peace the forces comprising the Imperial Army will prepare to hold themselves available for general service in war. Scientific prepara- tion is evidently being aimed at. Though there was enormous value-material and moral-in the fortuitous ssemblage of the gallant men from all parts of the Empire on the battlefields of South Africa, yet the teaching of all military history is that ten men on whom you can rely at a given date and at a given place to do a certain thing
are worth a hundred who are summoned and equipped at the moment the enemy is at the gate. The scheme seems to us to result in a considerable gain to the military strength of the Empire, and re- presents a great stop taken in the direction of Imperial federation.
WEIHAIWEI.
[March 6, 1909.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
| Admiralty, and we have been hearing re- the investigation which they conduct relating to ceutly of decisions on the part of Prince cata on board vessels is not without its humorous Su's committee to establish naval colleges aspect. For instance they ask "Whether any and of recommendations for the appoint- cats are kept and if any, the number, sex and place of birth ?" All sorts of complications. ment of competent naval advisers, And may arise in attempting to answer the latter now we have the Prince asking for the ren-question. A Persian cat, I suppose, would still dition of Weihaiwei that it might again | be a Persian although it were born in Hongkong become a Chinese naval base. At present or on the high seas, and the French feline would Weihaiwei is not a profitable appanage of presumably retain its distinguishing characteris the British Empire. That is to say it is tics even if it could not claim la belle France
as the place of its nativity. Possibly an attempt not self-supporting, and so long as the pre- sent uncertainty exists as to the tenure of will be made to insist on birth certificates the place by Great Britain there is little being produced in each case, though I can fancy an exception might be made in favour of the prospect of capital being attracted to Manx cat, the absence of whose tail tells its develop the commercial possibilities of the
own tale. place. Now that the question of the sur- render has been raised in a memorial to the Throne there is some likelihood of a pro- nouncement being made by the Government of Great Britain on the subject. Though Lord ELGIN in his reply to the residents of Weihaiwei twelve months ago spoke of the rendition to China of this "sapitorium for the troops" as a hypothetical question," we can hardly assume that the position has not been considered since the fall of Port Arthur. There can be little doubt that the late Government in Eng- laud had made up its mind as to what action should be taken in the event of its surrender being requested by China, but it was hardly a matter on which they could bind their successors in office. This may explain why no pronouncement has heretofore been made on the subject, and it seems also to explain Lord ELGIN's descrip- tion of it as a "hypothetical question." In the life time of the present Government the question of the surrender of Weihaiwei has not been raised until now, and so far there is no sanction from the Throne for the opening of the negotiations.
བ
RAN DOM REFLECTIONS.
The next question on the sheet is "How active. are the cats ? And the habitation of the rats P." The English is rather quaint, but maskse, we know what the inquirers are trying to elicit. I can quite imagine the cats are fairly active except perhaps after the midday meal when they probably enjoy a siesta.
A dog in their midst might also have some bearing on their move- ments but apparently that has not entered into the calculations of the inquiring authorities who are only concerned with cats and rats.
The hinese in Hongkong have no luck. The innocent looking bagatelle table, on which one could have a mild flutter for two cents in the hope of catching a small prize, has come under the ban of the law, and a popular resort is now abolished. It is hard lines, coming 80 soon after the Races which had whetted the public appetite for a gamble. *
C
The "store pipe" which is only seen in Hongkong at weddings or royal visits is appar ently growing in popular estimation in Japan This weakness of the islanders for the western tile has moved a Japanese journal to write the The silk hat is now an following in English: inevitable and laughter-provoking feature of a public function in this country. In joy or sorrow, at a garden party or a funeral service, on the platform of a station or the pier of a har- bour, go where you will, you are sure to meet some Japanese swells strutting about with tall How superior a man can feel when he is silk hats on their heads. It is really a sight blaming somebody else for something left which cannot fail to cause merriment even to the undone Even the Chief Justice is very human most pessimistic of men. As a rule the Japanese and could not resist the opportunity the other is of a low stature and the tall silk hat fits him very ill. Besides, the head-gear in question worn day of suggesting that the Registrar had not acted on his instructions when he did not see by our smart set is of all sorts and conditions. that the evidence was translated to the prison- Hence on a public occasion, when these hats ers. It may be all right to "jaw" the Registrar predominate, the sight they present is ludicrous like this, but it occurred to me that the Chief in the extreme. Why our countrymen, who Justice himself is guilty of not following his own are famous for their artistic taste, should have
The conduct of the court rests instructions.
come to adopt this ill-proportioned hat is past with him and he should certainly see that all the
our comprehension. It is to be hoped that it : At
will soon go out of fashion, as we are afraid legal requirements are complied with. ast lethat is the opinion of a layman who may that foreign visitors to this country will be expected to take the commonsense view as
get an unfavourable and wrong impression against the legal view,
of our people because of this objectionable head- gear. We say this in all seriousness, for a Japanese wearing a silk-hat impresses the be- holder as a good representation of superficial civilisation. Even in England, we learn from the Manchester Guardian, the silk hat is fast disappearing. From the same paper we also learn that since the Russo-Japanese war this country has been one of the best customers of English makers of the silk-hat. We are almost inclined to think that the craze for the silk-hat among our people is one of the attendant evils
(Daily Press, 5th March.} When the British residents of Weihai wei some time ago sent a petition to the Home Government inquiring whether there was any probability of the rendition of that Dependency to China, Lord ELGIN replied: "His Majesty's Government do not feel called upon to discuss hypothetical ques- tions." It seems not improbable however. that His Majesty's Government will be un- able much longer todelay that discussion. As is generally known China, in 1898, agreed to lease Weihaiwei and the adjacent waters to Great Britain "for so long as Port Arthur shall remain in the occupation of Russia" At that time no one dreamed that any foreign Power would be likely to oust Russia from territory which she had rapidly fortified to an extent that led the world to regard Port Arthur as an impregn- able fortress. Sir CLAUDE MACDONALD and the British Government took it for granted that Russia was settled at Port Arthur for at least the full term of the lease, which was twenty-five years, subject to extension by mutual agreement, and doubt less assumed that if the leased territory ever did again pass into other hands the only pos- sibility was that Russia might at some future date give it back to China. That was a possibility that looked at that time extremely remote, because Russia had obtained the “usufruct” of Port Arthur and Talienwan, on account of "it being necessary for the due protection of her Navy in the waters of North China, that Russia should possess a station she could defend." The fortress reputed to be impregnable capitulated after a long siege to the Japanese and the Navy for whose protection it was acquired annihilated in the Straits of Tsushima by the Japanese Fleet under Admiral ToGo. With Japan in possession of Port Arthur, Great Britain's lease of Weihaiwei by a technical interpretation of
Sir Frederick, how could you be so thought the agreement came to an end, but the less! It is not like your usual tact to wound Chinese Government has not yet asked for your friends in their own home, yet that is what, the surrender of the territory and it still unwittingly I believe, you did the other morning therefore remains a British possession. when addressing children at the Kowloon British Yesterday, however, we published a Chinese School. You advised the young people, a large are of Scottish birth, to telegram which announced that Prince Su proportion of whom
qualify to become good English fathers and had memorialised the Throne asking that mothers. Isn't that just a little bit rough on instructions night be given to the Waiwupu our friends "ayont the Tweed?" Kowloon has to open up negotiations with the British been described as a piece of Scotland which has Minister for the rendition of Weihaiwei. become detached, but even if that fact were not Prince Su is at the head of a small Com-known the predominance of the Doric in the mittee of Investigation into the naval needs peninsula ought to have told its own tale. I fee of the Empire. Associated with His High-sure His Excellency will not offend again. ness in this inquiry are Prince TSAI TZE, H. E. TIEH LIANG (President of the Wai- wupu) Admiral SAH and Prince CHING. The Throne has already approved a recom- mendation for the creation of a Board of
was
Dear me, what does the Inspector of Schools mean when he suggests that the children from the Peak ought to make more use of the British
School in Kowloon? The school is no doubt an admirable one but surely it is too much to expect our children, precocious as they are, to become seasoned and experienced travellers at the age
of vefi?
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I have seen a copy of the questions which masters of vessels calling at certain Japanese ports have to answer. Apparently the authorí ties in the northern empire place the same value upon cats as rat destroyers as ours do here, and
of war
We are reminded of the happy days of boy- hood with their somewhat limited finances when we read that a Dover vicar has been attempting to keep buttons out of church collections by using plates instead of bags for taking the offertories. The good man says that it had a good effect in stirring the generosity of the congregation. Maybe. I can understand the small boy being compelled to sadly part with the copper which had been entrusted to him for the collection and discarding the buttons which hitherto enabled him to keep up appearances in church and to subsequently enjoy the succulent delights obtained from the confectioner; but I am afraid the mean man who adopted the juvenile subterfuge would be tempted to stay away from church rather than contribute to the collection in the coin of the realm. Thus the
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