ENG-1953 — Page 258

HISTORY

These hopes were based on the declaration of the freedom of the port and the belief that it would become the centre of the coastal junk trade. This was precisely what the Chinese were determined to prevent, and there can be little doubt that as A sort the treaties were worded, they were quite justified.

of economic blockade was therefore instituted and remained a constant hindrance to the local junk trade until an agree- ment was reached, in 1886, with the Imperial Maritime Customs.

Another great difficulty was the attempt on the part of the early governors to make the infant Colony self-supporting, except for defence. Taxation aroused, perhaps not unnaturally, opposition and complaint, and a demand for a measure of self- government. A parliamentary committee in England debated the Colony, and recommended, amongst other things, a measure of municipal self-government. But the proposal came to nothing because the merchant community objected to the payment of municipal rates, which Bonham insisted was the It is im- necessary corollary of municipal self-government. possible to give an exhaustive account of all these early difficulties, but another must be mentioned. It was difficult to find the right men to fill the government posts, and there was much inefficiency because competent men left the govern- ment service for more lucrative careers outside. To this was added personal animosities, even to the extent of libel actions, so that "The Times" wrote of the Colony, on March 15th, 1859, that it "is always connected with some fatal pestilence,

So much so that the some discreditable internal squabble. name of this noisy, bustling, quarrelsome, discontented and insalubrious little island may not unaptly be used for an euphonious synonym for a place not mentionable in polite society."

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or

After the Treaties of Tientsin, 1858, and Peking, 1860, a new and more hopeful era dawned. Diplomatic relations were now established at Peking, and the opening of China to

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