europe-in-china — Page 21

the Protestant Missionaries, by the Members of Council, and
by the Chinese residents. The whole community testified to
the regard in which they held their Governor by a public dinner
given ( February 27 , 1877 ) in his honour at the City Hall.
Sir Arthur started from Hongkong (March 1 , 1877) to take
up the Governorship of Queensland, leaving behind a kindly
message to the Police Force and a farewell address to the whole
community, published in the Gazette. When the news of his
death (June 3, 1883 ) , on board the mail- steamer in the Red
Sea, reached the Colony, a public meeting resolved (July 14 ,
1883 ) to erect in his memory the statue which now decorates
the Public Gardens. Sir A. Kennedy indeed was in the
estimation of the Colony one of those few men who deserve a
statue because they do not need one. It was acknowledged that
he had not done much, but he had made himself pleasant to
all and his memory was cherished by the Colonists who looked
upon him as the Governor who ruled them always with their
own consent.'
 CHAPTER XXI.



THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR JOHN POPE HENNESSY.

April 22, 1877, to March 7, 1882.

R. (subsequently Sir) John Pope Hennessy, C.M.G. , arrived
in Hongkong on 22nd April, 1877 , too late in the
evening to take the oaths of office on the same day. He was
welcomed on board by Major-General Sir F. Colborne, and by
the Administrator, the Hon . J. G. Austin, and on landing, at
Murray Pier, by the Heads of Departments, Members of Council,
Bishop Raimondi, and a number of the leading residents.
Mr. Hennessy's reception in Hongkong was not an enthusiastic
one, but it could not be said that public prejudice welcomed
him . There was, indeed , a presentiment that troublous times
might ensue, but there was also, on the part of the European
community, the honest determination to judge of his adminis-
tration as they might find it. Mr. Hennessy had enjoyed
various opportunities of gathering experience. He had sat, as
Member for King's County, in the House of Commons ( 1859
to 1865 ) , and he had served as Governor of Labuan and
Consul-General for Borneo ( 1867 ) , as Governor of the West
African Settlements ( 1872) , of the Bahamas ( 1873 ) , and of the
Windward Islands ( 1875 ) . Pending the issue of Letters Patent,
Mr. Hennessy had now been appointed provisionally (March 12 ,
1877) as Lieutenant - Governor of Hongkong, and accordingly
he was sworn in as such (April 23 , 1877 ) , on the day after
his arrival. On this occasion, Mr. Hennessy volunteered the
announcement that he would endeavour to follow the footsteps
of his distinguished predecessor, Sir A. Kennedy, and that the
main policy of his administration would be to protect the
mercantile interests of this Colony which, he said, rivalled in-
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR J. P. HENNESSY. 523

its transactions the greatest Colonies of the world. Six weeks
later, the Letters Patent (dated April 10, 1877) having arrived,
Mr. Hennessy was sworn in, with the usual solemnities, as
Governor and Commander-in- Chief of Hongkong and its
Dependencies (June 6, 1877).
With the exception of a visit to Japan ( May 31 , to Sep-
tember 6, 1877) and a trip to Peking (September 11 , to October
24. 1881 ) , the Governor spent his whole term of office in
Hongkong. During his absence in Japan, the Hon. W. H.
Marsh, and, during his trip to Peking, the Hon. M. S. Tonnochy
administered the Government temporarily. On 22nd April,
1880, Her Majesty was pleased to confer on Mr. Hennessy the
honour of knighthood, which fact was published in the Hongkong
Government Gazette by anticipation on 21st April , 1880 .
Apart from private correspondence with a few distinguished
diplomatists in China and Japan , Sir John Pope Hennessy had,.
like his predecessor, no diplomatic correspondence with the
representatives of other Governments, beyond one brief exchange
of notes with the Governor of Macao. A Chinese junk having
properly cleared from Hongkong (November 29 , 1877 ) with a
cargo of gunpowder for Macao, was stopped by the officers
of the Chinese Customs Blockade on issuing from the harbour
and forced to return to Hongkong. When the owners of the
junk complained to the Governor, they were informed ( June
29, 1878 ) that the Governor could not interfere, because the
Cantonese Authorities considered Macao to be a part of China.
This reply having been noticed in the public papers, the Go-
vernor of Macao forthwith addressed an official protest to Sir
John, asserting the sovereignty of the King of Portugal over
Macao and pointing to the fact that all the nations of Europe
had hitherto recognized it, and so also the Chinese officials,
while the flag of Portugal had waved over the peninsula for 300-
years. Sir John replied that he did not lend any countenance
to the Chinese pretensions to the sovereignty of Macao.
During this administration, the Colony had unfortunately
repeated occasions of expressing sympathy with the inroad which
524 CHAPTER XXI.

death made among the Courts of European nations. The flags
of the Colony were at half-mast, and minute guns were fired ,
on the decease of the Queen of the Netherlands (January 13,
1877 ) , the King of Italy (January 15, 1878), Princess Alice
(December 18, 1878) , Czar Alexander II (March 14, 1881 ) and
President Garfield ( September 20 , 1881 ) . In striking contrast
with his predecessor, who took no notice of the death of the
Emperor of China, Sir John ordered the flags of the Colony to
be lowered and 21 minute guns to be fired (April 23, 1881 ) on
the death of the Chinese Empress Dowager, the event being
solemnly announced in the Gazette. Sir John also attended
officially at celebrations, in honour of the birthday of the King
of Portugal (October 31 , 1878 ) and of the second anniversary
of the coronation of Pope Leo XIII (March 3 , 1880 ) , held at
the Roman Catholic Cathedral.
In the way of hospitable entertainment of the representatives
of foreign Powers, Sir John had even more to do than his prede-
cessors. Of Chinese officials, there came the Hoppo Tsun Kai
(May 11 , 1878 ) ; Chen Lan-pin, Minister to the United States,
Spain and Cuba ( June 5 , 1878 ) ; Chung How, the Ambassador
to St. Petersburg (November 11 , 1878 and November 26 , 1879 ) :
Liu Wan-shung, Minister to Germany (November 11 , 1878 ) ; the
Canton Viceroy, Liu Kwan-yih (January 25, 1880) : finally, the
new Hoppo Chung Kwan ( April 10, 1881 ) . There were also a
good many foreign dignitaries whom Sir John had the honour to
entertain in one way or other. General U. S. Grant, the hero
of the American Civil War, arrived in Hongkong (April 30,
1879 ), was entertained at a state dinner at Government House
(May 3 , 1879 ) , spent a few days in Canton and Macao (5th to
10th May) , was presented with an address by the Chinese (May
12 , 1879 ) , but had to leave Hongkong before the garden party,
with illuminations and fire-works, which the foreign community
had arranged in his honour, could come off. The next visitor
was Prince Thomas of Savoy (Duke of Genoa ) who arrived
in the Frigate Vittore Pessani (June 23, 1879, and again in
1880) . Prince Heinrich of Prussia arrived in the Frigate Prinz
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR J. P. HENNESSY. 525-

Adalbert (May 1 , 1880) , assisted at the unveiling of the portrait
of the Prince Consort at Government House ( May 7 , 1883 ) and
acted as joint host with the Governor in receiving the Duke of
Genoa and the community of Hongkong at Government House
on the occasion of Her Majesty's birthday ( May 24 , 1880) .
Next year King Kalakau, of the Hawaiian Islands, arrived in
Hongkong (April 12, 1881 ) , and stayed at Government House..
Mr. C. P. Chater gave a public banquet in his honour (April 18,
1881 ) at Kowloon, and a public reception was held on the same
evening at Government House. The King left for Bangkok a
few days later (April 21 , 1881 ) , not without having had a taste
of the bitter feeling existing at the time between the Governor
and the British community. The greatest event, however, was
the arrival (December 20, 1881 ) of the Detached Squadron with
the Princes Albert Victor and George of Wales on board the
Bacchante. A ball was given in honour of the Royal visitors
at Government House (December 22, 1881 ) and the town was
festively illumined ( December 24 , 1881 ) , but the public had no
opportunity of seeing the Princes, until December 30 , 1881 ,
when, after calling at Government House, and taking lunch there,
the Princes attended in the evening a public subscription ball
given at the City Hall . The Princes, having previously visited
Canton (26th to 29th December), left Hongkong on the last day
of the year. The visits of the ex-Governor, Viscount de Paco
d'Arcos, of Macao (October 31 , 1879 ) , of his successor Senhor
da Graça (November 26, 1879 ) , and of the Brazilian Embassy
to Peking (May 28, 1880) conclude the list of foreign represen-
tatives entertained at Hongkong during this period.
A new Charter, issued by Letters Patent (April 9, 1877 ) ,
revoked the Supplementary Charter of June 8, 1875 , and
defined the constitution, power and authorities of the office
of Governor, stated that Members of Executive Council may
be appointed by Warrant or by Instructions, and added to
the power of granting pardons also that of remitting fines.
The new Charter further revoked Article XI. of the Charter
of 1843 and stated that, in case of death, incapacity or absence
526 CHAPTER XXI.

of the Governor, the Government should be administered by
the Lieutenant-Governor or by an Administrator appointed for
the purpose, or by the Colonial Secretary for the time being.
One new Sub-Department, that was much needed and did
good work thereafter, was established by Sir John (February
1 , 1881 ) , viz . that of the Government Marine Surveyor
(J. S. Brewer) , under the Merchant Shipping Consolidation
Ordinance (8 of 1879 ) . The attempt (November 16 , 1878 )
to form a new office of Chinese Secretary to the Governor and
Translator to the Colonial Secretary ( E. J. Eitel ) failed to gain
the approval of the Secretary of State, and the office which
the latter substituted for it, viz . that of Supervisor of Interpreters
and Translator for the Supreme Court (November 25, 1881 )
hardly outlasted this administration . To the management of
the Government Gazette, Sir John gave much painstaking
attention. He combined the separate editions of the English
and Chinese issues of the Gazette into one (January 1 , 1879 )
and had every document, that could be of any interest to the
Chinese, translated in the Gazette, the English and Chinese
texts being placed side by side in parallel columns . In the
Police Department, the vacant office of Assistant Superintendent
of Police was abolished by the Secretary of State (January 30,
1879 ) . A more important change was made by Sir John
(March 17 , 1879) by ordering two-thirds of the Police Force
to be always placed on night duty. The Superintendent of
Police himself reported three months later (July 1 , 1879) that
this measure had a decidedly beneficial effect in diminishing the
amount of crime. The employment of steam-launches ( 1879) ,
the removal of the Water Police from the rotten hulk in the
harbour to the new Tsimshatsui Station ( 1881 ) , together with
the numerical increase of the Force, were steps of progress
which the Governor reluctantly conceded to the demands of
the Superintendent. The subject of competitive examinations
was a favourite topic with Sir John, who announced (May 28,
1877) , shortly after his arrival, that, as a general rule, all
appointments at his disposal in the Civil Service of this Colony
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR J. P. HENNESSY. 527

would be given by a system of competitive examinations,
similar to that which had been established for the Civil Service
of the United Kingdom by Her Majesty's Order in Council
of June 4, 1870. To stimulate the study of the Chinese
language, Sir John published (February 4, 1881 ) an extract
from an old dispatch by Sir George Grey (April 28 , 1855)
stating that, as a rule, subject only to very special exceptions,
no application for increase of salary in the Civil Service of
Hongkong was to be made for any person who had not learnt
Chinese. He also published a notification issued (July 2 , 1855 )
by order of Sir J. Bowring to the effect that, in claims for
promotion, a knowledge of Chinese would be considered a
recommendation. But the Board of Examiners, specially
appointed by Sir A. Kennedy, was quietly shelved by Sir J.
Pope Hennessy. At first, indeed , he recognized the existence of
the Board, by publishing (April 27 , 1877 ) the names of the
Members (C. C. Smith, F. Stewart, J. Russell, E. J. Eitel and
A. Lister), but a month later he ignored the existence of the
Board by appointing, without apparent reason, for the first of the
new competitive examinations ( June 2 , 1877 ) a separate Board
(Bishop Burdon, C. C. Smith , and Ng Choy) , and did so again
for the next examination (June 19, 1877) when three examiners
(Bishop Burdon, Ch . May, and Ng Choy) were appointed .
When the original Board thereupon sent in their resignation
(July 18, 1877 ) , it was not accepted, but a separate Board was
thenceforth appointed for every competitive examination.
The Gardens and Afforestation Department, which in 1872 had
been treated as a separate Department, but in 1873 placed
under the joint control of the Surveyor General and a Garden
Committee, was ( February 3, 1877) , before Governor Hennessy's
arrival, again made a branch of the Survey Department by the
dissolution of the Garden Committee. The result was considerable
friction, which continued until the management of the Gardens
and Plantations was once more constituted a separate Department
(March 15, 1879) . A report , giving a history of the former
dissensions, was published in the Gazette (October 16 , 1879 )
528 CHAPTER XXI

but subsequently ( February 5, 1881 ) cancelled by order of the
Secretary of State. An Order of the Privy Council (October 23,
1877) directed that the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
should include crimes and offences committed by, or disputes
existing between, British subjects at any place on land being
within 10 miles of any part of the Colony. The defalcations
of the Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court, discovered in
October 1878, gave a sudden and painful shock to the com-
munity, because the investigation revealed a total absence
of control and audit in the Supreme Court Department, for
which the latter blamed the Executive, while the Executive
sought to lay the blame on the Court. Sir John appointed
(September 14 , 1878 ) a Commission (Ch. May, G. Philippo,
A. Lind, W. Wotton) to inquire into the management of all
monies or securities coming into the hands of any officers attached
to the Supreme Court, but substituted, for this Commission,
later on (November 7 , 1878 ) another (Ch. May, G. Philippo ,
Th. Jackson, W. Wotton) , instructed to inquire whether or
not greater precautions may be adopted for the security and
distribution of moneys or securities received by the Supreme
Court. In accordance with some of the recommendations made
by this Commission (May 25, 1879) , theoffice arrangements
of the Supreme Court were remodelled and a new Registrar
(H. Gibbons) was sent out (April 14, 1880 ) by the Secretary
of State. But internal friction now arose in the Court, through
continuous misunderstandings between the Chief Justice and the
new Registrar, which culminated in a lamentable public scene
(July 26, 1880) , and put a stop to the business of the Court
until the Registrar was interdicted (July 30, 1880 ) from the
performance of his duties. After the great fire of 25th and
26th December, 1878 , which destroyed 361 houses in the centre
of the town, and which, in the opinion of the community
demonstrated the absence of all system in the management of
the Fire Brigade, Sir John promised (January 18 , 1879) various
reforms. But nothing of any moment having been done, the
foreign community deputed a Committee (W. Keswick, Ph . Ryrie,
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR J. P. HENNESSY. 529

Th. Jackson, W. H. Forbes, H. Hoppius, W. Reiners, J. B.
Coughtrie and E. F. Alford) to urge upon the Governor the
appointment of a skilled firemaster, the employment of paid fire-
men, and the desirability of an adequate supply of water. Sir
John promised to get a skilled firemaster from England and to
provide, if possible, high level tanks and fire brigade mains.
The question of the water supply was, however, a financial one,
and pending the consideration of the two alternative schemes
thus put forward, viz. the Taitam reservoir scheme and this new
project of tanks for fire brigade mains, the re-organization of
the Fire Brigade was suspended, and meanwhile neither of the
two water supply projects was carried out . Beyond the purchase
of a new fire-bell for the Clock Tower (July 12 , 1880 ) , the
supply of new uniforms for the brigades in town and villages
(July 19 , 1880 ) , and the publication , in English and Chinese,
of the old Fire Brigade Ordinance (4 of 1868) and a series of
regulations issued under that Ordinance (October 5, 1880) , the
Fire Brigade question was left in statu quo. There were other
Departments of the Public Service, between the Heads of which
and the Governor there was said to be constant friction, but
the disputes did not force themselves upon public attention ,
though as early as October 7 , 1880 , one of the resolutions of
the public meeting of that date specially desired a Commission
from outside the Colony to be appointed , in order to inquire,
among other things, into the relations between the Governor
and his officials .'
The Legislative Council Chamber was the arena of almost
perpetual strife. In several cases even the election , by the
Governor, of new Members of Council impressed the British
community as an intended affront. In October, 1878, when the
Surveyor General (J. M. Price) applied for leave of absence, and
the Registrar General (C. C. Smith) proceeded (October 17 , 1878)
to Singapore to take up the appointment of Colonial Secretary
of the Straits Settlements, the foreign community of Hongkong,
whilst wondering how Sir John would reply to the damnatory
resolutions of the public meeting of 7th October, 1878 , were
34
530 CHAPTER XXI.

startled by the news that Mr. J. A. da Carvalho, a worthy
Portuguese clerk in the Treasury, had been appointed Acting
Colonial Treasurer with a seat on the Council. The appointment
had, however, to be revoked, as it was found that Mr. Carvalho,
being an alien, could not take the oath of allegiance. A similar
surprise was sprung upon the Colony on 22nd January, 1880.
The Hon . H. B. Gibb left the Colony on that day and, in the
ordinary course of events, his seat in the Council would have
been given again to Mr. H. Lowcock, who had returned from
England ; but, to the surprise of the community, Sir John gave
the appointment to a Chinese barrister, Mr. Ng Choy (January
22, 1880 ) . These two appointments were interpreted by the
English community as attempts to gain the favour of the Portu-
guese and Chinese sections of the community, to create an
anti- English party feeling, and to strengthen personal government.
Some years later another vacancy in the Council was filled, in an
unobjectionable manner. by giving a seat in the Council to Mr.
E. R. Belilios, one of the two leading Indian opium merchants
of the Colony, who had favourably distinguished himself as a
Director of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank.
A proviso was added (May 23 , 1877) to the Companies'
Ordinance of 1865, that the amount to which shares may be
reduced by subdivision shall in no case be less than one-fourth
of the original share. With the approval of Lord Carnarvon
the Bill ( 1 of 1877) was passed (June 21 , 1877 ) . This was the
only legislative measure of the year 1877. Next year three very
brief Ordinances were passed, viz. a Chinese Emigration (Special
Licenses) Ordinance ( 1 of 1878 ) , a Gaol Amendment Ordinance
consisting of one paragraph ( 2 of 1878) and a Markets' Ordinance
(3 of 1878). More work was done in the year 1879. Two
Opium Excise Ordinances ( 1 of 1879 and 7 of 1879 ) , an Amend-
ment of the Emigration Ordinance (6 of 1879 ) and a bulky
Merchant Shipping Consolidation Ordinance (8 of 1879) were
passed in 1879 , but had to be further amended in the year 1880.
In the latter year a short Ordinance (6 of 1880) , giving the
French mail-steamers the status of men- of-war for twelve months,
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR J. P. HENNESSY. 531

was passed and thenceforth annually re-enacted. A Naturali-
zation Ordinance (4 of 1880) , giving a European resident ( E. J.
Eitel) the privileges of a British subject within the Colony
but not elsewhere, having been approved by the Queen, was in
subsequent years followed by an annual batch of such Ordinances,
as Chinese residents now began to attribute great value to such
naturalization, limited as it is. A few more Ordinances were
passed in the year 1881 , dealing with Macao Extradition ( 1 of
1881 ) , the Census (2 of 1881 ) , the naturalization of Chinese
(5 to 10 of 1881 ) , banishment and conditional pardons (12 of
1881 ) and a fresh Amendment of the Companies ' Ordinance
( 14 of 1881 ) . Finally, in January, 1882 , a Tramway Ordinance
( 1 of 1882 ) provided for liberty to establish tramways all along
from Westpoint to Shaukiwan and from St. John's Place to
Victoria Gap.
But although the legislative work done by the Council
during this period produced comparatively little fruit, there
was much in the way of leves and the leaves were prickly .
The Council meetings were not frequent but lengthy, the
attention of the Members being largely occupied by Sir John
with exhaustive laudations of the financial, commercial and
industrial progress of the Colony. Frequently also the time.
of the Council was monopolized by polemical debates on
assumed local race prejudices, on the proper treatment of
Chinese criminals and on the general principles of Sir John's
policy. Instead of making the most of those points on which
all were agreed, these discussions only served to bring into
prominence, and to widen year by year, the breach which
the Governor had created in the relations existing between
him and the European community. As to the constitution
of the Council, the Hon. Ph. Ryrie (February 26, 1880 ) brought
forward the question whether the Governor would recommend
an addition to the number of unofficial Members, on the
ground that the proportion of three unofficial to five official
Members (beside the Governor) was unsatisfactory. Sir John
stated that he had already made the same recommendation to
 532 CHAPTER XXI.

the Secretary of State, suggesting that the number of unofficial
Members be raised to four or five. Next year (August 8, 1881 )
another unofficial Member was accordingly added ( E. R. Belilios) .
The old complaint of insufficient time being allowed to unofficial
Members, to examine the Estimates, was once more brought
forward (August 31 , 1880) , and it was further arranged that,
if any general discussion were thought desirable, it might be
raised on the motion to go into Committee. The question
of a proper system for reporting the debates in Council was
also raised (August 23, 1881 ) by the unofficial Members
who suggested the employment of an official short-hand reporter.
Sir John promised to take the matter into consideration, but
no such appointment was made. Another much needed
suggestion was made by the Acting Chief Justice who moved
(June 13, 1881 ) that the repeal, amendment and consolidation
of a large number of the Ordinances in force in the Colony
had become a work of urgent necessity. Sir John stated that
he had placed the matter some time ago into the hands of
the Attorney General, and steps would soon be taken to revise
and consolidate the Ordinances.
As regards judicial matters, the admission to the local bar
(May 18, 1877 ) of the first Chiraman (Ng Choy ) who had
adopted the law as his profession, deserves special mention.
The admission to the bar of Mr. J. J. Francis ( April 16 , 1877)
added new zest to the local displays of forensic eloquence . On
the other hand, the departure from the Colony of the Chief
Justice. Sir John Smale (April 11 , 1881 ) , and of the Queen's
Counsel, Mr. Th . C. Hayllar (January 23, 1882 ) who had
repeatedly served as Attorney General and Puisne Judge, deprived
the Colony of two of its brightest legal luminaries . Among the
cases tried in Court during this period , the interest of the
community was specially attracted by the trial of two engineers
of the coast steamer Yesso who were convicted (January 29,
1878) of manslaughter on account of the explosion of a boiler ;
by the Kate Waters case, in which three Malays were convicted
and sentenced to death (May 13, 1879) having murdered their
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR J. P. HENNESSY. 533

captain, mates and Chinese crew on the high sea ; and by a Club
case (April 8, 1881 ) testing the right of the Committee of the
Hongkong Club to expel members . In May, 1879 , the Chief
Justice decided a question of considerable importance to com-
mercial men, by laying down, in the strongest terms, that a
comprador, receiving no wages directly from his employer but
remunerating himself out of commissions paid by customers, is
essentially a servant, no matter how he may receive an equivalent
of wages. For the benefit of journalists, the Chief Justice defined.
(December 12 , 1879 ) the rights and liabilities of newspaper
proprietors. As to the exceptional status claimed by the French
mail-steamers, an important decision was given (January 7 , 1880)
by the Chief Justice, when the local Opium Farmer applied for
a search warrant against the S.S. Anadyr. The Chief Justice
ruled that the French mail -steamer was not a vessel within the
meaning of the Convention concluded ( September 24, 1856 )
between England and France, but the property of a private
Company ; that even if she was a national vessel, no legislative
sanction had been given to the terms of the Convention , and
that it was not competent for the Crown to deprive a subject
of his right as against any vessel without legislative sanction ;
that, assuming the vessel was within the terms of the Convention .
that Convention only applied to vessels carrying the mails
between the ports of England and France, and Shanghai being
neither a French nor an English port, a vessel on a voyage
between Shanghai and Hongkong did not come under the terms
of the Convention until the mails were put on board in Hong-
kong ; that, finally, the vessel covered a breach of a fiscal
Ordinance, that is, covered smuggling which is contrary to the
comity of nations and an abuse of international immunities.
A search warrant against the Anadyr was accordingly issued ,
but the French Consul declined to give any assistance, and the
vessel sailed for Singapore without any search having been made.
The population of Hongkong increased, during this period ,
from 130,168 Chinese in 1877 , to 150,690 Chinese in 1881 ,
whilst the non-Chinese population increased during those same
534 CHAPTER XXI.

years from 8,976 to 9,622 . The total population of the Colony
increased therefore during those five years by 21,258 souls .
The revenue of the Colony increased proportionately. The
revenues of 1877 amounted to $ 1,005,312, and those of 1880 to
$1,069,947, while the revenue of 1881 , owing to particular and
exceptional causes, rose to $ 1,324,455. Going into particulars.
we find that the revenues of the Colony, which in 1876 had stood
at $919,088 increased in 1877 by $86,224. But in 1878 the
revenue fell off again by $57,674. Another increase, amounting
to $ 16,457 , occurred in 1879, followed in 1880 by an increase
amounting to $ 105,852 , and in 1881 by a further, most extra-
ordinary, increase of $254,508, so that the revenue of 1881
totalled up to the above-mentioned respectable sum of $ 1,324,455 .
The difference which this rapid development of the financial
resources of the Colony, during this administration , presents
when compared with the sluggishness of the revenues during the
preceding five years, is very striking. The only question is how
this enormous increase accrued .
The annual variations of the revenue derived from the
working of the Stamp Ordinance naturally depend on the state of
the share market . There was in 1877, through the establishment
of a Chinese Stamp Agency and through prosecutions instituted
against Chinese evading the Stamp Ordinance, an increase .
amounting to $24,951 , in the yield of the stamp tax as compared
with 1876. A further small increase, amounting to $8,584 was
obtained in 1878 , followed in 1879 by a decrease of $ 12,307
which the Blue Book explains as caused by a decrease in the
transfer of shares . In 1880 there was a small increase of $5,913 .
We see therefore that during the first four years of this admini-
stration the annual yield of the stamp tax varied very little.
being $ 120,956 in 1877 and $ 120,678 in 1880. But in 1881 , the
precise year during which an extraordinary mania for gambling
in land and house property seized the Chinese, the stamp tax
suddenly produced $ 165,340, constituting an increase of $ 44,661 .
In 1882 the yield of the stamp tax fell again by $ 18,360 and
the Blue Book of that year states that this large decrease-
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR J. P. HENNESSY. 535

is entirely due to the collapse of the land speculations of
last year.'
The yield of the police, lighting, water and fire brigade
rates rose in 1877 to $ 194,838 , constituting an increase of
$ 14,945 as compared with the year 1876. This increase is
explained in the Blue Book as caused by an increase in the
number of tenements . In 1878 there was a further small
increase amounting to $ 7,060, followed in the year 1879 by a
large decrease amounting to $26,583 which Sir John accounted
for by a lower valuation having been fixed by the valuators for
the year. Next year, in 1880 , the yield of the rates rose again
by $59,215 , explained by the restoration of the former higher
valuation. In 1881 , the rates fell off slightly, there being a
decrease of $8,761 . There was therefore little development in
respect of rates on tenements, as the yield of the rates, which in
1881 produced $221,796, was only $26,958 above the produce
of the same rates in 1877.
As to the land revenue, the produce of land leases was
$ 123,064 in 1877 , constituting an increase of only $2,950 as
compared with the results of the preceding year. Nor was
there any more variation in subsequent years, for the yield of
land leases in 1881 was $ 123,115 , shewing an increase of $51 .
But as to the yield of premia on leases newly granted, the case
is very different. From this source there was, in 1877 , through
extensive land sales arranged by order of the Governor, an
increase amounting to $72,158 . But in 1878 there followed
a decrease amounting to $73,958, another decrease of $9,624 in
1879, and again a slight increase of $ 4,590 in 1880. Now
considering that the premia on land newly granted amounted in
1878 to $ 11,031 , in 1879 to $ 1,407 and in 1880 to $5,998 , it is
rather startling to find that these premia suddenly rose in 1881
to $203,659 . Sir John, in his speeches and official documents ,
laboured hard to shew that this extraordinary increase of revenue
was the sober result of the natural and healthy progress of the
Colony. The mania for gambling in land, which was the rage
all through the year 1881 , is the real solution of the puzzle.
536 CHAPTER XXI.

The revenue derived from the opium monopoly amounted
in 1877 and 1878 to $ 132,000 a year, which was less, by $1,500,
than the amount derived from the same source in 1876. This
monopoly, which had all along been held by a Chinese syndicate
in Hongkong at an unfairly low rate, was sold by public tenders ,
in 1879, to a partner of the Singapore Syndicate (Tan King-
sing) , in a manner with which the public was not satisfied ,
at an increase of no more than $77,916 . At the next sale
(February 11 , 1882 ) , the farm was sold, for one year, for the
sum of $210,000 , being virtually the same amount as that
obtained in 1879.
It appears from the foregoing analysis of the principal
sources of local revenue, that, whilst there was as regards rates
on tenements and opium a moderate increase of revenue spread
over the whole period and commensurate with the natural
increase of the population, there was in respect of stamp duties
and premia on leases newly granted an unnatural sudden increase,
derived from the one and the same source, viz. dealings in land,
and confined to one and the same year, 1881 . Early in the year
1881 , the Chinese residents of Hongkong were scized by a mania
for speculating in land and in house properties . This frenzy
lasted until October, 1881 , when the bubble burst and a general
panic ensued . The value of the properties, which had been
unduly inflated by the Chinese speculators, then fell suddenly
some 45 per cent . and great depression followed . The Chinese,
and principally those among them whom Sir John had looked
upon as the leading men of the Chinese community, were the
principal sufferers by this collapse of the land speculations,
the Government and British and foreign residents having been
in most cases the original sellers, after which the properties
changed hands rapidly at ever-increasing rates, until at last a
deadlock ensued from want of funds. The collapse of the bubble
was followed in 1882 by numerous bankruptcies and endless
litigation. On the whole, however, the results were far less
disastrous than might have been anticipated, the depreciation in
real values being comparatively slight . Still, all through the
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR J. P. HENNESSY. 537

year 1882, the property market was encumbered with the estates
of embarrassed owners. What the original cause of this sudden
mania for gambling in land and in house property was, is difficult
to say with certainty. Foreign residents generally attributed
it to Sir John's inflated periodical laudations of the general
prosperity of the Colony, and to his personal influence with the
so-called leading Chinese traders, whom he constantly urged to
take the position occupied by foreign merchants in the Colony
and to purchase dwelling houses and offices in the European
quarter of the town. But whatever may have caused this
gambling mania, this much is clear, that the greatest gainer in
the matter was the Government which derived, at the expense
of Chinese gamblers, a net increase of its revenue, amounting,
in one year, to the sum of $242,322.
Such was the result of Sir John's financial policy in the
year 1881 : profit from gambling in land $ 197,661 , profit from
gambling in house property $ 44,661 , total $242,322 . So marked
was this success, that the unofficial Members of Council, before
they had had time to realize the true character and cause of the
increase of revenue, complimented the Governor (August 23,
1881 ) on the success of his financial policy. They added ,
however, to their rash eulogy the modest request that , in the
face of such a large reserve and annual surplus, a reduction of
taxation should now be made. Sir John replied that he would ,
indeed, like to reduce the house tax from 12 to 6 per cent. , and
he thought if larger powers were given to the opium farmer,
the monopoly would yield $ 400,000 , in which case a reduction
of the taxation might be allowed.
Turning now to the question of expenditure, we find that
there was in 1877 a decrease in the expenditure of the
Colony, amounting to $29,008, caused chiefly by a reduction
of expenses for public works. In 1878 there was an increase of
expenditure, amounting to $37,315, caused by the payment
of the Colony's share in the Postal Convention ($20,023) ,
increased Police expenses ($ 10,051 ), and laying of submarine.
cable to Green Island ($5,211 ) ; but expenditure on public
538 CHAPTER XXI.

works decreased from $83,409 in 1877 to $68,633 in 1878.
In 1879 the expenditure further increased, but only by $ 16,344,
the outlay on public works was reduced to $62,571 , the increase
of the expenditure of 1879 being chiefly caused by orders
for Police recruits and steam-launches ($ 10,839) and new
furniture for Government House ($ 5,107) . In 1880, when
the revenues were calculated to amount to over a million
dollars, the Governor ventured to increase the expenditure
by $ 21,146 , and in 1881 , with a still rising revenue, the
expenditure was further increased by the modest sum of
$33,567. This was certainly economic management and the
result was showy. For there was , throughout this administration ,
an annual surplus of revenue, over expenditure, left in hand .
This annual surplus amounted, in the successive years from
1877 to 1881 , to the following sums respectively, viz. $ 132,105 ,
$37,114, $37,227, $ 121,933 and finally (in 1881 ) to $342,873.
With the exception of the re-construction of the Praya
wall, which had been demolished by the typhoon of 1874, hardly
any public works of any importance were undertaken during
this administration . On the day after Sir A. Kennedy's
departure, the Legislative Council agreed (March 2 , 1877 ) to a
vote of $200,000 which sum was to be taken from the Special
Fund, and the sum of $50,000 was at once appropriated for the
purposes of the re-construction of the Praya wall. Nevertheless
the work was delayed until the autumn of 1879 when it was
commenced in earnest, and, as happily no typhoon intervened,
the work, which cost altogether $ 244,254, was completed in 1880.
The new Civil Hospital was completed in 1877 , a small market
at Yaumati and a Lunatic Asylum at Saiyingpun were built in
1879 , a new Lock Hospital was erected in 1880 and in 1881
work was commenced at the Causeway Bay Breakwater. The
construction of this Breakwater had been urgently recommended
in 1877 by a Commission ( H. G. Thomsett, R.N., J. M. Price,
J. Dixon , R.N., S. Ashton, J. P. McEuen, R.N., R. McMurdo) and
their scheme had been strongly supported (November 4, 1877)
by Admiral Ryder, but it was not until the end of 1881 that
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR J. P. HENNESSY. 539

the work was commenced and the sum of $3,090 spent on it .
The main burden of the work fell therefore upon the next
administration. As regards public works, Sir John's term of
office is chiefly remarkable for the number of important works
discussed, declared urgent and rejected or postponed . On 12th
November, 1878 , the foreign property owners of Hongkong
memorialized the Governor, asking that the Praya road be
widened 20 feet, by proportionate reclamation of the foreshore,
in connection with the reconstruction of the Praya wall. This
proposal, a sensible and modest anticipation of the more
ambitious reclamation scheme started ten years later, was rejected
on the ground that it would delay the re-construction of the
Praya wall. Again, after the fire of 25th December, 1878 ,
which laid a large area of houses in the overcrowded central'
portion of the town in ashes, it was strongly urged upon Sir
John that he should use this opportunity for widening, and
improving the direction of, the streets of that district, but the
suggestion was rejected as too costly. The erection of a new
Gaol on the separate system, though indispensable for the-
effectiveness of the Governor's scheme of repressing crime
without flogging, was indefinitely postponed by Sir John for
financial reasons . The construction of new Central School
buildings, for which a costly site had been purchased and
cleared of houses, was postponed from year to year under
various pretexts, and left untouched . The Taitam waterworks..
the plans for which had been elaborated and approved under
the previous administration, Sir John fought shy of for years,
and when at last the Colonial Office sent out peremptory orders
that the work should be commenced at once, Sir John , for
purely financial reasons, took it upon himself to disregard the
commands he received from Downing Street, and the work
was not commenced until 1882 , on the eve of his departure.
The same was the case with the Kowloon Observatory . This
scheme was first mooted in spring 1877 , when some shipmasters
and the manager of the P. & O. Company circulated for signature
a petition requesting the Government to arrange for the daily
540 CHAPTER XXI.

dropping of a time ball. The movement was taken up by
the Surveyor General (J. M. Price) who elaborated the very
plan on which the Observatory was subsequently established
and suggested the construction, on mount Elgin at Kowloon,
of an Observatory, which should be placed under the charge
of a professional man to be recommended by the Astronomer
Royal, and, whilst procuring storm warnings and meteorolo-
gical observations, secure the daily dropping of a time ball in
front of the Water Police Station . Apart from the subsequent
demand for astronomical observations , every essential feature
of the present Observatory scheme was proposed in detail by
Mr. Price. On 30th October, 1877 , Admiral Ryder wrote a
letter, warmly supporting Mr. Price's suggestions and adding
the recommendation that the observation of tides and currents
should also be included in the scheme. Both papers were
published in the Government Gazette of 17th November, 1877 ,
and in his Estimates for the year 1878 Sir John included
the sum of $5,000 for the construction of an Observatory .
Nothing was, however, done in the matter until some three
years later, when another series of papers was published in
the Gazette (September 2 , 1881 ) , propounding a seemingly
new scheme, which, though being merely an expansion of the
details of Mr. Price's scheme by Major H. S. Palmer, R.E. ,
with the superaddition of some recommendations concerning
astronomical observations to be taken, not only omitted all
mention of Mr. Price, but gave the credit of the scheme to
Sir J. Pope Hennessy. Nevertheless the construction of the
Observatory was left to the next administration , though Major
Palmer took great pains in making stellar observations (published
in the Gazette of March 4 , 1882 ) , by means of which he
determined the site of the Observatory to be in Lat. 22 degr.
18 min . 11.91 sec . North.
Statistics of crime, and theories as to the best treatment
of Chinese criminals, were a very prominent topic of debate in
Council and in the public press during this period . Sir John
arrived in the Colony with the determination to apply to the
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR J. P. HENNESSY. 541

treatment of Chinese criminals the humanitarian views as to
prison discipline and the objections to corporal punishment
which, after centuries of progressive civilization, had lately gained
ground in Europe as applicable to European prisoners . Shortly
after the Governor's arrival, flogging was practically abolished.
Only a few whippings, privately administered within the walls
of the Gaol, took place. This change, and the attempt Sir John
made to establish a Chinese Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society,
although it proved a complete failure, made a great impression
upon the Chinese criminal classes, among which Sir J. Pope
6
Hennessy was thenceforth spoken of as the merciful man.' ' If
we have a gaol on the separate system,' said Sir John (September
17, 1877 ) , ' where the prisoners must do some useful hard
work, and where they know there is not the slightest chance of
their release before the end of the Judge's sentence, except by
steady good conduct ; if we provide reformatory and industrial
training for juvenile criminals, and if we let it be clearly under-
stood that second offences will be punished with a long sentence,
that will do more to check the growth of crime than anything
else we can devise. ' An excellent theory this, but considering
that Sir John established no prison on the separate system nor
any reformatory for the reception of juvenile offenders, the
theory could hardly be expected to check crime in Hongkong.
The community differed from their Governor not merely because
they thought that his mode of treating prisoners would be
ineffective in the absence of flogging, but chiefly because they
considered the immediate introduction of the separate system
a practical impossibility, and meanwhile they looked to the
branding, deporting and flogging system as having been found
practically an effective deterrent during two preceding adminis-
trations.
In order to make his theories as to the treatment of prisoners
and the abolition of flogging acceptable to the Council and
people of Hongkong, Sir John laboured assiduously to produce
criminal statistics, calculated to show that the re- introduction
of the branding, deporting and flogging system, at the beginning
542 CHAPTER XXI.

of Sir A. Kennedy's administration, had not only failed to
reduce crime, but that on the contrary crime had been rapidly
increasing in Hongkong since that time. In spite of voluminous
arrays of figures, and notwithstanding the most dexterous
handling of plausible deductions from them, placed before the
Council and the public with the consummate skill of the orator
and the special pleader, the community stoutly maintained that,
whatever might be logically deduced from Sir John's statistics,
their own personal and practical experience was, that life and
property had been more secure in Hongkong all the time before
the arrival of Sir A. Kennedy's successor, than it had been
ever since. The more Sir John insisted upon the accuracy of
his statistics and the correctness of his analysis of his figures,
the more was the distrust of both, on the part of the community,
converted into positive irritation . Now it so happened, whether
in consequence of the Governor's treatment of criminals or
otherwise, that the year 1878 was extraordinarily fruitful in
serious crimes. On 1st February, an armed attack was made
by a large gang of Chinese burglars on the village of Aplichau.
On 19th May, the Superintendent of Police and several constables
were wounded in the streets by armed burglars whom they had
intended to intercept. On 30th May a woman was murdered
in town . On 31st May again a woman was murdered at Sheko.
On 14th July a third woman was murdered at Taipingshan. On
8th August a Portuguese was murdered by a European. Then,
on 25th September, from 40 to 80 armed burglars attacked
a shop in Winglok Street, when these marauders took forcible
possession of the thoroughfare, held it for some time against
armed Police and finally escaped with their booty in a steam-
launch. When the news of this night attack spread in town
next morning, public indignation, which had been gathering
for some time, owing to the palpable increase of serious crime,
burst out into strong condemnation of the Governor's systematic
lenity to criminals and of the encouragement thus given to
crime. A public indignation meeting was called for. Before
it could be held, another crime occurred which added fuel
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR J. P. HENNESSY. 543

to the flame, for a European house in Seymour Terrace was
attacked (October 3, 1878 ) by armed burglars.
On 7th October, 1878, the great public meeting of this
period was held on the cricket ground . The following
resolutions were, with hardly any opposition, passed. It was
resolved, ( 1 ) that life and property had been jeopardized by
a policy of undue leniency towards the criminal classes ;
(2) that flogging in public had been found the only really
deterring punishment, and that to its suspension was due
the daring boldness which had lately characterized crime ;
(3) that a Commission of medical men should be appointed
to inquire into the alleged injurious effects of flogging on the
back ; (4 ) that the almost total abolition of deportation was
injurious and would cause the criminal population of South
China to overcrowd the Hongkong Gaol ; (5 ) that a Commission
from outside the Colony should be appointed to inquire into
the application of criminal laws, the carrying out of sentences
of the Courts, and the relation between the Governor and
his officials, and finally ( 6 ) that a copy of these resolutions
should be forwarded to the Secretary of State through the
Governor. Mr. H. B. Gibb was in the chair, and the movers
and seconders of the foregoing resolutions were Messrs. W.
Keswick, W. Reiners, W. H. Forbes, G. Sharp, D. Ruttonjee,
W. S. Young, H. H. Nelson, A. MacClymont, H. Lowcock,
N. J. Ede, A. P. McEwen and C. D. Bottomley. The senior
unofficial Member of Council (Ph. Ryrie) was conspicuous by
his absence. Strong as the indictment contained in the above
resolutions was, both in argument and in the support it received
from the British and foreign community of Hongkong, the
Secretary of State left the Memorial embodying those resolutions
unanswered for nearly a year. Meanwhile the Chinese Committee
of the Wato Dispensary at Wantsai canvassed the lower classes
of Chinese shopkeepers in the interest of Sir John, whose
impeachment at the bar of public opinion was resented by them
as an attack on a Governor whose policy was characteristically
pro-Chinese. Accordingly they produced an address to the
544 CHAPTER XXI.

Queen (October 29, 1878) signed by 2,218 shop-keepers. It
was practically an expression of confidence in the Governor.
intended as a set- off against the views of the British and foreign
community, and couched in the usual inflated style of exaggerated
flattery, common in China. After some significant hesitation .
the Committee of the Tungwa Hospital, representing most of
the Chinese merchants, also presented (November 13 , 1878 ) a
Memorial, deprecatory of the resolutions passed at the public
meeting. On 5th May, 1879, the Chinese were informed that
Her Majesty was pleased to receive their address. On the same
day Sir John re-appointed the gentleman ( H. B. Gibb) , who-
had acted as chairman of the great indignation meeting, to a
seat in the Council. On 31st May, 1879, the movers and
seconders of the resolutions of that meeting addressed to the
Secretary of State (Sir Michael Hicks- Beach) a complaint on
account of their Memorial having been left unanswered. A
few months later (September 17, 1879 ) , Sir John, deeming
himself to have scored a victory, had the satisfaction of publish-
ing in the Gazette the resolutions of the public meeting and
a series of documents connected with it, including the reply
of Sir Michael (dated July 17, 1879) to the Memorial of the
European community. In this reply the Secretary of State
quoted statistics showing a great increase of serious crime having
taken place in 1877 and 1878 , admitted also that during those
two years the criminal classes of Hongkong had advanced in
audacity, combination and the habit of carrying arms, and
acknowledged the reasonableness of the alarm felt by residents
in the Colony, but declined sending out a special Commission ,
believing that meanwhile all cause for fear had been removedi
by the action of the Governor. Nevertheless crime had continued
to flourish for a little longer. On 22nd October, 1878, a coolic
was beaten to death in High Street and on 17th January, 1879 ,
an armed attack was made on Hunghom. In January, 1879,
the general sense of insecurity was such that a rumour spread
among the Chinese and gained credence that preparations were-
being made by a fleet of pirates to descend upon Hongkong
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR J. P. HENNESSY. 545

and to sack the whole town . The rumour was so strong that
the Police took accordingly precautions. However, with the year
1879 Sir John commenced a system of increased strictness of
gaol discipline . The system of deportation also was resumed
in 1879 and a rule was made that all old offenders should be
tried in Supreme Court, where they might receive sentences
commensurate with habitual indulgence in crime, instead of
the frequent short sentences inflicted by the Police Magistrates.
These measures served to disperse the illusions which Chinese
offenders had entertained concerning the regime of the merciful
man ' and crimes began to decrease, both as regards their type
and their frequency. Unfortunately the annual reports of the
Superintendent of Police for the four years from 1878 to 1881
were suppressed and for them were substituted, by order of the
Governor, bare statistics of crimes committed. But even these
tables show that there was in 1877 an increase of serious crimes,
amounting to 12.86 per cent ., which the Superintendent ascribed
to famine and floods in China and to the unusually high price
of rice in Hongkong . In 1878 there followed a further enormous
increase of serious crimes amounting to 32.31 per cent. The
year 1879 brought a decrease of 8.19 per cent . but, whilst in
1880 there was a further decrease of 14.43 per cent ., there was
a fresh increase of serious crimes in 1881 , amounting to 13.55
per cent.
Whether successful or not in the reduction of crime, Sir John
gained his main points in the treatment of Chinese criminals.
Almost all that he had been seeking in this respect since he made
the first declaration of his philanthropic policy in the Legislative
Council in 1877, he obtained in November, 1880, when Lord
Kimberley sanctioned the final abolition of all branding of
criminals, permanent discontinuance of public flogging, repeal of
all Ordinances providing for the flogging of Chinese, prohibition
of all flogging except in cases where it would be inflicted in the
United Kingdom, and finally an order that flogging of Asiatics
should in all cases be on the breach and not on the back. In
September, 1881 , notice was given that the Prison Amendment
35
546 CHAPTER XXI.

Regulation Ordinance (7 of 1880) was disallowed , whereby the
old law (2 of 1878 and 4 of 1863 ) , which this Ordinance had
been intended to modify, revived .
In May and July, 1878 , the attention of the Government
was directed to the custom prevailing among the Chinese com-
munity of Hongkong, as throughout the whole Empire of China,
of buying and selling girls for the purpose of domestic servitude.
This custom was generally practised in Hongkong by means of
nominal adoption connected with the payment of money to the
parents in return for the privilege of using the child's services.
The Attorney General (G. Phillippo) distinctly declared (June
21 , 1878 ) , in contradiction of the Governor's original views,
that this practice did not constitute a criminal offence ( May
30, 1878 ) ; that parties entering into a transaction of this
nature in England would in no way bring themselves within the
operation of the criminal law (June 21 , 1878 ) , and that the
Police Magistrates had no jurisdiction in the matter. At the same
time the Chinese community observed that, since the abolition
of the Macao coolie trade, the practice of kidnapping young
Chinese girls for exportation to the Straits Settlements, California
and Australia, had enormously increased . As the kidnappers
were believed to be chiefly people of the Tungkoon District , a
Committee of Tungkoon merchants, headed by Mr. Fung Ming-
shan, was appointed by the Chinese community to devise some
means to stop these kidnapping practices. Mr. Fung Ming-shan
and others accordingly petitioned the Governor (November 9 ,
1878 ) for permission to form an Anti-kidnapping Association
with power to employ detectives. Sir John appointed an official
Committee (C. V. Creagh, J. J. Francis, W. M. Deane, E. J. Eitel)
to investigate the matter, and this Committee recommended that
the sanction of the Government be given to the constitution of
the proposed Association on the basis of definite statutes (Gazette
of February 4 , 1880 ) drafted by Mr. J. J. Francis. The Asso-
ciation, which adopted the name Poleung Kuk, was accordingly
formed and received (June 24, 1880) the formal approval of the
Secretary of State. Later on (Gazette of August 5, 1882 ) rules
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF SIR J. P. HENNESSY. 547

for the working of the Poleung Kuk were published, differing
from the statutes framed by Mr. Francis in that they did not
require the Association to be incorporated under the Companies'
Ordinance of 1865, nor did the new rules give to the Government
that tight hold on, and constant insight into, the working of
the Poleung Kuk which Mr. Francis' draft scheme had devised.
Meanwhile, however, the Chief Justice also noticed that the
practice of kidnapping, for purposes other than the coolie traffic,
was alarmingly on the increase, and, making no distinction
between the sale of girls in connection with domestic servitude
and in connection with exportation (for immoral purposes),
repeatedly denounced from the Bench, in summer 1879 , the
system of purchasing or adopting girls for employment as
domestic servants as a form of slavery. The Chief Justice alleged
that there were from ten to twenty thousand female slaves in the
Colony, and that this form of slavery flourished only through
the failure of Government officers to enforce the existing laws.
This action of the Chief Justice caused at first great alarm and
excitement among the Chinese. A deputation called on the
Governor ( September 24, 1879 ) , and, while asking for permis-
sion to form the above mentioned Anti-kidnapping Association,
suggested to regulate Chinese domestic servitude by means of
registering all purchased servant girls . The fears of the Chinese
community were, however, considerably allayed, when the Gover-
nor, who had previously been anxious to institute prosecutions
against the purchasers of servant girls, now assured them that he
would not allow of any harsh measures dealing with an established
Chinese national custom . But on 6th October, 1879 , the Chief
Justice again denounced the female servitude system of Hongkong
as strongly as ever, called it down-right slavery, and addressed