AFFAIRS IN THE EAST.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 401, 9 January 1909, Page 7

AFFAIRS IN THE EAST.

IS BANISHMENT LEGAL? HONG-KONG AND THRA>TI-JAPAN KSli MOTORS., . ■ [fKQW OTJB Q.WN C.OJJRE.SW9.E>-'?,]; ?•• The auti-Japanese' riots .winch occurred early last month in Hong-Kong* : and in which, a. number of shops, that s.oM, 3apafl.es,e, goods were wrecked a,nd looted,, have brought in their train another troubled situation.. The Government of Hong-Kong have,, as the result erf- the, riots, to meet an awkward posi-, tion. The, Japanese. Consul,, it. is generallyunderstood, ma.de representations that, the boycott should bo suppressed in Hong-Kong;,'-which is a freo. port. The Chinese, who. were< handling Japanese, goods, said that they were .constantly receiving letters threatening that •if they did not cease selling the products q£ the Japs, they would Ipse their ears. some, night,, and-the police reported that such. as,siaults had been'attempted.. ; It, was, of conrso, obvious that the- recent, rip.ts- were handled by sojlie one. who knew the trade of Hong-Kong, far only - such, shop's as sold Japanese good?, were molested..

Hong-Kong' Government Servos Notices to

Quit, The Hong-Kong Government could not allow its authority to be. set at naught bythe boycott party, and stern steps weire de., cided on. As a result of inquiry a. Hat of thpso believed to be responsible for the riots, was prepared, and the more prominent of them wore told that they'must leave-th,e, colony within one week. This action was taken under the powers of an Ordinance, whioh gives the Governor-in-Council the power to banish any Chinese, even if bp .be naturalised, should the Governor have information, which he deems sufficient ta warrant suoh banishment. Nine prominent Chinese were served -with these notices to quit the colony. Two of them were, connected with the local vernacular daily papers, others were prosperous;'.merchants, and one was a ; millionaire banker. ■■ Most of them obeyed. the :order, and-left Hong-Kong for Canton; but: one of. the..Chinese .editors declined to depart, and formally: notified; the Government that he : would .conto:;f,- 'the legality ■of the Ordinance.- He further said that he would await the Government officers in the office of his solicitor, and they were to arrest liim if they so decided. Accordingly the detectives called, and did in fact arrest Lhini. His solicitor (Jfr. Kong Sing, lata of Sydney) at once applied for a writ of ha,beas borpus, arid the intention was to test the constitutional point as to whether a man could be deported from a British colony with- • out trial. Altogether, it is reported, there -were about fifty Chinese under' the Govern, ment. ban, and for'these, the Chinese wert) prepared to take a case Home to the I'rivy Counoil. Next da.v the Government released the editor from prison, owing, to. som.P infqr* mality in the writ. ... ".,

Indlgnant Chinese Ses the Rand of Japan. ■ The Chinese in the colony had meanwhile become very incensed at the action, for they thought'.they, saw in it the high-handedness '"of t^'?apateeße, allies of: the. British. They sent. cablegrams from Singapore to' tho Colonial-.Office, 1 protesting at these men being deported, 'There;was open talk of a boycott of British merchants and banks,'and the brokers of the Chinese ceased at once.' to- order' goods from abroad,' 1 The 'situation became very serious, and the com-: hiercial community made representations to 'the Government- as to,what it really.meant to have the''trade of, the colony dislocated.. In fact, one of the men' deported is himself a very wealthy, merchant,. and his. firm • commenced to ask what "were to become ; of the contracts for goods-lie -h4d entered into. The;. : selling-firms made 1 similar queries. A new aspect - of- - the question'- 1 was; created by .the, 'editor is'siling a long oircular jetter, in.which ,;He be yory.'.6hary •aljouti'; jnvestiii^ 'they ; mj'ght !'b6" banished, at' any.ftune, and !;w;o«ld. ! %ivo''ts' Ipse., :, V. .- CDVornment Tries to Find a Way Out* ■' As a • result of the representations made • to them the; authorities decided to mako the .position of the ; Chinese clear. They were, therefore, informed that, the_ Crown was determined to assert its authority and to maintain it, " But ' they promise if there were no further troubles they would banish no further Chinese. In this way the difficulty has for the time being been got over, but it is likely to be'further heard of, as the editor talks of an action for illegal arrest, and the Chinese desire to test the legality'of the Ordinance.. In addition,.the.men.who have bijen banished say they are banishod wrongly,' and they want to get • back.: The ment, of course, does not desire t-o do anything that may seom like weakness, and the trade of the colony is so dull'that the commercial community is very anxious that the Chinese'business shall, not be lost, in ordor that' tile Government save, its face, Boycotts all Round. . Just now the Chinese seem boycott mad. Thq slightest slight, real or imaginary, and the indignant Chinese straightway declares a boycott, Just now he is boycotting the Germans, at Tsing-tau, because they had the temerity'to ask that the ships using the wharves should pay. wharfage dues. All the Chinese ships that do use the harbour unload in the stream, wliilo a great many that once traded ; there ' have transferred • their business to other ports. Becauso the French Consul-at.: Canton, deolined to allow Chinese soldiers to go' on-boarda - French boat to arrest, .some' alleged .pirates (who have turned out to be , reformers), a boycott on . the French river steamers ;.ya3 declared. The Canton Self-Government Association is \the power behind much of this trouble.. Three . days ago- they started another feud, A Chinese passenger by tho Fatshan to Canton was awakened —or, at least, an attempt was made to awaken him—on tho arrival of the vessel at the wharf. It was found that the man was- dead. The Chinese -at once commenced a rumour that a man had been killed on the British boat—the ship belongs to Alessrs. Butterfiold and Swire.. The people became very threatening, and a squad of soldiers had to be sent to protect the ship. A: European Mooter 'examined the body, and said that the man had died from disease, and that there was no' trace of any assault. But three Chinese said-they saw the tickct collector assault the man,' and continued to assert 'that this was so. An inquiry was. held by the. .British Consul,; and the' evidence was such that he discharged tho man from custody.- ' Nevertheless the- Chineso are far from satisfied with the decision.. The Self-Government Association have issued a letter in' which they refer to. the -three men who gave evidence of the so-called assault as patriots, and have had their ; photograph taken for general distribution. The extraordinary tiling about the latest boycott is that tho people will not travel by the Fatshan, but instead use'the French boat, which but a few weeks ago was also on the taboo list. As a result of th 6 banishments from HongKong'and the Fatshan incident, there is today a distinct anti-foreign feeling in Canton, and the British firms especially find that it is becoming not a little difficult for them to do the trade they could do a few weeks ago. .

The Ghincso Newspaper Men. ' .The editors of.tho Chinese nowspapers are responsible for a goocl deal of tho present friotiou. At tho Fatshan inquiry the British Consul allowed the Chinese newspaper men to attend. He told them thoy were to report the things thoy hoard only,: and not to draw on their imagination... . Their reports w6re pot to-his liking, and ho told them, at tho conclusion of tho inquiry, that it would be his duty .to bring their action in giving an exaggerated and misleading report before the Viceroy. This has-incensed tho reporters greatly, and they have fanned tho crusade against the British all the more sinco then. They have sent around the photographs of the three Chinese witnesses in the case,'and with it an injunction to their countrymen to copy those men in standing together against the {oreiguera.

Chinese Indiotment of Hqng;Koiig, Government.. Hong-Kongi. December 10. , ' . Sinco the above, was penned the Chinese of Hong-Kong liavo framed an indictment | against the local Government over tha re-. : cent banishments. It charges tho Hong-Kong : Government with interferiijjj wtjili tlja £res ! course of trade, in insisting''on the Chinesp ' buying' Japanese goods. wheni tjiey; do. not. | wish to> do so; with, unfairness in banishilig; ; men 1 without, trialj .with: preventing, . tlje' [ Chinese, iji from shfflßWß tbeit- | respect, tp the • memory of tllft late ?uj.eis. or ; China, fojr the Government, of llpng-Kpng, ■ thes Chinese say,, \>-o,ijld. toA ■ them to, . hold a public meeting, for the, purpogp of ; holding a commoij. day.'for- : tta suspension o£' ' all business; and) with,. tjiovjnterferi.iig >ith. ; the. course-of Chinese charity, as .the, four: 1 nje» wh r o were,, to, hayp visited Hpjig-Sp?g ! for the purpose of holding a meeting ini cojir : section with the flood Relief Fund were. tojd ; by the. British Consul' at Cimtou that it they : did. do so. thoy would be banished:. These ije- : presentations, arei to be. sent. Hpmp to the, , Secretary pf Stafaj for the Coloni.es;..