AN AMIABLE COLONY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 696, 9 July 1859, Page 3

AN AMIABLE COLONY.

It is Some'months sitice we made passing allusion to the"abnormal and not" very creditable"" state 'of. i oar official arrangements in the little Island ofHongkong. The subject :has, asLwe-then gradually forced dtself upon .the public •:;; certain keenrsighted grievance-hunters of:; Sheffield have made it-the ground of a public and,a .P#rh'amentar.y;petiti6n; .and.the mii habitants o/(Tynemduth:have. shown curiosity upon jtbue raatter,Vand have ;backed the petition of-ithe ■cutlers.v-.iThe makers of; sw,prd-blaides and; the ; builders-of .-.ships feel a natural interest inelements of j:disturbance;happening far away; and Hongkong has once again been honoured by-a, mention )in>the Imperial;i Parliament. . The* sound ,of the<name>in ;ouriPai'liamentary'proceedings never bodes goodito :"6iir national interests. It is ialways connected with some fatal pestilence, some dpubtful:wav,iors6me discreditable internal squabble; so much so, that, ;in ipopular language, the name of .this noisy, :bust<ling, quarrelsome, discontented, and. insalubrious little island, may not inaptly be_used,as .an eiiphe:raous synonym: for a place not mentionabletoears polite.' -We cannot wish that the :sea should.take :it backmgain:ito.itself,1 because English, lives and English property would; be endangered; but, if ithese could be withdrawn; we should very willingly resign -any: benefits which we derive from its possession, to be relieved of the inconveniences which : it-forces upon us. Lord Malmesbury in the Lords, and: Sir E.Lyttoninthe Commons, seem thoroughly to have sympathized with the' tone in which we treated this last difficulty when it arose. It is a • itroublesome, vexatious,: and paltry? affair, ;iniposing upon everybody a greatdeal of trouble for a .totally '• inadequate object, and with the promise of a most ;unßatisfactpryrresult. < ■:.■■■- -. -.'. ::Jit >the date: of the last advices ;every official, man's hand in r Hongkong-was against his neigh-. bour, arid,; as that important dependency of the British Grown is; distressingly complete in its official Maff, the hostilities are 'more difficult to remember fhan theiintestineiwars of the;Seleucida3 or i the. politics of the Italian- EepublicsJ There is a: Governor,': a Lieutenant-Governor, a Chief Justice^ an Attorney-General, an Acting AttoraeyGeneralj a.Council, aColonial:Secretary, a Registrar, •and^Protector of; Chinese,.a Colonial Treasurer, and others>" too numerous to. mention."' These officers are jail: criticized, represented, or calumniated; by some six :pew,spaperß, whereof we believe that at ■ least bne;.has:a daily issue, and na one restricts itself to a single weekly appearance. ;The island in which' these agencies work and boil over is considerably; Jess than the Isle of; Wight, and the in- : habited oportion might all be put into Hyde Park. When werlast heardlof this amiable community 'the Governor-had, run away to seek health or quiet "in,the Philippines; the :Lieutenant-Govemor was at issue with Mr. Tarrant, of the * Friend of China,' on acoount of Mr. Tarrahtls persistent accusations that the;Lieutenarit-Governor: had, at some remote period,, encouraged ,or protected his servants in .'■' squeezing!! the Chinese; the Attorney-General : was suspended for bringing certain.charges against : the Registrar; the- Acting Attorney-General had been" worried to death, and another was succeeding to his perilous office; the, Colonial Secretary was absent, but the . Acting Colonial Secretary was undergoing accusations of having;-while uniting in himself the somewhat, incongruous-duties of a private barrister and Colonial Secretary, given his clients the. benefit of his official position, and of having destroyed papers which compromised a notorious offender; the Colonial Treasurer was. being cross-examined in a witness-box as to the-.

prespre he.hacTput upon the 'Daily IRi-es-s'when he had the editor.in prison; the Registrar and the Erotector of Chineae [had' accumulated upon his Ue.ad>ajlr,the accusations that can be reasonably brought against any one man, from piracy on the highness down to brothel-keeping; the newspaper proprietors were all. more or. less in prison, or going to prison, or coming out of prison, : on prose • cutions by some one jpr more of the incriminated and incriminating officials; and the Chief Justice was-.trying an action'against the Governor. We are not about to attempt an ainalysisof those 'papers whichi"Sir"]Buhver- Lytton pro'dueed amid •the respectful disciniragerhent of .the British House .ofCqininons.'; "fro^uKe them, or even print .them as we rn,ay,'their cbiitents'.wiU'n'ever be'-tiipi'ougbly fcncjwn to,any .one btiirtite reader of ;tn'e riQa^B Printer s printing-office, to "whom" "fifty 'might afford, a plausible ground for an application. to increase his salary. They form an witjr'oylw ; which, no one'desires to unravel, and they containa .secret history i which no one wishes .to .discoyer. No Qoubt,-there are :faults in; all.these, official people; -There .aj-e faults in the imperfectly regulated^energies 'of Mr; Ohi'shohn Ans'tey r for lf-thdse Jenergi.es > liad -'beenI 'better regii).a,ted- they r would Have' !carri|d - him very ' far \ clear; of Hongkong. There arei'jfauttsuu 'ihe ;"c_6jid act of Sir JoliiTßown'ng, for it is'afauUlti any'inan not to make him-self-popular in ?, community 9f merchants. -There is. a.fftulit jn'.'.the : pp&ition of piC Bridges, ht ;on,ce! ioplouial Secretary and itjle- comis.el ,of such men as Alum,:the baiker, and Manchow Wang, the convicted pirate; ' Thei-e is a Ifault also in the' 'position of Mr". Caldwell; who is: allied by marriage to the .Ghinese population, and who therefore can "never disabuse the Chinese of the potion that he is 'as .one ;df.them, and can he acted upon as they are acted upon. But then we must: expect to find faults/in every public man, and persons who aye -necessitajted to" go to Hongkong'! are not exempt from, the/general infirmity. As ti) the Hongkong press, ;which- cv.cry one is using; {prompting, dis.avowing,jand prosecuting, the less iwe say of it the better, for we could say nothing of it that would •at all tend to t?Ke:'cfedit rof bur "profession. Any attempi to deal judicially with'tbJw congeries of intrigues; accusati6nss'and a',ramosities here in England must signally failr ;We canriot do justice at the Antipodes while cartloads o;f evidence are arriving by .every post and local information, is j wanting to the judges. It is a ease for a Dictator. It would -be-better-to «end out some sensible man. withepower "mediate, and;' failing -mediation, I with authority to ;jiidger 'A man of tact and firmj ness ;woMd: settle itfie'mahner:-ini a week, but he ought to'fee empowered Lto leave jbehind him the menace that -the first- person who recommences this "state.of 'Official chaos shall be at • once dismissed. ' W. e.caui^ot be always investigating la storm in a teapp,t> jyhel'jein[each individual tealeaf has its dignity .and jits grievance. !