THE CHINESE COMMISSIONERS REPORT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2492, 30 June 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE CHINESE COMMISSIONERS REPORT.

Rough Treatment of the Chinese by the Dutch and Spanish. Tiik following official report has been received on tho condition of tho Chinese emigrants abroad : — Londok, May 11. After thirteen months' absence the commissioners returned to Pekin in September last, having visited the various Spanish, British and Dutch colonies, and presented their report to Chang Chip Tung, Viceroy of Canton, who has addressed a memorial to the Throne containing the substance of the commistogether with recommendations of his own.

Tho commissioners have since started on a tour through Borneo, with a view to study the condition of their countrymen in Sarawak, the territory of tho British North Borneo Company and tho Dutch possessions, but no reports of the results of this journey have yet been made. The report of the first and more important journey begins at Manilla, the capital of the Philippine Islands, which was the first place visited by the commissioners. Here the Chinese community complained bitterly of the wrongs they received at tho hands of the Spaniards, and earnestly begged for the appointment of a consul to protect them, volunteering to pay all the expenses of a consular establishment. There are about 50,000 Chinese there, carrying on a most thriving business notwithstanding the wrongs inflicted on thera. They were murdered, their houses set on fire and plundered, and the authorities sent to investigate the ease evinced flagrant partiality. Extortionate taxes are levied on thera, and groaning under tho burden of oppression, they were about to petition the Spanish Government when the commission arrived.

From Manilla tho members ro-crossed the China seas to Singapore, where they were receivod v\ ith every civility by the governor. Here the Chinese number about 150,000 and are the richest among tho inhabitants. Fonr-fifths of the landed property is theirs, and large numbers of Chinese labourers pass through tho port every year. In Malacca and Penatig the Chinese also thrive in business. In Perak and Selanjore 100,000 Chinese, mostly tin miners, are well protected, several of whom are millionaires. In Rangoon there are about 30,000 Chinese, dealing mainly in rice and precious stones.

From Rangoon the commissioners passed to the Dutch colonies, first to Deli, in Sum itrn, the centre of a large area of tobacco plantations. To this place immigrants come, mostly from Swatow, through Singapore, where they are carefully examined by English officials to ascertain whether they know where they are going, and whether they go voluntarily. They are mainly engaged in tobacco growing and curing, and being thrifty, do well; but gambling is encouraged by the head labourers, and those who loose are compelled to remain working year after year. The Dutch laws provide that no labourer shall be engaged for more than thrca years, and that he shall be at liberty to go home after that period, whether he is in debt or not; but labourers are ignorant of this, and are ill-treated in consequence. The Dutch authorities promised the commission to have this rectified. In Batavia the Chinese are heavily taxed, and gambling prevails among them. In the other Dutch possessions there are over 20,000 Chinese, who are most outrageously treated by the Dutch authorities, and when the commission visited them they all with one impulse poured forth their wrongs. In Australia the commissioners visited a large number of places on or near the coast. The island of Australia, which is a dependency of England, is one of the five great continents. It is of vast extent in area, and possesses the richest natural products. Miners of all kinds are found there, and large numbers of Chinese emigrate thither to engage in mining and other occupations. A tax, varying from £10 to £30, per head is levied on Chinese landing there, the object being to prevent immigration. Wherever the commissioners went they received a most hearty and enthusiastic reception frcm their countrymen, who prayed that measures for their protection might be speedily adopted. The report continues:—"The number of Chinese subjects at present trading or working in foreign lands does not fall shortof several millions, and in some ports emigration is increasing, and our merchants are thriving. The advancing prosperity of our people has attracted the attention of various foreign Governments, and their jealousy has been aroused. Th« Dutch authorities havo been endeavouring to expel the Chinese from their colonies, and collisions between the Chinese and natives are becoming of more frequent occurrence. If measures are not adopted to render the residence of our citizens abroad more secure and peaceful they will all flock home, and what will become of this surplus population scattered along our sea coast ? The question of affording efficient protection to our subjects abroad is therefore one that demands our immediate attention and solicitude. Wherever the commissioners visited they weru received with courtesy by the'officials of the various foreign Governments."

So much for what the commissioners saw. On this tho Viceroy makes various suggestions for the more efficient protection of Chinese emigrants, but practically they all resolve into one, namely, the appointment of the Chinese consuls abroad to look after the interests of their countrymen. Tims he wants to see consuls-general iu Manilla, in some of the Dutch possessions, tho Malay Archipelego, Sydney and Singapore, with subordinate consuls and vice-consuls at various places in the Philippines, Java, Sumatra, Penang, Rangoon, Brisbane and Victoria.

Indeed, so important and urgent did he deem it to appoint a consul-general to Manilla that ho got the consent of the Government of Madrid for the purpose ; but the Manilla Government objected, and the consent was withdrawn. In Singapore hn would have a consul-general exercise a kind of co-ordinato power with tho colonial registrar-general for the prevention of irregularities and deception of labourers. The consuls would be supported out of the fees derived from tho Chinese residents in various places, and if there is a balance it could be reserved as a fund for the construction of war ships to be specially used for the protection of Chinese abroad. In addition a literary college could bo established at Manilla, with an adequate library and corps of professors selected by the consul-general, to teach Chinese youths there tho doctrines of other nations, the sago ethics of China, the principles of fine relations and so on. If the fees are not enough to cover all expenses the memorialist will raise the rest among- the merchants, upon whom ho will bestow official titles.

In view of the measures which Chang Chap Tung proposes to tako for the protection of Chinese abroad, it may be well to explain that, while the foroign powers have a right to send consuls to China, the Chinese Government do not securo for themselves in treaties corresponding powers of sending consuls to foreign countries. The omission was duo to simple carelessness, and perhaps the belief on the part of the Chinese negotiators of the treaties of 1857 that China would never want to send officials abroad.

The Times, commenting on the report, says:—"Like tho Jews in the middle ages, and some European countries now, the Chinese are recognised as the proper objects for public and private spoliation in many countries, but they thrive all the same, under conditions which would be fatal, not only to prosperity, but to the existence of a race less gifted with endurance and rocuporativo force. But there is an important difference between the position of Chinese immigrants and that of tho Jowb of old. In the middlo ages the Jew in Europe was persecuted every-

where, turn where he would there was no refuge open for him, no escape from the übiquitous national curse. The Chinese emigrant has the advantage in this respect, that he has a country of his own, and he can return to it if his treatment becomes absolutely intolerable. Tho fear of the commissioners is that ho will be driven to this course. There aro, they say, several millions of Chinese subjects trading or working in foreign lands, and if measures aro not adopted to give them the security which they do not at present enjoy, the result will bo that they will turn their steps homewards. What will become of them on their arrival, and what room'can they hops to find not already fully occupied ? the commissioners ask with alarm, Thoy are only sure that tho back flow must be stopped, and since this car.not be done unless the Chineso abroad have efficient protection afforded them the supply of this protection is a matter of pressing urgency, and it must be taken in hand at once."

China Awakening. Under the above heading l the St. James Gazette publishes the following artielo, which will just now bo read with interest]: —

Old European residents in China, long accustomed to an attitude of stolid inertia, note with pleasure and surpriso tho many symptoms which seem to show that the great empire is arousing itself for a new advance in national life. The indications are many and various, but all mark the wisdom of a race—the most Conservative in the word—who will not yield one tittle of the good they hold till they are fully assured that something better is to be gained, and who, when once convinced of this set themselves to acquire it with indomitable perseverance.

Each tentative step has been marked with oxtreme caution. Soon after the capture of Pekin by the allied forces, the Chinese founded a college at the capital, engaging accomplished foreigners to translate books and instruct students in western science and a knowledge o mechanics. Finding the education thus acquired not sufficiently practical, they hit on the expediency of sending clever mechanics to Europe and America to study various branches of engineering and other subjects. Now, however, the Government have resolved to form technical colleges, where young men may stndy without the expense and inconvenience of foreign travel, and five such schools have already been established at Tientsin under the immediate supervision of Li Hung-Chang. These are—l, the military college ; 2 the naval; 3, the engineering ; 4, the electrical, 5 the medical, Here young men may fit themselves for the various departments of official work. All these colleges are under foreign superintendents, associated with Chinese officials. The text books are in English, and the teaching is imparted in the English tongue. One of the professors, who is a Chinaman, delivers his lectures in English. In addition to the five colleges a'; Teintsin, the Government is now building a great preparatory school capable of accommodating 300 students as boarders. Here they will acquire a thorough knowledge of English and the rudiments of science ere they are promoted to the higher colleges. One who recently inspected the schools speaks in high terms of the method, spirit, intelligence, and ambition which pervades them. Hs fonud the three first by far the most numerously attended, whereas the College of Medicine had but a handful of students—a fact which to those _ who know anything of Chinese medicine, speaks volumes for the strength of prejudice. That little handful, however, will undoubtedly prove the nucleus round which many more will gathor. As yet the attendance at the Electrical College is comparatively small, but is sure to develop rapidly, since telegraphy has been so suddenly carried on throughout the empire. It is but a little while since the first, telegraph from Tientsin to Shanghai wa9 constructed, in fear and trembling as to what might be its effect on the mysterious powers of nature—the all pervading Fung Shui. Finding that the mysterious dragon of wind and water took no notice of the perpetrators of this innovation, the officials waxed bold ; and now not only has the telegraph been completed to every province in China and Corea, but branch lines are being constructed in all directions.

So it is is regards railroads. Though the first little foreign railway at Shanghai was so cruelly sacrificed to prejudice, an experimental line seven miles In length was constructed at the Kai Ping pioneer mines, at so safe a distanco inland as to be beyond all danger of foreign machination. Finding its working eminently satisfactory, steps were taken for the construction of a line from the seaboard to Tient-in. This railway is to be opened in July, after which it will probably be extended to Pekin itself. Once _ that great step is accomplished, there is no doubt that China will construct many lines; taking care, however, to do so a.< far as possible with her own money. While such a spirit as Li-Hung Chang holds tho reins at Tientsin these activities will continue. Those who remember that foreign settlement, and native town, as a dismal waste of mud or dust would scarcely recognise it in its new condition, with regular and well planned streets and a park. The natural river bank at which steamers used to moor is now transformed into a well built enbankment a mile and a half in longth. A telephone has been constructed "to the various military encampments of the district., including one to Taku. forty miles distant, where tho Imperial naval dockyard officers are busy constructing small gunboats, launches, &c. Not long since each maritime province constructed war vessels on its own account Now, however, a "Board of Admiralty" has been appointed, and under its jurisdiction all Chinese warships are enrolled.

Not tho least interesting production of tho Takn dockyard was a steam-launch for tho Emperor. It was conveyed on moveablo rails to Pekin, and there launched on the lake within tho palace grounds, where it created a vast sensation. Steam power came under the eyes of the Imperial family for the first time.