HC Deb 25 February 1845 vol 77 cc1203-11
Dr. Bowring

said, he was about to ask some information from Her Majesty's Government with reference to a matter which was well entitled to the attention of the House. In bringing forward the subject, it was not necessary to refer to the interest which the proceedings in China had created in the mind of this country, or to the grati- fication with which public opinion regarded the brilliant and successful career of Sir Henry Pottinger in that country, rendering the position of any one who succeeded that distinguished individual one of considerable difficulty, from the disadvantageous contrast in which he would necessarily be placed. It must be the universal wish of all parties in England, that all our proceedings in that country should be characterized by prudence and wisdom, and that no impression should be left upon the inhabitants of our newly-founded Colony, or upon the extraordinary people amongst whom that Colony was placed, which might be unfavourable to the character of the English people. Proceedings which had recently taken place at Hong-Kong, and with respect to which he wished to obtain some authentic information, were of such a nature, that they could scarcely fail to leave an unfavourable impression with respect to us; and therefore it was desirable that the House should be fully informed upon the subject, so that if the statements which had reached this country through unofficial channels would be explained by facts of an authoritative character, the error and mistakes which appeared to have been made, might be excused or explained. For according to present appearances the conduct of the Governor of Hong-Kong had been hasty—injudicious—indefensible; and he should, previously to requiring information upon the subject, lay before the House what had been communicated to him with reference to the circumstances to which he he alluded. On the 21st of August, 1844, an ordinance was prepared by the Governor and Council of Hong-Kong, which was not promulgated until two months after, which showed that the document was not rashly issued, but that it had been promulgated after long consideration. The document to which he alluded stated that To secure tranquillity and good order in the Colony of Hong-Kong and its dependencies, and to prevent the resort there of abandoned characters and of persons without any ostensible means of subsistence, it was expedient that a registry be established of persons resident therein. The mode, however, of carrying out the objects proposed in that document was of so inquisitorial a character, that it was calculated to lead to great resistance, and to be warmly opposed by all who were subjected to its control. The ordinance spoke of Hong-Kong and its dependencies; and he would ask, where were those dependencies? He thought it would be well if the Governor had defined what those dependencies were. The first clause of the ordinance went on to say,— Be it further enacted and ordained, that from and after the first day of November next, all male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, or capable of earning a livelihood, resident in the Colony of Hong-Kong, shall be required once in every year to appear personally at the said office, or at such branch offices as may from time to time be established by the Governor in Council, to be registered in manner hereinafter mentioned. That ordinance contained provisions which were to apply, not only to the British merchants, but to all persons resident in Hong-Kong; and some of those provisions were of such a nature, that they were opposed to the feelings, not only of the merchants, but were so much more especially so to the habits and usages of oriental countries, that it would be quite impossible to carry them out. It went on to say,— Be it further enacted and ordained, that the said Registrar-General, or such other officer, so to be appointed as aforesaid, shall and may in all cases where he shall deem it advisable, inquire into, and acquaint himself with the age, birth-place, and residence of every person so to be registered, and with his occupation, and the date of his arrival in the Colony aforesaid; and with the circumstances of his family and connexions, and with their places of residence, and occupation; and shall and may ascertain whether the said applicant be married, and of what number his family consists, and whether male or female: and that he do enter or cause to be entered all such particulars in a book to be kept for that purpose. If such provisions were calculated to be repulsive to the feelings of the British at Hong-Kong, he (Dr. Bowring) could state, from his knowledge of oriental society and manners, that it would, in his opinion, be impossible to carry them into operation, when the retirement of the household could scarcely even be penetrated. Even at Cairo, a few years since, the Government wholly failed in an attempt to make a census of the population, being resisted by the universal feeling of the public. What was the consequence of this attempt at Hong-Kong? The result was, that a great number of persons left the Colony—the bazaar was in a state of great commotion, public works were suspended, and the market at Victoria was for a time thrown into great confu- sion. The details of the registration ordinance were as obnoxious as its general character. There was no appeal allowed against the decision of the Registrar-General; all headmen and contractors were made responsible for the registration of all those in their employment; and every one liable to be registered was bound, under the ordinance, to report himself, in order to be registered before the expiration of twenty-four hours after his arrival in the Colony, under a penalty of twenty dollars. It was further ordained that all tepos and overseers should be bound to give a return, when called upon by the proper officer, of the names and occupation, and all the particulars before-mentioned, of all persons residing in their respective villages or districts, with the number of each house, according to the register, and the number of persons residing in each house, or be liable to a penalty of twenty dollars for each and every person so required to be registered. It also ordained that every householder should give a return of the names, and the number of persons in his employment, or residing within his house or on his premises; and if the returns were not made before a certain day named in the ordinance, he was to be fined twenty dollars; then there was a fee of five dollars for registering every resident being a merchant, shopkeeper, or comprador, or being in the receipt of a monthly income of twenty dollars or upwards, with a fee of three dollars for registering any person who was a servant, clerk, or mechanic, or was in the receipt of a monthly income not exceeding twenty dollars, and no less than ten dollars; and the fee for registering every person being a Coolie boatman or labourer, or being in receipt of a monthly income of less than ten dollars, was to be one dollar. The appearance of such a document naturally created the greatest sensation in the Colony, for all were opposed to a system of such an inquisitorial nature, which inquired not only as to individuals themselves, but to their connexions; and a public meeting was held, at which the dissatisfaction of the inhabitants was expressed, and a memorial adopted on the subject. With reference to a meeting of the Chinese, which had been held on that subject, the Governor stated that he had received a communication from the assistant magistrate of police, to the following effect:— My information leads me to believe that other than Chinese influence has been exerted to mature the late movement. The leading part taken by the comprador of an English firm—the meeting of Chinese held at the house of that firm—the intimate knowledge displayed by the Chinese of the proceedings of certain English regarding the registration, and their adoption of precisely similar language—would seem to mark most clearly the assistance and co-operation of one or more Englishmen. And the Governor went on to say,— He would fain hope, for the sake of the British character, that none could have been found capable of thus tampering with the Chinese population; but as the subject had come officially before him, he deemed it necessary to take that public notice of it, and to draw the attention of any who could descend to such unworthy practices, to the consequences entailed on the ignorant and unfortunate Chinese, who had been necessarily subjected by the magistrates to severe punishment. That would show the view which was taken of the ordinance at Hong-Kong. The parties at that meeting distinctly repudiated, by resolution, all intention of disrespect, and again expressed their disapproval of the ordinance. He was not sure that without reference to the home Government, the authority of levying taxes existed in the Governor of Hong-Kong; but that the mode adopted was imprudent there could be no doubt. Subsequently a letter was received, in which it was stated, that the representations made to the Governor were of so disrespectful a character, that all further communications between him and the merchants must cease while such sentiments continued to be maintained by them; and that they were indebted wholly to the ignorance of the Governor and Council, occasioned by the delay of their letter of the 31st, for any answer whatever to what now appeared to be their third communication. Now this was not the friendly position in which the principal inhabitants of a new Colony ought to stand in relation to its authorities. He thought these parties had an undoubted right to represent what they considered to be a great grievance, and to state the fact that the ordinance had stopped their commercial affairs. The result was, that the present Governor was obliged to withdraw the ordinance. After the Chinese had been induced to submit to all the terms which we saw fit to enforce upon them, here was one of the first acts of the new Governor—a measure which he was obliged to retract—thus giving to those against whom it was directed a triumph, which must be most dangerous to good and regular Government, and must be a source of great confusion. The object which he now sought was to obtain a communication of the Papers, and to invite from the Government such an explanation as they might be disposed to offer; and unless something more were said than was contained in the Papers in his hand, he should feel it necessary hereafter to take further steps to ascertain whether there was any justification for the proceedings to which he had called the attention of the House. The hon. Gentleman then moved— That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, that She will be graciously pleased to give directions that there be laid before this House, Copies or Extracts of Correspondence relative to the issue and suspension of an Ordinance of the Governor of Hong-Kong, dated 21st August last, for the registration of the population of that Colony, and for establishing a Poll Tax on the inhabitants to cover the expenses of said registration.

Mr. G. W. Hope

could not, on the part of the Department with which he was connected, consent to the production of the correspondence; neither could he suffer the observations of the hon. Gentleman to pass without some notice. In the first place, he had to complain that the hon. Gentleman should, without waiting for the whole correspondence, so that the case might be fairly stated, have made an attack upon the conduct of Mr. Davis. That Gentleman had for years been superintendent of the trade in China, and had been selected by his right hon. Friend as especially fitted for the appointment, and be had given great satisfaction in the discharge of his duties. The hon. Gentleman seemed to consider such a law as a registration law inconsistent and difficult of application in a new Colony like Hong-Kong; but he thought it much more easy in a new Colony than in an old city like Cairo. He should be doing injustice to Mr. Davis, if he did not state that the principle of the law in question had received the sanction of the noble Lord at the head of the Colonial Department. The House would recollect that Hong-Kong was small in extent, and was close to a dense population of Chinese. It was infested by rogues and vagabonds of every description; robberies were committed in the most daring manner. As one instance, the House of a merchant had been attacked early in the night by 150 men. To restrain these excesses by a proportionate force was almost impossible; and the next best thing was considered to be a police regulation in the nature of registration, so as to prevent persons who were not of good character from residing there. As to the tax in question, it was intended to cover the expense of the proceeding, and that did not seem an unfair mode of supplying the means of carrying such a regulation into effect. At the same time the whole subject was under the consideration of Mr. Davis, and, until further explanation should be received, he (Mr. Hope) was not prepared to say more on the subject.

Sir G. Staunton

hoped that the Motion would be withdrawn. There was nothing which appeared to him more likely to retard the progress of the Colony than these premature discussions. In order to assist the House to form a just estimate of the impression which this ordinance made on the spot, he should read to them the following extracts from the Hong-Kong Gazette:— The clauses of the last ordinance which were felt to be so obnoxious have been withdrawn, much to the credit of the Government and Legislative Council. As it now stands we have little to find fault with. We hear objections from parties, whose opinions we respect, to some of the clauses of the registration ordinance. We confess that the whole document is un-English, but at the same time the state of affairs renders it indispensable. We must bear in mind that Hong-Kong is an anomaly in Colonial history, and that we must not seek elsewhere for measures which here are unavoidable. The advices which he had received informed him that the ordinance had been withdrawn; at the same time, in the opinion of those who had an opportunity of judging of the facts, it had been rendered necessary by the state of the Colony. He was of that opinion, and entirely approved of the ordinances: they were absolutely required in the existing circumstances of the Colony. At the same time, he must remark, that the favourable Tariff of duties which had been conceded by the Chinese was undoubtedly a "heavy blow and great discouragement" to those who expected the prosperity of the Colony to be promoted by branches of trade which were not legitimate. Mr. Davis, as had been stated by the hon. Member opposite, was well qualified for the duties confided to him, as well by his attainments as by his natural abilities. He had given many proofs of his judgment and skill; and he was selected for the post which he filled solely on account of his high character and his qualifications. But whatever might be the talents with which he was endowed, his situation was, from the peculiar circumstances of the Colony, a very hard and difficult one. He had to deal with a population of 15,000 Chinese, all seeking to evade the contact or control of both the Chinese and the English Governments, and he found it necessary to control them by some stringent regulations. The differences which had arisen were not originated by any act of Mr. Davis. It was even admitted on the spot that he had done more to promote the prosperity of the Colony in six months than had been achieved in the two previous years of its occupation by the English.

Dr. Bowring

said, that he did not understand the hon. Gentleman opposite to state decidedly that he would not by and by communicate the document to the House. He had said that at present the information was imperfect, and be (Dr. Bowring) would certainly not do Mr. Davis the injustice of resting the case upon imperfect documents. If there was any defence of which we had no knowledge, Mr. Davis ought to have the advantage of them. His hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth stated, that he had received information that the document had been wholly withdrawn. That was not the purport of the communication which he (Dr. Bowring) had received. The Hong-Kong Register, of the 12th of November stated, that the postponement of the Act had restored matters to their former state, that most of the Coolies who had left the settlement seemed to have returned, and the public and private works that had been brought to a stand were again in a state of progress. It proceeded to say, "We have heard that upwards of 3,000 left in the course of two days, affording a sufficient proof of itself how much harm would have resulted from enforcing the measure which has in the meantime been wisely withdrawn, and we hope will not again be promulgated without being divested of the offensive clauses." As far as he could judge, the amount of the justification of Mr. Davis came to this, that he had put forward an ordinance which he was not able to defend, which he had in consequence withdrawn, and that a great many of its obnoxious clauses had been removed; and he could not but think that such an exhibition in the Colony of Hong-Kong, or in any other Colony, did no credit to the British authority. With leave of the House he would withdraw his Motion in its present form, retaining to himself the right of bringing it forward by and by, when the necesary documents were in the hands of the Government.