The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-22 00:00:00

THE SUN, LON!DON, TUESDAY-

pline among the British merchant shipping ; but the
true design must lave boon to ensure British subjects
that protection which the Chinese authorities were
aware they could not always give them. At all
events there stands the obligation, which in the (aye
of Canton, the most requisite and essential, has never
been observed, except when after an alarm a ship is
dispatched too large to get beyond Whampoa, in
place of a steamer anchored off the factories. The
principal portion of the fleet is with the Admiral at
Borneo, and the Pluto, steamer, the only vessel
suited to the service required here would have
joined him, had she not encountered a typhoon on
her way, and being heavily loaded with coals and
stores, was unable to contend against it. Having
lost bath sails and rudder, and sustained great
damage from the storm, she was driven on the rocks
to the S.E. of Hong-Kong, where the Vestal, under
orders for. the north, and to have sailed next day,
went to get her off, an operation that occupied a
week. In the meanwhile the riot took place, and as
the Wolverine, the only other British vessel in port,
was undergoing repairs, she was unavailable ; so
several days after quiet had been again restored, and
the Danish seamen and marines had returned to their
ship, by this time in Hong• Kong harbour, the Vestal
proceeded to Whampoa, and has since been replaced
by the Wolverine, where there is no certainty that
she will remain permanently, or until relieved. The
foreigners at Canton are not a little exasperated at
their being left to the mercy of an infuriated mob,
and have addressed a remonstrance to the Consul, in-
tended to be forwarded to the Government, complain-
ing of the infraction of the treaty, and calling to re-
membrance the Governor's proclamation of the 18th
of May, wherein the reason assigned for our not im-
mediately availing ourselves of the Emperor's per-
mission to enter the city is, that "the populace of
Canton cannot at present be controlled by the local
authorities." Such is the character of the people
amongst whom so much life and property is left un-
protected by any portion of our large fleet in the
East. The subject you will find amply discussed in
the newspapers herewith sent, from one of which—
the China Mail—l cull a few "further particulars"
of the proceedings at Canton :
" On the present occasion the native shopkeepers
and o'hers in the neighbourhood of the factories give
no countenance to the mob, not from any especial love
to the foreigners, but because by their energy and de-
termination they prevented Mingqua's Hong from being
set on fire. The shopocracy are therefore loud in their
praises of those who have probably saved their property
from destruction, for a fire once begun in Canton is not
so easily subdued, and in the confusion consequent
thereon the loss of property from robberies is generally
very great.
" The same feeling, however, does not extend to the
gentry and scholars, who encourage the popular preju-
dices against foreigners ; and much less is it fbund
amidst the lowest of the people, who :at Canton are
formidable from their numbers, and want nothing but
opportunity to accomplish what they long for, the plun-
der of the factories. The constituted authorities are be-
lieved to be sincerely desirous to keep the peace, but
with such materials to work upon must have great diffi-
culty in doing so. The late proceedings, though they
have issued in the slaughter of several of the just
people,' do not seem to have been greatly disapproved of
by their rulers, if we may judge from the edict issued
by Hwang, the Lieutenant-Governor, on the day follow-
ing the riot :
" Hwang, by imperial commission governor of
Kwangtung, having just learned that those who live in
the neighbourhood of the thirteen factories and the out-
side countrymen have been quarrelling and fighting, it
is out duty with equity to investigate who is in the right
and who is in the wrong, and to put a termination to
the matter. If the conduct of the outside countryman
is bad, we will never do injustice to the inside people,
Do not, then, by collecting together, excite disturbances
and violate the law, so as to be apprehended and exa-
mined by us. A special edict oppose not.
",` Taukwang,:26th:year (Intercallary), sth month, 6th
day (9th July).
" Such proclamations are not calculated to propitiate
the multitude, and it is notorious that in proportion as
Keying and Hwang adopt an impartial and liberal course
of policy, they are in disfavour both with the ' enlight-
ened gentry and righteous people of Canton!”—aina
Mail, July 16.
" Our Chinese correspondent has since supplied us
with the original of the following more formal dtcument
published, by Sz' the magistrate of the district where the
riot occurred. It seems very ingeniously drawn up; for,
though as might have been expected, it lays the blame
upon the English, the ' good people,' who have even
suffered injury are significantly warned of the conse-
quences of mingling themselves up with those whose sole
object in creating disturbances is plunder. Sz' assumes
it to be impossib!e in such commotions to distinguish be-
tween the good plants and weeds, and that in the event
of a breach of the peace, both will be taken and treated
alike,

" Sz', acting chief magistrate of Nan-hai Hien, with
great earnestness makes proclamation:—
" Whereas, upon the night of the 15th of the present
moon, the English having a quarrel with our people,which
ar,,se from some altercation or petty cause, fell to using
their fire-arms, the result thereof was that three men
were killed and six wounded. The English were as-
suredly in the wrong.
" Fearing that the disturbance, which was not yet
over, would cause the lawless to avail themselves of the
op

:portunity to plunder the shopkeepers and inhabitants,
and commit other abuses, I, therefore, communicated
with the officers commanding military posts, that they
might bring down troops and police, to form a cordon,
and block up the streets for the protection of the quar-
ter. I again made examination of the killed and
wounded, and, according to their real state, presented
my report to the authorities, with a request that orders
might be given to the English Consul, to the effect that
on discovery of the guilty* they might, as the laws re-
quire, and according to the degree of their offences, be
severely punished. The officers of Government are to
the people as fathers and mothers to their children. As
for those who have had the misfortune to meet with this
untimely calamity, justice shall assuredly be done them.
My only fear is that you, the people, making pretext of
requital, should repeat the irregularity of assembling in
crowds, whereby those who are in the right, changing
their ground, would be ranked with those who are in the
wrong; once, too, that you have thronged together, it
is hard to be sure that, mingled amongst you, there
are no vagabonds profiting by the opportunity to rob
and plunder, whence calamity falls upon the shopmen
and inhabitants; then, from the difficulty of distinguish-
ing the honest and those of ill growth, both are appre-
hended and tried together. As for the bad characters,
who affect a zeal in the public service, that they may carry
out their unlawful intentions, crime is their vocation,
and it has ever been found useless to pity them; but you,
the good, who do your duty contentedly, and who from'
the excitement of the moment join in their cry, and
mingle with them, thus losing your position through
their ill deeds, and becoming with them obnoxious to the
punishment of crime, how can we but pity you? It is
my duty to issue immediately and with earnestness a
proclamation. Wherefore I hereby make proclamation
to all classes of men dwelling in the neighbourhood, to
inform you, that you must await the investigation of all
that has previously occurred by the superior officers of
Government; you must each and all in tranquillity pur-
sue your avocations; nor must you, by raising a cry of
retribution, revive disorder, and give cause to other
troubles, the end whereof will be your own severe
punishment.

" My object is to keep peace in the quarter, and to
preserve safe your persons and houses, therefore do I
not spare to repeat again and again my warning by pro-
clamation. Let every good man beholding this believe
the best of my heart, and tremblingly übey. Let none
resist a special edict.'

" This proclamation was followed by another next
day, more earnestly enforcing its injunctions, and stat-
ing that during the riot a native jeweller's shop had been
robbed. The tone of b9th documents is calculated to
show the people that there is a very different order of
things now from that which existed before the war,
when an event like this would have broken off all in-
tercourse with the foreigners, and instead of a brief
announcement of the casualties, life for life would have
been insisted on as a preliminary to any negotiations
whatever. It was reported that the people demanded
this of their rulers, but the subject is not even alluded to
in Sz's proclamation."
We have very limited means of judging of the
probable effect on the populace of such remon-
strances, but more efficient measures may be ex-
pected from Keying, on his return from a tour of in-
spection through the extensive provinces under his
rule. To our own Government, however, we must
look for assistance, and but for the fact of the har-
bour having been cleared by the Governor of all the
vessels (except the Wolverine, under repair) the
admiral had left, General D'Aguilar is just the man
to have ordered it to be rendered.

What the object of the Governor's visit to the
north may be has not been officially announced. It
was said that he was going to Chusan to make formal
delivery of the island to the Chinese authorities ; but
as a personage of less importance might have per-
formed the ceremony, and as it must be over (his Ex-
cellency having sailed in the Vulture steamer three
weeks ago) before the Vestal can arrive, there must
be some other end in view—most probably a visit to
Japan, in order to try to re-establish English corn•
merce there.

I know Mr. Gutzlaff, the Chinese secretary, who
accompanied his Excellency, had been very busy
studying the Japanese language for some time
before, and I believe he took a native of Japan, who
speaks English fluently, along with him.
Government having persevered, in spite of the
clearest evidence of its disastrous effects on local
commerce, to carry out their instructions from home

*Cruel hands.

in regard to the opium farm, brought the lease for
the year 184d-7 to auction in the beginning of this
month, but when the former rent, I,7lo.dollars per
month, was named as upiet price, every one
left the sale-room; but the Governor, anxious to
have the matter- settled before his departure, had the
lease again exposed two days after the first attempt
at 1,200 dollars. There was little competition, and
the price ultimately obtained was 1,560 dollars. So
that all hope of an increasing revenue from this
source seems to be at an end; and Mr. Gladstone
may yet find that the decreased value of the farm
has been produced by the existence of the farm it-
self, since it has nearly extinguished the only com-
merce the place was ever likely to boast of; and
traders, of course, will not remain where there is no
trade.

The growing numbers and boldness of the pirates
on the river induced the Governor some time ago to
sanction one small gun-boat being built, and while
she was on the stocks ordered her dimensions to be
greatly lessened. It was quite evident that she was
unfit for the service intended; and a fortnight ago
she had an opportunity of proving this, having been
beat off by two Chinese boats, which, after all, turn
out not to be pirates, but coasting junks. By such
peddling half measures we bring discredit on our
arms, and nourish the very evil to be put down, for
the Chinese pirates will soon find out how little they
have to fear from our hostility. The last news 1 hear
of them is, that they ten days ago made an attempt
on the fine schooner Torrington, as she was proceed.
ing with treasure and cargo to Whatnpoa. The fol.
lowing is the account of the affair given by her cap-
tain (Nell) :
" After leaving Hong-Kong on Monday last, the 13th,
I noticed several large Chinese fishing-boats hovering
near U 3 in the early part of the day. At this time I was
getting up and mounting my guns, six 6-pounders, and
having them loaded ready for service—our small arms
being on deck and in good order. At five P.m., the ebb
tide being strong against us, we were passing between a
group of islands and Lantso, near the end, when we ob-
served one of the above-mentioned boats run close up in-
shore of one of the islands out of the way of the tide,
and when he headed us sufficiently gradually drop past
us astern. I did not so much notice it at first until
again repeated, with the addition of another boat with
which he communicated. When ahead of us they
parted, one across each bow—the larger boat on the lar-
board side. The China pilot said, that boat no good—
he come alongside you.' I immediately cast the guns
adrift, kept the ship away a point, levelled the foremost
gun, and fired ; the shot passed close under his stern :
he still came on ; another was fired, and I under-
stand hit him in the stern. I did not see it, as I
was handing powder to the rest of the men. He
immediately about ship and stood off without
saying a word, and joined two other boats painted
black, but none of them having the appearance
of being fishing-boats. I had too little room, or
should have tacked ship and given him the starboard
broad-side. The other boat pulled away as fast as pos-
sible for Lantso. In the large boat there were only
three men on deck. I saw one with a match ready to
light the fire-balls, and no doubt a number of men were
concealed below. It is my firm opinion that they were
bent on attacking us should it have fallen calm, or had
we anchored. A breeze sprung up, we outran them, and
anchored in Cumsingmoon at 11 P.sr.
" On coming out the next morning the same boats
were in sight, but we had a breeze and left them.
"We had a quantity of treasure on board. A fast
boat passed us from Macao with Mr. Duus and two other
gentlemen, while we were fishing."
Since Macao was declared a free port it has been a
question how even the limited expenses of its govern-
ment were to be paid. The matter has been set at
rest by a decree of the Governor published in the
last Boletirn do Governo de Macao, imposing a pro-
perty and income-tax of ten per cent.; and though
there really seems to have been no other resource left,
the measure, especially the income-tax, goes very ill
down with the Portuguese, especially those who have
property unlet, and look for tenants in the English
and Americans, who have of late resorted to Macao
as a place of recreation. The following is a transla-
tion of the decree :
MACAO.—OFFICIAL DEPARTMENT.
The Governor of the province of Macao, Timor, and
Solor, has made the following decree in council :
" It being indispensable that the establishment should
possess the pecuniary means of meeting the public ex-
penses, I hold it expedient to decide upon the following :
" Art. I.—ln the City of the Holy Name of God,
Macao, a tax shall be imposed, and collection made of
one-tenth, in the manner herein set forth.
"2. Subject to the tax of 10 per cent. shall be—
" Sec. I. All farms or estates in town or country.
" Sec. 2. The rents, charges, and pensions, which en-
cumber these properties.
"Sec. 3. The interests and profits derived from all
branches whatsoever of industrial trade, commerce,
agency, dealing, handicraft, and whether exercised by
Portuguese or foreigners.
" 3. By the town properties, which may be let, or
shalt be occupied by their proper owners, there shall be
paid 10 per cent., calculated upon the value of the rent
which they yield, or which it shall be decided by arbi-
trement they are worth.
" 4. By suburban estates shall be in like manner paid
10 per cent. upon the amount of their rent, or upon what
they are decided to be worth, should they be cultivated
on account of their proprietors.
" 5. By the quit rents, charges, and pensions, with
which any estates, whether in or out of town, may prove
to be encumbered, there shall be paid 10 per cent., either
at she cost of the real proprietors or of the tenant, if
there happen to be a contract to that effect.
6. The properties or pensions belonging to the public
revenue, which may be enjoyed by persons for their lives,
and those belonging to societies, fraternities, or any other
establishments or corporations, whose revenues are not
applied to pious purposes or benevolence, shall pay the
tenth of their income.
" 7. Exempted from the payment of the tithe shall
be

" Sec. 1. All properties belonging to the public re-
venue which may prove to be entirely estrtated or
taken up by sdme department of the public service.
" Sec. 2. The building in which the Loyal Senate
holds its sessions.

" Sec. 3. The property of the fraternity of the Most
Holy, and the convent of the nuns of 'Santa Clara, and
the dwelling-house of its chaplain.
" 8. Subject to the payment of 10 per cent. upon the
profits to them resulting from their professions, handi-
craft, industrial trade, dealing, or agency, shall be—
" Sec. 1. Medical men, apothecaries, advocates, no-
taries, scriveners, solicitors, appraisers, and others exer-
cising similar dealings.
" Sec. 2. The employa of the Loyal Senate of the
Mizericordia and hospitals, who derive allotted salaries
from their respective funds.
" Sec. 3. The public functionaries, according to the
emoluments which accrue to them, at their proper cost.
" Sec. 4. The proprietors of workshops and all other
establishments of art or mechanical trade, and the
masters and tradesmen of the said trade and handicrafts.
" Sec. 5. The owners of warehouses, and houses of
sale for such articles as are made in the above trades, as
well as those of shops, magazines, or godowns for the
sale of millinery, jewellery, and other like articles.
" Sec. 6. The owners of ships and coasting vessels
which sail upon the open sea or upon the rivers.
" Sec. 7. The captains, masters, boatswains, pilots, and
boatmasters of these vessels.

" Sec. 8. Farmers and agriculturists according to the
profits which may accrue to them from the farms of
which they are tenants.
" Sec. 9. Proprietors of all cattle whatever.
" Sec. 10. Wholesale and retail dealers, whether on
their own account or on commission.
" Sec. 11. Book keepers, clerks, and cashiers of mer-
chants, whether wholesale or retail, and of mercantile
houses, shops, and magazines.

" Sec. 12. Capitalis—ts who may employ their funds
for themselves, or for intervening parties, or who make
their profit in houses of discount, or other similar esta-
blishments.

" Sec. 13. Those who owe money at interest, whether
on bond or otherwise, at the cost of their creditors,
not their own, if the loan be gratuitous. Should there
be any doubt of the acknowledgment of the debt, he
only can be held responsible for the tenth who shall
have made his declaration.

" 9. The declaration of debts subject to the payment o
the tenth, such debts liable to pay interest or not, shall
be made in the Loyal Senate, without reference to the
production of the titles which may prove them, the
affidavits of the creditors being sufficient.
10. When for any reason it may be impossible to
put a value on the income of parties liable to taxation,
there shall be imposed- on them a tenth, which shall
never be less than an amount corresponding to the tenth
of the rent of the houses they inhabit, nor more than
three times that tenth.

"Sec. 1. As regards such dealers as keep open shop,
the calculation for their tenth shall be made, in prefer-
ence, upon the rent of the shop, store, or godown which
they occupy (for trade), if this be larger than the pri-
vate house they inhabit."

GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.
His Excellency the Governor being about to proceed
to Chusan, the government of the colony will be admi-
nistered during his absence by the Hon. Major=General
D'Aguilar, Lk utenant-Governor.

By order,
W. CAINE, Officiating Colonial Secretary.
Victoria, Hong-Kong, July 17, 1846.
" GENERAL ORDERS.
"By the lion. Major-General D'Aguilar, C. 8., com-
manding the troops in China. Dated Head-quarters,
Victoria, Hong-Kong, July 3, 1846.
" On the occa,ion of the evacuation of Chusan, and
final departure of the 98th Regiment, and the company
of Madras Artillery from Cttina, the Major-General
commanding desires to express to Brigadier Campbell,
and to the respective commanding officers, officers, and
men of these two corps, his sense of their long and meri-
torious service in this country.
" The Major-General desires Brigadier Campbell will
make these sentiments known to Major 'Roberts' com-
manding the 98th Regiment, and to Captain Back, com-
manding the Madras Artillery, and he requests also the
Brigadier to accept his particular acknowledgments for
the unremitting manner in which he has watched over