Two brothers, natives of Canton of the name of Lo, the elder a Hanlin in literary rank and an expectant prefect of Kiangsi, and the younger an M.A. and an expect ant magistrate of Szechuan, have recently obtained permission from the Tsungli Yamen to travel in the Southern Ocean," ie, the Straits Settlements, Saigon, Penang, Batavia and the Philippine Islands, ete., where their fellow provincials number over half-a-million, many of whom are men of influence it wealth, in order to induce the latter to take shares in a projected Steamship Company under the hinese flag to trade between Chinese Southern ports, namely Foochow, Amoy, Swatow, Heingn island snd Onntoo, and the ports named above in the southern sexs. A translation of the commission issued by H.E. Wang Wen-shao, Viceroy of Chil and Superintendent of Trade for the Pei yang, which we give below, will explain the intentions of the promoters of the scheme.
"To all whom it may' concern. I received on the 12th of August, 1897, despatch from the Tsungli Yamen, transmitted by special courier of the Board of War, notifying me that the said Yamen had received a petition on the 2ist of July last' from Lo Kuang-ting, expectant prefect of Kiangsi, and Lo Chung-lin, expectant magistrate of Szechuan, concerning a certain scheme, and requesting me to issue on their behalf '® notification empowering the said petitioners in the matter. The said petition runs as follows"
"There is nothing which China at present needs more than an expansion of
an expectant trate of Shantung, peti-her commerce, In 1886 one Shu Pao, Eugene Bourgeois, The forward end ofthe toned the then Superintendent the then Si of Trade deck is taken up by the captain's quarters, of the Peiyang for permission to go to the chartroom and wheel-house, witha spacious islands of the southern ocean, where over a million of our fellow countrymen are living, and invite such of them as desired to join the home Chinese in establishing steamship companies, machine shops, foundries, manufactories, ete. The scheme was sanctioned by the above-named high official, but owing to the unexpected death of the promoter of the scheme it fell through for lack of successors, The present petitioners having been appointed by a Inrge number of merchants, interested in trading between China and the islands of the southern ocean, to represent them before the high authorities at Peking and permitted to take up the late magistrate elsewhere, therefore respectfully beg to be shu Pao's project, and pray that permission be given the petitioners to travel in the islands and ports above noted, at their own expense, for the purpose of observing for themselves the state of trade and condition of their fellow countrymen, and, if everything is propitious, to invite the wealthy amongst them to join in establishing a steamship company or any other scheme on Western lines that may seem feasible in the present condition of China. The programme mapped out in 1886 by the late Shu Pao, which is on record in the yamen of the Peiyang administration, will followed by the petitioners, who now pray for the necessary authority granting them [eases in the matter.
"+The petitioners will then establish o Head Office in Canton and invite the wealthy merchants and gentry of Kuangtung fo take up. shares in a proposed "Commercial Steam Navigation Company"—Lun-chian Shang-wu Chil, "The itinerary' of the petitioners will be as follows:—They' will first visit Shanghai, then Foochow, Amoy, Swatow, Hainan island and Hongkong. Then proceeding to Saigon, in Annam, they will travel on to Singapore, Penang and the numerous ports in the islands of the southern ocean.
"The present intention is to carry passengers and cargo from China to the ports named above, but as there is very little return freight or passenger traffic for the steamers they will, for the most part, call iron for a cargo of rice. Of course, mntters can only he definitely settled after the petitioners shall have visited all the above named ports and consulted with the Chinese merchants on the spot; but the aim will be to make the charges for passengers and cargo lower than the usual rates in order to secure support. The steamers for the proposed Company will all be so built as to enable them to be made into fast cruisers in times of emergency, or transports for carrying troops: and' supplies, as has been the case with the present China Merchants S.N. Ca, It is also intended to drill and train the officers and crows of the new steamers so that they may be useful as a reserve to the Imperial navy, or to work their own ships in time of war without the necessity of taking in new crews from the naval administration. As to details of the proposed schemes above noted and amount of capital to be collected for them, it will be necessary to wait until the petitioners shall have returned. from their travels and reported to the Tsungli Yamen."'
"With reference to the above, as the schemes mentioned are for the benefit of the people of China, and as the Chinese have never attempted to compete with foreigners in the ocean carrying trade, ete., and, moreover, as all such tend to the development and progress of this Empire, I agree with the Tsungli Yamen Ministers that the petitioners should be encouraged in their efforts, and they are therefore hereby given this commission and are empowered to travel to the places indicated in their petition at their own expense. The local officials, through whose territories the said petitioners shall or sojourn in, are hereby commanded to m all help and assistance in the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.