6th October.
'Tue Report of Mr. J. H. Stewart Lockhart, the Commissioner, to the Colonial Office on the dependency of Weihaiwei for the year 1902-is a very interesting document, making with its numerous appendices' a pamphlet of 57 pages. Mr. Lockhart writs in a lively style, free fromthe ponderousness of official ' severity and he makes the reader sympathise with his own conviction that unpretending as the dependency is now, its future is full of promise. But means must be taken to free it from Mr. Balfour's gratuitous promise to Germany that steps should never be taken to connect it with the interior of Shantung by railway.
As this is Mr. Lockhart's first annual report, he begins with a brief account of the area and population of Weihaiwei, and then passes to its administrative history and some notes on staff. He mentions his appointment of an Advisory Council, consisting of three merchants' of Linkungtao, and commends the help they have given him. Under" Finances" he mentions the modest burden, £12,000, imposed by the dependency on Imperial Funds in the past financial year, which is reduced for the current financial year to £9,000. Itis satisfactory to see that Weihaiwei had a credit: balance on the 31st of March last: of $82,693, while the estimated balance was only £4,000. With such a modest subsidy from home, it is obvious that Weihaiwei cannot hope to rival the German colony at Tsingtao. The expenditure on public works in the past two years amounts to £9,744, and with this very moderate sum a large amount of excellent road-making and bridge-building has been done, a pier has been built, and various buildings for government use have been erected. "The question of the erection of a pier in deep water on the mainland," Mr. Lockhart says, "alongside which steamers may be able to load and discharge cargo is engaging my attention. It is evident that if trade on the mainland is to be developed, such a pier will be a necessity." A suitable Government House, also, must be built before long.
The section relating to the policing of Weihaiwei is a very interesting, one. Mr. Lockhart rightly conclud that the Hongkong system was not only far too costly, but: was unnecessary for such a law-abiding, docile, and orderly population as-that under his rule. " After due deliberation," he says, "I came to the conclusion that the most effective and economical plan would be to continue the system of policing the territory
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.