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the subjects of each Power shall enjoy in the dominions of the other the same protection as native subjects in regard to patents, trade-marks and designs. Article XVIII." Her Britannic Majesty's Government, so far as they are concerned, give their consent to the following arrangement:-The several foreign Settlements in Japan shall be incorporated with the respective Japanese Communes, and shall thenceforth form part of the general municipal system of Japan. The competent Japanese authorities shall thereupon assume all municipal obligations and duties in respect thereof, and the common funds and property, if any, belonging to such Settlements, shall at the same time be transferred to the said Japanese authorities. When such incorporation takes place the existing leases in perpetuity under which property is now held in the said Settlements shall be confirmed, and no conditions whatsoever other than those contained in such existing leases shall be imposed in respect of such property. It is, however, understood that the Consular authorities mentioned in 'the same are in all cases to be replaced by the Japanese authorities. All lands which may previously have been granted by the Japanese Government free of rent for the public purposes of the said Settlements shall, subject to the right of eminent domain, be permanently reserved free of all taxes and charges for the public purposes for which they were originally set apart."

KIAO-CHAU BAY (German Occupation of). (See CHINA.)

KINDER (Mr.), Attempted Dismissal of. (See CHINA.)

LAGOS. (See AFRICA.)

LAMP ACCIDENTS. (See PETRO-
LEUM (SELECT COMMITTEE).)
LAMPS. (See PETROLEUM.)

LOAN TO CHINA. (See CHINA.)

LUBWA'S FORT. (See AFRICA: UGANDA.)

MACDONALD (Major), Mission of, to Lake Rudolf, &c. (See AFRICA: UGANDA).

MADAGASCAR.

Correspondence with the French Government (France No. I., 1899).—On February 24th Consul Sauzier informed Lord Salisbury that a French official at Maranjary had on January 28th called a public meeting of native merchants, and informed them that "they had not to sell to or buy from foreigners,' that they had already been warned not to do so; and now

they had to sell and buy from three French merchants only, MM. Lauratet, Venot, and Bernard, and that unless they did so they would be put in irons and sent to gaol. Upon this trade at once collapsed with foreign firms, and Messrs. Procter Brothers. and L. Trouchet and Co., British merchants of this town, who have agencies at Maranjary, have brought this matter officially to my knowledge, and I have, in turn, addressed the Governor-General." In the Consul's opinion the facts "clearly amount to a breach of Treaty rights." The reply of the Governor-General (General Gallieni) promised an inquiry, and said that if the facts were as alleged steps would be taken to ensure complete freedom in business transactions. He subsequently wrote that the statements attributed to the official at Maranjary (M. Compérat) were totally devoid of foundation. Meanwhile certain alterations were made in the Madagascar Tariff. The Board of Trade were asked by the Foreign Office to report upon them. This Report, signed by Mr. A. E. Bateman, said:-"I am directed by the Board to state that they have now made careful inquiry into the matter, with the result that they are convinced that the changes in the Tariff will involve a very material increase in the duties levied on the classes of cotton goods which form the bulk of the exports from this country to Madagascar. On grey sheeting (which is the most important class of the cotton goods in question) the duty under the Tariff of 1897 was equivalent to 45 per cent. ad valorem, and the new duty to 56 per cent., a rise of 11 per cent. ad valorem. On grey shirtings (the next most important class) the former duty ranged from about 44 to 64 per cent. ad valorem, and the new duty from 54 to as much as 79 per cent., a rise of from 10 to 15 per cent. ad valorem. The changes with respect to most of the other classes of cotton goods, however (viz., bleached cotton shirtings containing from twenty-eight to thirty-five threads to the square of 5 millim.), the new duties are somewhat lower than the old, but even in the case of these goods the new duties are still so high (e.g., 45 per cent. ad valorem in the case of bleached shirtings) that the export trade will probably derive little benefit from the change. On the whole, there is no doubt that the readjusted duties will be higher than the 1897 rates by at least 10 per cent. ad valorem, and the Board cannot view without alarm this fresh hindrance to British trade with Madagascar. They notice in the Trade Returns for the first quarter of this year that exports of British produce to Madagascar have fallen in value from £34,000 in the first three months of 1897 to less than £10,000 in 1898, and they have no reason to anticipate that the Returns for the second quarter, which are not yet completed, will show a more favourable result. While they are of opinion that with a 10 per cent. ad valorem duty, as provided under the old arrangement with Madagascar, Manchester goods could

hope to compete successfully with French cottons, even if the arrangement were modified so far as to admit the latter free of duty. It appears that such rates as have been enforced since July, 1897, must inevitably kill the greater part of our trade with Madagascar, and that any portion which might still have been retained in spite of those rates is in great danger of being extinguished by the more stringent duties which have now been imposed. Under these circumstances the Board entirely concur in the course which Lord Salisbury proposes to take in renewing his former protest against the action of the French Government." On July 9th Lord Salisbury sent the following despatch to Sir Edmund Monson:-"Among the first subjects to which I should wish the attention of M. Delcassé to be called is the position in which our respective countries stand in respect to Madagascar. Some of the most recent acts of the Government which preceded that of M. Brisson have invested the question with an importance greater than that which it previously possessed. In the year 1890 the French Ambassador at this Court, M. Waddington, signed an agreement by which the Protectorate of France in Madagascar was recognized by Great Britain, and to this recognition the following condition was attached :-'It is understood that the establishment of this Protectorate will not affect any rights or immunities enjoyed by British subjects in that island.' The rights, which were among the most important, and which were principally contemplated by these words, were the fiscal rights secured to British trade by the Treaty of 1865 with the Queen of Madagascar, under which the most-favourednation treatment was secured to British commerce, and it was stipulated that the duty upon imports should never exceed an ad valorem duty of 10 per cent. This engagement left no doubt that so long as the Protectorate of Madagascar was maintained the fiscal privileges of Great Britain would be secure. In the years 1894 and 1895 differences arose between the French Republic and the Government of Madagascar, which led to a hostile expedition being sent from France against the island. Her Majesty's Government observed a strict neutrality during the course of this war, and avowed their desire to observe that neutrality in the manner most favourable to France. If they had been aware that the end of the expedition was to be, not the maintenance of the Protectorate, but the annexation of the island, they might have foreseen that its success would threaten not only the independence of Madagascar, but also the fiscal rights of British commerce. But the Government of the Republic used language which thoroughly convinced the British Government that nothing more than the enforcement of the Protectorate was in view. When the critical question of issuing a Declaration of Neutrality was under consideration Lord Kimberley ab

stained from recommending to Her Majesty the issue of such a Proclamation in deference to the representations of the French Ambassador, who pointed out that the case of Protectorates was peculiar and somewhat novel,' and that in other cases of wars with a protected country such a Proclamation had not been issued. M. Hanotaux, in the French Chamber on the 12th November, 1894, placed upon a similar footing the Protectorate of Madagascar and the Protectorate of Zanzibar under the Agreement of 1890, and declared that that Agreement established between Zanzibar and Madagascar an absolute parallelism (' parallélisme qui existe dans la forme comme dans le fond'). On the 27th November, 1895, M. Berthelot stated in the Chamber, with reference to the occupation of the island: 'Il ne peut en résulter aucune difficulté extérieure; nous n'avons pas besoin de déclarer que nous respecterons les engagements que nous avons contractés vis-à-vis de certaines Puissances étrangeres.' On the 11th February, 1896, M. de Courcel, the Ambassador of the Republic, stated in a note to me, 'that, in consequence of the difficulties which arose in Madagascar in the exercise of the French Protectorate, the Government of the Republic was obliged to take military action in order to enforce respect for its rights, and to secure guarantees for the future.' This was the language which was consistently employed throughout. The Protectorate was to be maintained and enforced. No hint was ever dropped that the Protectorate was to be destroyed, and it resulted that the fiscal rights which had been confirmed in 1890 appeared to be exposed to no risk whatever by the expedition. It was viewed, in consequence, without apprehension by the Government and commerce of Great Britain. If they could have known that the expedition was to abolish the rights of English commerce, and to expose it at discretion to Iduties which would exclude it from the markets of the island, the projected campaign would have excited serious and outspoken apprehensions in this country, and even admitting that the cause of difference might not have been sufficient to cause them to depart from the policy they had elected to follow, the prospect of the sacrifice of our commercial rights in Madagascar would have drawn forth very earnest remonstrances from Her Majesty's Government and from public opinion in Great Britain. The difficulties which naturally attached to the French undertaking would have been increased to a formidable degree if from the first it had been known in the island that England was protesting earnestly against the war, and regarded it as a measure calculated to inflict a great wrong upon her commerce. In the course of the last month a Decree was issued by the President of the French Republic greatly increasing the import duties upon the principal articles of British manufacture, and therefore carrying still further the infraction of the rights

which British merchants possessed under the Treaty of 1865 between Great Britain and Madagascar, and the Convention of 1890 between Great Britain and France. The annexation by which these rights have been set aside was carried out by an expedition commenced and completed under the assurance that the object in view was the enforcement of the Protectorate, and therefore the maintenance of British commercial privileges. It has already been my duty to place in the hands of M. Hanotaux, the late Minister of Foreign Affairs, a protest against the wrong which has been done, and, in our judgment, continues to be done, to the commerce of Great Britain. Partly because the legislation of which we complain has recently been made more injurious, partly because these proceedings are now subjected for the first time to the judgment and decision of another Ministry, I have the honour, on behalf of Her Majesty's Government, to repeat my protest against action which, in their opinion, is inconsistent with the international rights of this country, and with the assurances given by the Government of the Republic. I request you to communicate the substance of this despatch to M. Delcassé, and to furnish him with a copy of it." Lord Salisbury, on July 20th, also informed our Ambassador of the issue of a Circular by General Gallieni to the French local authorities urging them to impress on the natives the merits and advantages of French fabrics, and to urge their use in preference to other foreign makes as a mark of patriotism and an act of duty on the part of the Malagasies. "The whole tenor of the Circular is a strong recommendation, amounting almost to an injunction to the local authorities to discourage foreign commerce and productions other than French." In this communication Lord Salisbury also called attention to the distribution of the official journal Vaovao, containing warnings to the Malagasy to avoid goods bearing trademarks other than the French trade-marks therein illustrated. Lord Salisbury also sent the Board of Trade Report on the Tariff changes. On the same day Sir E. Monson discharged his instructions to make representations on the subject, M. Delcassé's reply being that he would personally study the whole subject, and deal with it in a most conciliatory spirit. In letters of July 22nd Sir Edward called M. Delcassé's attention to the issues of the Vaovao and the Tariff changes, and made written representations thereon in the sense of Lord Salisbury's Despatches. On July 27th M. Delcassé informed Sir Edmund that he had referred all the Notes to the Minister of the Colonies (M. Georges Trouillot), and would lose no time in answering them when he had obtained his colleague's report. Meanwhile there had been published in the Journal Officiel a copy of a Decree of the President of the Republic stating the conditions under which occupiers of real estate on long

lease in Madagascar may convert their holdings in freehold, and containing the following Article:"Nevertheless, any Frenchman who shall have proved the occupation of any property may, on the recommendation of the Administrative Council, obtain the definite concession thereof, without any expenses other than those of survey and of the deeds." Lord Salisbury (August 13th) instructed Sir E. Monson to call the attention of M. Delcassé to this as a further illustration of the inequality of treatment of which Her Majesty's Government complains, and to protest against it as inconsistent with the international rights of this country. The correspondence also shows that another subject of complaint arose, the French Administration alleging, but not proving, that a trade in arms was carried on by Indian and Arab merchants with the Sakalavas inhabiting the western coast of Madagascar, having contemplated measures which would restrict the legitimate trade carried on by British Indians. On this question also Sir E. Monson was required to make representations, and did so. The contemplated Decree for the regulation of the coasting trade was therefore (December 28th) revoked. Up to the time of going to press with these pages no correspondence had been issued showing the replies of the French Government to the main protests-the instructions to native merchants to avoid goods other than French, and the changes in the Madagascar tariff.

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Report for 1897.-The Report of the Resident-General (Sir Frank Swettenham) to the High Commissioner (Sir J. A. Swettenham) on the Federated Malay States of Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang opens with a reference to the working of the Treaty of Federation, which came into effect July, 1896. For the first time the Malay chiefs had met in Durbar with peaceful and friendly intentions. The various departments that had resulted from the scheme of Federal organisationhadgrown more useful with experience of the duties required of them, and were working on the right lines. The regiment of Malay States Guides was complete, and its strength could be increased at any time if necessary, and if India could supply the recruits on such terms as the States could offer. "This last is a matter of extreme importance not only to us but also to the authorities in the Straits Settlements and Hong Kong; because the terms offered to the military authorities in these Colonies are so high that the Malay States, which, for five-and-twenty years have successfully maintained a highly disciplined force of Sikhs and Punjabis, are now asked to give terms which they cannot afford and

which our experience shows there was no need to offer. The regiment continues to maintain its high reputation for discipline and smartness; portions of it have been inspected by the Major-General Commanding in the Straits Settlements, and a detachment had the privilege of being present at the celebration of Her Majesty's Jubilee in England, and there attracted very favourable notice." There is a police force of mixed Indians and Malays. "While neither of these nationalities can supply the perfect policeman, able to speak half a dozen languages, of an honesty beyond corruption, of tried courage, of a soldierly character that lends itself to drill and discipline, and of an intelligence equal to defeating the wiles of the Eastern criminal classes, still I cannot say that any other better material is available from which to recruit our force. A great deal must depend on the Commissioner, and other European officers, and we can only hope that the example of energy and intelligence which they must set will, in time, result in giving us as good a force as we can fairly expect.' The principal cultivation in the States is that of Liberian coffee; but low prices overclouded the prospects of the industry. The gold mines of Pahang State, or at any rate the Raub mine, did well in the year. "I recognize that it is unwise to prophesy, but I shall be surprised if, when Pahang is better known, it is not found that there are many mines in that State capable of as great and profitable development as the Raub mine. So much depends upon the opening and development that the richness and extent of a lode seem to be of less importance than mining skill, economical management, and a capacity for handling native labour; but what I mean is that good lodes will be found (some indeed are already known) in many parts of Pahang, and the capacity and capital to work them will doubtless arrive in time." On the subject of labour the importance of increasing the supply is insisted upon. "For every reason it is both the interest and the duty of the Government to do what is possible to increase the labour supply, and, with that object, we propose to introduce Chinese immigrants by means of steamers running direct between China and the ports of the Malay Peninsula. The Government also devoted last year $30,000 for the introduction of Indian immigrants; and, while some hundreds of these have already been taken for railway work, little, if any, advantage seems to have been taken by the people of Southern India of the facilities offered by the Government, in the way of free passage, &c., to the Malay States." As regards railways, the Secretary of State for the Colonies sanctioned, in 1896, the extensions necessary to join up all the existing lines in the three Western States, and also consented to the raising of a loan of £500,000, an equal sum being furnished from current revenues. "This is the most important step, after Federation, that has yet been taken in the

Malay Peninsula; and it is doubtful whether anything could confer such benefits on this country and its people as the raising of this loan and the devotion of so large a sum to railway construction. As soon as Mr. Chamberlain's sanction was received work was commenced wherever it was possible to do so, and since then a number of engineers have arrived from England, and survey and construction work has been pushed on in Perak, Selangor, and the Colony's territory of Province Wellesley. Steam ferry-boats have been ordered for the passenger service between Penang and Kuala Prai, and preparations are made for the necessary wharf accommodation at both places. The Kinta Valley Railway has been practically completed as far as the Perak River, where a bridge, 1,180 feet in length, is in course of erection. Steps will shortly be taken to bridge the Krian River, and the best means of taking the line through the mountain pass which divides the valleys of the Larut and Perak Rivers will be settled on the advice of Mr. Oliver, the engineer who has recently arrived from England to report on the whole railway system. I hoped that the sanctioned extensions might be completed in four years from 1st July, but owing to delays in raising the loan, and in acquiring the land over which the railway will pass in Province Wellesley, the time that must elapse before we can successfully deal with certain large works (especially bridging and tunnelling) and the one long extent of practically unopened forest between the existing lines in Perak and Selangor, I fear that the work will not be completed for at least another four years from the present date." The population of the four States is about 600,000. The value of trade is $56,149,020-imports $25,000,682, and exports $31,148,340. tailed reports are appended from the residents in each of the four States.

MANCHURIAN (See CHINA.)

MARCHAND

De

RAILWAYS.

EXPEDITION.

(See EGYPT: VALLEY OF NILE.)

MAURITIUS.

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Report for 1897.-Revenue, Rs. 8,238,517; expenditure, Rs. 8,626,798. Imports, Rs. 27,056,008; exports, Rs. 30,654,007. 'Apart from the Indian trade, which has been separately dealt with, it will be seen that there was an increase in trade with the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Zanzibar, while there was a decrease in Australia, France, and Madagascar. The Colony is losing in the Australian and Madagascar markets, and gaining in Natal, Delagoa Bay, and Zanzibar." In the course of some "general remarks the Report says:-- "The sudden and unforeseen crisis into which the Colony was thrown threatened at one time to produce most serious and immediate disaster. The means

by which that was averted will form a very interesting page in the financial history of the Colony, and will no doubt be dealt with in the Report for 1898, to which year it belongs; but it will take long before the effects of 1897 are neutralized, and although the Government is taking every possible opportunity of reducing expenditurewhich can only be economically effected, as far as establishments are concerned, gradually, as vacancies occur-and of revising and improving the collection of revenue, it will be a difficult, if not impossible, task to make its finances balance without recourse to some new source of income. Fortunately towards the end of the year the drought ended, and the prospects of a large crop in 1898 are excellent. But the prices obtainable for sugar are now so low that the future is very uncertain. The planters are aware that there is only one way to face the struggle, by improving their sugar machinery so as to obtain the best result at the least cost of production."

MEAT INSPECTION. (See TUBERCULOSIS.)

MIXED TRIBUNALS. (See EGYPT: LORD CROMER'S REPORT.)

MONEY-LENDING.

Report from the Select Committee, June 29th, 1898.-A Select Committee was appointed in 1897, and reappointed early in the Session of 1898, "to inquire into the alleged evils attendant upon the system of money-lending by professional moneylenders at high rates of interest, or under oppressive conditions as to repayment." The Report deals with the evidence taken during both Sessions. Forty-one witnesses were examined.-Mr. Thomas Farrow, who had investigated the subject of moneylending, two Judges of the High Court, several Judges of County Courts, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the InspectorGeneral in Bankruptcy and others, besides borrowers and money-lenders. The Report states that the evidence shows that moneylending transactions frequently owe their inception to misrepresentations of a fraudulent character. Misleading advertisements are very common, offering to lend money "without sureties" "at low rates of interest," or at "5 per cent.," when the lender's practice is to require sureties and the actual rate is 5 per cent. per month, equivalent to 60 per cent. per annum. A professional money lender, after exposure under different aliases, will sometimes resort to such descriptions as "a wealthy capitalist residing in a private house," a "widow lady," a 66 bank," a "finance and advance corporation," or even a "bank expressly incorporated under Act of Parliament to advance money at a low rate of interest to respectable persons." The loans

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are usually advanced on the security of promissory notes, with or without sureties, or of bills of sale. The minimum rate of interest is 60 per cent.-the uniform charge with some lenders, while others charge as much as they can get. One lender admitted that his rate had sometimes been as much as 3,000 per cent. In many instances, the Committee were satisfied, borrowers were not aware of the terms on which the loans were obtained. The Report says:-"Your Committee consider that in many cases default is inevitable, and that once & borrower has obtained a loan from a moneylender it is extremely difficult for him to get clear of the transaction. The circumstances are generally such as to force him to obtain renewal after renewal at increasingly extortionate rates until he is utterly ruined. The promissory note used by one of the largest money-lenders contains a clause to the effect that in case default is made in payment of any instalment, the whole of the amount remaining unpaid becomes due forthwith, together with interest at the rate of a half-penny in the shilling per week from the date of such default. This rate amounts to 216 per cent. per annum. Another large money lender admitted in evidence that the 'bonus' he charges for a renewal of a bill of exchange or promissory note ranges up to 1,000 per cent. per annum. Moreover, when these renewals are granted the costs and interest are all added as principal, and the whole thing starts again with compound interest. To show the way in which the charges of money-lenders mount up, your Committee may refer to the case of Burden. Between March and December of 1894, the witness Gordon lent this man £5,178. During this period £10,274 11s. 9d. was repaid, and when the case came into the Bankruptcy Court subsequently, the money lender proved for £3,809 11s. 10d. These facts were admitted by Mr. Gordon in his evidence; and many similar cases have been proved before your Committee." The Committee have "unhesitatingly come to the conclusion that the system of moneylending by professional money-lenders at high rates of interest is productive of crime, bankruptcy, unfair advantage over other creditors of the borrower, extortion from the borrower's family and friends, and other serious injuries to the community. And although your Committee are satisfied that the system is sometimes honestly conducted, they are of opinion that only in rare cases is a person benefited by a loan obtained from a professional money-lender, and that the evil attendant upon the system far outweighs the good. They therefore consider that there is urgent need for the interposition of the Legislature with a view to removing the evil." Remedies.Regarding it as of the utmost importance that no Legislature should interfere with legitimate trading, it was necessary to consider in what way transactions of professional money-lenders may be distinguished

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