Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/810

802 cargo. Macao is also connected with Hongkong by telegraph.

There are two clubs in Macao — the Club de Macao for civilians, and the Gremio Militar for the military — both of which have a goodly membership. Attached to the first-named is a theatre.

The islands of Taipa and Colowane are dependencies of Macao, and are both garrisoned by Portuguese soldiers. On the island of Taipa there is a fortress, where resides the military commander of the two islands. The inhabitants are all fishermen. The garrison is composed of an infantry company of 1oo men, and of a battery of artillery of eighty men. All the officers and soldiers are Europeans. The Colony also has a force of military police, composed of two companies of 160 men each. One company is of European soldiers, and the other of Sepoys and Chinese. There are, besides, thirty mounted police, and a force of 105 water police under the control of the Harbour Master.

Macao is administered by a Governor appointed by Portugal, generally for a term of three years, from amongst military and naval officers. As in all Portuguese possessions, there is no legislative power, the laws for the Colony being made in Portugal. Even the budgets proposed by the Colony are discussed and must be sanctioned by the Home Parliament, centralisation being apparently the keynote of Portuguese administration. The Governor, who is also commander-in-chief of the troops of the garrison. Is assisted by a consultative council, formed of the heads of departments. The finances of the colony are controlled by an Inspector of Exchequer and his staff. The judicial department is composed of a chief justice, an attorney-general, two clerks, and three bailiffs. There is a Court of Appeal in India for all the Eastern colonies of the Portuguese. There are also in Macao a Public Works Department, a Chinese Translation Department, a Post-office, a Health Department, and a Harbour Master's Department. There are two hospitals — one military and the other civil — both of which are under the direction of the Health Department.

The most important public work in progress at the present time is the reclamation of the foreshore on the west. When this project is completed there will be a spacious road round the west side of the town, from the Praya Grande to the inner harbour. A scheme for improving the harbour, also, is under consideration, but so far only a small section of the marginal road of the inner harbour has been extended. Great attention has lately been paid to the question of sewerage. New sewers have been constructed, and the old ones repaired and enlarged.

The first municipal body of Macao was elected by the merchants in 1583, and was known as the Senate of Macao. It ruled Macao in the beginning, and recognised no controlling power or supremacy. When there was any important affair to be decided, a council was convened of all the important men of the place. The Governor, who bore the title of "Capitao da terra" (land captain) was only chief of the military. He was entitled to a vote in the Senate. This system, with some important alterations, lasted for more than 200 years. Now the Loyal Senate (Leal Senado) of Macao has only municipal attributes. Its revenue amounts to about $110,000 a year. The budget and accounts of the Municipality are submitted for the approval of the Conselho de Provincia, composed of the Governor, Colonial Secretary, Attorney-General, and two citizens. The election of the municipal body takes place every two years.

The following figures are extracted from the budget of Macao for the financial year of 1907-8 : — Total revenue : 754,914,000 reis, or 1,397,988 Mexican dollars at the exchange rate of 540 reis per dollar ; total expenditure, 523,777,192 reis, or $969,957 ; surplus: 231,136,808 reis, or $428,031. From the sin-plus, $60,000 are taken yearly to make good the deficit of Timor. The remaining surplus is disposed of as the Minister of Marine and Colonies may direct.

The Fantan gambling monopoly in Macao, Taipa, and Colowane yields yearly the sum of 246,456,000 reis, equivalent to $456,400, and represents 33 per cent, of the whole revenue. The lotteries Pac-a-pio, San-pio, and Chini-pu-pio yield annually the sum of 119,880,000 reis, or $222,ooo representing 16 per cent, of the whole revenue. Opium yields annually the sum of 180,360,000 reis, equivalent to $334,000, and represents 23 per cent, of the wliole revenue. The balance of revenue is derived chiefl from taxes on dwelling-houses, shops, and industrial establishments, from stamp duties (50 per cent of the revenue from Santa Caza lottery is received by the Government as stamp duty), and from taxes on transmission of property, on swine slaughtered for consumption in Macao, and on imported fish.

During 1906, 1,782 merchant ships with a tonnage of 819,340, and 4,283 Chinese junks, with a cargo capacity of 4,282.910 piculs entered the port. The number of merchant ships that cleared was 1,780, with a tonnage of 816,265, while the number of junks was 4,317, with a cargo capacity of 3,965,604 piculs.

There were 443.144 passengers conveyed to the port and 534,828 taken away from it.

The total value of goods imported and exported by steamers and junks in 1906 amounted in round figures to $26,846,825'80. The chief imports were woods, bricks, medicines, rice, oil, coal, petroleum, tobacco, dried and other fruits, tea, fowls, firewood, fish, swine, silk, eggs, paper, cloth, Chinese wine, sugar, yarn, earthenware, cotton, flour, opium, salt, and mats for sails and bags.

The principal exports were Portland cement, fire-crackers, mat-bags, sugar, wood, rice, Chinese oil, cloth, yarn, molasses, fish, opium, Chinese tobacco, tea, aniseed oil, eggs, silk, piece goods, cotton goods, betel nut, flour, matches, &c.

The quantity of opium boiled for local consumption was 26,363 balls, value $843,616; while the opium boiled for exportation amounted to 73,620 balls, worth $2,355,840. To Chinese ports, 55,145 balls of opium were exported of the value of $1,765,040.

The most important industrial establishment is the Green Island Cement Works. Other local industries include cigarette making, the preparation of Chinese tobacco, opium-boiling, joss-stick making, fruit-preserving, the making of fire-crackers, tea-making, silk filature, dyeing, silver and gold work, Chinese shoe-making, docking and junk-building, rope and sail-making, and fish salting.

The last census, which was taken in 1896, showed that Macao had the following population: Portuguese of both sexes, 3,806 ; Chinese, 61,766 and foreigners 161 ; total, 65,733. The dependencies Taipa and Colowane contained 92 Portuguese and 12,802 Chinese ; total, 12,894.

On the same occasion a census was taken also of the Portuguese who had emigrated fron Macao to the Far Eastern ports, and showed that there were in Hongkong 1,309, Canton 68, Foochow 13, Shanghai 738, Singapore 71, Sourabaya 3, Yokohama 88, Nagasaki 10, and Bangkok 71; giving a total of 2,371.