lumbia, which was once the only seaport of West Canada as well as the Northwestern region of the United States, but it prospered very little then with an undeveloped hinterland despite its monopolistic character. Whereas as soon as the rival ports arose, Vancouver on its own side, and Seattle and Tacoma on the American side, all within the same distance as Hongkong is to Canton, all of them because of a developed hinterland prospered wonderfully, despite the keen competition between them as seaports. Thus, we see that competitive seaports like Vancouver, Seattle, and Tacoma instead of killing Victoria, as was once supposed by shortsighted people, have made it more prosperous than ever. Then, why doubt that a prosperous Canton and a developed China would not give the same result to Hongkong? This is but a natural outcome. Therefore, there should be no fear that a prosperous Canton and a developed China would be harmful to Hongkong as a free port. So, instead of doing the utmost as hitherto to hinder the development of Canton as a seaport, the Hongkong authorities should do their utmost to encourage such a project. Besides, the development of Canton and South China will benefit the English as a whole commercially a hundred times more than Hongkong can do at present. Although the local authorities of that crown colony do not see far enough to realize it, however, I believe that the great statesmen and captains of industries in the now mightiest empire of the world would surely see it. With this belief in my mind I feel quite safe in giving publicity to the
