CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (Continuation)
At the second meeting it was announced that His Excellency the Governor and the Chief of Justice had arranged to place at the disposal of the Chamber the Asiatic Society in the Court House, until suitable accommodation could be found elsewhere.
One of the earliest questions dealt with by the Chamber in August 1861 was that of the working of the system of the Foreign Inspectorate of Customs in China, and its effect on foreign trade, which resulted in a memorial on the subject being sent to H.M. Government, copies being sent to the Minister in Peking and leading individuals and public bodies interested in the question in China, India, Europe, and America. The records unfortunately do not state the exact nature of the complaint then made, nor do the minutes record a private meeting which was apparently held to consider the question and the confidential papers relating to it, but it appears that the merchants considered they had serious cause for complaint against the manner in which the Customs service of China was then being conducted, and at the first annual meeting of the Chamber held on April 22, 1862, it was stated that representations had been made to H.M. Government calling attention to the necessity for the appointment of an officer at a central port in China to superintend the trade of the Empire.
The recent appointment of an official for this purpose, more than seventy years afterwards, might be noted.
To illustrate the position of the Chamber of Commerce as constituted at its inception, it is perhaps worthy of note that one of the earliest candidates for admission to membership was a leading barrister-at-law, but the then committee were unanimously of the opinion that membership should be confined to members of the commercial community, and the application was consequently refused.
Another interesting incident illustrating the condition of affairs is furnished by the fact that a protest was sent to the Naval Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir J. Hope, because a man-of-war sailed for Japan without previous notice, thus, as communication with Japan was most irregular, depriving the community of a favourable opportunity of corresponding with that country! This lack of facilities for carrying mails in those early days has already been noted with reference to communication with Canton (see 26-6-33).
Other matters that came up about 1861 were the detention of foreign steamers by the Chinese Customs service, currency questions, and so forth, while a market report was instituted, and the legislature were advised as to the necessity for certain improvements in the existing bankruptcy law. The coinage of the Colony at the time was a hotchpotch of various denominations from different countries, and it could be complicated when one had to calculate in such things as Spanish "Carolus" dollars, our old friend the Mexican dollar, Indian rupees, English L.s.d., including three-penny bits, and Chinese coins such as "broken silver" and the still surviving cash.
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