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CUSTOMS CHINESE MARITIME (Continuation.).
The rent of Chinese houses fell in 1869 about 25 per cent, and some 250 business houses in the principal streets stood empty and unoccupied. Nevertheless the reviving energies of foreign commerce in 1870 appeared to stimulate also, the native trade of Hongkong, which recovered slowly from the injuries inflicted upon it by the Chinese Customs Blockade.
When Sir Richard MacDonnell was succeeded by Sir Arthur Kennedy the Blockade was still in full swing. The Chamber of Commerce had great difficulty in framing a Memorial to the Secretary of State because the Chinese were afraid to give evidence.
It appears that a fine system of espionage with blockade in the Colony, coincident with the blockade without.
Meanwhile the Chinese Customs cruisers were daily becoming more daring. They seized a junk in Lyeemoon Pass and in May 1874 a Chinese revenue junk was arrested while firing into a fishing fleet in British waters. The junk's crew were charged with piracy, but released on the promise of the Viceroy of Canton to punish them.
At least in 1876, the authorities at Home began to see the justice of Hongkong's complaints and there was talk of a Mixed Commission to settle the whole business. The matter became the subject of negotiations between H.H. Minister at Peking and the Tsungli Yamen but little benefit accrued to the Hongkong junk trade.
The dispute dragged on through Sir John Pope Hennessy's Administration with the evil unabated.
Another article on the Customs Blockade will be published to-morrow.
CUSTOMS CHINESE MARITIME (2)
After Sir John Pope Hennessy left Hongkong, strenuous efforts were made to end the Chinese Customs Blockade but it continued to exist in an intangible but nevertheless effective form.
Likin (the tax levied on goods in transit) was closely connected with the blockade and the news of the abolition of Likin as late as 1930, was hailed with relief by all foreign Powers trading with China.
It is difficult to determine when the full effect of the blockade was lost. Better understanding between His Majesty's Government in Hongkong and the powers that be in the Chinese Maritime Customs must have at last removed all its objectionable features.
Under present arrangements, Customs cruisers still patrol the waters outside the Colony and search junks for contraband cargo, but there is now no question of levying double duty because Hongkong is made a port of call.
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