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April 23, 1898.]
BYRON BRENAN,
Consul.
CHINA OVERLAND RADET REPORT. dealers in neighbouring towns and villages.planation direct to Mr. Watts.-I am, sir, your Where there are no special tso-li offices, the obedient servant, ordinary likin stations collect the tax from the dealer; and the places where there are neither tso-li offies nor likin stations, the dealer is re- quired to repair to the nearest station and pay the destination tax; if he fails to do this, a collector is sent to enforce payment.
In the case of native produce, or of foreign goods in native hands and on native account, it may be safely assumed that the dealer at des- tination is never called upon to pay anything, for the good reason that all taxes, be they styled transit or destination, have been paid before the goods reached his hands. Natives do not ven- ture to take out transit passes, so that all for- eign goods in their hands are unprotected and, like native produce, they must take their chance of unfair treatment on the journey. When foreign goods are sent into the interior under transit pass in a foreigner's name, the pass is now frequently respected to its journey's end, and even after the goods have been taken de- livery of by the Chinese consignee they may, if the place is remote from a likin office, be left aunoticed; but where there is a tendency for the trade to increase, the consignee is called upon to pay the destination tax which in theory is payable by all dealers alike. -I am, sir, your obedient servant,
(Signed) BYRON BRENAN,
Consul.
The Chairman, Hongkong General Chamber of
Commerce, Hongkong.
1 Victoria View, Kowloon, April 4th, 1898. The Secretary, Hongkong General Chamber of
Commerce.
Dear Sir,-Herewith I enclose a copy of the letter of H.B.M.'s Consul at Canton dated March 26th and my reply thereto.
The Consul's letter contains the report of the Magistrate at Fuchuan, as to his reason for the action taken at Saiwan when the people who sold coal to me were arrested and the coal seized.
I may add that if the man was doing wrong in selling coal he must have been doing it for a long time, and to a much larger extent with other people; in fact on the day I bought. and the following one, he was delivering coal to a Chinese purchaser, but as soon as he enters into a contract with a foreigner, it is discovered that he has incurred the punishment of arrest and imprisonment for himself and wife and forfei- ture of the coal.
I beg to recommend the matter once more to the notice of the Chamber, and to suggest that it is a good opportunity to ask that the Viceroy The Chairman, Hongkong General Chamber of issue definite instructions to his subordinates
Commerce, Hongkong.
not to interfere with the sale of coal or other minerals to foreigners or their agents.-I am, dear sir, yours obediently,
FRANK W. WATTS.
Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce
Hongkong, 11th April, 1898.
Sir, I beg leave to acknowledge receipt of your interesting despatch (No. 33) of the 21st alt. on the subject of the tso or terminal tax, of the contents of which careful note has been taken, and I thank you cordially for the same.
My Committee learn with a certain amount of satisfaction that your endeavours to obtain a clear statement of the amounts chargeable under the heading of tso-li at all destinations in Kwangtung have elicited an official reply to the effect that, roughly speaking, most articles of foreign import are liable to pay a terminal tax of about 3 per cent. ad valorem after being cleared for their destination under transit pass. That the machinery for collecting this charge where it ought to be collected, viz., at the des- tination of the merchandise, is quite inade- quate, affords ground for grave dissatis- faction, as a door is thereby opened to great abuses, which, nullify to a preposterous extent the privileges of the transit pass sys- tem-privileges it must be this Chamber's constant aim to uphold. In fact, it appears to the Committea, from the answer you have re- ceived from the Kwangtung Authorities. that we are almost as far from a knowledge of the actual internal taxation on foreign merchandise as we were before your application, and we shall feel obliged, before again addressing the F. Watts, Esq., 1, Victoria View, Kowloon, British Minister on the question, if you will kindly let us know whether there is any likeli hood of any change being effected in the native method of collection,
H.B.M.'s Consulate, Canton, 26th March, 1898. Sir, I have now received the report of the Fuchuan Magistrate explaining why the coal purchased by you from Ho Cheng Chiang at Sai- wan in Kwangsi was not allowed to be exported.
of the mine, Chow Chen Chih, and his foreman There was a dispute between the proprietor Ho Cheng Chang as to the quantity extracted, while case was still sub judice. The wife of Ho Cheng Chang sold to you certain coal claimed by Chow Chen Chih. The magistrate caused this coal to be seized until judgment in the suit was delivered.
property of Chow Cheu Chih.
Eventually the coal was adjudged to be the
The present time appears to my Committee favourable for pressing the matter, and the Chinese Government way be willing to listen to proposals which are obviously calculated to eventually benefit their revenue.-1 am, Sir, your obedient servant,
R. M. GRAY, Chairman. To Byron Brenan Esq., C.M.G., H.B.M.'s
Consul, Canton.
THE SEIZURE OF MR. WATTS'S COAL AT SAIWAN.
The following correspondence is attached to the minutes of the last meeting of the Chamber of Commerce:
H.B.M.'s Consulate, Canton, 26th March, 1898. Sir-Referring to my letter of the 18th instant, I beg to inform you that I have now received the Fuchuan Magistrate's explanation of his action in putting an embarg on the coal purchased by Mr. Watts at Saiwan in Kwangsi. The explanation is that the coal was not the property of the seller and that the latter sold it to Mr. Watts whilst an action was pending as to its ownership.
I have communicated the Magistrate's ex-
Chow Chen Chih 20,000 catties of coal, which Subsequently to this you purchased from
was rejected by you because it was inferior.
The Magistrate adds that there is no local demand for coal and the output of the mine can. not b disposed of unless it is exported, so that the local officials are far from wishing to pul any obstructions in the way of exportation.-1 am, sir, your obedient servant,
E. BYRON BRENAN, Consul.
Victoria View,
Kowloon, 11th April, 1898. Sir, I now have to thank you for your favour dated March 26th containing the report of the Fa Chuen Magistrate to the Viceroy on the matter referred to you on November 27th, 1897, Chinese. and also for an extract from that report in
It is satisfactory that a reply has at last been obtained, but the fact that the Magistrate who sends the report is a different man to the one who caused the arrest of the people and conse- quent non delivery of coal justifies the fear ex- pressed in my letter of January 18th that a de- lay in getting an answer would result in the proper man not being found when wanted.
The statement that there was a dispute be- tween the proprietor of the mine and his fore- man may or may not be true, but my complaint was that the man and his wife from whom I
bought the coal were arrested and so prevented from completing their contract
|
This same man, the seller, was to my own knowledge mining and selling coal for three months previously and according to report had been doing so for a much longer period, and also that on the day I bought the coal and the following one he was delivering to a local buyer; so the seller to me had been allowed to go on with his trade unmolested hitherto, but as soon as
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I appear as a buyer he and his wife are arrested and the coal seized.
My interpreter stayed in the neighbourhood the Magistrate to notify him and to ask that for about three weeks, so it was perfectly easy for the balance of the purchase money be paid into the Yamen, but this he did not do.
These statements of facts are borne out by preter, and dated January 18th, a copy of which the written account of the matter by my inter-
is enclosed.
of coal from Chow Sun Chu (or Chow Chen The assertion that I purchased 20,000 catties Chih) and then rejected it as inferior is untrue; his statement to me was that he could not sell any coal until after Chinese New Year, then about four months distant.
The local demand for coal seems to have been sufficient to have caused it to be worked for many years past and the announcement that
any obstructions in the way of exportation" is the local officials are far from wishing to pat satisfactory as far as it goes and for as much as purpose if the Viceroy would notify the it is worth, but it would be much more to the
magistrates and officials concerned in the coal when foreigners or their agents proceed there regious of Kweng Fung and Kwang Si, that
to purchase coal and make arrangements for its delivery, neither they nor the people they deal with are to be interfered with in any way but to be allowed to make their own arrangements without official interposition; then there might be a chance of thoroughly testing official sincerity in this matter and also the capabilities of this great coal district.
I must still maintain that through the action of the Fuchuan Magistrate I was prevented from carrying out what I was perfectly entitled to do and thereby suffered damage to the amount of expenses incurred, profit on coal bought, and loss from interruption of business as stated in my account of Dec. 20th, 1897, and further as it is quite useless to attempt to trade there until the people are freed from the fear of interference and exaction I must increase the claim for loss of profit on business attached.-I am, &c., for the intervening months as per memo.
FRANK W. WATTS.
E. Byron Brenau, Esq., C.M.G., H.B.M.'s Con-
sul, Canton.
THE POSTMASTER GENERAL AND THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
The following correspondence is attached to the minutos of the last meeting of the Com- mittee of the Chamber of Commerce :-
General Post Office, Hongkong, 18th March, 1898. Sir, I have the honour to request you to be. so good as to obtain the opinion of your Cham- ber on the suggestion that branch Post Offices for ordinary correspondence should be opened at the following places, viz :----
(1) Queen's Road W. near Bonham Strand; (2) Wanchai; and (3) Kowloon.
I have no statistics on the subject, but am of opinion that the establishment of these branches would lighten the work of the Central Offices as regards both outgoing and incoming mails; and it would appear that the claims of these localities cannot much longer be ignored.
I should be glad to learn any modification of the proposal that may occur to the Chamber.- I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant,
A. M. THOMSON, Postmaster General. The Secretary, Chamber of Commerce.
Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce,
Hongkong, 25th March, 1898. your letter of the 18th inst. requesting the Sir,-1 beg leave to acknowledge receipt of
opinion of this Chamber on the suggestion that branch Post Offices for ordinary correspondence should be opened at (1) Queen's Road West near
loon. Bonham Strand, (2) Wanchai, and (3) Kow-
opinion of my Committee any step that will
In reply I am instructed to say that, in the:
tend to accelerate the postal service is worth trial, but they are not in a position to ascertain