It was brought to my notice that Mr Scales was levying a Colonial Postage, of one penny each, on all Newspapers arriving in, or being transmitted from, this Colony.
I saw nothing in his Instructions which authorized such a charge, and I can hardly believe that it would be the intention of Her Majesty's Government, that it should be levied, when I observe from Mr Scales' instructions, that all Newspapers printed in Hongkong are expressly directed to pass free to England via Southampton, and that there is no Postage on Newspapers from Great Britain by the same route. I therefore took upon myself to direct the charge to be discontinued, and promulgated a Notification to that effect.
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I may take this opportunity to inform Your Lordship, that subsequent inquiries have satisfied me that I was considerably below the proper mark, when I stated in the Memorandum, which forms Enclosure No. 7 of Despatch No. 27, that the monthly number of letters received and dispatched amounted to 10,000. I have now reason to think that it is more than double that number, nor will this excite any surprise, when the vast Trade and its attendant correspondence (all of which is, at least, sent to and fro, in duplicate) is to be taken into consideration, to say nothing of that...