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#360, or rather £72. 18.4 per annum. In former poor complaints have been made "by the Press and Europeans that the duty on these Licenses was excessive, and all sorts of ingenious arguments have been posed to make this assertion good; - twice the Chinese, at the end of 1848 or 1849, petitioned for reduction of duty. Petitions for reduction were then in vogue, but the inquiries made as to ratio levied in Singapore and other places confirmed Government in the opinion that, if reduction of the duty was made, more applicants for Licenses would come forward, and most likely of a less respectable character than the people who had hitherto held them, the answers given were in the negative, and the consequence has been that the number of Pawnbroker's shops has been increasing, so that before the end of the year the number will no doubt be twelve, whilst there were nine at the time the Estimate was prepared, three new applications having already been made since that period.
25. The Duty on Auctioner's Licenses is $315 equivalent to $150 for Annun; it was formerly one third of that amount, but a Tax of 2½ per cent was levied from the purchasers on the sales effected by the Auctioneers. The Auctioneers petitioned to have the Tax abolished, and offered a higher duty in their Licenses, not with a view to compensate Government for the loss of the Revenue from the Auction Duty, but to prevent too many persons from becoming competitors. At present six Auctioneers are in the Colony, one having only recently applied for a Licence.
26. Salt Weighing. The receipts from...