Whether the rapid transfer of the carrying trade in China to the British flag (one of the consequences of the insecurity of Chinese waters) has not largely compensated for the injuries which Chinese craft have suffered from piratical interruptions.
With reference to the manufacture and sale of guns, ammunition, &c., in the Colony, I beg to refer to the Colonial Ordinances No. 7 of 1855 and No. 8 of 1853. Without Custom House officers at any cost, with the continent of China close to our shores, and the broken coast of the island, more than 30 miles in extent, which it is utterly impossible to protect against the intrusion of the smugglers, the objects of the Legislature are constantly defeated by the difficulty of giving masterly effect to those objects.
It is perfectly true, as Mr. Bridges alleges, that an intimate union exists between the inhabitants of this island and the predatory bands which infest the coast. But our interest in the social organization of the Chinese, the universality of secret associations, for purposes sometimes political and hostile, sometimes private and nefarious, presents very great difficulties on every side.