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Foreign Office should have noticed it when the Victoria Act was communicated to them.
On the second point we state that colonial legislation can only impose the right of legislation universally allowed. We would refer to our Report of 5th Sept. 1855 for the considerations which, as it appears to us, justify the tax under review.
We are not able to understand the Memorial presented to the Immigration Officer on behalf of various firms at Hongkong. They appear not to have accurately distinguished between the operation of the Victoria Act, which applies to all ships reaching Victoria, whether British or foreign, and from whatever port they proceed, and the operation of the Imperial Chinese Passengers Act, which of course only applies to ships which either are British or proceed from a British port...
...for they do not appear to understand that the British legislature is incompetent to legislate in regard to foreign ships. We do not, however, see any technical objection to their proposal that persons should be made punishable for engaging passengers.
No... to proceed perhaps not failing...
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