affected by the Proclamation
may
be driven to the neighbouring
settlement
of
Macau to the permanent
detriment of this place; and such contingency should not be
overlooked either by the Imperial or Local Government.
For these reasons
the Committee
earnestly trust that His Excellency the Acting Governor will be pleased to take into early
consideration the withdrawal of the Proclamation,
or
should this
be found impossible, at all events to limit it to Arms Ammunition and Gunpowder It is true that the latter alternative
acted
upon parties who have imported
on the faith of
these articles
Hong Kong being a free port would still be subjected to all
the hardship which the Committee have pointed out, but the
injury would at least be confined
to a much narrower circle. Should Government be resolved
on maintaining the Proclamation at all hazards to the prospective
interests
of the Colony, its operations might be mitigated by a system of licences to export
in all cases
where there was no reason
to
believe that the article exported would be employed
in an improper
manner
277