the subject of Enclosure M. 2. I have endeavoured to make it as succinct and comprehensive as possible consistent with clearness, and I beg His Excellency's particular attention to the fact signified over and over again that Colton shipped from Hong Kong to the West Coast in a native vessel costs almost double what similarly shipped Colton from Macao does. Camlets, too, shipped from Hong Kong pay more than twice the duty that Macao shipped ones do, and the same observation applies to descriptions of Manchester Goods. The consequence is, say they, that no piece goods or cotton are shipped direct from Hong Kong to the West Coast now. Opium and other commodities are sent direct, but many boats return empty because of the diversion of the piece goods trade from here to Macao!
9. In connection with this correspondence, I beg to refer to a statement in Sir Brooke Robertson's published despatch of December 1874 - P. Papers 1875, page 39, par. 4 "As an additional proof that the Blockade is very far from seriously injuring Hong Kong, as the resolution's declarants, it is a fact that the West Coast traders now settled at Macao are ...
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