It is these excessive duties on the trade with Hongkong that is the chief cause of the smuggling;
Moreover, for the sake of obtaining revenue, little now is done to prevent junks from being very largely employed in taking foodstuffs and merchandise to and fro the Colony from places where foreign steamers or vessels cannot by treaty go,
thus throwing a large number of honest junks and seamen out of employ, and the few that have persevered in trading with the Colony have been so ill-treated by Taitawan's cruisers and guard boats, and their vessels and cargoes confiscated for the least fault, that it has become a scandal and a reproach to the Government.
It is time this was remedied, and if a fair export duty on cargo carried by junks to Hongkong be arranged, and nothing more levied, the junk trade to Hongkong could be enormously increased, to the great benefit of the Chinese.
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