Resolution imposing
of the Governor in Council
ανι amm
mual licence fee of $2,000 on the Rum Distillery in connection with the Hongkong Sugar Refinery Company, of which they General Agents
2.
Jam
are
of opinion that the
fee in question is a small one, looking
to the quantity of rum distilled by the Company and to the price at which it is sold. Nor was the fee of $2,000 hastily fixed upon by the Executive Council. Eighteen months ago they called for a return showing the excise or licence fee on the distillation of spirits in the principal Crown Colonies, and early this year the whole question was referred to the Acting Colonial Treasurer for his opinion. He recommended levying an excise of fifty cents per gallon on the distillation of rum in this Colony.
All the papers on the subject were duly circulated among the members of the Executive Council, and were fully considered at a meeting of Council on the 19th of August.
3.
The Executive Council were disposed to accept the Colonial Treasurer's recommendation; but, at my suggestion, they adopted the far smaller charge of a licence fee of $2,000 for the year.
The following are the recent minutes of the Council on the subject:-
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"Executive Council. 19th August, 1880.
"The papers that had been circulated...