297
title.
148
An attempt at a compromise had, they said, been made by the authorities, who had offered Mr. Stewart a piece of land adjoining the new racecourse, but he refused it. The piece of land in question, it is but fair to Mr. Stewart to explain, is at present a paddy field, and, I should imagine, far too swampy for a healthy site.
While on this subject I might tell you that Mr. Sinclair, so he informs me, has heard nothing from Mr. Stewart about his earlier case for many months. He doesn't know, and apparently hasn't asked Mr. Stewart, what answer he received to his reference to the Society. There has, it seems, been no communication between them upon this subject since just after Brenan's departure.
From missionaries I brought the subject round to trade, and, as authorized by Li Chung-tang, I gave the Governor-General a short account of the views that Li Chung- tang had expressed to me, more particularly on the subject of opium, and then in a few words 1 gave him a sketch of the negotiations that had taken place between the Yamên and yourself, and explained the stage to which these had come,
He was very positive in his disapproval of the Hong Kong monopoly scheme, and his chief objection to it, he said, ws, that the Company was to be Chinese. Things would work beautifully for a year, or perhaps two, but abuses would soon creep it, and the Government would lose. In his opinion, the two essentials to be considered in a readjust- ment of the opium Tariff were uniformity of taxation and the prevention of smuggling. The latter, he understood, could be secured by the adoption, with the sanction of the British Government, of some system of checking imports at Hong Kong, together with the employment of the foreign Customs as collectors. He thought that if a universal rate of 100 taels could be secured, the arrangement would be a very good one for China. The Chinese Government did not get nearly 6,000,000 taels upon opium, but he still thought that objectious would be raised to a much lower rate than 100 taels. The Indian Govern- ment got a great deal more, and he didn't see why China shouldn't also. I pointed out to him that China was at liberty to get double what India did if she could, and her failure to do so was the fault of the system employed, for which the Indian Government was in no way to blame. He at once admitted this, and said that he appreciated your efforts to aid the Chinese Government in the collection of their revenue, which suffered immensely from the peculations of dishonest and untrustworthy collectors. Sheng-taot'ai, who, as you know, is in charge of the opium li-kin here, was more outspoken in his approval of the 100 taels tariff, and this afternoon, when be called with the Governor-General's card to wish me good-bye, he was quite enthusiastic about it. He said that if the Chinese Govern- ment got 100 tacls, it would be "huang-shang-ti ta fu," and if they got 80 taels they would still gain enormously; but he doubted if the British Government would even consent to the latter rate. He laughed at the idea of the opium revenue being 6,000,000 taels, and said that the total loss by smuggling was considerably more than 40 per cent.-in some places was as much as 60 or 70 per cent. He spoke, he said, with authority, as he had been li-kin collector up the Yangtsze and elsewhere.
On the subject of the commutation duty of 10 taels on foreign imports, the Governor- General gave a less favourable opinion. He doubted if it would be approved of because it would have a tendency to concentrate the duties at Shanghae and one or two other ports to the detriment of other stations in other provinces, the revenue of which would suffer. He hardly seemed satisfied with the suggestion that the gross revenue could, if necessary, be apportioned among the different provinces, or even by the suggestion that duties might be levied at ports of distribution rather than central ports.
Yeh Taot'ai, on the contrary, thought centralization would be a good thing, for it would deter foreigners from settling at the outposts, and reduce foreign trade to a some what similar footing to that on which it was placed in the Canton factory days, to which I rejoined that uniformity of taxation and abolition of inland duties would be a small matter when shore of the advantages to be gained by numerous points of contact.
I was most civilly treated throughout the interview, and on thanking the Governor- General for having made time to receive me, he said that he had been most pleased to see me, and that he would send me a note for transmission to you. This arrived in the evening, and I inclose it herewith.
letter.
My steamer is advertised to leave to-morrow morning, so I shall travel up with this
Yours faithfully, (Signed) WALTER C. HILLIER,
(Confidential,)
My dear Sir Thomas,
147
Inclosure 7 in No. 75.
Mr. Hillier to Sir T. Wade.
Of Nanking, Thursday, September 20, 1881.
I REACHED this early yesterday morning, and saw the Governor-General at noon, I am now waiting on board a house-boat for the arrival of the next up-steamer, which is expected to-night.
The Governor-General sent a Deputy down to meet me, and the latter provided me with a chair and escorted me to the Viceroy's Yamen, where I was admitted through the big gates, and received by Lin ta jêu in the main passage-way. The Arsenal Taotai, and another whose name I did not catch, were present, as well as the Deputy, an expectant Taotai, called Lu.
When I explained the primary object of my visit, the Governor-General said that you would appreciate his assurance that it was not his intention to place any difficulties in the way of continuing the relations that had hitherto existed between Consuls and himself, when he informed you, through me, that it was he who had secured the substitution of "chao hui" for the old form. He had maintained, in an argument with Shên-chung-tang, that it would only be logical that an official of inferior rank to a Consul should employ the form "shên chiêu" in addressing him, if this form was expected from a Consul when addressing a Governor-General or Governor. His arguments had prevailed with the Yamên, and his suggestion as to the form to be substituted had been adopted. He went on to say that he would always be ready to communicate with the Consuls on affairs of importance, and felt sure, after my explanation, that they would not abuse their opportunities. He had been much astonished by the receipt of a letter from the Tsungli Yamên a few days since embodying a complaint from M. von Brandt that he, Lin ta jêu, had refused to answer a despatch from the German Consul-General at Shanghae, the date of which was given in the Yamêo's letter. He declared that he had received no despatch from the German Consul-General on that date, and failed to see what ground there was for complaint. He was so particular to point out that no despatch was received on the date noted by the Yamên that I fancy he did receive one on some other date.
He then asked about your movements, and I told him that though you had intended visiting Shanghae carlier in the year, you had not found it convenient to leave Peking just I told him, as I now, being much occupied in the discussion of questions affecting trade. had done the other Governors-General, what the nature of these discussions was, but I The found it unnecessary to go into details, as he was as well up in the matter as I was. Yamên, he said, had written to him, and had referred all the proposals under consideration to him.
Like his two colleagues in the south he pronounced against the Hong Kong opium monopoly scheme, and objected on the same grounds. A friend, he said, bad sounded him on the subject and asked for his support. This friend, who was pecuniarily interested in the scheme, promised a payment of 150 taels per chest, and had guaranteed a revenue to the Chinese Government of something like 10,000,000 taels a-year, adding that he had sccured promises of support from the Grand Secretaries Li and Tso. Lin Chi-t'ai bad, however, refused to support the scheme on the ground, though he did not tell his friend so, that if the guild could promise so high a rate per chest they must anticipate larger profits than, in his opinion, were compatible with straight dealing.
He was in favour of a fixed rate, which was to take the place of all inland dues and duties, and to be collected at the port of entry by the foreign Customs, but it would be necessary, in order to insure the prevention of smuggling, that a joint Inspectorate, English and Chinese, should be established in Hong Kong. Sir J. Hennessy had long ago promised to do all in his power to help the Chinese Government in the matter of opium taxation, but he did not know whether you would be willing to recommend such an arrangement, to the British Government, and asked me what I thought. I replied that I could speak with no authority on the subject, for the proposition, to the best of my knowledge, had never been formally placed before you, but I repeated what I had said to Li Chung-tang, that I could unhesitatingly state that I knew you were willing to recom- mend any reasonable means that would enable the Chinese Government to secure their legitimate revenue. He then spoke of the smuggling from Hong Kong to the mainland, which he said was some 30 or 40 per cent., and explained how this would be stopped if imports into Hong Kong could be checked. I suggested that Macao was answerable for more opium than she consumed locally; he said that he had thought of that, and believed he could come to an arrangement with the Governor of Macao; he had been in relation with the previous Governor.