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remark:
Rat Mr. Windoor
meeting called by the Foreign Minister with a view to an English merchant, being a naturalized French subject of Haytham birth;
that the spirit trade is almost entirely in the hands of British merchants and that they have not as yet retrieved their losses. The trade having much money invested both in the manufacture of the spirit in Hong Kong, etc. and in the stock of liquor in their hands.
A petition was made to me by various merchants (copy inclosed) on October 6th last year, a few days subsequent to the obtaining of the consent of the Consuls to an embargo on the spirit trade, as reported in Mr. Dalgrane's Despatch No. 69, Oct. 10, 1892;
and that Mr. Windsor and his firm are now under considerable pecuniary obligations to the Government.
I have also the honour to report that within the last week the Siamese have made three seizures of spirit, the property of British merchants.