407 9
imposition of the proposed duty
will have on
this
now
decaying
branch of commerce ... The cost of
the spirit as exported from Hong Kong ranges between 30 and 40 cents per gallon, the proposed new duty is 72 cents per gallon. This duty will practically prohibit the trade, both from its magnitude compared with the cost price, and from the fact ...
that it is the same
Dutch
duty which
on
the
it is proposed to levy
spirit which is of greater
strength
and higher price.
y: consequence of the
action taken, a petition has been
presented to me by
some
of the
leading Chinese firms trading with Diam, of which I enclose a
copy. The petitioners allude to the vexatious character of the trade restrictions, as well as to the increased duty now raised in Diam, contrary to the terms of the Treaty of 1855; although it is understood that they are prepared to acquiesce in
It will be seen that the
an