16
67
the taxation is stated to be
about £3 per head, and at first sight it would appear that this Colony is very lightly taxed. I
think however that in order to
form
wages
a correct comparison, the
earned in each
each country by
the lower classes by far the most
-numerous section of the com
of the community
ought to be taken into consideration.
I presume that 12/ a week
may
be taken as a low estimate of the wages of labouring
men
at
home. Here thousands of the
lower-
lower class Chinaman do not earn,
than
at a high estimate, more #2,50 a month, say 3/4. The taxes
at home are
therefore equal to _ -five weeks pay of a labouring
man earning 12/ a week, whilst in
Hongkong they
are in excesI
of 9
"weeks' pay. Of course, these men do
not pay
as much as £3 and $5.72
respectively, but in speaking of
Taxation it is usual to reckon it
as an
amounting
to
so much per
per-
head of the whole population.
Indirectly the poorer Chinese pay
taxes