Enclosure 3.
3534
PETITIONS AGAINST THE OPIUM BILL.
The ACTING COLONIAL SECRETARY-The Clerk of Councils has received two petitions about the Opium Bill. I move that they be read.
The CLERK OF COUNCILS read the petitions as follows:- To HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT, AND THE HONOURABLE MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF HONGKONG.
The humble petition of Shellim Ezekiel Shellim, of the firm of David Sassoon, Sons & Co., Jacob Silas Moses, of the firm of E. D. Sassoon & Co., Buttonjee Dadabhoy Tata, of the firm of Tata & Co., Marcus David Ezekiel, of the firm of Abraham Ezekiel & Co., Mahomelbhoy Khetsey, of the firm of Tharia Topan, Jafforbhoy Khetsey, of the firm of Jairazbhoy Peerbhoy & Co., and Hormusjee Merwanjee Mehta, of the firm of Framjee Hormusjee & Co., all of Victoria in the colony of Hongkong, for and on behalf of the opium importers and wholesale opium merchants of the said colony,
SHEWETH-That at a recent meeting of the opium importers and wholesale opium merchants of this colony, held for the purpose of considering the Bill now before your Honourable Council, entitled "An Ordinance for the better regulation of the trade in opium," it was inter alia resolved that the said Bill, if passed in its present form, would prejudicially affect their trade, and that your petitioners should be appointed a Committee to take such measures as they might consider advisable to bring their complaints before your Honourable Council.
That while fully recognizing the necessity of carrying out the object aimed at by the said Bill, namely, the prevention of opium smuggling into China, and while sympathizing with its spirit, your petitioners submit that the means by which it is proposed to effectuate such object would inflict serious injury upon the opium trade, and especially on the aforesaid opium importers and wholesale and retail opium dealers, and prove a blow to the general commerce and prosperity of this colony.
That your petitioners believe that the end intended to be accomplished by the said Bill could be attained by other and less objectionable means, and that your petitioners are prepared to co-operate with your Honourable Council and the executive in attaining the desired object.
That inasmuch as the Bill affects private interests, and was only brought in and read a first time on Friday, the 18th inst., it is desirable to postpone the second reading thereof so as to enable the persons who are more immediately interested, as well as the general public, to acquaint themselves with its scope and object.
Your petitioners therefore humbly pray
1.-That the second reading of the said Bill may be postponed until such day as your Honourable Council may under the circumstances deem meet.
2. That your petitioners may be heard by Counsel at the bar of your Honourable Council as to their objections to the said Bill in its present form.
3.-That the said Bill may be so amended or modified as to remove the objections of your petitioners, or that it may be withdrawn and a fresh Bill introduced such as the necessity of the case requires.
And your petitioners will ever pray, &c.
Hongkong, 22nd March, 1887.
S. E. SHELLIM.
J. S. MOSES.
R. D. TATA.
M. D. EZEKIEL.
M. KHETSEY.
J. KHETSEY.
H. M. MEHTA.
The humble petition of the undersigned merchants and traders resident in Hongkong respectfully showeth-
1. Your petitioners are dealers in opium residing and carrying on business in Hongkong.
2.-At the meeting of your Honourable Council held on Friday, the 18th March instant, a Bill was introduced and read a first time entitled "An Ordinance for the better regulation of the trade in opium," and the said Bill is framed for the purpose of regulating the movement of raw opium in this Colony and of prohibiting the purchase or sale of raw opium in quantities less than one chest.
3. Your petitioners deal largely in raw opium, buying and selling it in quantities less than one chest, and have a large capital engaged in the said business, and they employ in their said business many hundreds of persons.
4.-If the said Bill becomes law in its present form the business hitherto carried on by your petitioners will absolutely cease and can no more be carried on; the capital therein employed will be idle, the hundreds of persons now occupied in the said business will be thrown out of employment, and your petitioners will all of them suffer grievous loss and injury, and some of them will be irretrievably ruined.
5.-Your petitioners respectfully submit that the objects proposed to be attained by the said Bill may be far more effectually carried out by means other than those contained in the said Bill, and without loss or injury to any class of the community; and they therefore humbly pray that on the second reading of the said Bill they may be heard by their counsel against the said Bill under the provisions of the 47th of the Standing Orders and rules of this Honourable Council, and that they may have due notice of such second reading.
(Signed) WING KAT CHEUNG,
&c. &c. &c.
527
HIS EXCELLENCY-As regards the prayers of these two memorials, that the petitioners may be heard by counsel before this Council, I am advised that they have no right to appear by counsel under the provisions of the Orders of this Council, 47; but as I think this is a subject that ought to be well and thoroughly ventilated I shall offer no opposition if, after the second reading has been moved and seconded, any member moves that they may be permitted to appear by counsel and if the Council approves of that motion. I propose that the second reading should be moved and seconded to-day, and that the further discussion be adjourned.
THE OPIUM BILL.
The ACTING ATTORNEY-GENERAL-I beg to move the second reading of the Bill for the better regulation of the trade in opium. In doing so I shall endeavour, as briefly as possible, to lay before the Council the circumstances which have made the Ordinance necessary. I might almost say, imperative. You are all aware that the collection of the maritime customs in China are entrusted to two different departments-the foreign collectorate, which collects all import and export duties on goods carried by foreign vessels to and from treaty ports, and the native collectorate, which collects all dues and duties on goods carried by junks to and from both treaty and other ports. By the treaty of Tientsin the duty on foreign opium was fixed at thirty taels per picul. In the North, foreign opium is mostly carried in foreign ships, and the duty is therefore collected by the foreign collectorate, while in the South a great deal of the opium is carried in junks to treaty ports and non-treaty ports, and some is taken overland and pays duty to the native collectorate. All this opium has hitherto paid duty according to the manner in which it was carried. Junk-shipped opium has paid twenty-five per cent. less than steamer-shipped opium. Besides this duty on opium there is another tax called likin, which is imposed by the Viceroys of different provinces. It has varied in amount from time to time, and has sometimes been less in one province than in another. With the collection of the likin the foreign collectorate has, hitherto, had nothing to do. It was collected at the ports and at various places in the interior. It is important to bear this in mind because according to the Additional Article the likin duty is now fixed at eighty taels per picul, and this will in future be collected by the foreign customs and before the opium is taken possession of by the purchaser. The attempt which the Hoppo and the Viceroy made to collect the duty and the likin here led to a great deal of smuggling, and in order to prevent this both the Viceroy and the Hoppo organised preventive services. They had cruisers and steam launches, and they established stations at the entrances to Hongkong Harbour. They overhauled all junks passing these stations and what has since been called the blockade of Hongkong began.
I am not going to allude to this at any great length because you are all aware of the abuses which arose from this system and the complaints which were made from time to time as to the alleged illegal seizure of junks trading to and from this Colony. I know it will be said that these complaints have now ceased and that the blockade is a thing of the past. This I shall allude to further on. This blockade was a constant source of complaint. On the one hand the Chinese authorities complained that smuggling was carried on to a large extent and that they had a right to do all in their power to prevent it. On the other hand the colonists contended that Hongkong was a free port, that they had nothing to do with smuggling, and that the authorities had no right to injure their trade while engaged in protecting the revenue. Voluminous correspondence took place on this subject. I will quote only two passages. The first runs as follows: "Moreover there can be no doubt that the action of the Chinese revenue steamers, sailing vessels, and boats in the harbour of Victoria, within sight of the whole community, not only keeps up a feeling of irritation among the British residents, but is calculated to create a false impression among the Chinese in the colony, by whom the tacit acquiescence of the British Government in these extraordinary proceedings is not improbably attributed to fear of the Chinese authorities, and to recognition of their unjust pretensions." The second extract is one from a report.
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