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having diminished they have enormously increased. The explanation is that the "Battery" duty was reduced from 40 cents a case in 1891 to ten cents a case in 1892, thereby diminishing this source of revenue from supposed importations to have remained unchanged, by three fourths. The falling off in the Kowloon revenue does not therefore necessarily imply a corresponding decrease in importations.
As a matter of fact 7,700,000 gallons paid duty at Kowloon in 1892 as against 4,600,000 gallons in 1891.
A considerable portion, again, of the falling off in the Chinese revenue derived from opium is attributable to increased smuggling (not necessarily from Hongkong into various parts of China). And the accidental circumstance of a good harvest accounts for a large loss of revenue by way of duty on imported opium.
2.