expenses of maintaining buoys, beacons and lights in and about Hongkong, but that ships and steamers should be taxed in aid of the general Colonial revenue and to relieve the inhabitants from bearing their proper burdens is wholly in disaccord with the character of a Free Port and is, we respectfully submit, opposed to the practice of the leading commercial nations. These buoys, beacons and lights are maintained for the benefit of the Colony and the profit of its inhabitants, and to attract trade and commerce thither, and the inhabitants not only have not borne one cent of the expenses of their construction or maintenance but it is now proposed that they should derive a direct profit from them.
5. We very much doubt if in any highly civilized country has a deliberate attempt ever been made to raise a profit revenue out of Light Dues. They have always been imposed for the express purpose of providing for the construction and maintenance of Lighthouses, Buoys and Beacons and for no other purpose whatsoever. It has happened that in the course of time the precise object for which a light due has been imposed has been lost sight of and that a profit revenue has in fact been derived from it, but so soon as attention has been called to the fact there has been an express disclaimer and a reduction or abolition of the charge. In the Dardanelles and Bosphorus such a discovery has recently been made, and the representatives of all the Powers are pressing the Porte for a reduction of the dues to an amount sufficient to cover the expenses. In England a Departmental Committee of the Board of Trade have just reported on the same subject and have unanimously recommended the equalization of all light dues and their diminution to an amount calculated to cover expenses and no more. The strongest representations have been made to the Government to relieve Shipping entirely of this burden and to transfer it to the General Revenue but so far without success; the principle, however, is clearly admitted that the light dues on shipping should not be made a source of profit.
6. We have further to point out to your Excellency that the continuance of these Light Dues as a permanent charge is an injustice to Foreign shipping, and will tend to deter vessels from coming to the port. The Export Trade from the East has for some time past been passing through a period of very great depression. During the greater part of the last twelve months rates from the Straits Settlements averaged from 5/- to 8/- per ton, and from Ceylon about 7/-, and for some descriptions of cargo rates from China and Japan have been as low as 15/-. Interport trade has also been at a very low ebb for some time past and there is no apparent prospect of any improvement in the immediate future. Every item of expenditure has to be closely watched, and a comparatively small difference in the expenditure at a port may determine the course of a vessel's voyage. Steamers coming out to Japan and Shanghai are no longer as formerly compelled to call at Hongkong for coals or stores. The great increases in speed, the diminution in the consumption of coal and greater bunker capacity enable vessels to make the voyage direct to Yokohama or Shanghai without coming into Hongkong. The inducement to call is often very slight. Frequently it is a question, even with a big steamer, of taking in or discharging as little as 100 to 200 tons of cargo. The Light Dues to be paid may make all the difference between a profit and a loss on small quantities of cargo, and may decide the steamer to avoid the port. If she does not call then her expenditure here is entirely lost to the residents, and a permanent injury done to the trade of the Colony.
7. We respectfully protest against this deliberate taxation of shipping frequenting the Port for the benefit of the General Revenue of the Colony. It is entirely opposed to the idea of a Free Port. It is an additional burden with no corresponding advantage whatever upon an already heavily burdened interest. Its tendency is in every doubtful case to drive away from the Port steamers and ships which would otherwise call and necessarily spend money here, by perceptibly increasing their expenses, at a time when every expenditure has to be most minutely considered and weighed. The shipping has already paid more than all the money...
(Signed)
THOS ...
23
2
Agents:
CARLOWITZ & Co.
DOUGLAS, LAPRAIK & Co.,
General Managers, Douglas S.S. Co, Ld.
DAVID SASSOON SONS & Co.,
Agents, Apcar Line of Steamers.
K. S. KIYOOKA,
Agent, Nippon Yusen Kaisha.
H. JEFFRIES,
Agent, Mitsui Bishi-Goshi-Kwaisha.
LIAO TZE SAN,
Manager, China Merchants' S. N. Co.
WIELER & Co.
JEBSEN & Co.
LAUTS, WEGENER & Co.,
Agents, Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij.
K. FUKUI,
Manager, Mitsui Bussan Kaisha.