Sir,
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00015
REC
(Reef 7 AUG 19)
Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce.
Hongkong 6th June, 1893.
I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter (No.812) of the 19th ultino replying to the representations made by this Chamber as to the frequent and heavy fines inflicted on British and German ships at Saigon for seizures of opium at the instance of paid informers, and am instructed to express the satisfaction of the Committee at the action taken by the Government in the matter.
At the same time I would respectfully call the attention of the Government to a fresh and very recent proof of the manner in which the system adopted by the French Customs Authorities is surely rendering trade with Saigon impossible. The German steamer "Ingraban", which had gone to that port for a cargo of rice, was on the point of leaving for Hongkong on the 19th ultimo, when acting on the information laid by an informer, some Customs Officers boarded the ship and discovered some opium. A Saigon paper, recording the seizure, says the officers went almost straight to the hidden contraband. The result was a heavy fine, which was subsequently reduced, but the ship was not released until after a deposit of $12,000 had been made by the agents. The French journals at Saigon fully recognise the injustice done by the system of paying large sums to informers, opening as it does the door to the concealment of small quantities of the drug on board for the purpose of giving information against the vessel.
With reference to the suggestion made in paragraph 3 of my letter of the 3rd ult. concerning which you ask for further observations, the Committee desire me to point out that if opium were discovered on board a steamer prior to departure from Hongkong, the master could, as you suggest, certainly...