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6.
a wholly different plea for an increased Imperial allowance
the necessity for additional postal expenditure at Shanghai;
and he encloses a report (returned herewith) purporting to
show for the year 1900 an estimated loss at Shanghai of
$6,317, and a small balance of revenue over expenditure,
for all the Agencies in China, of $492.54. But examination of this document reveals the fact that a sum of
$29,975 or about £3000 is included under the head of
expenditure as the share of the Peninsular and Oriental
subsidy assignable to the Agencies. This entry is incorrect
because, as has already been stated, the contribution payable by Hong Kong is solely in respect of correspondence to
and from Hong Kong itself, the share of the subsidy
assignable to correspondence exchanged with the Agencies
being borne by the Imperial Post Office. If the report
be amended accordingly it would seem that a profit amounting
to $30,467 accrues to Hong Kong. In the case of
Shanghai the profit would apparently be $6,534.
In the
light of these facts the grounds adduced for increasing the
Imperial contribution disappear.
As