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"licence tax" by the Consul-General. And again the
'signature' at the end is translated "General Office of the
Opium Licence Monopoly" by Mr. Levy, while the Consul-
-General's translation is "Prepared Opium Licence Tax
Office". In these three cases the Chinese words in dispute
are
牌照捐 and烟膏牌照捐, and in point of fact
the real difference of opinion is over the meaning of the
ambiguous word
This character ordinarily means
nto
subscribe", or "to purchase", and the idea most usually
involved in it is that of payment voluntarily made. In this
sense it is somewhat euphemistically applied to taxation,
which the Chinese Government regards as the spontaneous
contribution made by its subjects. The word would correct-
-ly describe the rent paid by the Hongkong Opium Farmer to
this Government, since this rent is a tender voluntarily
offered by him for the purchase of certain privileges. The
use of the word in these regulations instead of the
usual Chinese words for "tax" viz.:-
is no doubt intentionally ambiguous.
食糧、根、税
(b). In Regulation 9 the words "from the
commencement of the monopoly" in Mr. Levy's translation are
rendered by the Consul-General "from the date these
regulations come into force". The Chinese words in question
are