3.93
-7-
by the Hoppo of Canton for the receipt of the duss and duties we now deposit in the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank". The Colonial Secretary, Mr. G.T.M. O'Brien, acknowledged this letter on the 4th April, 1892, and the matter again
fell into abeyance.
Nothing further was done until the Convention leasing the New Territories to Great Britain was signed on the 9th June, 1898. Then on the 13th July, 1898, the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce telegraphed to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs as follows: "Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce strenuously urges Government insist absolute freedom from Chinese Customs and Jursidiction whole Kowloon cxtension territory, including city. Anything less renders situation most unsatisfactory leading to endless complications",
Subsequently on the 1st September, 1898, the Chamber passed the following resolutions:-
(1) that the Customs Office be no longer permitted
to collect duties in the Colony or its waters:
(2) that all opium arriving in the Colony be
accounted for either through the agency of
bonded warehouses or otherwise:
(3) that the Government do all in their power to protect the Chinese revenue, more especially with regard to the Opium Farmer:
(4)
that the fovenuc stations and revenue cruisers be moved beyond the limits of British territory and British watcLS,
Meanwhile
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