No.384/29.
(2).
17
and I have now received your letter about the same matter.
If you say that he would be able to give you assistance, you
can take him into partner-ship as requested.
I leave this to
your discretion.
On the 10th August, I left here for France.
On the evening of that day, my shop was raided and carefully searched by the Police. No persone who had been smuggled
through the Customs were found there.
It is rumoured that I am one of the chief persons responsible
for smuggling people through the Customs.
England has been making representations to France to find out
if this is true. At present there are 40 or 50 new passengers at TENG LUN NA (?) and in view of such circumstances it will
be very difficult for them to remain here there. I will let
you know how things go later. If they have laundries in
England we can manage to get them passed through the Customs
in the proper way. I have been in France for 10 days, in
Belgium for 2 days, in Holland for 4 days, and in Germany for
11 days. Of the 4 countries, Germany attracted me the most.
The wages of workmen in Germany are cheap and the prices of
goods are moderate. Germany is noted for superiority in the
quality of her goods. I bought 1,000 ( fountain ?) pens in
Germany and brought them back to England. I have worked out
the cost of each pen to be 7d British currency. 1 shilling is
to be added to each pen for duty because at the end of each
pen there is an appendage and on the body of the pen there is
a small piece of "fire-stone". All small articles made in
Germany are provided with a "fire-stone" The duty for each
"fire-stone" is ls. If the pens were exempted from duty, each
would only cost 7d but they cannot be exempted from duty they will cost 1/7d. The persons who sold the pens to me told me
that since the British are so wicked, they would improve the per
pens in such a way as to deceive them frem and make them exempt
from duty. I cannot believe what they said. Anyway this is
how I bought the pens, and I will let you know again when I
send them to you. I shall go to Germany again in a few weeks'