224
15.
Chamber passed the following resolutions:-
13.
(1) that the Customs office be no
longer permitted to collect duties
in the Colony or its waters:
(3) 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 revenue stations and revenue
cruisers be moved beyond the limits
of British territory and British
waters.
Meanwhile Sir R. Hart in a letter to Sir C.M. Macdonald, His Majesty's Minister
at Peking, dated the 27th June, 1898,
recommended that in view of the leasing to Great Britain of the New Territories, "the
right of the Chinese Customs to maintain ite
office in Hong Kong
where it is now only
unofficially acknowledged
ought to be formally
admitted and the status of the Commissioner
of Customs as a Chinese official recognized. The existing substation at Changahow,
Capsuimoon, Lai-chee-kok and Fotoohow ought
to be maintained as at present, although
they are in the leased territory. If it
should