55.
54.
263
On Art. 1. there was some discussion
as to how far the Hongkong Government could go
in searching the stores of fishing junks.
Mr. Maze said he only expected reasonable
precautions.
No important change was eventually
made in the new draft, though the question as
to how far Hongkong would be able in practice
to enforce the very strict conditions for the
control of the junk traffic was raised.
56.
In Art. 2. the sale taxation
clause was cut out. Mr. Maze said it had
been Bir R. Dane's idea. As regards control
of salt, there was some discussion as to what
salt (? salt in transit only) was to come under
Customs supervision and what salt was the affair
of the Colony. Finally a clause was inserted,
in lien of the taxation clause, by which the
Hongkong Government agreed to control the
movements of all salt imported into, produced
in, or exported from, the Colony. It was
apparently this question of smuggling of salt
from Hongkong into China which was the great
bone of contention in 1917, and it was not
merely the question of taxation (which, it was
said, would drive salt-using interests out of
the Colony) but the difficulties and expense of
checking the movements of salt and licensing
production and export, that caused the Hongkong
Government to withdraw from signature of the
agreement in 1918. Some question was raised
/in