Copy.
HONG KONG GENERAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
8th June, 1932.
32
Sir,
I have the honour to address the Government on the subject of the light dues payable by ships entering the harbour of Hong Kong which it has been represented to the Chamber are (a) exces- sive and (b) impose hardship on local shipping companies in that no concession is made in favour of vessels (other than River steamers) engaged in regular trade with the port.
2. In accordance with Regulations made by His Excellency the Governor in Council on 27th November 1930, light dues payable in Hong Kong were doubled as from 1st January 1931, although it was not claimed that additional facilities to shipping had been provided by Government to justify the increase.
3. In the Legislative Council on 20th October 1930, the Hon. Mr. C. Gordon Mackie (the representative of this' Chamber on the Legislative Council) expressed the opinion that shipping should only be taxed for specific purposes from which a direct benefit was obtained. In supporting this view the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce desires to draw the atten- tion of Government to the fact that the first increase in the original scale of light dues was made for the purpose of con- tributing towards the cost of a typhoon refuge and that from a temporary measure the increased scale assumed a permanency not originally intended.
4.
From the attached statements, which have been supplied by the China Navigation Co. Ltd., the Douglas Steamship Co. Ltd. and the Canadian Pacific S.S. Ltd., it will be noted (a) that coastal steamers trading regularly with Hong Kong and China Ports pay more in light dues per visit at Hong Kong than at China Ports; and (b) that the method of light dues assessment makes Hong Kong an expensive port as compared with several other ports of call of steamers trading regularly between Canada, Japan, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
5. The Committee considers that the present practice of levying light dues for every call at Hong Kong is inequitable because vessels engaged in regular and continuous trade with the port, despite frequently depressed trading conditions, receive no consideration over vessels making infrequent and irregular calls here.
6. In China, although the initial charge for Tonnage Dues