No. 55.
(and 5 copies).
Copy to Swatow.
British Consulate General,
AMOY.
August 8th, 1940.
sir,
I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that,
on account of the decline in the value of the Chinese
dollar, the Government Marine Surveyor at Amoy has raised
the question of revision of the scale of fees for the
survey of emigration vessels.
%
The scale now in force, which will be found on
page 64 of Cox's Revised Compendium, was sanctioned in
despatch No. 8 of September 22nd, 1910, from His Majesty's
Legation at Peking, copy of which I have the honour to
enclose for convenience of reference.
3.
The value of the dollar had then stood for a
considerable time at one shilling and eight pence or a few
pence higher, and it would therefore appear that the
intention had been to fix the survey fee, in the case of a
vessel up to 1,000 tons, at the approximate equivalent of
Three Pounds (£ 3.), whereas the fee is now less than
twelve shillings.
4.
•
The emigrant ships surveyed at Amoy in the course
of a year are few, and the amount involved is not large;
but Captain Le Patourel, whose income from pilotage and
other
His Excellency
Sir Archibald Clark Kerr, K.C.M.G.,
His Majesty's Ambassador,
etc..
etc.,
etc.,
SHANGHAI.