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revenues were received by the municipal Treasury and lost in the expenditure on municipal services, with the result that complaints were made that the shipping using
the ports paid far too much compared with the
services and accommodation it receiveä,
in
other words the shipping was subsidising the town. The Public Trust system altered this.
How far this analogy applies at Hong Kong
will be best known by the Government.
The principle underlying the Public
Trust system of Port control is that shipping
should only be taxed to the extent necessary
to provide the accommodation and facilities
it needs.
It is important to bear this in mind in
Hong Kong. In a country or place which has to import goods far use or consumption within its borders, the argument may be used that the direct charges on shipping do not much affect the position. It is the goods that have to bear the cost of transport and it is the consumer who eventually pays all the costs incurred by the goods. Higher charges mean higher priced goods. This may start the
usual vicious circle but that is another
matter.
What is of vital consequence is that
in a place such as Hong Kong where the bulk of the trade is entrepôt in character, high charges on shipping would not affect the price of the goods to the consumer. the goods are not consumed there and if
Most of
charges were too high the goods would simply not come, which would be to the serious