PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
لسيا
CO.
Reference :--
882
3
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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subsequently to her release, was taken by pirates, for which latter loss the owners wished to make the Chinese Government responsible. I did not consider the claim tenable.
The eighteenth case was that of the " Kum-Hop-Sing" junk, referred to in the Chinese petition, which was as follows:-
The "Kum-bop-Sing" junk left Tamsui in Formosa with a cargo of tea and sundries, and was captured by a Customs cruizer near Hong Kong, for which she was making. The master, having been required to show his papers and duty receipts, produced only the receipt for the war tax, but for Customs dues he had none. She was, therefore, seized and sent to Canton,
The Hong Kong, Government took up the case on the petition of the owners and others residing in the Colony, who stated, in the first place, that no duties were leviable in Formosa, there being no Custom-house at Tamsui, and that they had paid all that was required, namely, the war tax on the cargo, and further that the junk was captured in Hong Kong waters. On referring the case to the Chinese authorities, they emphatically denied the statements of the complainants; first, that no duties were levied at Formosa, an integral part of the Chinese Empire; and, secondly, that she was captured in Hong Kong waters. The authorities pointed out the regulation that when there is no Custom Establishment at any place from which a junk sails, she has to go to the nearest port where there is one and report, pay the duties on her cargo, and receive a port clearance. That the masters and owners of junks are well aware of this regulation, which has been in existence for many years, and their not doing so with the "Kum-hop-Sing" junk was clear proof of an intention to smuggle. Further that the complainants had nothing to lose and much to gain by presenting their petition, which was a false one, through the Hong Kong Government. With such contradictory statements before me, I considered it would be better to have the complainants to Canton; but here a difficulty occurred in their refusing to come. I then, with the Superintendent of Customs, went carefully over the matter, and knowing the existence of the regulations above-mentioned, and considering the assertion of the complainants that there was no duty payable was an evasion, and their refusal to appear suspicious, I came to the conclusion that it was an attempted case of smuggling, and wrote to the Hong Kong Government to that effect; but the communi- cation was not satisfactory, and with a desire to avoid further discussion, I offered to reopen the case and try it by a Mixed Court, stating that I would protect the complainants and their witnesses during the hearing, but if the former were found guilty of smuggling it was a question how far I could do so, but that would have to be settled subsequently. To this offer no response was made, and I believe the complainants refused to appear in person, and consequently nothing further was done in the matter.
There have been complaints on various subjects forwarded to me by the Colonial Government during the past two years; but the above are all that are connected with the seizures.
B. ROBERTSON.
Sir,
(Signed)
Her Majesty's Consulate, Canton, December 1, 1874.
No. 6.
Colonial Office to Foreign Office.
Downing Street, March 3, 1875.
I AM desired by the Earl of Carnarvon to transmit to you, to be laid before the Earl of Derby, a copy of the correspondence which has taken place in relation to the complaint of the mercantile community of Hong Kong against the action of Chinese revenue cruizers in the neighbourhood of the Colony.*
2. I am also to transmit to you the draft of a despatch+ which his Lordship proposes, with the Earl of Derby's concurrence, to address to the Governor of Hong Kong, in reply to the Memorials, Resolutions, and other papers transmitted by him on the subject of this complaint; and I am to request that you will invite Lord Derby's particular attention to the 8th paragraph, and to state that Lord Carnarvon would be glad to learn that the assurance therein given to the Governor of Hong Kong of the support of Her Majesty's Government in the event of any renewed obstruction to the legitimate trade of the Colony meets with his Lordship's approval.
3. Lord Carnarvon is of opinion that the Chinese Government, in exercising the right of search complained of, in such close proximity to the harbour of Hong Kong, have not used the precautions which might have been expected from a friendly Power to prevent the lawless acts admitted and denounced in the Viceroy's Proclamation of the 6th of
+ No. 8.
Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4.
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;
February, 1869, nor to detect and punish the excesses committed by their own officers and that the miscellaneous character of the numerous vessels and boats employed in this revenue service, the inferior class of the officers engaged, and the objectionable mode of remuneration adoptet, have all combined to open a door to the gravest abuses, and to afford just grounds of complaint to the Colony of Hong Kong. On this point, his Lordship would also draw attention to the 2nd Resolution passed at the public meeting held in the Colony, in which reference is made to the harassing action of Chinese gun-boats, which move in and out of the harbour at all times of the day and night, attended by steam- launches, in pursuit of junks.
4. The strong feeling of indignation manifested by the whole community at the pro- ceedings of the Hoppo of Canton, and the Salt Farmer and the Collector of the Lekin tax, may be attributed in no little degree to the conviction generally entertained that the duty levied upon junks leaving the Colony is not limited to the import duty into China, but that an export duty is exacted as if Hong Kong were part of the territory of China; and this serious charge against the Chinese Authorities appears to be established by the evidence in the case of the junks "Tai Hing," "San Fat," and "Kam Hop Li." It is asserted also that the import duty into China levied upon junks clearing from Hong Kong, has in some cases been exacted over again at the port of destination, where the payment made to the Canton officials is ignored; and further, that duties are levied upon junks trading between Hong Kong and the Province of Fohkien and other places not within the revenue juris- diction of the Cantonese Authorities, as in the case of the junk "Kum Hop Sing."
5. These complaints, which are dealt with in paragraphs 11 to 15 of the Report of the Commission of Inquiry, appear to Lord Carnarvon to call for immediate remonstrance on the part of Her Majesty's Government, and his Lordship would be glad to be able to supplement the 8th paragraph of his despatch to the Governor of Hong Kong by a state- ment that, upon his representations, the Earl of Derby had instructed Her Majesty's Minister at Pekin to press upon the Chinese Government, with all the force which the gravity of the case demands, the necessity of adopting measures to prevent the levying of unauthorized duties, and to render the collection of their Customs revenue in the immediate vicinity of Hong Kong as little vexatious as possible to the Government of the Colony, and to the great number of junks frequenting its waters for the purposes of lawful trade.
Sir,
(Signed)
No. 7.
I am, &c.
ROBERT G. W. HERBERT.
Foreign Office to Colonial Office.
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Foreign Office, March 10, 1875. I HAVE laid before the Earl of Derby your letter of the 3rd instant, forwarding a printed copy of the correspondence which has taken place in regard to the complaint of the mercantile community of Hong Kong against the action of Chinese revenue cruizers in the neighbourhood of the Colony, including the draft of a despatch which the Earl of Carnarvon proposes to address to Sir A. Kennedy on the subject; and I am directed by Lord Derby to state that he concurs in this despatch, and in the assurance given in it that, in the event of any renewed obstruction to the legitimate trade of the Colony, the Governor may rely upon the support of Her Majesty's Government.
With reference to the instructions which it is suggested should be addressed to Mr. Wade, Lord Derby is of opinion that, as it appears from Sir D. B. Robertson's despatch of the 1st of December last,† that no complaints have arisen since the Chinese cruizers were placed under the foreign Collectorate of Customs of Canton, and an English officer on that establishment appointed to exercise supervision over them, it is unnecessary at present to press upon the Chinese Government the necessity of adopting measures to prevent the levying of unauthorized duties; but his Lordship will be happy to direct Mr. Wade to call the attention of the Chinese Government to the complaints which have from time to time been made by the mercantile community in Hong Kong of the inter- ference of the revenue cruizers with the junk trade, and to urge them to issue such instructions as will render the collection of their Customs revenue in the immediate vicinity of Hong Kong as little vexatious as possible to the Government of the Colony and to the great number of junks frequenting its waters for the purposes of lawful trade.
• No. G.
I am, &c. (Signed) T. V. LISTER.
† Inclosure 1 in No. 5.
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