CO882-(3-4) — Page 79

PUBLIC RECORD

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C.O.

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ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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this proposal was originally made, and it is a significant fact that one of the speakers at the public meeting held in Hong Kong, and who is referred to by Sir Brook Robertson as the head partner of the first house in China, admitted that if it had been acceded to many of those things which are now complained of would not have taken place. I am unable therefore to concur in your statement that the appointment of a Chinese Consul, which Was so strongly urged by Her Majesty's Minister in 1869, is opposed by every one else At the same time I possessing local knowledge and acquaintance with Chinese officials. Think it right to point out to you that I have come to no decision on the subject, and it would afford me much satisfaction to learn that any other proposal had been made which would solve the present difficulty, and remedy the evils complained of without necessitating the adoption of any measure which may be distasteful to the community. Indeed, I have had under my consideration for some time past the scheme advocated by Sir A. Kennedy in relation to the establishment in Hong Kong of a branch of the Foreign Collectorate of Customs. Such an arrangement, however, must necessarily involve considerable discussion and delay, and in the meanwhile I am not without hope that, through the good offices of Lord Derby, the Cantonese authorities may be willing to make such further modifications their present system of collecting Customs duties as may place matters on a less unsatisfactory footing.

I have, &c.

Sir,

(Signed)

No. 5.

Colonial Office to Foreign Office.

CARNARVON.

Downing Street, August 9, 1875. IN reference to the correspondence laid before Parliament in April last, relating to the complaints of the mercantile community of Hong Kong against the action of Chinese revenue cruizers in the neighbourhood of the Colony, I am directed by Earl of Carnarvon to transmit to you, for the consideration of the Earl of Derby, a copy of a despatch addressed to his Lordship by the Officer administering the Government of Hong Kong in the absence of Sir Arthur Kennedy.*

2. Lord Derby will no doubt remember that Sir Brooke Robertson in his despatch of the 1st December, 1874, reported that in consequence of his representations to the Cantonese authorities their revenue steam-cruizers had been placed under the foreign Collectorate of Customs, and that not one case of complaint had been brought before him

since.

3. Lord Carnarvon derived from that announcement the impression, which was probably shared by Lord Derby, that the revenue service of the Cantonese Government would henceforth be performed by these steam-cruizers alone under the command of responsible officers, and that the miscellaneous class of small vessels which had so long harassed the trading junks of Hong Kong would be altogether withdrawn.

4. It is, therefore, with great regret that Lord Carnarvon learns from the inclosed despatch that the legitimate traders of the Colony are still harassed by armed vessels officered by Chinese under no recognized legal control, and manned by persons who have farmed a portion of the duties to be collected on the coast of the adjoining province, and that fresh cases are reported in which acts of violence and spoliation are alleged to bave been committed by these vessels even in British waters, for which no redress could be obtained. The system pursued by the Provincial Government of Canton of maintaining a "cordon" of armed vessels of all sizes and descriptions round the Island of Hong Kong for the collection of their Customs duties gives rise to such frequent abuses and to such incessant and well-founded complaints on the part of the Colony, that Lord Carnarvon earnestly invites Lord Derby's assistance and co-operation in devising some means of inducing the Chinese Government to protect their legitimate revenue by better regulated and less vexatious measures, Lord Carnarvon, in his despatch to Sir A. Kennedy of the 22nd of March last,† suggested, having regard to the existing circumstances and to the progress of commercial intercourse and relations between China and foreign Powers, a reconsideration of the proposal originally made by Her Majesty's Minister in 1869 for the appointment of a Chinese Consular Officer in Hong Kong, who should be entrusted with the privilege of collecting from junk masters receipts for export duty on goods imported into the Colony from China, and of issuing to them similar receipts for the import duty on goods shipped to China from Hong Kong. It appeared to his Lordship that such an arrangement would substantially protect the Chinese Government against the contraband trade carried on by its own subjects with the Colony, and remove the grounds of complaint

No. 8 of Command Paper [C. 1189], April 1875.

• No. 1.

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on which they justify the continuance of the arbitrary and unusual course which the Colonists have termed a "blockade " of the island. It will be seen, however, from the inclosed despatch that the Colonial Government and the general community are as averse as ever to the appointment of a Chinese Consul in Hong Kong, and that they would regard the establishment in the Colony of a branch of the foreign Collectorate, urged by Sir A. Kennedy in his despatch of the 25th of August, 1874,* as a less distasteful alterna- tive. But the latter scheme, though still worthy of consideration, could hardly be carried out without much preliminary discussion and unavoidable delays; and Lord Carnarvon is most anxious that, if possible, steps should be taken immediately, through the good offices of Lord Derby, to allay the irritation which not unnaturally prevails in the Colony, and to remove any impression that Her Majesty's Government underrate the gravity of the complaints which have been urged so long and so strenuously by the inercantile community, or are indisposed to afford them the protection and relief to which they may be fairly entitled.

5. Lord Carnarvon is informed by Sir A. Kennedy that he has failed in all his efforts to obtain from the Cantonese authorities a statement of the tariff of export and import duties which they claim to levy on the trade of Hong Kong, and this circumstance gives additional weight to the complaint referred to in the fourth paragraph of the letter from this department of the 3rd of March last,† that an export duty is exacted on goods leaving the Colony as if Hong Kong were part of the territory of China.

6. Sir A. Kennedy, in his despatch of the 25th of August, 1874, suggested that the following terms should, if possible, be obtained.

1st. The suppression of all revenue cruizers except those under the immediate authority of the Hoppo, who is an officer holding his appointment direct from the Emperor. 2nd. A clear understanding of the tariff and publication of the Chinese Customs Regulations, together with the ports and stations at which duties are leviable and payable. 3rd. The appointment of a joint board to sit at Hong Kong, or Chinese Kowloong,

to investigate cases of alleged illegal seizure, with publication of the decision in each case. 7. Lord Carnarvon is disposed to think that if the above conditions were accepted and strictly observed by the Chinese Government, they would at once unshackle the honest and legitimate trade of the Colony, and prepare the way to a larger measure of relief, such as might be afforded by the proposed establishment in Hong Kong of a branch of the Foreign Collectorate of Customs.

8. The inclosed despatch hardly leaves room for doubt that the abuses pointed out in the letter from this department of the 3rd of March last, still exist to a great extent; and I am to request that you will draw Lord Derby's attention to the statement of the Acting Registrar-General, that two of the crew of the junk "Wing Cheung Lung," unlawfully seized within British waters on the 26th of March last, were tortured by the Chinese officials.

Lord Carnarvon hopes that Lord Derby will be able to take the whole matter into early consideration, and that he will favour him with his opinion as to the course of action which would be best calculated to relieve the Colony from the grievance to which it has so long been subjected, and place the relations between the Governor of Hong Kong and the Cantonese authorities on a more satisfactory footing.

Sir,

I am, &c.

(Signed)

No. 6.

ROBERT G. W. HERBERT.

Foreign Office to Colonial Office.

Foreign Office, August 13, 1875.

I AM directed by the Earl of Derby to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 9th instant, together with its inclosure, relative to the complaints of the mercantile community of Hong Kong against the action of Chinese revenue cruizers in the neighbour- hood of that Colony, and expressing Lord Carnarvon's wish that measures may be taken to place matters on a more satisfactory footing; and I am to state to you in reply, for his Lordship's information, that Her Majesty's Minister at Peking, as well as Her Majesty's Consul at Canton, have been furnished with a copy of your letter, and have, at the same time, been instructed to give an opinion as to the best means of remedying the evil complained of.

I am, &c.

• No. 2 of Command Paper [C. 1189], April 1875.

(Signed)

TENTERDEN.

+ No. 6 of same Paper.

‡ No. 5.

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No. 7.