CO129-018 - Others - 1846 — Page 483

24

REPORT ON

being raised to sustain a regular Government Establishment on the scale now adopted, and which, indeed, is far beyond the present or per- spective wants of the island community. Under the most favourable circumstances, there may possibly, some years hence, be obtained from The markets, the rent of building-land 50007. to 7000l. per annum. licenses, fines, and fees of every description, may realize hereafter about The levy of a tonnage duty would not yield more 10001. per annum. than 500l. to 1000l. per annum, if it did not drive away the few ships that now enter the harbour; it is not probable that vessels would pay sixpence per ton merely to call for orders, when they can lie in Macao Roads and daily communicate with Hong Kong. A registration or license for each male Chinese resident on the island, might, if there were a more respectable class of inhabitants in the colony, produce 6007. to 10007. a-year. Neither auction duties, stamps, or any of the other ordinary sources of taxation, would, under present circumstances, yield any revenue worth consideration.

The idea that the Chinese Government will sanction the introduction of opium into China at a moderate fixed duty, and that a large revenue may then be raised by warehousing the drug at Hong Kong, must, I think, be abandoned as illusory. The legal admission of opium into China by the Emperor, according to the best information I can obtain, is not at all probable. But even were the traffic in opium legalized, the traders have declared they would not pay any duty at Hong Kong. They can keep their large receiving-ships the whole year round in Hong Kong, or in any other harbour, or transship the opium from the vessels which convey the drug from Bengal and Bombay to this place, on board the smaller vessels, which proceed along the coast to sell or deposit it at Whampoa, Namoa, Amoy, Chimmo, Chin-Chu, Chusan, or Woosung, in the receiving-ships which lie in those bays or stations the whole year round.

I will not discuss the question of raising a revenue in Hong Kong from the introduction of opium for smoking in the island, either by farming out the drug, or otherwise. Independent of the morality or immorality of the question of Government deriving an income from a vicious indulgence, so long as the Chinese Government prohibits the introduction, and make the use of opium a capital offence, it would not, to say the least, be seemly of us to encourage the use of this destructive and poisonous stimulant in Hong Kong.

The total revenue to be expected from this colony, cannot, in my opinion, exceed 10,000 per annum; and to obtain this amount, several years must elapse, under the most favourable circumstances.

The per contra side shows an expenditure at this moment, for mere civil establishment, salaries and wages, at the rate of 50,000l. per annum, irrespective of the cost of any public works, roads, and buildings, which is estimated at 50,000l. per annum for several years; independent, also,

ariny of the Consular charges of 30,0001. per annum, and of the

The whole showing a yearly drain on the British exchequer of navy. half a million pounds sterling (see Documentary Appendix),

and

And here it may be necessary to remove an erroneous assertion, that this heavy yearly charge is only a portion of the revenue that England derives from the China trade.

The revenue which is obtained from tea is paid by the people of

HONG KONG.

25

476

It might as well be said that England, who buy and consume the tea. the West Indies furnished the revenue derived by the British exchequer The from the coffee and sugar consumed in the United Kingdom. The incidence of taxation is on the last purchaser of the taxed article. tea merchant of London adds to the invoice cost of the tea bought at Canton, the freight to England, the insurance, interest of money, warehousing, customs duty levied in England, and the fair profits of trade on every chest of tea he may sell to the grocer, who then regu- lates the price at which he can afford to sell a pound of tea to his customer, who finally pays the whole charges, taxes, and profits to the several parties before he drinks his tea.

The revenue derived from the China trade is paid by the people of England; the merchant who carries on the trade does not pay a shilling of it. It will be for Her Majesty's Ministers to decide whether on a review of the whole case, there be any justification for spending half a million sterling annually on this coast.

As a general principle, colonies that will not pay at least the expense of their civil government are not worth maintaining. There does not appear any reason why Hong Kong should be an exception to this rule. There is not, as has been fancifully supposed, any analogy whatever between Hong Kong and Gibraltar. Hong Kong commands nothing: a glance at the chart will show that the navigation of the China seas It is not possible by is perfectly independent of Hong Kong; even the entrance of the Canton river is not controuled by Hong Kong. any outlay of money to make the island a fortress; and it is commanded by the opposite shore of the main land. But supposing several millions sterling were spent in fortifying Hong Kong, and half a million an- nually expended for its garrison, the cui bono would constantly recur: from a Chinese enemy the island has nothing to apprehend even at present; no European or American state would think of capturing Hong Kong, for it would be valueless to them; and if mere glory were sought by the acquisition, they must be aware the fame would be of short continuance, as troops and ships from India, from Australia, and from all our stations eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, would soon recapture the place or starve out the garrison.

But Gibraltar is differently circumstanced; it effectually commands the narrow entrance to the Mediterranean, and, together with the for- tresses and havens of Malta and Corfu, gives England a preponderating power in that great European sea, which is becoming daily of more and more value in her intercourse with the Anglo-Eastern Empire. Moreover, Gibraltar is a valuable commercial entrepôt; at one period 1,000,0007. sterling of cotton goods were exported through Gibraltar into Spain.

As a fortress Gibraltar is perfect; it is impregnable. The revenue of Gibraltar is fully adequate to its civil government, and averages The military expenses incurred by upwards of 30,0001. per annum. garrisoning Gibraltar saves the constant maintenance of a large fleet in the Mediterranean, preserves the balance of power, and materially helps to keep the peace of Europe.

The remarks applicable to Gibraltar, are also applicable to Malta and the Ionian Islands, both of which stations not only pay their whole