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BRITISH POSITION
Those and other important places were lost sight of in our hasty, restricted, and ill-arranged proceedings.
We allowed our attention to be diverted from the rich and populous regions at the northern and central part of the empire, to the compari- tively barren and valueless coast at its southern extremity. Even at the ports chosen for our maritime trade we took no precautions to secure freedom of access and right of trade and residence at and in the cities to which these ports were attached, and which it is understood the present plenipotentiary of Her Majesty is now strenuously and laudably endeavouring to accomplish. where we are still confined to a few feet of occupation on the left bank This is manifest as regards Canton, of the river, outside the suburbs of the city; daily insulted, and with life and property exposed to continued risk. We are prohibited sending a boat for pleasure or for traffic to Futchan, a thriving manufacturing town about twenty miles above Canton, or to Chang-king-foo and Shaou- choo-foo on the same river, as it is said nearly as large and wealthy as Canton, although goods must pass Whampoa*, which is equally the anchorage of those cities as well as of Canton. The same may be said of the city of Chang-choo-foo, a few miles above Amoy, of which city Amoy is but the outlet; so also of Suchoo, of which Shanghai is only the port. It would be absurd of the French or any other nation to say they were admitted to freedom of trade with Eng- land, if we restricted them to an anchorage at Gravesend, on the banks of the Thames, and a few feet of ground for a residence at Rotherhithe or Wapping for London, at Pill for Bristol, at Birkenhead for Liverpool, at Cove for Cork, or at Greenock for Glasgow.
Of the four selected ports, three, Amoy, Foo-choo, and Ningpo, have scarcely any foreign trade, and do not appear likely to have any of great importance, unless we had perfect freedom of internal inter- course, and could also trade between the above-named ports and For- mosa,-an island rich in tropical productions, and with which an exten- sive traffic is carried on from the main land in sugar, oil, timber, camphor, &c.
The province of Fokien, like that of Canton, is very barren and comparatively poor: our object should have been the formation of estab- lishments at the far richer and more civilized cities bordering on the delta of the Yang-tze-kiang, and other rivers to the northward.
So long as we are confined to the coast and denied access to the great rivers and cities in the interior, our trade will be stunted or sub- ject to considerable fluctuations; but when enabled to traverse the great veins and arteries of this vast empire, to navigate with steam to the central and civilized cities which cover the land, we may look forward to an augmenting and steady trade, and to an intimate friendly inter- course fraught with mutual advantages to China and to Britain.
In obtaining a reduction of the duties on commerce, and a diminu- tion of unequal port charges, we omitted to procure an exemption from goods paying duties a second time, when found unsaleable at one port and transshipped to another; and also that vessels not "breaking bulk,"
* Even a bazaar, constructed for the supply of provisions to the large fleet of English ships usually lying at Whampoa, has been prohibited by the authorities.
AND PROSPECTS IN CHINA.
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i. e, not discharging any part of their cargo, should be exempt from port dues. These rights have since been gained by the Americans, and we shall derive similar advantages, but we should have obtained the establishment of "bonded warehouses;" and as the port dues are still heavy, we should have required that a lighthouse be placed at the en- trance of each port, for their safe navigation. As regards lights, buoys, and moorings, no expense whatever has been incurred by the Chinese Government. The tonnage duties on a ship anchoring at Whampoa, about twelve miles from Canton, is about 3s. per ton; at the port of Liverpool the anchorage is only ninepence. There is a heavy outlay incurred by ships being kept at Whampoa, instead of proceeding direct to Canton, which is equally as accessible as the port of Calcutta; in the cost of loading and unloading; in the tedious transfer of goods to and from Canton; and in the charges for provisions at Whampoa being en- hanced by the "comprador" system, from which the mandarins derive a considerable revenue.
Further, the levy of one mace (about 5d.) per ton on British coast- ing and legally licensed vessels, every time they enter the port of Can- ton, is a heavy tax on craft which pass from Hong Kong to Canton, three or four times in the month. Before the supplementary treaty of 8th October, 1843, the number of schooners, sloops, and lorchas plying between Cantou and the places in the vicinity, was upwards of seventy; by article xvii. of the supplementary treaty, all these vessels, up to 150 tous burthen, are subjected to a port duty at Canton of one mace per ton "every time they enter the port.”
None of these vessels are allowed to be rated (however small) at less than seventy-five tons; thus the mere tonnage duty on the smallest cargo boat would, at 5d. per ton, and entering the port of Canton four times every month, be equivalent to a tax of 75%. a-year
It is not surprising that there are but a few lorchas plying between Hong Kong and Canton. Moreover, these small vessels are obliged, “on passing the Bogue forts in the Canton river, to report like a large inward bound vessel," again to report herself at the custom-house at Whani- poa; on arriving at Canton, her sailing letter (register) to be deposited with the British Consul, who will obtain permission from the superin- tendent of customs to discharge and load; "whether with full or half lading, even to an hundred weight of cargo," the smallest boat must pay at the rate of 5d. (one mace) per ton on seventy-five tons. This enact- ment, and clauses thirteen and fourteen of the supplemental treaty, re- stricting all communication between Hong Kong and the coast of China to the five ports; requiring that "whenever the Chinese wish to take goods to Hong Kong for sale, they must first pay the duties according to the new regulations at the five ports, and obtain permits from the respective custom-houses;" that "the Chinese must ask a passport for coming and going, and the duties are to be paid on the day the goods are imported;" that "the Chinese having purchased goods, must ship them and bring them home in Chinese vessels, which must request passports at Hong Kong, and exhibit the same to the Chinese officers on each arrival and departure, to be examined and countersigned;" that the custom-houses at the five ports shall monthly make out a report of the passes granted, with the names of the vessels and merchants, and
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