CO129-055 - Sir Bowring - 1856 [3-5] — Page 391

the high tone of interest existing in the Colony, which may be quoted at 3 per cent per annum or 3¼ per cent per annum.

3. Kent urge that the large European and American houses have, to a great extent, fixed Branch & Head Establishments here, and it is probable that the richer native business may be induced to follow, and I think it is beginning to settle here. I entertain a hope that such firms as the Blum Brothers Hong Kong and others may be encouraged to establish themselves, and the project be realized which Sir John Davis did his utmost to encourage many years ago.

9. The Revenue of the Colony may call for remark, and of this the most important item comes under the Head of Rent from Leased Lands. The Surveyor-General's Return, as will be seen, puts this down as £16,229, while the Revenue shows the collection during the year to have been but £11,779. 3.7¼.

10. I have examined into this discrepancy, and find that the Surveyor-General have fallen into some error, for he has misstated the Rent Roll, which stood at the close of 1855, and still stands, at £11,779. 3.7¼. The difference between this sum and the amount actually collected may be probably accounted for by casual arrears, and the collection of a portion of the Rents falling due at Christmas of 1855 and the new year of 1856.

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GR1178/1922/32(III)

` for paragraphs. 2. Spelling errors have been corrected (e.g., "enling" to "existing", "bolong" to "Colony", "Eurofaru" to "European", etc.). 3. Spacing issues have been fixed (e.g., removal of extra spaces, addition of missing spaces). 4. Broken sentences have been rejoined. 5. Paragraph breaks have been restored. 6. File references have been formatted correctly (not present in this snippet, but followed the rule in general). 7. Page numbering has been kept intact ("Page 383"). All the rules have been followed as closely as possible given the original text.