7. That the Tariff of dues and duties leviable on Chinese junks shall be published for general information, as also the penalties to be inflicted in case of any breach of Customs Regulations.
3. The junk-masters, who have been in the habit of smuggling, are now, I under- stand, taking to a more legitimate trade, as they have become fully alive to the fact that the Hong Kong Government is prepared in every case to enforce the law of the Colony as it exists in Ordinance 6 of 1866.
4. As I reported to your Lordship in my despatch of the 3rd August, all com- plaints about the so-called blockade of Hong Kong have ceased.
J. POPE HENNESSY.
I have, &c. (Signed)
Inclosure 2 in No. 3.
Inclosure 3 in No. 2.
Proposed Basis of Settlement by the Hong Kong Government.
1. THAT the three Throat Gate stations shall be retained for collection of duties and war-tax, and delivery of receipts and clearances.
2. That junks clearing from Hong Kong shall hand in manifests, pay duties, and receive clearances at one or other of such stations.
3. That junks coming to Hong Kong shall stop at one or other of such stations for examination and payment of export dues from port of clearance, if such have not been already paid.
4. That no dues whatsoever shall be demanded from junks coming to Hong Kong from ports in China, save such export duties as are payable at the respective ports of clearance.
5. That a Tariff of dues and duties leviable on goods shipped by Chinese junks from Hong Kong shall be agreed upon and published, as also the penalties for breach of Customs Regulations.
6. That on any seizure being made, it shall be forthwith reported to the Hong Kong Government, which may appoint au officer to inquire into the merits of the case jointly with an officer appointed by the Viceroy. If these two cannot agree, one of Her Majesty's Judges at Hong Kong shall be nominated by the Governor to investigate the matter and decide finally thereon.
7. That all revenue cruizers shall be under the jurisdiction of the officer duly accredited to this Government for such special service.
No. 3.
Mr. Herbert to Lord Tenterden.-(Received November 28.)
Sir,
Downing Street, November 27, 1877. WITH reference to previous correspondence on the subject of the Hong Kong Blockade, I am directed by the Earl of Carnarvon to transmit to you, to be laid before the Earl of Derby, a copy of a Confidential despatch from the Governor of Hong Kong, containing a further proposal from Sir Brooke Robertson for the settlement of the question.
I am also to refer you to the letters from this Department of the 25th April and the 3rd May (which have not yet been answered), and I am to state that Lord Carnarvon would be glad if he can be informed whether any steps are being taken in the matter of the appointment of Members to the proposed Commission.
(Confidential.) My Lord,
I am, &c.
(Signed) ROBERT G. W. HERBERT,
Inclosure 1 in No. 3.
Governor Hennessy to the Earl of Carnarvon.
Government House, Victoria, Hong Kong, August 30, 1877.
IN Sir Arthur Kennedy's despatch of the 28th of February, 1877, he laid before your Lordship copies of two proposals for the settlement of the Hong Kong Blockade question, one being Sir Brooke Robertson's proposal, the other the proposal of the Hong Kong Government.
2. Sir Brooke Robertson has now given me another proposal, which in some respects resembles Sir Arthur Kennedy's, but with the advantage of being more simple. I have the honour to inclose a copy for your Lordship's information. I am disposed to prefer it to any other scheme on this subject I have seen.
Draft of suggested Regulations for Chinese Junks trading with the Colony of Hong Kong.
1. CHINESE juuks bound for the harbour of Hong Kong will call at one or the other of the Chinese Customs Stations of
and
and
and, after examination by the officer in charge of the station at which a junk may call, the master will receive a clearance certificate in the form to be hereafter agreed upon.
2. On anchoring in the harbour of Hong Kong the master will exhibit and surrender to the Harbour-Master this certificate, and if unable to produce it he will be ordered to leave the harhour with his junk, loaded or in ballast as may be, passengers alone being allowed to land.
3. The master of a Chinese junk clearing from the harbour of Hong Kong, loaded or in ballast, will apply for and receive from the Harbour-Master a certificate in the form to be hereafter agreed upon, which he will exhibit and surrender to the officer in charge of the Customs Station at which he may call, and will receive in exchange a clearance certificate which will free his vessel from further search or detention until she arrives at her destination.
Should a junk after leaving the harbour proceed to sea without calling at one or the other of the above-named stations she will render herself liable to capture and adjudication by the Chinese Customs authorities.
4. If a complaint of the action taken by any officer of a Customs Station, or by any Chinese Revenue cruiser, is lodged with the Hong Kong Government by the master of a junk trading with the Colony, it will be forwarded to Her Majesty's Consul at Canton for investigation, and if deemed expedient by the Governor of Hong Kong, his Excellency will appoint an officer of the Colonial Government to sit with Her Majesty's Consul and the Superintendent of Customs, or their deputies, during the examination.
5. A Tariff of the dues and duties payable at the above-named Customs Stations shall be published for general information, in order that complaints of excessive or unjust levies may be more satisfactorily traced.
B. R.
No. 4.
Memorandum by Sir T. Wade.
(Signed)
I HAVE read Mr. Herbert's letter of the 27th instant, inclosing, by the Earl of Carnarvon's desire, copy of a confidential despatch from Mr. Pope Hennessy, Governor of Hong Kong, with reference to the settlement of the so-called blockade question, as proposed by Sir Brooke Robertson, and inquiring, for the information of his Lordship, whether any steps have been taken in the matter of the appointment of members to the Commission, which, under the Chefoo Agreement, was to consider the question.
It would appear from Mr. Pope Hennessy's despatch of August 30 that an amended Code of Rules to regulate the supervision of the junk trade by the three native Custom-houses whose action has been objected to, is approved by Mr. Pope Hennessy himself. If this assumption be correct, it is then to be assumed that the work of the Commission is ended. There would in that case, of course, be no occasion for fresh consideration of its composition.
Of the rules themselves I shall allow myself but one criticism, and that in no
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