CO129-288 - Public Offices & Others - 1898 — Page 169

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vision; the Customs have a correct manifest of all cargo on board, and security has been taken for the payment of all duties. When a steamer from Hong-kong bound for a West River port arrives in Chinese waters the Customs have no knowledge of what is on board, and great frauds on the revenue are possible before the vessel arrives at the first trealy port, 100 miles up the river. It is inevitable that the Customs regulations should be more stringent in the case of a steamer arriving from a foreign port than in that of a steamer plying between two Chinese ports.

Mr. Brenan goes on to suggest, accordingly, that some system might be devised under which a vessel clearing from Hong-kong for a Chinese port could be loaded under Chinese Custonia inspection. "If it is conceded," he argues, "that all merchandise arriving in Canton waters from Hong-kong must pay a duty, it is not con- ceding very much more to say that the duty shal! be paid before starting." Hong-kong would reply, probably, that it is conceding very much more. It is conceding to a foreign Power the right to exercise in Hong-kong functions tending to ospionage and detrimental to prestige. Besides, the argument would seem equally valid in respect to the traffic between Hong-kong and Canton as between Hong-kong and ports on the West River, The frauds on the revenue which Mr. Brenan con- templates as possible would be effected, pre- sumably, by landing goods at intermediate points. But that would be smuggling; and the penalties in Arts. 47 and 48 of the Treaty of Tien-tsin against ships concerned in smuggling

are severe,

There is no desire that our Government should! erade its promise to help the Chinese to protect their revenue. But it is hold that the facilities already given are extreme, and that no further recognition should be afforded or further privileges be granted to Chinese Customs officers, either in Hong-kong or in the new territory, than they already possess. The strongest plea for giving facilities which are already exceptional was to assist in the prevention of opium- smuggling. There is every willingness to main- tain and extend the stringent precautions that have been devised to that end. But the proposi- tion that these privileges should be expanded to permit the collection, in Hong-kong, of duties that become legally due only on the Chinese main- land is naturally met by a counter-proposition that the Chinese should be told "to" collect their Customs, like other people, at home. China is, we know, a country where opposites prevail; but to ask us to reverso the usual practice among nations so far as to allow her revenue officers to collect import dues before the goods start, and export dues after produce arrives-British territory being, in each case, the corpus vile upon which the experiment is made--is pushing the demand on our complais- ance rather far.

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