CO129-321 - Public Offices & Others - 1903 — Page 29

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No. 2.

Consul-General Scott to the Marquess of Lansdowne.-(Received December 22.)

(No. 86.) My Lord,

Canton, November 22, 1902. WITH reference to my despatch No. 80 of the 16th ultimo, on the subject of the levy of an additional tax on prepared opium in the Two Kuang Provinces, I have the honour to inclose herewith copy of my despatch No. 85, of to-day's date, to His Majesty's Minister in Peking, reporting the withdrawal, by order of his Excellency the Viceroy, of the Regulations of the Kuang Hing opium farm and the final abolition of the tax.

I have, &c.

(Signed)

Inclosure 1 in No. 2.

Consul-General Scott to Sir E. Satow.

JAMES SCOTT.

(No. 85.) Sir,

REFERRING to your telegrams Nos. 22 and 24 and my telegraphic communications

Canton, November 22, 1902. Nos. 21, 22, 23, and 25, I have the honour to inclose herewith copy of the Proclamation issued, under instructions from his Excellency the Viceroy, by the Provincial Treasurer, the Board of Reorganization, and the Board of Revenue, abolishing the objectionable tax on prepared opium in the Two Kuang Provinces.

I have delayed reporting the termination of the somewhat protracted negotiations in regard to this tax, owing to the determined efforts made by the Kuang Hing Kung Ssu to continue their levies, even in the face of the Viceroy's orders for the withdrawal of the tax. These attempts have now been successfully resisted, and the tax is finally and definitely abolished. The seizure of the two chests of opium belonging to Messrs. Bradley and Co., at Swatow, brought matters to a head sooner than I had anticipated. The chests were returned within twenty-four hours of my request to the Viceroy for their surrender; and the action of the Kuang Hing Kung Ssu's Representatives in this instance was such a flagrant breach of Treaty provisions that his Excellency was unable to withhold any longer his instructions for the withdrawal of their Regulations.

The prepared-opium licences referred to in the Proclamation are not exactly a licence on shops as mentioned in your telegram No. 22, but refer to the compounded payment levied in lieu of a boiling tax, the details of which are given in Inclosure No. 2 of my despatch No. 37 of the 24th April last.

I have, &c. (Signed) JAMES SCOTT,

I (the Viceroy) have to observe, in regard to this matter, that, on receipt of the Wai-wu Pu's telegram, I issued joint instructions with his Excellency the Governor for the with- drawal of the Kuang Hing Kung Ssu's original Regulations and for the substitution in their place of a satisfactory set of rules on the lines of those which governed the prepared- opium licences hitherto in force, the same to be submitted to us (the Viceroy and Governor) for our consideration. Having now received the above letter from His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General, I have to instruct the Board of Reorganization to at once confer with the Provincial Treasurer and the Board of Revenue with a view to the immediate issue of a Proclamation setting forth that the original Regulations of the Kuang Hing Kung Ssu have been withdrawn, and stating, in clear and precise terms, that imported foreign opium, provided the packages have not been opened, is liable only to the duty and li-kin of the Treaty, and cannot be charged with any additional tax. I have, further, to call upon you, in obedience to my previous instructions, to prepare a satis- factory set of Regulations similar to those which governed the prepared-opium licences hitherto in force, and to report to me the date on which the Proclamation in regard thereto is issued.

In accordance with the above instructions, we will draw up a set of satisfactory Regulations similar to those which governed the prepared-opium licences hitherto in force, submit them to his Excellency the Viceroy for his consideration, and issue a separate Proclamation notifying their inauguration.

The present Proclamation is issued by us for the information of Chinese and foreign merchants, who may hereby know that the original prepared-opium tax Regulatious of the Kuang Hing Kung Ssu have been withdrawn, and that imported foreign opium, provided the packages have not been opened, is liable only to the duty and l-kin of the Treaty, and cannot be charged with any additional levy.

Tremble and obey!

(Seals of Treasurer, the Board of Reorganization, and the Board of Revenue.) Canton, November 16, 1902.

Inclosure 2 in No. 2.

Proclamation by the Provincial Treasurer of Kuang-tung, the Board of Reorganization, and the Board of Revenue. (Translation.)

WE received on the 15th instant a despatch from his Excellency the Viceroy to the effect that the British Consul-General at Canton had written to him on the 11th instant as follows:-

"I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's reply of the 5th instant, in which you state that you had already given instructions for the withdrawal of the prepared-opium tax Regulations. These Regulations are contrary to Treaty, and are calculated to mislead. I learn also that, although they have now been withdrawn, the tax is still being levied and has not been definitely abolished. I have the honour, therefore, to request your Excellency to at once issue a Proclamation for the information of Chinese and foreign merchants, in which it shall be clearly stated that foreign opium is liable only to the duty and li-kin of the Treaty, and cannot be subjected to any further charges."

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