CO129-425 - Governor Sir May - 1915 [10-12] — Page 778

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„ANOİJEJE-Juc

Fondosur. S.

THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT SALT REVENUE DEPARTMENT.

Chief Inspectorate,

Peking, 28th April, 1915.

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His Excellency

Sir Francis Henry May, K.C.M.G.,

Governor of Hongkong,

Dear Sir Henry May,

I enclose for your perusal a copy of a Memorandum

by Mr. Smith, Commissioner of the Chinese Maritime Customs at

Kongmoon, embodying a report by Tide Surveyor Wittsack regarding

the smuggling of salt from Hongkong into Kwangtung.

The Memorandum shows how extensive the illicit

traffic in salt really is, and also shows how the British Colony

of Hongkong is used by the smugglers as a base for the prosecut-

ion of their operations.

I understand that the question of the imposition

of a duty upon salt is at present under the consideration of the Government of the Colony, and I trust that the interests of the

Chinese Government willmot be lost sight of during the consider-

ation. As long as salt is untaxed in Hongkong, it will be impossi- ble to prevent smuggling, to an extent sufficient to cause a

serious loss of revenue, into Kwangtung-

Perhaps I may be permitted to add that, having had exceptional experience of the subject, I unhesitatingly assert that in an Oriental country a moderate duty on salt, collected,

(as it easily can be), in the form of an indirect tax, is one of

the most easily realised and least unpopular forms of taxation,

while the stability of the revenue derived from the tax is also a

very strong argument in its favour. It is of course true that the tax presses more heavily upon the poor than upon the rich, but under a good system of administration the advantages of a salt

tax in an oriental country much outweight its disadvantages.

Yours sincerely,

R. M. Dane.

Sd.