کا کس منه
in CR
4
ㄜˇ
60
not, however, at all optimistic in this respect. It is a
matter on which I have already reported my views very, fully
Gr 127/5/26
and I refer you to my secret des atches of the 21st May, 1926,
Gar 14764/26
(see especially the 10th paragraph) and 21st June, 1926. I
remain of the opinion that a less opportune time for experimentation with likin and with the Chinese customs'
tariff could hardly be found. In the Kuang-tung province
the ability of the Canton administration to enforce law and
order has been proved to be much circumscribed: and Mr. T'ang Shao-yi informed me, in the course of the interview
reported in my secret despatch of the 1st July last, that on a pair of shoes made at his native village T'ong Ka Ts'un, not far from Lacao, taxes had to be paid 33 times on the way
to Canton, so that (as he said), although the price of the shoes was know when they left T'ong Ka Ts'ün, no one could say what the price would be when they reached Canton. The fact is that in the West River delta extortion by brigands
n
and pirates is superimposed on the likin machinery and
#
11
squeezes" trade in a manner which the Canton Government is
powerless to prevent.
7.
I entirely share Colonel Hayley Bell's view
that the Nanking scheme of taxation would result in a large illicit junk traffic. I have already drawn your attention
Gr 12715/26 to this danger in the 11th paragraph of my secret despatch of the 21st May, 1926. Duties, such as those now contemplat- ed, call for a most complete and efficient preventive organization, if the Cantonese Authorities are to derive real benefit from the increased tariff. Junks carrying goods assessed at 57 (to take the extreme case) are suddenly to
be
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