CO129-541-5 Harbour Light dues- proposed amendments 11-8-1932 - 22-5-1933 — Page 20

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and beacons; and that these dues were doubled as from

1st January, 1931. One of the contentions put forward

by Messrs. Swire is that rebates should be allowed in

respect of frequency of calls at the Port, but such

rebates are objected to, on principle, by the Government

of Hong Kong.

The light dues levied in the United Kingdom, which,

unlike those in Hong Kong, are applied entirely to the

cost of maintenance of the lights etc., apart from a

minor sub-head of expenditure on the removal of wrecks

dangerous to navigation, have been greatly reduced in

recent years and are now only 20% above the scale

laid down in the Second Schedule to the Merchant

Shipping (Mercantile Marine Fund) Act, 1898, and

this result has only been achieved through the exercise of

the strictest economy in lighthouse maintenance and the

cutting down of new works to a minimum. The general

charges on shipping in the harbours of the United Kingdom

have also been greatly reduced in recent years by the

Authorities levying them.

Abatements in the light dues are allowed in respect

of/

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