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THE HONGKONG GOVT GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY, 21ST FEB., 1883.

GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.-No. 67.

OPIUM.

Referring to Government Notification No. 475 of 1882, it is hereby further notified that, under the provisions of sec. 3 of Ordinance 2 of 1858, the Governor in Council will grant licences to proper persons authorising them to boil and prepare Opium, and to sell and retail Opium so boiled and pre- pared, from the 1st March, 1883, at a licence fee of $25 per month, with an additional fee of $2.25 for each ball boiled or prepared; the said licences shall be granted subject to the conditions made by the Governor in Council as published below.

Applications for licences will be received from this date by the Colonial Secretary.

Special arrangements will be made for persons wishing to boil large quantities, so as to enable them to boil in their own premises under Government supervision; but in the absence of such arrange- ments, all Opium must be boiled and prepared at the Public Factory at Sai On Lane, Saiyingp'un.

Sealed tenders will be received up to the 27th instant, at noon, for the farming of Opium Dross within the Colony.

By Command,

Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 21st February, 1883.

FREDERICK STEWART,

Acting Colonial Secrștary.

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Conditions made by the Governor in Council, under the provisions of the

Excise Ordinances (Opium), 1858-1879.

1. Licences will run from the date of granting, but all licences will expire on the last day of February in each year. The payment for each licence will be at the rate of $25 per month.

2. Each licence shall state the name of the Licensee and the shop or house where the business is to be carried on, and specify the name of the street, and the street number of the house.

3. The consideration money shall be paid monthly in advance; and there shall be paid in addition to the first monthly payment by every Licensee upon his licence being granted, a further sum equal to one monthly payment as a deposit on account of the consideration money, and the deposit shall go in payment of the last monthly payment of the said term.

4. Every monthly payment must be paid on the first lawful day of each month, and in default of any such payment the Governor in Council shall be entitled to withdraw the licence, and to retain all moneys paid thereunder, and the Licensee shall make good all losses and expenses incurred by reason of such default.

5. No licence shall be transferable without the permission of the Governor in Council.

6. All Opium sold by the Licensee shall be prepared at the Factory at Sai On Lane, or at other places specially licensed by the Governor in Council. Every ball, or any quantity less than one ball, so to be prepared, shall be calculated at the rate of 48 taels per ball, and every such Licensee shall pay to the Government in addition to the monthly payments of $25 for his licence, a fee of $2.25 for every ball so prepared, besides all expenses of preparation. Each ball shall produce between 20 and 30 taels' weight of prepared Opium.

7. The Licensee shall report daily to an Officer appointed by the Governor for the purpose, the quantity of opium sold per day. If the Licensee should make default in sending in such report, or should send in an incorrect report, all the opium found in the shop of the Licensee shall be liable to be seized by a Police or Excise Officer, and to be forfeited, and shall be by a Magistrate directed to be sold, and the proceeds paid into the Treasury for the public use.

8. Opium intended for export shall be packed in boxes, and each box shall be submitted for examination to the Officer appointed for that purpose by the Governor and if such examination be satisfactory, a certificate shall be attached to or a mark placed on the outside of each box. Should any box be discovered without having such certificate or mark, the same shall be forfeited to the Govern- ment, and the Governor in Council shall be at liberty to withdraw the licence held by the Licensee, to retain all moneys paid thereunder, and to claim the monthly fees due for the remainder of the term.

9. No Licensee shall construct furnaces, nor prepare Opium in his own shop, nor in any other place, unless by permission of the Governor in Council, neither shall he buy prepared Opium unless from other licensed persons or shops; and in the event of any Licensee making default in observance of this condition, the Opium so prepared and purchased shall be forfeited to the Government.