Sessional_Paper_1886-1887 — Page 230

CIRCULAR.

227

No.

2

87.

HONGKONG.

CORRESPONDENCE RESPECTING THE QUESTION OF DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR ASSISTANCE TO BRITISH TRADE ABROAD.

Presented to the Legislative Council, by Command of His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government, on the 7th January, 1887.

SIR,

(1.)

DOWNING STREET,

17th November, 1886.

C. 4779. Part I.

C. 4779. Part II.

Board of Trade. 23rd August, 1886.

14th August, 1886.

I have the honour to transmit to you a copy of two Parliamentary Papers containing correspondence respecting the question of Diplomatic and "Consular assistance to British Trade abroad.

2. I have also the honour to enclose a copy of a letter from the Board of Trade and its enclosures on this subject, in which reference is also made to the proposal of that Department to publish an Official Trade Journal, for the purpose of affording early information respecting actual and contemplated changes in Customs Tariffs and Regulations, as well as other useful information as to Trade generally..

3. I also transmit to you a copy of a letter from the Assistant Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, calling attention to the interest which has been awakened in regard to Tropical and other Fruits by the display in the several Courts at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, and enclosing a list of questions respecting Colonial Fruits, which he suggests should be answered as fully as possible by the Colonial Governments.

4. The remarkable growth and development of the Trade and resources of many of the Colonies, the extension of Telegraphs, and the more frequent and rapid communication between this Country and the British Colonies, have created a great amount of interest in Colonial Trade and Produce, which has been further stimulated by the Colonial and Indian Exhibition; and there is a constantly increasing demand for information on subjects connected with the productions and commerce of the Colonies. It is, therefore, very desirable, with a view to the encouragement and development of commercial interchange, that the Colonial Governments should furnish, as far as they are able, the desired information, for publication in this Country, respecting all branches of Colonial produce and manufactures, modern discoveries, and improvements in production, &c., Tariffs, and suggested alterations in them, and other matters of interest relating to Colonial Trade, in order that such information may be easily procurable by the public in this Country at a moderate cost, and without delay.

5. I need hardly observe that it is the desire of Her Majesty's Government to do all in their power to assist the development of Colonial Commerce, and that, with this view, arrangements have been made for publishing from time to time, in the new Trade Journal which the Board of Trade propose to issue monthly, Colonial commercial intelligence of interest and importance. This, it is believed, will supply a long-felt want, affording to the Colonies much-needed facilities for the dissemination of such information in this Country, and enabling Her Majesty's Government to answer many of the numerous enquiries made by merchants and others.

The Officer Administering the Government of

HONGKONG.