Page
28 1897.
the difference between a profit and a loss on small quantit cargo, and may decide the steamer to avoid the port. If she does not call then her expenditure here is entirely lost the residents, and a permanent injury done the trade of
ony
We respectfully protest against this deli- berate taxation of shipping frequenting the port for the benefit of the general revenue of the colony. It is entirely opposed to the idea of a free port. It is an additional burden no corresponding advantage whatever an already heavily burdened interest. Its tendency is in every doubtful case to drive
from the port steamers and ships which would otherwise call and necessarily spend money
perceptibly increasing their expenses, a time when every expenditure has to be most utely considered and weighed. The ship- ping has already paid more than all the money expended on the lighthouses and is willing to continue to pay for their proper maintenance. The original charge of a cant per ton is more than enough to cover all the Colonial expenditure that should legitimately fall on steamers and ships frequenting the port, and we respectfully submit that any further charge is unwarranted and ought not to be levied.
8. We have the honour to request that your Excellency will, before carrying into effect the recommendation of the majority of the Un- official Members of Council, tendered to your Excellency without any consultation with the principal shipping firms-the persons most in- terested to re-impose in another form the special Gap Rook "light dues, refer this our respectful remonstrance and complaint to the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
9. If your Excellency should decide to sub- mit the matter for the consideration of the Secretary of State before any change is made we ask your permission to forward copies of this letter to all Chambers of Commerce and to all shipping organisations, and to invite their co-operation with us in representing to Her Majesty's Government the injustice attending the course your Excellency's counsellors have recommended to you. We have the honour to be, your Excellency's most obedient, humble servants,
H. A. RITCHIE,
Superintendent, P. & O. 8. N. Co. BUTTERFIELD & SWIRE,
Agents, Ocean Steamship Co., Ld.,
China Navigation Co., Ld., Scottish Oriental 8.8. Co., G. DE CHAMPEAUX,
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPUKI.
BRADLEY &Co.,
Agents, Shan Steamers.
DOUGLAS LAPRAIK & Co.,
Sincerely
see his way
owners petitio
General Managers, Douglas S. S. Co., your most obedie
Limited.
DAVID SASSOON, SONS & CO.,
Agents, Apoar Line of Steamers.
K. Š. KIYOOKA,
Agent, Nippon Yusen Kaisha. H. JEFFRIES,
Agent, Mitsui Bishi-Goshi-Kwaisha. LIAO TZE SAN,
Manager, China Merchants' S. N. Co. WIELER & Co. JEBBEN & Co.
LAUTS, WEGENER & CO.
Agents, Koninklijke Paketvaart
Maatschappij.
K. FUKUI,
ARCH
To Hon. J. H. Stowar
Secretary
Colonial
Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce,
1897
Hongkong, 21st Jai
H. A. Ritchie, Esq., Superintendent, P. & O..
S. N. Co.
Dear Sir, I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter on the 14th inst., together with copies of the petition addressed by the and Representatives of Companies and owning steamers trading to and in th East to His Excellency the Governor on the proposal to virtually make permanent sent temporary special Gap Rock light and the acknowledgement thereof by the Co-
Manager, Mitsui Bussan Kaisha.
Hongkong, Colonial Secretary's Office. Sir, I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 24th instant cover-lonial Secretary.- ing a petition to His Excellency the Governor on the subject of light dues, and to inform you that the matter in question will receive His Excellency's early and careful considera- tion.-I have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
0
J. H. STEWART Lockhart, Colonial Secretary.
H. A. Ritchie, Esq., Supt., P. & O. S. N.
Company.
Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce. Hongkong, 21st January, 1897. Sir,-A copy of the petition presented to His Excellency the Governor by shipping firms and agencies representing steamers trading to and in the Far East on the subject of the light dues having been forwarded to this Chamber, my Committee wish to express to the Govern- ment their most emphatic concurrence in the views set out in that memorial.
In a letter addressed to you on the 31st July last the opinions of this Chamber on this im- portant question were stated at some length. The mere amount of the light dues is not regarded so much as is the principle involved in the practical retention of the special Gap Rock tax. That tax. was imposed at the sug- gestion of the shipping interest when advoca- ting the provision of a light at the southern ap- Ld.proach to the port, and it was agreed that its imposition should cease so soon as it had yielded a sum sufficient for the purpose. This has been accomplished, and the one cent per ton ordinarily levied is ample to pay for the upkeep of all the existing lights. My Com- mittee feel therefore that they cannot too strongly protest against any attempt to per petuate a tax imposed for a special object, at Agent, Pacific Mail and Occidental & and to merge it into the general revenue of the the request of shipowners for a specified time, Oriental Steam-ship Co.
Agent, Messageries Maritimes. MELCHER & Co.,
Agents, Norddeutscher Lloyd. D. E. BROWN,
General Agent, Canadian Pacific
R. Co.
J. 8. VAN BUren,
p. pro DODWELL, CARLILL & Co.,
E. S. WHEALLER,
Agents, Northern Pacific Steam. ship Co., Shire Line, Mogul Steamship Co., and others.
GIBB, LIVINGSTON & CO.,
Agents, "Ben" Line of Steamers, Eastern & Australian 8.8. Co., Limited.
colony.
This Chamber is deeply penetrated with the conviction that in the preservation intact of the freedom of the port mainly depends the con- tinuance and growth of the prosperity of the colony. This freedom is the keystone of the arch of that prosperity which has been slowly built up in spite of many obstacles and some natural disadvantages. What otherwise can HOLLIDAY, WISE & CO.,
account for the position Hongkong has at length Agents China Mutual Steam Navi- attained as the third port in the Empire for
gation Co., Limited.
magnitude of tonnage ? My Committee earnest- ly depresste attempts to impair that freedom by the imposition of any of those taxes which in many ports hamper the movements of the mercantile shipping and blight the growth of commerce, to the ultimate detriment of the treasuries they were designed to enrich.
ARNHOLD, KArberg & Co.,
Agents, Shell Line, Rickmers Line. SIEMSSEN & CO.,
Agents, Kingsing Line, &c. SHEWAN TOMES & CO.,
General Managers, China and Manila
8.8. Co., Limited. Agents, Oregon Railway and Navi;
gation Co. Pacifio 8.8. Line, Agents Union Line and others. SANDER & CO.,
Agents, Austrian Lloyd B. N. Co. HOB ARNOLD;
Secretary, Hongkong, Canton and
Macao Steamboat Co.; Ld. CARLOWITZ & Co.
Navigazione Generale Ita
My Committee would, finally, respectfully suggest to His Excellency the Governor the danger of this colony setting an example to the neighbouring countries of a desire to make a revenue out of the light dues an example which it is to be feared may be only too readily followed. In some ports of the United Kingdom an agitation is now proceeding for the reduo tion of the light dues, and it would seem to be a retrograde step in this great free port of the Far East to augment them for purposes of general revenue. «e
Far
pre-
I am instructed by my C Committee to say the petition has their hearty concurrence will receive their cordial support. A letter |pressive of approval of the tenour of the petition and firmly sustaining its arguments' has bee addressed to the Government (of which I enclose a copy), and it is proposed to send copies of the petition and letter to the various Chambers of Commerce in the East and in the United Kingdom, as also to the British Colonies.-I am, dear sir, yours faithfully,
R. CHATTERTON WILCOX, Secretary.
THE LIGHT DUES,
The following correspondence has passed between Mr. H. A. Ritchie, Superintendent of the P. & O. Company, as representing ship- ping, and the Hon. Secretary of the China Asociation on the subject of light dnes
Peninsular and Oriental Steam -
Navigation Company,
Hongkong, 14th January, 1897. Dear Sir,-On behalf of the agents and representatives of companies and firms owning vessels trading to and in the Far East, I beg to hand you, herewith, for the information of the Committee of the Hongkong Branch of the China Association a copy of a petition, dated 24th December, 1896, praying His Excellency the Governor not to carry the recommendation of the majority of the Unofficial Members of Council, that a tax of 2 cents for light dues should be permanently levied on vessels calling at this port, into effect. I also enclose a copy ef the letter received from the Colonial Secretary, acknowledging the receipt of the petition.
We have no doubt that we can rely on the cordial support of the China Association in furthering the object we have in view
Apart from other considerations, which are fully deal with in our petition. I would beg 04 | point out the impolicy of inflicting a tax on ship- ping with the avowed purpose of raising money for local revenue. If such a tax is levied with this intention in an adjacent British colony, which has hitherto been a free port, it is obvious that it must have a most prejudical effect on any representations which may be made to the Government of China to bring the ex
excessively heavy tonnage dues imposed on vessels trading with that country within reasonable limits, with a view to securing that, the proceeds; of
those dues should be strictly applied to purposes for which they are ostensibly levied, which should include, for instance, the dredg ing of the Woosung Bar.
I beg to request that you will forward copies of this letter, with its attachments, to the don and Shanghai branches of the Aus by the first opportunities. I am, dear sir faithfully,
HA RITCHIE, Superin Fullarton Henderson, Esq., Secre
kong Branch, China Association
Chin Hongkong
H. A. Ritchie, Esq., Superint and Oriental Steam I
копр
Dear Sir am in red favour of 14th inst, handin
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