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In Mr. Byron Brenan's reply to the Cham- ber, as published in the China Mail of Decem- ber 23rd, he remarks :-" I learn that there is an increasing export trade under transit certi- ficates in the Kwangsi province, so that I expect to hear," &o.
Presumably Mr. Brenan must be referring to some passes taken out at Wuchow for cargo exported thence per steamer, as I believe no Chinaman has yet been daring enough to take pass out for goods exported in native craft. Between the coalfield and the West River there are three likin stations, at neither of which has a transit pass ever been presented; in fact, the Chinaman who attempted to initiate such a course of proceeding would be bold to rashness, -I am, dear sir, yours faithfully,
FRANK W. WATTS. The Secretary, Hongkong General Chamber
of Commerce."
H.B. M's Consulate Canton, 22nd December, 1897.- Sir,-In reply to your letter of the 20th instant I beg to state that at present I do not feel justified in presenting any claim on your behalf to the Chinese Authorities. Should it eventually appear that the Su Chuen Magistrate acted improperly and thereby caused you loss, the amount to be claimed as compensation can then be taken into consideration.-I am, sir, Your obedient servant,
BYRON BRENAN,
Consul.
F. W. Watts, Esq., Kowloon
Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce,
19th January, 1898. F. W. Watts, Esq.
Sir, I beg leave to acknowledge receipt of Four letter of the 28th ult. enclosing copy of the reply of Mr. Consul Brenan to your appli- cation and copy of the claim itself.
My Committee note your remarks with re- ference to possible trade under transit pass from North Kwangsi.
Pending result of the inquiries now being made by Her Britannic Majesty's Consul, how. ever, they are unable to move further in the matter. I am, sir, yours faithfully,
R. CHATTERTON WILCOX,
Sporetary.
ABOLITION OF THE IMPORT DUTY ON TEA IN BELGIUM.
Hongkong, 30th December, 1897. Monsieur le Secrétaire,J'ai l'honneur de vous informer que les droits d'entrée établis sur le thé sont abolis en Belgique a partir du 1 Janvier, 1898.
Recevez, je vous prie, Monsieur le Secrétaire, assurance de ma haute considération.
Le Consul de Belgique,
LEON VINCART: Monsieur le Secrétaire de la Chambre de Com-
merce à Hongkong.
Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce,
3rd January, 1898. Sir, I beg to acknowledge, with thanks, the receipt of your esteemed letter of the 30th ult. informing this Chamber of the intention of your Government to abolish import duty on tea from the 1st January, 1898-I have the honour ‘to be, sir, your obedient servant,
R. CHATTERTON WILCOX,
Secretary.
Léon Vincart, Esq. Consul for Belgium.
THE SHANGHAI GENERAL. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. Minutes of a meeting of the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce held at the office of the Chamber on Monday, the 10th of January, 1898, at 4 p.m.
Present-Messrs E. F. Alford (in the chair), C. J. Dudgeon, Wade Gardner, F. W. Koch, A. Korff, W. D. Little, J. H. MoMichael, E. Shellim, A. Werth, and the Secretary.
The Minutes of last meeting were read and
confirmed. -
THE NEW MAIL CONTRACT. The reply from the General Post Office to the letter addressed to the Postmaster-General on the 13th September calling attention to the inconvenience caused by the alteration of the
[January 27, 1898. Imperial Chinese Telegraphs, day of departure of the mails from Friday to
Shanghai, 9th December, 1897. Tuesday was laid before the meeting, and it was
Dear Sir,-In continuation of my letter of resolved to write again arging that the mails should olose not earlier than noon on Tuesday, the 17th of November with regard to the com- which would in a measure alleviate the incon-plaints made by the Committee of the Shanghai venience caused by the change of mail day. General Chamber of Commerce, I beg to state The letter from the General Post Office was that the matter has been submitted and duly considered by the Director-General and after ordered for publication.
careful investigation, he concludes that the delay of telegrams was not due to negligence or bad working of service; but on account of this year's enormous increase of traffic. In view of the above circumstances orders have been issued to put up extra wires on all the main circuits. Yours truly,
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
DELAY IN THE TRANSMISSION OF TELE-
GRAMS BY THE CHINESE LINE. A letter was read that had been received
from the manager of the Imperial Chinese Telegraphs in reply to a complaint made about the delay in the transmission of telegrams, and the correspondence on the question was ordered for publication.
KING LIEN-Shan. To the Secretary Shanghai General Chamber
of Commerce..
THE RIVER APPROACHES TO SHANGHAI, It was decided to appoint a sub-Committee to deal with this subject, and to invite Messrs. Chapsal, Korff and Hewett to serve together THE SALE OF INJURIOUS LIQUOKS with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Chamber.
"REJECTION OF PINGSUEYS IN THE UNITED STATES.
A letter numerously signed by tea shippers was considered, and it was decided to comply with the request that the views expressed should be transmitted to the U.S. Consul-General and the New York Chamber of Commerce.
(Correspondence.)
THE NEW MAIL CONTRACT.
Regd. No. 440,454.
General Post Office, London. 18th November, 1897. SIR,-I am directed by the Postmaster- General to acknowledge the receipt of your let ter of the 13th of September, calling attention to the inconvenience expected to be felt at Shanghai when the day of departure of the homeward mail is altered from Saturday to Tuesday under the new mail contract.
In reply I am to point out that, in framing the time table for the China Mail Service, regard could not be paid simply to the departure of the mails from Shanghai and their arrival in London and vice versa. That service is a part of a much wider arrangement for the cou- veyance of mails between this country and India, Australia and the Far East. As regards the homeward mails, those from China, Hongkong and the Straits Settlements and those from Australia must converge at Colombo, and further these united mails must connect at Aden with the mails from India. The time-table for all these connected services, which has been approved by the Postmaster-General, was drawn
up
after very careful consideration and it is believed to be the most generally convenient which can in present circumstances be framed. To put the day of departure of the homeward mails from every colony and place affected three days earlier, while meeting the views of the Chamber of Commerce, would cause the greatest inconvenience at places other than Shanghai.
IN HONGKONG.
MEETING OF JUSTICES.
On 20th January a general meeting of the Justices of the Peace was held in the City Hall · for the purpose of considering a communication from the Government on the subject of the resolutions recently submitted to them in re- gard to the sale of injurious liquors in Hongkong,
Hon! H. E. Wodehouse (Police Magistrate) presided and there were also present-Messrs., W. M. B. Arthur. J. A. de Carvalho, N. J. Ede, Dr. Hartigan, A. Shelton Hooper, G. C. Cox, W. Danby, A. Findlay Smith, C. Palmer, A. J. May, H. C. Nicolle, D. R. Crawford, Gershom Stewart, C. S. Sharp, D. E. Brown, J. H. Lewis, F, Dodwell, J. B. Coughtrie, R. M. Gray, H. M. Mehta, T. H. Reid, Dr. Clark, H. Mc Callum, Dr. Stedman, Rev. R.-F. Cobbold, T. Jackson, R. C., Wilcox, Dr. Bateson Wright, H. L. Dalrymple, G. Sharp, E. W. Mitchell, H. Smith, C, Inchbald, A. W. Brewin, B. Layton, W. H, Percival, G. T. Veitch, J, Thurburn, etc,
The CHAIRMAN-Gentlemen, before .com. mencing the proceedings I should like to know whether it is your wish that the meeting should be public. The reporters are bere and they will take notes if you will permit them.
Mr. EDE-Certainly. I propose that re- Forters be admitted,
Dr. HARTIGAN seconded. Carried.
The CHAIRMAN, after reading the notice convening the meeting, said-Before declaring the meeting open I should like briefly to ex- plain the circumstances under which this meet- ing has been called. At a meeting of Justices held in November last for the purpose of con sidering applications for licences, the question! of the sale of injurious liquors was brought for- ward and a strong wish was expressed that some means should be taken to control or suppress what was styled the pernicious traffic in poison ous liquors which is believed to exist in the colony. The traffic was pronounced to be injur ious not only to our soldiers and sailors at large but also to many other individuals who partake of these liquors, intending to do so moderately and at last succumbing to their influence with loss of credit to themselves, a loss to their purses and a loss of promotion in the service generally. The meeting was followed up by an informal meeting of gentlemen consisting not only of Justices of the Peace but of officers of the Gen-Navy and Army, when the question was again
In the circumstances, the Duke of Norfolk can hold out no hope of modifying, at present the time-table which has been adopted; but your representations will be borne in mind; and I am to express his Grace's regret that the mail service provided for under the new con- tract will apparently be attended with some drawbacks at Shanghai.-I am, sir, your obedi ent servant,
(Signed) S. WALPOLE. E. F. Alford, Esq.; Chairman, Shanghai
eral Chamber of Commerce.
DELAY IN THE TRANSMISSION OF TELE- GRAMS BY THE CHINESE LINE, No. 1158.
Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce.
Shanghai, 16th November, 1897. Dear Sir,-Numerous complaints have been made as to the delay of messages forwarded by your line, which necessitates the payment of the extra charge for urgent transmission, and the Committee of the Chamber direct me to call your attention to this matter, in the hope that an immediate rectification of the present state of affairs will prevent a complaint, based on specific cases, being brought to the attention of the Administration.-I am, dear sir, yours faithfully,
DRUMMOND HAY, Secretary. The Manager, Imperial Chinese Telegraphs,
Shanghai.
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considered and the result was that certain resolutions were drawn up and afterwards circulated for the consideration of the Justices of the Peace. I will now read those resolu- tions. There were present at the meeting
Mr. H. E. Wodehouse, C.M.G., Colonel Gordon, W. Y. Regt., the Honourable.T. Hị Whitehead, Lt.-Colonel Clarke, O. D, Mr. C. S. Sharp, Mr N. J. Ede, Dr. Clark, and Mr. J. J. Francis. Q.C., and it was resolved (1.)—That there was no evidence to show that the wines and spirits sold in the colony were adulterated to any serious extent, that the existing law sufficiently provided for any such cases, but that there was good reason to believe great harm and injury was being done by the sale in licensed taverns of crude (imported) liquors of very inferior quality and by the supply of deleterious inferior Chinese spirits in brothels,
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