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Government for an annual contribution of 20,000l. towards the support of the troops upon this station."

Signed by FRANCIS CHOMLEY,

C. W. MURRAY, WILLIAM ADAMSON, A. F. HEARD,

and 42 other foreign residents. I hereby, by virtue of my office, call a public meeting of the inhabitants of this colony, for the purpose stated, to be held (by permission of the Honourable the Acting Chief Justice) at the Supreme Court House, Victoria, at 3 p.m., on Tuesday, the 23rd day of August instant.

C. MAY, Sheriff.

Present about 110 foreign residents, C. May, Esq., Sheriff, in the chair.

The Chairman then read the notice above referred to, and declared the meeting duly opened.

Mr. C. W. Murray (subsequently followed by Messrs. E. H. Pollard and T. Sutherland) addressed the meeting at some length on the subject of the tax of 20,000l. proposed to be levied on the colony.

It was then proposed by Mr. A. Turing, seconded by Mr. J. Whittall, and carried unanimously----

That this meeting views with extreme regret and dissatisfaction the demand that has been made upon the colony by Her Majesty's Government for an annual contribution of 20,0001. towards the support of the troops at this station, and adopts to the fullest extent the arguments which have been brought before the Secretary of State for the Colonies by His Excellency the Governor and Mr. Mercer in support of their assertion that the presence of troops here is unneces- sary for any purely colonial object.

It was then proposed by Mr. E. H. Pollard, seconded by Mr. R. Brand, and carried unanimously-

That the demand for a military contribution, even if otherwise tenable, would be unjust to the colony, not only in view of the important services which it renders to Imperial interests, by its gaol, its Courts of Justice, and its (intended) mint, but also in consideration of the great extent of immensely valuable building ground that has been absorbed for military purposes, and whereby the comfort of the colonists and the revenues of the colony are seriously impaired.

It was then proposed by Mr. T. Sutherland, seconded by Mr. H. B. Lemann, and carried unanimously-

That the meeting, whilst acquiescing generally in Mr. Mercer's despatch of the 2nd December 1863, is unable to concur with that gentleman in the opinion (paragraph 33), that the residents of Hong Kong are lightly taxed. It admits that the existing taxes may be necessary, but denies that in amount they can be termed light. The expenses connected with a residence here have, it is well known, deterred many respectable Canton Chinese from trying their fortunes in the colony, and it is understood that very little is wanting to cause many who are here to leave. This meeting, therefore, looking to the best interests of the colony, earnestly deprecates the imposition of any further tax (see paragraph 11 of Sir Hercules Robinson's despatch of 9th April 1864), which is not required to meet an urgent and admitted want.

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