A statement of complaint by all the Pakhoi merchants, setting forth the inconvenience and hardship caused imposition of a New Tax by ins, under the plea of contribution towards the maintenance of ornisers for the protection of the seas, and requesting measures to be taken for its abolition.
Of the Opium, Cotton Yarn, and Piece Goods which the Chinese ' Merchants bought at Hongkong, a great proportion was despatched to Pakhoi, where the consumption of Opium exported from Hongkong not little, while of Piece Goods and Cotton Yarn, the proportion is between' six-tenths and seven-tenths of the entire qu tity exported. Recently, a New Tax called the Sea Protection Tax" has been levied, but the Merchants, considering the unremunerative nature of the trade and the amahness of their capital, feel themselves unable to meet this tax. Should they propose shutting up their establishments there, and not carrying on trade, the Mandarin would consider it a combination to resist authority, or should they suspend busi ness, they would be called on to take del very of goods they had ordered from European firms and other shops. Moreover, native merchant vessels are stopped on the way by steam cruisers for examination and levy, and by reason of this, the merchant' vessels may be sent into bad weather, or be liable to piratical attacks from vessels under the disguise of mandarin junks. These sources of danger cause much anxiety. When the taxing station was first established at Pakhoi, the levy was already vexatious and extoriionate, but now the system is sought to be chow, King-chow, Sui Toong, Hoi-How and other places, the evil will be spread and the complaints louder. Under the plea of affording protection against pirates, merchants are subjected to the risk of bad weather, and while the expre: mouth were good, the merit heart are cruel. Under these circumstances, how can the Merchants have peace?' It is at the same time very per-vicious to the trade of Hongkong.
Seeing these inconveniencies and hardships, the Chinese Merchants are obliged to make a joint request of the Foreign Merchants to"look into their wrongs, and to sign a joint memorial to the Government, with a view to the matter being brought to the notice of H. B. M. Consul at Canton, re-him to address the Chinese Offici-he abolition of the tax. This is their earnest prayer.
Hongkong, September 10, 1873,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.