Sha-sz direct for Chung-king; and it must be remembered that these large lumbering orafis, depending entirely upon track wrod, cannot always avad of the best an Reopest channels. The same boats descend likewise all the year round, with only the help of about one mile per hour speed afforded by man power, to keep themselves clear of the whirls and cross sets of the water. It followa therefore that a fair sized channel must exist, and no argument is required to support the opinion, that what oan be done by comparatively helpless junks could be better done by steamers, Blackiaton measured the speed of the current for 102 miles in June, and found it averaged Sknots per hour, and at some of the rapids 10 knots. Twelve knot steamers would pro-Dably be required, though the rush of 10 Knots at what is called the rapids would perhaps, be found so that 10 knot steamers might pass over before their-previous impetus was checked. For three months in the: year, when the water is at its lowest, the junks discharge a part of their cargo. at Tunglin and Tainglan, dis tant from each other 30 small. li bably 16 or 17 miles; bu of the amaher boats come down with cargo intact, while the deeply Inden salt jun! are anid only to take out one-third of their cargo. It would probably be necessary to trent this place in winter as is done at the low water channel below Chinkiang, by either using lighters or having the cargo carried from steamer to steamer. For steamers to make Ichang their terminus would be to stop at the route where they are most wanted, Native cargo boats go easily to Shasz in 10 to 20 days at comparatively low freights, while the La and canals cutting off the bond of the Rit afford a safer passage of 8 to-12 days, arriving however at a terminus about one from the River, From Shasz to Ichang the journey is only,4 or days for cargo The Transit Pass system was a subject to which my special attention was directed, That the position of the case may be thoroughly understood, I append an extract from the pass issued by the Customs at-this Port. It will be soon that under it Foreigners are required to send the goods up for asle: on their own account, and pass it will be seen that Mandarins above justified and encouraged in instituting which, done in the way that do, and with the underhand Bhinese from either acting for a Foreigner ower they have, are sufficient to deter any
or having their purchases sent up under pass. It is recorded that one native agent, or representative of a Foreigner at Chung: Iking, many years ago, had at last to fly the place, but his relatives in anffered oon after from some assumed case trumped auction of the transit system has been up against them. At any rate the intro-successfully opposed since the opening of Hankow. Consular pressure may shorten the delay, constantly enforced en route, but it can do little to reassure the threatened helpless Chinese agent in Chun, In the meantime, the duties and Likin col-Jeated on the large quantity of goods going up is about three mace per piece on Shirtings in addition to the eight candareens paid in Shanghai, A duty is one duty, and our treaty, extracted at so much cost, settled that duty. The framers of the tariff could never have thought that, in accordance with the spirit of it, the Chinese could levy as many other duties where and when they liked. The three mace levied on thorood to Chungking could with just as much justice be levied outside the conces si of Shanghai, To put it more forcibly—if, after arranging with France the duty to be levied on wine, additional ones had to be paid throughout England, it would surely "be considered as an infringement of the treaty, The-transit pass system is no doubt hard upon the fiscal arrangements of the different Provinces, but it is only a monetary difficulty, and should have been thoroughly and completely arranged for throughout every corner of China as soon as the obligations of the treaty were accepted. Had this been done while Foreign trade waa in its infancy, no inconvenience would have been felt, An engagement implies a necessity to carry out arrangements to fulfil it, instead of, as the Chinese are doing in this onse, grasping willingly the agreed amount of duty at the treaty ports, and allowing the Mandarins in the interior to take as much more as they like.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.