A Chinese named Wu-toong-young and two other shrafs implicated in the illegal exactions made in the collection of the Muni~ cipal taxes on the French Concession were brought before a Mixed Court held at the French Consulate on Tuesday. The case was heard by the Wae-yuen, a deputy Judge of the Taotai for mixed cases, and M. Arene, Acting Interpreter. Mr. A. Robinson conducted the prosecution, with M. Millet, Chairman of the Committee of Inquiry enbinson having opened by stating the in sifting the same matter. Mr. cases of malversation with which the accused were charged, M. Millet produced the tax receipts and other documentary evidence. The system was shown to have been that of altering the Chinese numeral on the receipt, to a higher figure than the corresponding foreign one in the same paper, which the majority of the native ratepayers would be unable to detect and also neglecting to give up or refusing the receipts for small sums, and claiming these from some other ratepayer in addition to his own proper rate, The first witness, aChinawoman said she
he paid this to Wu-tseng-young who $18 a month taxes (instead of S15). was always accompanied when he called by the Foreign collector. The next witness said she paid the shroff sometimes in presence of the European collector and sometimes not. _'Theshroff had oceasionally threatened her, after she paid the money, with imprisonment if she did not return' the receipt to him, The tickets thus demanded had been in her possession for some months.
A third witness said the shroff had gone to her house and received the receipts, the result showing that this was done to keep them out of the hands of the Committee of Inquiry.
Francois, the Chinese French interpreter to the Taotai, who had been mainly instrumental in bringing the affair to light, said that a friend of his, Wang-low-li, who kept a tea-shop in the Rue clu Poisson, came to him to complain about certain sums which were exacted from him. He said he used to pay $3 per month taxes, and this was suddenly raised to 86 without any reason being given. He requested therefore his friend Francois to inquire at the Municipal Council why he was so overtaxed. Having taken the tickets to the Council, this led to the discovery of the exactions that were going on.
The various tickets were produced.
The shroff chiefly implicated by the inquiry is Wu-tseng-young, and he defends himeelf by saying that the European Collec for was always present when the money was received, and that the full sums received were paid to the European, In the case of the tea-shop the tax was raised from $3 to $6 at the express requirement of the European! The reason bills not belonging toa house were sometimes charged on it, was that the bills were distributed at haphazard, without_reference
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.