the Euitor of the Dran Sm,—I send you a few notes regarding what has lately taken place in Shanghai in connexion with the opium trade and the Guild system of working out or against foreigners. This will serve to show you how fast we are returning to the el hong system which existed from 1834 to 1842, For years past few but members of the Sivatow Guild have purchased opium freely on board the receiving ships in your port. The con sequence of this is that the Chinchow or Swatow men control the market, having their own agencies in all the ports. Some of your lange importers in Shanghai tried to "prot, this monopoly by establishing agencies in each of the open ports, and thereby increased the business done considerably. The Swatow men, seeing that they were about to be overthrown by these proceedings allowing foreigners to come into direct contact with the native dealers, and so upsetting their powerful Guild, work: ing direct in Shanghai, resolved not to purchase any opium from firms'who shipped against their wishes, either directly or indirectly. By these measures they com-polled your largest importers to withdraw their agency at Chinkiang, besidesmakingan agreement with outside Chinese that for a certain sum they would abandon the port and not ship to any foreigners. Having obtained this, they have intimidated other firms from shipping, by indirectly showing them that if shipments are made by them, they will be opposed by the Shanghai Guild; and in some instances this has actually taken place, The sugar trade is another instance of the Swatow Guild's interference with foreigners. A foreigner doing business in this article is in every way opposed by members of the Guild getting their produce into the interior at very much lower rates than even the transit pass allows, so that furcign sugars stand no chance against the native article nor can a forviguer dealing in the native article compete with a Guild that has special advantages under special privileges.
Witit most other goods the same system prevails, the Government preferring tosublet their taxes by farming, At the port now write from, the Taotai has sublet the lekin om opium to the} Swatow Guild; any outsider wishing to do business has to pay an increased rate, while the Swatow men, with those in: terested, actually secure a profit from any business the foreigner may do. This squeezing-out process is going on in all parts of China, and although we have new ports open to trade, the benefit under the present system can only accrue to Chinese and not to foreigners. Before this port was open tu foreign trade, there were no native Customs, and the consequence of these having been established is that, before any cargo can comet or leave the port, it hastopay the native Customs both for import and export; while if the shipper wishes to make use of a foreign steamer, he has to pay on native goods a full duty and-a-half, in addition, to the foreign Custom House. The consequence of this is that trade is crippled by shippers being compelled to carry the goods by junks, or pay about three full duties to send them by steamer! Much cargo is thus lost to foreign vessels, and yet these new ports are declared open to trade Besides these matters, certain officials hare the power of controlling the passage of certain goods to different ports without reference to the convenience of their passage shipment, thereby taking it in turn to rea the benefit of the taxation orlekin. We will take for instance Green Teas. Ié would be much more convenient to the shipper if he could take them direct to Shanghai via the creeks, which are navigable from the Fychow Tea district, excepting in one or two instances, (the Water Barriers), which could easily be made passable by lock gates, if the officials had the interest of the country at heart. It is not so, however. These goods have hitherto been shipped to Kiukiang, but it is now some one else's turn, so that, it is said, they are about to be shipped to Wuln for a time. The real non-success of Kinkiany asa Treaty Port is the excessive taxation it suffers through the native Customs, and this will be the fate of Wuhu in the future. Chinkiang is toa certain extent free from this excessive taxation, and goods pass inwards and outwards without paying excessive rates. This is said to be due to the Emperor Kien-loong, who, about a hundred years since, while travelling incognitoin thatdirection towards the Grand Canal, happened to be detained for nearly a day while the officials were taxing the pork he wished to take with him for food. Would to goodness that some other Emperor would condescend to buy pork in some of these open ports! His eyes would surely be opened to some of the grossest corruption that exists on earth, and most of which is directed towards the expulsion of foreigners, The whole business of opening up new orts, as regards foreigners, is almost a farce it benefits certain Chinese it is true.
Although foreign goods are supposed to go into the interior at treaty rates, under transit pass—immediately—those' goods are deposited in the towns named on the pass, and before they can be removed, they are made to pay what is termed a leaving or dropping tax. Every way one turns he is subject toa monopoly. 'The native Customs has no fixed tariff; and those who wish to pass the barriers quickly have to pay accordingly. Each tax station and Cust house is farmed out to one or more indi' duals, and the plunder divided amongst officials The port I write from has ax sta ion on one side of the creek uvther on the other next door to this is a Tekin office; ne: door again is the Life Boat Institution (one of the est swindles in China, and only another form of arrive and depart, derived by M turns); the fore ney the rader—and then fancy it an open port Yours truly, ith Feb.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.