Five men were lately arrested and brought before the Mixed Court, charged with being concerned in the illegal squeez~ ing of native cargo boats on the Soochow creek, correspondence relating to which was included in the Watch Committee's report published by us last week. The present inquiry disclosed that the defendants are employed as collectors by a man known as the Chwan-poo-tao, or head of the boats, who holds his authority from the Chehsien. Under this authority the head man classifics the boats on the crook, fixes the amount that each shall pay, and appoints men to collect it. He is supposed to act also asa petty magistrate over the boat population, and is required to provide boat accommodation for public officials who may be travelling on business. The man, therefore, farms a "squeeze" in the same way that many more of his countrymen do, from the City authorities, (who, we believe, claim jurisdiction over all the creeks and rivers); and the legality of the impost is just as questionable or unquestionable as that of the hundred and one other taxes which the Chinese collect in the Settlements, on all sorts of commodities and property. 'T'wo of the five men who were brought up were discharged and the others detained for further investigation into the matter, and sentence.
When the case was next brought up it
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.