The following circular in reference to the dispute in the tea trade between Messrs, Blain & Ca and the Yik Kee hong has been loft at our office. There are of course two sides to every question, and it is but right that the case put forward by the Chinese should receive the same publicity as was given to the other side. At the same time is a document of importance, inasmuch as it unmistakeably shows the complicity of the Guild in the dispute, One sentence should certainly be remembered in case the Guild at any future time: should raise the contention that it does not interfere in trade matters, It is this: "The tea owner complained to the Guild, and the Guild was obliged to take the matter in hand." Why was the Guild obliged to interfere, when the tea owner had his remedy in a Court of law? His ignorance of foreign law and custom might be urged as an excuse, were it not that the document also gives the information that he had put the matter in the hands of a lawyer." It will thus be seen that instead of socking redress by legal means, theta-owner took whatever complaint he had against Messrs. Blain & Ca. (but the dispute, aa shown by the documents published in our last issue, was not with Messrs. Blain Ca., but with Messra, Major & Ca.) to the illegal tribunal of his Guild, which exercised jurisdiction to the extent that Messrs. Blain & Co.'s hong was " tabooed," the visits of the native brokers with their ton muster ceased, and they were unable to do business. Such revelations as these would have materially assisted Mr. Davenport in his efforts to expose the proceedings in the Swatow Guild case, and in the interests of foreign trade generally, we hope that the Ministers at Peking and the Consuls will take due notice of the fact that it is becoming more and more evident that the trade of their nationals is at the sufferance of the Chinese, The circular we have thus briefly alluded to is as follows To re Foreten Tea Buyers or SHANGHAI.
We were favoured at 5 o'clock on the 23rd instant, by Messrs. Blain & Ca, (Kung-tao hong) with a letter enclosing a copy of their printed notice respecting a dispute between them and the Yik Kee hong, which they sent round to all the foreign hongs, and we noticed towards the end of the document an allusion to the following effect:—"That at our request, Messrs, Major & Ca. proposed to arbitrate the matter with Mr. Harding as arbitrator, and that Mr, Tong Hing, of the Yik Keo hong, admitted that it would be a most reasonable way of settling the dispute. That the Guild would not allow arbitration, and the same Corporation have tabooed our hong, apparently for endeavouring to mediate between the buyer and seller." The Club were greatly surprised on seeing this, and beg therefore now to make known the facts relative thereto, viz, on the 20th instant, the Yik Keo hong, together with one tea owner, complained that: they had a chop, Ki-chun, consisting of- 630 half-chests tea, which they sold to Messrs. Blain & Ca.' It was weighed on the 19th instant, and while being so done, the owner left before the weighing was finished on account of the unfairness in taking the same. At his instigation a meeting of the Club was convened and a
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.