The superintendent of the Customs Collectorate for the western division of Peking reports that during the year ending 2n last the regulation fixed amount of duties on Live Stock and House Property has been collected in full, but that there is a deficit in the collection under the head of supplementary levy. His receipts came to Tls. 19,084 odd, and his disbursements Tls. 17,938 odd, leaving balance of Tls. 1,145 towards the supplementary amount, As this, however, is fixed at Tls. 7,321, there appears a deficit under this head of Tls. 6,176, which memorialist attributes to the stagnationin the cattle-trade consequent on the distress caused by inundation in the metropolitan province, and to an epi-domic that attacked the herds of swine last winter; partly also to the difference in the value of silver in Peking and in the country, which made dealers hesitate about bringing their animals in for sale.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.