With regard to the extra tax levied on kerosene oil he was not prepared to admit the right of the Chinese to tax imported articles as they liked, and he certainly considered that in this instance as it was avowedly done to interfere with the importation of a particular foreign article, it was in his opinion directly in violation of treaty rights.
The. question arising on the power of the Chinese Government under the treaties to levy a lekin tax of any"amount might be considered to involve the question, whether the proposed tax was prohibitory. If it were designed to prohibit the importation of any article which under the Treaties may be imported it would be a violation of the Treaties which provide for the importation of the article by paying certain Import Duties. The Treaties would be valueless if the moment the goods were landed they were subjected to exorbitant taxation.
Tuo Tax levied in Canton was 80 cents per case in addition to ede Ously charged, making with the Intport duty The matter was receiving his attention, he believed the true remedy for all these lookin taxes would be found in the establishing and extension of Railroads throughout:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.