Chinkiang, 14th March, 1896.
Sm,—I am in receipt of your letter of Sth instant, and beg to thank you, on Behalf of the Chamber, for the friendly sessions it conveys.
in response to your enquiries regarding the system whereby Transit Passes are procured at, this port I have pleasure in giving you the following information.
1—Inwards.—Passes for the conveyance of foreign merchandise to the interior are applied for at the Custom House, usually in the forenoon, and are generally issued the same day. This practice has been long established and works exceedingly well reflecting credit on the office in this particular respect, especially having regard to the Jarge volume of business passing through the Customs in this connection.
2—Outwards.—The following Rules for thie isstte of Chinkiang Transit Passes outwards were framed by H.B.M. and the U.S. Consuls with the Taotai in 1878 and have, with slight modifications, been since in fore.
A Bond—eopy of which please' find enclosed—is required, the amount being six mes the estimated duty on the goods and. is signed before the Consul. This Bond is sent by the Consul to the Commissioner of Customs, who in turn forwards the epplication to the Taotai, by whom the pass is issued, and is received by the applicant through his Consul—the average time from application for, to receipt of, being some 10 to 12'days, though delays of two and three weeks are not infrequent.
On arrival of the goods at this port, the applicant pays three full duties at the Customs, receiving in the event of export to a foreign country a drawback for one and half duties, or, if exported to a Chinese port, only a half duty is recoverable. If not exported there is no refund of duty.
The Transit Passes are available for six months from date of issue. For detailed Rules I beg to refer you to the Bond form, where these are stated at length.
The above procedure, you will observe, is most cumbersome and dilntory—in marked contrast to that for Inward Passes—and entails a great deal of work that is vexatious and unnecessary. This matter is now form-the subject of representations by: this Chamber, with a view to the issue in future, as with Inland passes, at the Custom House, on the day of application.
Tam, Sir, Yours faithfully, Chairman.
A. P. Mackwes, Esq, Chairman,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.