As result of the protest by the merchants at Ehanghai against the increase of the native Customs duties, and of the telegraphic request by the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce that the Chinkiang and Yangchow native Customs be restrained from alone collecting the duties according to the increased scale, a reply has been received from the Ministry of Finance to the effect that owing to the critical state of the nation's finances, an increase in taxing native goods must be resorted to, although the is fully recognized by the Government; but, that in order to enable the merchants to get prepared, the increase will be postponed another month, that is, it will come into effect on April 1 next. The supervisor of native Custome at Chinkiang has been instructed to act accordingly.
Robbery Rampant in Shanghai.
Apart from the fact of the general prevalence of robbery in Kiangsu, the district of Shanghai seems to have been chosen specially by the desperadoes for their depredations. Some time ago, the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.