Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/813

Rh its first providorship. From thence to the present time this institution has continued its meritorious work without interruption. According to the last account published, on May 27, 1907, the capital of the brotherhood, invested in properties, in loans, and in shares of different companies of Hongkong, amounted to $612,038. The works of charity supported by this institution include a civil hospital for men and women, an asylum for invalids of both sexes, a house for lunatics, an asylum for orphan boys, the education of thirty orphan girls in the Italian Sisters of Charity's House of Beneficence, the provision of meals to poor people at a very low price, the supply of breakfast, tiffin, and shoes to poor students, medicines to poor patients, and meals to the destitute; the burial of the dead, &amp;c. The institution is administered by a board of five members, three of whom are nominated by the Government from among the Brotherhood, the other two being elected at a general meeting. The chief source of revenue is a lottery, which is conducted under the direct supervision of the authorities. 

THE LAPPA CUSTOMS.

A Sketch of their Origin and Development.

By Commissioner of Customs.

trade of the Portuguese Colony at Macao is to a large extent reflected in the statistics of the Lappa Customs. The following lines are, therefore, mainly extracts from various Customs Reports, among which, those written by Mr. Alfred E. Hippisley, Commissioner of Customs at Lappa from 1889 to 1894, have been extensively quoted.

The Commissioner of Lappa and district has under his control a number of stations for revenue and preventive purposes. Of these stations, which encircle Macao, the two principal ones are Malowchow Island, to the west of the entrance of Macao Harbour, and Ch'ienshan, termed Casa Branca by the Portuguese, at the head of the same harbour. These two principal stations in the Heungshan district, that of Macao, together with the four in the Sanon district, and that of Hongkong, constituted the six maritime stations which a quarter of a century ago formed the subject of such frequent complaint on the part of the Hongkong and Macao Governments on the ground that the procedure followed at them was of so harassing a character as to threaten the life of the junk trade of those ports.

The causes which led to the establishment of these stations were the enormous quantities of opium that were smuggled from Hongkong and Macao into China. Fleets of junks, engaged in this illicit trade were accustomed to rendezvous in both places, from which, if circumstances favoured them, they would slip away quietly with their cargo; but, if they could not do that, being well manned and heavily armed, they were not only able, but ready, to match themselves against any preventative force that could be sent to intercept them. It was estimated that duty was paid only on about one-tenth of the opium recievedreceived [sic] from Hongkong by the towns along the North and West Rivers; and it was known that over 10,000 chests were carried annually to Macao, almost all of which was subsequently smuggled thence into the various ports on the west coast. As the efforts to suppress this contraband trade had proved unsuccessful, it was decided to put it on a legalised basis by establishing collectorates in Chinese waters at the gates of Hongkong and Macao, at which gunboats would be stationed to enforce payment of Likin on the opium passing.

The agreement between Great Britain and China signed at Chefoo on September 13, 1876, contained among its clauses the following:—"Section III.: Trade.—7. The Governor of Hongkong having long complained of the interference of the Canton Customs revenue cruisers with the junk trade of that Colony, the Chinese Government agrees to the appointment of a commission, to consist of a British Consul, an officer of the Honkong [sic] Government, and a Chinese official of equal rank, in order to the establishment of some system that shall enable the Chinese Government to protect its revenue without prejudice to the interests of the Colony;" and "8. On opium Sir Thomas Wade will move his Government to sanction an arrangement different from that affecting other imports. British merchants, when opium is brought into port, will be obliged to have it taken cognizance of by the Customs, and deposited in bond, either in a warehouse or a receiving hulk, until such time as there is a sale for it. The importer will then pay the Tariff Duty on it, and the purchaser the Likin, in order to the prevention of the evasion of the Duty. The amount of the Likin to be collected will be decided by the different provincial governments according to the circumstances of each."

Later, the Governments of Great Britain and China, considering (among other things) that the terms of clause 3, above quoted, "are not sufficiently explicit to serve as an efficient regulation for the traffic in opium, and recognizing the desirability of placing restrictions on the consumption of opium, have agreed to the present Additional Article," which was signed in London on July 18, 1885:—

"2. In lieu of the arrangement respecting opium in Clause 3 of Section III. of the Chefoo Agreement, it is agreed that foreign opium, when imported into China, shall be taken cognizance of by the Imperial Maritime Customs, and shall be deposited in bond, either in warehouses or receiving hulks which have been approved of by the Customs, and that it shall not be removed thence until there shall have been paid to the Customs the Tariff Duty of 30 Taels per chest of 100 catties, and also a sum not exceeding 80 Taels per like chest as Likin.

"3. It is agreed that the aforesaid Import and Likin Duties having been paid, the owner shall be allowed to have the opium re-packed in bond under the supervision of the Customs, and put into packages of such assorted sizes as he may select from such sizes as shall have been agreed upon by the Customs authorities and British Consul at the port of entry.

"The Customs shall then, if required, issue gratuitously to the owner a Transit Certificate for each such package, or one for any number of packages, at the option of the owner.

"Such certificate shall free the opium to which it applies from the imposition of any further tax or duty whilst in transport in the interior, provided that the package has not been opened, and that the Customs seals, marks, and numbers on the packages have not been effaced or tampered with," &amp;c.

The assent of the Foreign Powers, other than British, interested in the trade of China having been obtained to the terms of this additional Article, a Commission was nominated in accordance with the terms of Clause 7 of Section III. of the Chefoo Convention, consisting of Mr. James Russel, Puisne Judge of Hongkong, Sir Robert Hart, K.C.M.G., Inspector-General of Customs, and Shao, Taoutai of Shanghai, Joint Commissioners for China; and Mr. Byron Brennan, His Britannic Majesty's Consul at Tientsin. On September 11, 1886, an agreement was signed, which stipulated among other things, that an office under the foreign inspectorate should be established on Chinese territory in Kowloon for the sale of Chinese opium duty certificates, and that the inspectorate should be responsible for the entire control of that office. Later, a Convention on similar lines was arranged with the Portuguese authorities with respect to Macao, the office of the foreign inspectorate to be located on Lappa. In fulfilment of this Agreement the Lappa Customs was opened on April 2, 1887, for the collection of Tariff Import Duty (Hk. Tls. 30) and Convention Likin (Hk. Tls. 80 per picul) on opium, and of Provincial Likin and Ching-fei Tax on general cargo at the rates fixed by the provincial tariffs received from the Governor-General of the Liang Kwang. It was not, however, till July 1st of the same year that the collection of native duties on general cargo at the rates fixed by the native Custom-house tariff received from the Hoppo, or Superintendent of Customs, at Canton commenced. It is gratifying to add that the régime thus introduced has worked smoothly, and has given satisfaction both to Chinese merchants and to the neighbouring Portuguese Colony of Macao. Junk masters are pleased that the duties are fixed in amount and collected according to a known tariff and are no longer supplemented by levies of uncertain amount for paper, ink, pens, &amp;c., as was previously customary.

Macao has spoken for itself. Owing to the decline in the trade of Macao, which had made itself manifest from 1884 onwards, a Commission, consisting of two municipal councillors, the Government senior interpreter, and two prominent Chinese merchants was appointed by His Excellency the Governor to consider the causes of this decline, and to suggest the means best calculated to arrest them. In this report, which was the result of investigations extending over seven months, and was published in the Boletin da Provincia, of November 12, 1889, the Commission refers in the following words to the results of the Convention with China and of the Lappa Customs régime:—

"The causes which have led to the improvement already called attention to in the trade of Macao during the year 1888 are:—

"1. The confidence given to Chinese merchants by the conclusion of the Chino-Portuguese Treaty, which defined the political status of this Colony, and with that confidence drew hither the capital needed to increase trade.

"2. The liberal manner in which the foreign inspectorate of Chinese Customs has treated the Chinese merchants of Macao, by abolishing taxes on their trade and granting them concessions—a treatment which has given a large impetus to trade.

"It is not only the testimony of Chinese merchants of this city, but it is also the practical experience of the members of the Commission in local business, that in these two points alone is to be found the explanation of the commercial improvement which took place in 1888."

The regulations under which the native mercantile marine of this province plies were revised and codified during the viceroyalty of His Excellency Jui Lin (1865–74), and it is very seldom that papers issued prior to that date are now seen, partly because junks do