The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-13 00:00:00

TRADE WITH CHINA.

The following communication front the Foreign-
office has been received by Mr. James Beazley, of
Liverpool, in reply to a request for information on
the subject it treats of:—

"Foreign-office, Nov. 8.
" Sir,—l am directed by the Earl of Malmesbury
to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the
13th ult., stating that you wish to send a cargo of
salt to Shanghai, and requesting to be informed
whether the importation of salt is prohibited in
China.

" I am to state to you, in reply, that soon after
the conclusion of the supplementary treaty of 1843,
doubts having been entertained whether or not
salt could be introduced into Chinese ports as an
unenumerated' article under the treaty on pay-
ment of an ad valorem. duty of 5 per cent., Sir
Henry Pottinger and Sir John Davis, at that time
her Majesty's Superintendent of Trade at Hong
Kong, were consulted on the matter, and I am to
convey to you the substance of their -opinion
thereon, together with such other information
as to the views of the Chinese authorities in regard
to the importation of foreign salt as has been re-
ceived at this office.
" Sir H. Pottinger stated that he was not aware
of any objection that could be made by the govern-
ment of China to the importation of salt as an un-
enumerated' article ; that the manufacture of salt
was in China a rigid Imperial monopoly, and that
great precautions were consequently observed to
tpurerea fromventsaltbetihnagt hcaadrribeedeninctloantdheestiinnetelyrimoranouf ftahce-
country, but that that regulation would not, in his
opinion, apply to foreign salt.
" Sir J. Davis also stated that, in his opinion,
no doubt existed as to the right of British subjects,
if they deemed it advisable, to import salt into
China as an unenumerated' article on paying a
duty of 5 per cent., but he observed that salt
had been from time immemorial a Government
monopoly, and must therefore be sold to the per-
sons licensed by Government, and that in that re-
spect it would be on the same footing as saltpetre.
Sir J. Davis subsequently reported, in a despatch
addressed to this office on the 23d of February,
1846, that he had received a despatch from her Ma-
jesty's consul at Shanghai, stating that the intend-
ant of that place had refused to allow a cargo of
foreign salt to be imported on the ground that it
was contrary. to the long existing laws of China,
and that he (Sir J. Davis) had found it necessary
to address Commissioner Keying on the subject,
Sir J. Davis, in his letter to Keying, assumed that
salt might be imported under the usual restrictions,
and sold to the salt merchants who were securities
for the Government tax, expressing at the
same time his apprehension that its exclu-
sion would tend to produce smuggling. Key-
ing replied that the strict laws relating
to the duty on salt prevented its impor-
tation from foreign countries, and that, moreover, as
salt is produced on the coast of China to a larger
amount than is required for consumption, and there
remains a considerable surplus after all the salt
merchants have been supplied, if foreign salt were
to be imported, not only would the Chinese mer-
chants act in defiance of the laws by purchasing it,
but it could nowhere be disposed of, and conse-
quently realise no profit to the importer.
" Sir J. Davis further reported in February,
1848, that Commissioner Keying had addressed
a communication to him complaining that a Bri-
tish merchant had offered salt for sale at Ningpo,
and that it had been ascertained that there were
three British vessels which had it on board. Key-
ing reminded Sir John Davis that the master of a
British vessel had on a previous occasion offered
salt for sale, when orders were issued ' to take
the salt away,' and that the importation of
salt by merchant vessels into Chinese harbours
was against the treaty,' and he requested that in-
structions might be given to the British consul at
Ningpo to order the salt vessels to depart. Sir J.
Davis replied that it had before been settled with
reference to a ship laden with salt at Shanghai,
that foreign vessels could not introduce salt into
China unless it was sold to officers appointed to re-
ceive it, it being a Government monopoly; and
that, therefore, he should remind the consul of that
circumstance for his future guidance.
" I am to add that no further information has
been received by her Majesty's Government as to
whether salt would be allowed to be imported at
any other of the Chinese ports opened by treaty ;
and that such being the case, it is evident that
British merchants importing salt into any of the
Chinese ports must do so at their own risk.
" I am, sir, your most obedient humble servant,
" E. HAMMOND."

THE EAST INDIA CIVIL SERVICE.—CoIoneI H.
Bates, military secretary to Lord Elphinstone, Governor of
Bombay, has been appointed his lordship's private secre-
tary, in the place of Mr. W. P. Adam The Rev. E. K.
Maddock, M.A., chaplain on the Bengal establishment, and
Mr. W. J. Hay, Bengal Civil Service, have been permitted
to retire from the service. The under-mentioned gentle-
men having passed their examinations are found qualified
for her Majesty's Civil Service at the 'residen of Ben-
gal : Mr. Henry. Le Poor Wynne, of
Orrl Collegcy e,
and Mr. Oxford;
Mr. Hugh -Morris, Edinburgh University Alex.
Brown, Queen's College, Oxford. Messrs. C. W. Bell and
C. A. Middleton, junior civil servants, Bombay Presidency,
have passed their examinations in Mahrayee ; and Messrs.
N. M. W. Daniel and J. Hunter in Hindustanee.—Civil
Service Gazette.
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