No. 187.
Mr. Denby
to Mr. Bayard.
Peking, August 15, 1887. (Received October 6.)
Sir: I have already had the honor to inform you that the lekin tax on kerosene at Canton has been reduced to 50 cents per case.
I am now in receipt of the proclamation of the commissioners of the head lekin office at Canton announcing that reduction. The proclamation is very lengthy. The following is an abstract thereof. It sets out that Chang Shin Ying, the farmer of the kerosene lekin monopoly, had filed a petition setting up that the farm tax is, altogether, $63,000; that a lekin of 40 cents had been fixed on each box; that the customs duty is 1 mace 4 candareens (or 20 cents), and now a lekin of 6 mace (84 cents) is to be added, making the whole levy 1,032 taels (or $1.44); that a box at Hong-Kong only costs $1.50, and the heavy tax has so increased smuggling that collections have been small 5 that kerosene has been brought, forty or fifty boxes at a time, from Sheki in Hiang-Shan, Shatou in Nawhai, and Shattong in Tungkoon. The carriers all claimed that the kerosene was for the foreign hongs and paid no lekin; “but how can foreign hongs use forty or fifty boxes a day?” Latterly ruffians carried rifles to protect the kerosene.
The farmers are not rich and will be ruined if this system continues. Moreover, kerosene sold in the northern part of Kuang-Tung is transported from Shanghai and Kiukiang and avoids lekin. The only way to stop smuggling is to take off the extra 84 cents lekin tax. The farmers offer to pay if the reduction be made an additional $37,000, making the whole sum paid $100,000 at 7 mace (97 cents to $1). In accordance with this petition the commissioners of the Kuang Tung head lekin office, which consists of the treasurer, judge, salt commissioner, grain intendant, and expectant taotai, reduce the extra lekin to 10 cents on each box, making the lekin now 50 cents. The reduction dates from July 18, 1887. This action is put on the sole ground that kerosene was smuggled so largely as to destroy collections. It is worthy of notice that the proclamation of November 18, and December 18, 1886, by which the extra lekin was levied, as well as the communication of the Tsung-li yamên to me on the subject, were all based on the grounds that kerosene was hazardous and dangerous and interfered with the sale of native oils. In this new proclamation not a word is said of like character. When the revenues declined by reason of smuggling the other alleged reasons for the increase of lekin disappeared from view.
I have, etc.,