HC Deb 10 April 1862 vol 166 cc768-9
COLONEL SYKES

stated, that since the promulgation of the Budget he had received a communication from China which would be interesting to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It was from a gentleman who had been many years in China, and was thoroughly acquainted with the country. The letter said that representations had been made by the Taepings to the authorities at Shanghai, to the effect that if, in contravention of our neutrality, English officials continued to collect Customs duties on the part of the Tartar Government, and hand them over to the Tartars to be employed against the Taepings, the latter would be reduced to extremity, their forbearance, which had hitherto been unexampled, would be worn out, and they would be compelled, in self-defence, to destroy the whole of the mulberry trees in the provinces which they occupied, containing a population of 98,000,000. The result of that would be, that the production of silk in China, which had increased year by year since the insurgents had had possession of the territory, would be entirely lost; and the Chancellor of the Exchequer would be disappointed in his expectation of receiving an augmentation of Customs duties on the importation of that article, and of realizing the balances of the indemnity money from the Customs duties collected at Shanghai by British subjects in the pay of the Tartar Government.