remain intact, is exempt from all further payment.
The Commissioner of Customs at each port exercises supervision over the native, or regular. Customs, a task which demands the exercise of tact and diplomacy, for he has to hold evenly the balance between the foreign powers, in whose interests he has to watch the due payment of indemnity funds, and the Chinese Government, from whom, though their servant, he has to secure the due fulfilment of treaty obligations. The difficulties of his position are, moreover, increased by reason of the fact that the native Customs offices are conducted in accordance with Chinese methods, and control a purely Chinese trade.
There is, however, one important set-off against the difficulties in both the foreign and the native Customs ; the Commissioner is not responsible for handling the revenue. The properly constituted authority for this purpose is the Customs Bank, and the responsibility of the Commissioner ceases when he has obtained a receipt certifying the payment of the amounts due. and has reported the amount of the revenue so derived. The Chinese Superintendent, and not the Foreign Commissioner of Customs, directly controls the revenues of the bank.
The Coast Service is under the general control of the Inspector-General as regards the disposition of the various vessels in the several districts, and under the control of the Commissioner in whose district they are stationed as regards the work immediately in hand. There are 6 revenue steamers, officered by a special coast staff, 4 revenue cruising launches, 21 revenue launches, and 9 sailing craft, officered by men detached from the revenue staff, the Coast Inspector being responsible for the personnel and materiel of the vessels. The duties of the revenue fleet are preventive, but the vessels are chiefly used in connection with the lighting and surveying of the coast.
The Marine Department is divided into three branches, employing altogether 98 foreigners and 577 Chinese. The Engineers' Branch, under the Engineer-in-Chief, undertakes the construction and maintenance of lights. Of these there are now 14 of the first order, 39 occulting, flashing, or revolving lights, 53 other lights, 4 light-vessels, and 22 light-txKits. The Harbours Branch, at the head of which is the Coast Inspector, is charged with coast work, surveying, sea and river conservancy, the selection of new sites for lights, and technical control of harbour work and pilotage in China generally. Buoys (of which there are iii) and beacons (of which there are 105) are also under the general supervision of the Coast Inspector. At Shanghai only is there a Harbour Master; in other ports the duties of this office are undertaken by the Tide Surveyor, who is, under the Commissioner, in control of the out-door staff. The Lights Branch, under which 58 foreign and 244 Chinese light- keepers are employed, is controlled by the Commissioners of the districts in which the lights are situated, or, in some instances, by the Coast Inspector.
The Education Department is only indirectly connected with the Customs, which supplies the necessary funds. Until 1902, when the institution was, by imperial decree, merged in the Peking University, the Inspector-General nominated to vacant chairs in the Peking College, and frequently "lent" men from the Customs for temporary instruction ; but the college was actually directed by Dr. W. A. P. Martin, who had been connected with it for many years.
The Postal Department, organised under the Revenue Department in 1876, was made a separate branch in 1896, and is now practically distinct from the Customs, except that the Inspector-General is still at the head of it, and at each port the Commissioner exercises the functions of a district postmaster, and generally supervises the work. The Imperial Chinese Postal Service is, however, dealt with minutely in a separate article.
Revenue Collections.
The progress of the Customs may be seen from the following comparative statement of revenue collections from 1864. when reports on trade were first issued : —
| Taels. |
| 7.872.257 |
| 11.497.272 |
| 13,510,712 |
| 22,523,605 |
| 31.493.156 |
| 35,111,004 |
| 36,068,595 |
| 33.861,346 |
The advances during 1864-74-84 were due to the gradual growth of trade. Within the next decade the rise is partly attributable to the imposition of likin on opium in 1887 ; and between 1894 and 1904 a marked increase followed the inclusion in the list of dutiable articles of many things which had formerly been free. This broadening of the tariff basis was carried out in 1901-2, under the International Protocol, which was the outcome of the Boxer troubles. Then during the recent American boycott, many Chinese merchants, who openly subscribed to the movement, clandestinely laid in large stocks of American goods ; hence the increased revenue collections for 1905-6, followed by a corresponding reduction in 1907, owing to the surplus stock which remained in hand throughout China.
The table given below apportions the revenue for the past ten years between the foreign and home trades : —
of Tls. 1.249,658, or 356 per cent., compared with 1905; and an increase of Tls. 2,386, u/j. or 752 per cent., compared with 1904. The sums contributed by tlic various ports during the twelve months were as under : —
Year. Foreign Trade. Home Trade. Total. Taels. Taels. Taels.
,267,298 ,236,099 ,503,397
,437,891 .223.569 ,661,460
,182,815 .691. 171 ,873,986 OI ,860,900 ,676,674 .537,574
,180,574 ,826,470 ,007,044
,054,785 ,475.903 ,530,688
,788,638 ,704,518 ,493,156
.544.295 .566.709 ,111,004
,272,481 ,796,114 ,068,595
,147,405 .713,941 ,861,346 The headings under which the revenue is classified may be seen from the following statement relating to 1907 :—
Taels, Import duty (exclusive of opium) 13,240,173 Export duty (exclusive of opium) 9,304,453 Coast trade duty (exclu- sive of opium) ... 1,768,982 Opium duty (import, export, and coast trade 1,789,269 Tonnage dues 1,321,192 Transit dues ... ... 2,066,400 Opium likin 4,370,877 Total ... 33,861,346 Port. Collection. Taels. Shanghai ,007,454 Canton ,281,725 Tientsin .215,494 Hankow ,928,163 Swatow ,530,85b Chinkiang ,265,567 Kiaochau .34.623 Foochow .305 Anioy ,436 Kiukiang .025 Ningpo ,466 Hangchow ,646 Wuhu ,102 Chefoo .243 Newchwang .413 Wucliow .569 Chungking ,030 Kowloon .393,773 Lappa ,451 Kiungchow ,449 Nanking ,629 Mengtsz ,527 Samshui .727 Chinwangtao ,722 Santuao ,814 Dairen ,738 Antung ,770 Kongmoon ,578 Changsha ,733 Pakhoi ,817 Soochovv ,461 Wenchow ,893 Tengyueh ,111 Ichang ,616 Yochow ,541 Nanning ,092 Shasi ,390 Lungchow ,7.35 Szeniao .427 Tatungkow ,224 This is a decrease of Tls. 2,207,249, or 612 per cent., compared with 1906 ; a decrease The revenue derived from native Customs from November 7, 1904, to November 5, 1907, amounted in all to Tls. 10,496,311 — an average of about Tls. 3,500,000 a year. The contributing ports were Newchwang, Tientsin, Chefoo, Ichang, .Shasi, Kiukiang, Wuhu, Shanghai, Ningpo, Santuao, Foochow, Amoy, Swatow, Canton, Kongmoon, Samshui, Wuchow, Kiungchow, and Pakhoi. From the date of their establishment down to 1907 the Customs have yielded a total of Tls. 830,092,651.
CHINESE IMPERIAL POSTAL SERVICE.[1]
Early in the "sixties," during the first few winters after foreign representatives took up their residence at Peking, the Legation and Customs mails were exchanged between Shanghai and the capital under the auspices of the Tsung-li-yamen, by means of the Government couriers employed for the transmission of official despatches. It was then found convenient to arrange that the Customs should undertake the responsibility of making up and distributing these mails — a practice which, for the overland service during the winter months, involved the creation of postal
- ↑ This article is abridged from reports on the work of the Post Office in 1904 and 1906 issued by the Statistical department of the Chinese Imperial Customs Service by order of the Inspector-General of Customs and Posts.
