individual to collect the taxes for the general government, and for this purpose he has around him an army of "hangers-on," who, like so many birds of prey, are ready to devour everything in sight. The rule for collecting taxes seems to be to want all you can get, and take all you can find. When a given sum of money is needed by the central government, an order is sent to the governors of the provinces, and from them to the magistrates, and on to the people through the army of "hangers-on," who are always willing to undertake such work for the good of the country. It would be hard to tell how much the sum has grown on its way from the king to the people; but of course the men who collect this money must be paid for their trouble. Not a week ago a man called on me to collect taxes on our mission property. He had no receipt to give, and I recognized him as one of the men of the community who had been doing common coolie labor about our place when we were house-building. I asked him if he had received an office from the government, and his answer was, "No." I learned later that this is the way things are run under the new reform government which is now in control. So many houses (about ten) are grouped together, and the community required to bring in the taxes for the same. This will give some idea of the many chances that exist for crookedness in the matter of financing the government.
It will be seen at a glance that our magistrate is a man of no small importance in the community where he resides. He stands in very close relation to the
