"ELK." sends the following letter to the London "Globe" under the heading "The Collection of Likin"
Sr,—At the general meeting of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China, held on the 17th instant, the chairman, in alluding to the state of affairs in China, is reported to have stated in connection with the necessity of increased taxation, that "the bait was held out of an abolition of likin concurrent with an increase of the import duties, but in the present corrupt condition of the native Civil Service, that would probably prove to be a delusion and a snare; and the officials who had to exist mainly by indirect means would continue their squeezes, more especially as the monetary demands from Peking would increase with the advent of a new loan."—In stating that a proposed abolition of likin by commutation in the form of increased import duty would prove a "delusion and a snare," the speaker appears to have overlooked the fact that this system has been tried and, in the case of opium, is in operation, by the simultaneous collection of duty and likin on the drug (in other words, an increased import duty) since 1887, and, so far from this method being a delusion or fraud, it has proved most satis We have not heard that the Chinese officials have failed to aauere to their compact in the strictest manner, nor is there any evidence that our crerwatchful Consuls or lynx-eyed Chambers of Commerce and China Association have had cause to complain of surcharges on opium since the likin collection passed into the hands of the Customs, though precisely the same howl of distrust was raised when the opium convention was negotiated and prepay: ment of commuted likin substituted for en route inland taxation. A fourteen years' trial in the case of opium ought to afford sufficient proof of the honesty of the Chinese Government; and if the fiscal officials can be trusted not to sutras opium, which has discharged all dues and duties on landing, what reason is there for Beli¢ving that they would act otherwise in the of similar duty and likin-prepaid general merchandise The fact that complaints of squeezing have ceased since the Chinese Exchequer has received an adequate revenue from proves most conclusively that if would display a friendly spirit, at' Britain in the case of the opium convention, and let China raise a reasonable reventie from imports, sur-would stop; whereas it is obvious they impose a burdensome indemet refuse consent to raise the tariff, ing will be encouraged and perpetua Briefly, the fiscal situation may be summed up as follows—Foreign imports into China in 1899 yielded a Customs Teventie of 000" taels: general merchandise.000 taels, and opium 781,000 taels import duty, plus 4,748,000 taels" likin, fixed Convention 1886 at 80 taels a picul in sati all further taxation. These figures show that His Majesty's Government accepted the undertaking of the Chinese not to surtax a. traffic, im consideration of increased duty, which yields half the import but when it is proposed to agree to a similar fixed increase on the other half, it is argued that it would probably "delusion and a snare!"
interest has been recently aroused by telegrams concerning an accident on the railway which forms the geographical backbone of the military situation in China. Tt was first reported as due to a "culvert repaired by the Germans." Next, as caused by a heap of sand on the line; and finally, as "in a measure due to the general condition of the line which needs to be relaid." "The military en-kinoers have had to make the best of rails which were damaged by the Boxers, and an inadequate supply of sleepers and. bad bolts, etc." Whichever of these is more nearly correct, one cannot refrain from the feeling that possibly if the repairs to and running of the line were left to those who designed, built, and maintained it, it might run more sweetly. It is ill working on thin ice, and that the ice over there is very thin may be judged from the wording of the first telegram above noted, and from the fact that the penalty of a tug belonging to one nation only touching a bridge guarded another nati sufficient. excuse for a volley. The existing staff of the northern railways carried all. the Chinese troops sent north in the China-Japan war over a single Tine and light rail, and carried them without a. hitch ' through—the Jisastrous floods which breached the line frequent intervals. Repairs had to be constantly made on banks, bridges, and culverts, and the troop trains were kept going throughout without aren a small accident—saving that once a "brave" from far districts tried to stop a car with toe! Even in that case no damage done to the car. On the double track (Tientsin-Peking line) the Boxers, draw ing in their own details to the veneral orders given them from Poking, drew the spikes, or forced the trained natives to do <0, piled the sleepers inside the stations, soaked them with kerosene, and so burnt, up sleepers. and stations buildings together. The rails, being too heavy to carry off to the villages, were thrown down on one another, or on bridge abutments, and so bent as to be useless. It
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.