grain Taotais, the prefects of Wu-, Reformation or Abel ang and Hanyang, with smaller officials There will be no difference of opinion ict Re Olition and military mandarins any number, all to patronise this doubtful business. Ihes to the immense advantage th: 7 usinest thes accrue to trade by the abolition of all in-jo advantage that world) da would have been much better employ land taxation on all kinds of produce. We of their posts; but Rome is burning and company cion if it proposed to come rey in their yamens in discharging the clu arovall aa. snore hen it is proposed to compro-
Nero fiddles.
The Wuchang lottery falls to be drawn on Monday. This also is to be a monthly institution, but differs in many respects from that of Hankow. jhe tickets are 2,000 cash each, and subdivided into tenths of two hundred cash (sixpence) so as to reach the poorer classes. They are disposed of in an altogether original way. Some are sold in Wuchang, but the bulk are sent down to the district cities round to the various magistrates who are held responsible for the value of the tickets sent. The high officials know pretty well the resources of each district, and forward the tickets accordingly. The district magistrates in turn hand the tickets over to the tax collectors and yamen runners to be distributed amongst the business people and farmers, according to their own. notion of the number they can afford to buy. The people as a rule grumble and pay for fear a worse thing should befall them. But it so happens that in several of these districts there are fairly strong Christian communities, and these one and all have taken up the position that lottery is gambling and gambling is immoral, so they refused point blank to have anything to do with the tickets. One district magistrate wrote the foreign missionary officially requesting him to order the native preachers to sell the tickets and the converts to buy them, pointing out that this was not a question of religion at all, but simply ¢ government order. Another district' magistrate sent for another missionary and verbally made the same request. Of course the matter reached the Consul, and the Consul reached the Viceroy, who explained that it was all a mistake duc to the stupidity of those country magistrates. Ho says his lotteries are quite voluntary: that there is no compulsion on any one to buy tickets, and Christians certainly need not do so. On the other hand, the magistrates say that the country people will not buy these tickets unless compelled, and if they don't compel them how are they to, raise the price from $3,000 to $5,000, a month per city, which the tickets represent, and they must pas. So the matter stands; but His Excellency's voluntary lottery reminds one of the voluntary church rate which was given to the old pensioner to collect. Every man in the parish paid, and the old pensioner said he had no difficulty when he explain-that the rate was " vollevtary" now, and people who refused could be shot by the soldiers.
Thus it has come about that the lottery scheme has led to a great revival of the Christian religion in certain districts. One missionary reports that last Sunday he could hardly get into his chapel for the crowd. There were people there he had not seen for a long time, and others he had never seen before, but all of then assured they were good Christians. The Yamen runners had been laying on the lottery tickets thick. and when they could not get money in exchange were actually taking grain. The whole affair is very sad and productive of mischief in every direction, It will lead fo people joining the Christians from false ro-dives, and will bring on the Christians theniselves a fresh dose of the hatred of officials and neighbours. without their being in any way to blame in the matter.
Hankow, 3rd April. mise the position by adding the fetters taken from inland trade to the commerce from Western lands. We go one step further and state that all commerce would benefit vastly if in addition to the remoral of all inland taxation there were removed at the same time all Maritime Customs barriers and charges together with all duties of every kind whether on exports or imports. But the world is not yet ripe for this- revolutionary measure. Our complicated machinery of modern Government is expensive and money must found by some kind of taxation. We must be careful therefore not to be led astray when the very plausible argument is advanced that trade would boom if all inland charges were removed, for we must r= er at the same time that if the swe. could be carried out even to the "iviishing of all maritime duties as well as inland charges, trade would boom still more.
Tt must also be remembered that only 'a part of the proposition has been stated achen it is proposed to abolish all inland charges. There is another clause to be added to the statement and that is that all the revenue lost by the abolition of these charges is to be collected by tas most to death foreign goods imported to China. While we can agree bea the first part of the proposal the part vitiates the whole and makes the pr. position unacceptable.
Is entire Abolition Intended From the published reports of Sir James? scheme it- appears that certain barriers are to be retained, namely, those concerned with the Salt Likin and prim tax. It is therefore clear that there will not be a clean sweep of all inland barriers. Sir James expects to obtain safeguards from the Chinese Government so that boats conversing other merchandise will not get taxed or unduly delayed by the barriers. These points are of the utmost importance as will immediately ap-
To the suggestion that we should only deal with foreign goods duly imported and upon which a commutation tax has been paid in liew of all inland charges whatsoever, it has been objected most viz-or ously by some that no guarantees whatever will be sufficient to protect the goods from delay and illegal charges and that the only practical way is to wipe the system out of existence. Now surely it is in~ consistent with this position to consent to retain the Salt and other Likin barriers and yet guarantee that they shall not unduly delay or illegally tax goods of other Aeseriptions than salt and opium. If it is possible to provide that two barriers shall hot tax goods is it not equally practicable to safeguard a third? The objection therefore that reformation of the system is impossible falls to the around.
Abolitionists say that if b: they are bound to squeeze pa: and yet are prepared to believe that the it Likin barriers will not attempt any of levy on vessels subject to their i spection. All vessels will be required to pass the barriers and be inspected as to whether they are smuggling salt or opium and since the ordinary Tékin harriers will have been swept away ther will hare all the field to themselves. Will not these salt and other barriers hare abundant opportunities to delay vessels just as the Likin barriers do? Will they not also demand the same bribes in order to vise the ship's cements and to examine their care hi
and will it not be a most simple thing to charge the boats with carrying smuggled goods and thus bring forward a pretext for the levy of a fine? Indeed is not thi hole field of abuse open to these barriers in the same way as at present? Abolitionists say no, for we shall exact safeguards. Well and good! Li you can do so in these cases then you can do the same over the entire system. The Abolitionist may re-[tort that the number of salt barriers is in no way comparable to the number of ordinary Likin barriers. Just so! and the obvious answer to this objection is along the lines of the present reform, namely, to reduce the number of Likin barriers and centralize the entire system exacting the safeguards and guarantees now to be demanded from the salt barriers. Abolitionists must not attem~t to run with the hare and chase with the hounds.
Fathermore while strenuous opposition may he expectd from native officials to ition scheme, it is more than probable that they would heartily cooperate in any scheme for reform which would yield better results to their exchequers.
Reformation is Possible.
There is no reason at all why the system should not be so reformed as to give satisfaction and it can be done by the intro~ duction of the foreign element as supervisors, The scheme has worked most successfully in the case of the Maritime Customs, and why not in the Inland Customs? I venture to affirm that there are far less obstacles in the way of reform than in the proposal for total abolition. For it must. be remembered that it is contemplated to wipe out not only Likin but all forms of inland taxation on Tt is appalling to contemplate the tremendous consequences of such a sudden upheaval. The system has the widest ramifications and the shock to the body politic wot be most severe, A gradual reformation, on the other hand, would upset nothing and would be in harmony with the times. It would not work hardship to a large population, and the Chinese seventies sould be gainers rather than losers. 'a matter of fact in some places the officials are reforming the system themselves by diminishing the number of collecting sta~ tions or barriers, and centralizing the work, thus considerably lessening the cost of collection and at the same time ingreasing the facilities of trade.
2.8. L.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.