Official notices have been issued by Viceroy Yang of Chibli that the stamp tax will be pat into force in North China within three mouths of the stamps being issued from the Ministry of Finance. These stamps will arrive in Tientsin before the end of this month, so that the proposed tax will be enforced in the. beginning of 1909 ithout further postponement. The Viceroy strongly urges that no opposition be offered to the tax, which is intended to supplement the loss of revenue incurred by the abolition of opium. The tax has nothing to do with foreign and native trade, bat will only be levied on for the sale or purchase of lands and houses, or loans. tamp tax offices in Peking, Tientsin and Ps have now been formally opened by order of Viceroy Yang and the system will be extendd to all other cities in Chibli Province next year. Similar instructions have been issued by the Financial Ministry to Viceroy Tuan Fang at Nanking and Governor Ching Chi-tai at Soochow. Viceroys Chang Jen-chun, Chéog Kuei-lung, Chao Erh-hson and Sung Shou will also introduce the tax at Canton, Hankow, Wuchang, Chungking, Chéngta and Foochow simultaneously.
The stamp tax will not be enforced in the interior of China noti such time as its success has been demonstrated in the big trading cities. It is estimated that about $5,000,000 may be collected from ti ly source if properly managed. 85, 000,000 may be levied by the imin addition to this it iv expected that
position of an additional tax of four cash (two-fifths of a copper cent) per catty of of salt throughout the Empire; making in all " total of $10,000,000 to replace the revenue logs on opium.
Tt is stated thet the remaining deficiency will be made up by the imposition of an additional tax on Chinese sugar, wine, and tobacco.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.