Strong Opposition by London "Financier" to Granting More Money to Peking for Game of Ducks and Drakes Without knowledge of the facts, the significance of the Chinese Government's request for a pre-Himinary conference with the obamounting to 124 per be impared if the pernicio tem of inland taxation was el Matters drifted 0 gates £10,000,000, largely for material supplied in' addition to which there are other huge sums accrue ing for less tangible services re {dered. Javan and America suffer equally with Great Britain. It is poor consolation to the English holders of the "Vickers" and reoni" bonds to learn that at American loans are also fu default, and that Japanese Ject of establishing a 24 per cent. surtax may not be fully appreciated, This surtax was agreed in the Washington Confer-Tenders have not been able to get ence, which agreed that, ax the old of interest for yours. 5 per cent. tax had, by the reduced % Penny, of the hard facts munt upon by the Washington Confer-fence, but has pot become apers tive owing to the opposition of France, but Peking now socks to have the increased tax pat into force in order to consolidate the ancial position and enable liquidation of the huge unsecured debt to proceed. This, at first glance, would appear a laudable object, but, to quote the considered opinion of one competent to" judge, allow Chinese officials to impose a further tax on trade under the conditions of misgovernment prevailing to-day is merely to hit the foreign merchant without doing an atom of good to China.
If the 2b per cent. surtax granted it will place large additional funds in the hands "of a weak Administration. in. Pekin temporarily bolstering up thei position at the expense of the de-Yelopment of the internal trade of China as a whole. Deplorable conditions prevail to-day, for the great Provinces are' virtually indepen dent "kingdoms "under powerful military control ant ago the Coateal Goverament' "They have long since ceased to remit revenue to Peking, and they flout all authority from that quarter. 'The land tax goes into' the coffers of the military governors, and the Win, or internal tax, on foreign goods is abused in every possible way, Taxation is' extorted where-ever possible, and the opulent, though "lawless, Provincial rulers grow stronger daily. The root of the trouble is the vicious circle of imposts, having the likin as a foundation. Until this is abolished, definitely and absolutely, nothing can be done. The Treaties of 1902 and 1903, to which Great Britain, Japan, and America were signatories, aimed at the abolition of liken, but in practice nothing resulted. Even at that period it was suggested that surtaxes value of goods, become only equivalent to a 3b per cent. lev: should be reinstated asa 5 cent. effective ad valorem The surtax of 2b pere further agreed to con upon the repeal of lik: it will thus be seen, wishes to secure the advantages of the sui tax, but entirely for its own ends. To quote the "North-China Daily News and Herald," "antu Chinese politicians show that they can govern China as to enable the ftfective 8 per tht. to. prove of benefit, it would be sheer folly to grantthem'a further surtax, and the Powers should therefore" take further advantage of the rosery tions which* govern this surtax coming into effect." 'These' reserve include. the abolition of the nal tax of foreign goods, and Sir Robert Borden's view, expresythe Washington Conference, Holds good to-day in a. manifold sense, "vis: "The provision of Great revenues, or the placing of Targe funds at the disposal of a weak Administration, isnot of itself effective. John Jordan, whose long service in the highest oficial circles in China enables. him fo form an authoritative opin. fon, folly endorses this view, and has recently stated that Chinese public opinion is naturally opposed fo the country being saddled with loans for the exclusive benefit of the Peking Government. Sir ohn maintains that both the British manufacturers and merchants and the Chinese consumers are all one in insisting that the taxation of. foreign goods shall "not be utilized as_an expedient for settle ting accounts with—impertanate creditors and patching up an_arrangement which, at best, could be jonly a temporary, palliative for Peking's disordered finances.
Te is estimated that the unsecured indebtedness of China aggre-be faced, that the unsecured debts stand but, a remote chance of liquidation' while the present ternal chaos prevails. Merchants, not "unnaturally, exclaim: "Why put a surtax on our goods to provide funds for old lenders, who must have realized the risk of vaneing money without security'? The Provinces say: "Why give Peking new money by surtaxes when we ignore its authority, and the funds may be used "against us?" The outlook is by no means hopeful one so long as. the menace of the military despotism the Provinces is allowed to con-jo. The revenue from the salt tax itself, which is a contribution to the secured debt service, is in some respects jeopardized. So far as the International Commission which controls the salt tax fs concerned, it is" effective in its organization' and collecting power, thin the sphere of the Administration works without interference, ut revenue collected in other Provinces is liable to interception. The military governors are avaricious, and the revenue figures. published last January show that some $30,000,- (000 which should have been remitted to Peking "were either retained locally or appropriated by the Provincial authorities and the military chiefs." The despotic action of the latter is without bounds, fand as an instance of the evil effects of their oppression Iand-lords are driven to the recultivation of opium as a means to pro-fide funds to meet the ever-grow-1 extortionate taxation. Thus the patient toil of many years for the cessation of opium cultivation has been stultified.
China has a population execeding 400,000,000, and her foreign trade is immense, being estimated for last year in the neighbourhood A group of Members of the Chihlt Provincial Assembly headed by Mr. Wu Yang-pin, arrived in Poking thin afternoon with the object of urging the Governme to wecept Gen, signation.—Ret
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.