lay to be one without a duplicate in all China. One finds the city overburdened with taxes and a greedy military machine vieing with—the Jocal political factions for the plum that is Hankow and the never ending stream of money that flows into either one pocket or the other, There appears to be some form of taxation for practically every article of sufficient commercial movement! to make the collection of the tax Morthwhile, And there are instances where the officials even escape this effort on their part by having the tuxes brought to their offices at the time the declaration is made, In any event the would-be evader is always under the watchful eyes of '@.coxps of spies ever on the alert to earn fresh commissions by report ing undeclared merehandi jon the previous night just after the shipment had been located in the More wrangling followed and the outcome was that the broker could either pay $800 and secure clearance Papers for his shipment—or it was "just too bad." There was a hint that there was one way out which }was not mentioned, but the broker preferred to be dull witted and did not rise to the bait, He protested in vain to the vari. ous officials and the upshot was that the vessel arrived, waited nine days in vain, and departed without the beans which were allowed to rot in the godown where they now are, The broker's argument was that had no security that if he paid the tax, another would not be placed.
Shipment before' it could The Tax bureaux and military, Yiend-quarters are everywhere about the Special Administrative Districts and'to the new comer it would seem that practically every other house is distinguished by the number of: hangers-on about its portals and the military guards at its doors, At the moment it would seem that the best income producer for the factions judging by the way it is guarded, is the Aerated Water Tax Bureau for these doors are in the Keeping of two soldiers with the Intestin Thompson machine-guns. over their shoulders and enough clips fin. the breaches to repel an. army. Not content with this I noticed that each man had another drum thrust under the belt around his waist, But did not learn what part of the in-game went to the man outside who ore up under the added impost of some 75 pounds because of his miniature armoury.
At the same time I judged that the Bureau for the Taxation Msingtao Beef had fallen on evil days for its verandah was have and save for a Jone sentinel asleep in a sentry box outside, it was deserted, However, the unkindest tax of all that on books of dance tickets in, Hankow's Cabaret*Row, but on re-prospect it may have been a blessing in disguise. Such things frequently, are und though I counted 82 dancers, ud alleged dancers, in the street that Hankow prefers to call "The:
jumps," there were but two of the Jot who could hope for business in even a thirdevate cabaret in Shanghai, And like their Shanghai sisters, conversation with them convinced this writer that there is but one city in Russia—Harbin, In Hankow one finds a bottle of spirits that sells in Shanghai for $3 to cost $1.50 with an added maze of tax stamps amounting to 65 cents. One gets his shoes soled at a price increase of exactly 100 per cent. over that -of Shanghai and the complaints of a similar nature from the foreigners in the city are seemingly countless and of infinite variety, Not only are the existing tax: afifiing what business there is, but they have the added danger of being added to at a moment's notice with out warning of any kind, New tax Are continually cropping up and the arrival of an army division means a shut down of trade, But at the, game time the departure of a num-Der of soldiers docs not mean the resumption of normal business for the troops have found a particular tax to have been paid with little objection that tax is continued, As an example of what a quick witted tax bureau can do, a fore er in the city whose word I take} without hesitation, told me the fol-Towing story. Some time ago a foreign broker secured a fat order from the south for 20 tons of beans at a price that would give him a fair profit commensurate with the risk he was taking in a rapidly fluctuate ing market. "He secured the beans in Hankow' and stored them godown, He shipping firm in Shanghai for a boa® to make a special trip to Hankow to carry the beans south. Then he eat down to watch his profit roll in.
The profit never came but a smooth-talking official did who told: him that he had heard of the bean deal and of course the foreigner Imow of the new tax of two dollars por hundred pounds that had recently, been put into force.
The broker was surprised and asked: the age of. the tax as he had never heard of it, After much, wrangling and evading he learned that the tax had been put into effect: story is told which bears on the situation from a different]
isle, Some time ago a broker secured an order for a quantity of, hides and after some difficulty they, Were picked up in the interior at a price that would put the deal well on the credit side. The next problem, was to get a goods train to bring them to Hankow and after_much work he eventually secured one from the military, who were using the line. That is, he secured the train after he had bid for it open auction against native dealers and the price he paid was $300 with the military officials acting as auer pioneers. "Though his profit had dwindled he nevertheless saw the deal to the good until after his train Was loaded and was run on a siding where it remained for 26 days as the military were using the line. The broker was finally forced to resell the hides to the native dealers $n. the interior for the best price he could get and he retired from the deal a heavy loser.
Similar reports of the treatment of foreign and native brokers around. Hankow are as numerous as the tax, bureaux in the city. I merely quote two which are fairly typical of the rest.
One finds politics discussed on every side and the news of the moment is whether Feng Vu-hsiang is Jeoming to Hankow or not, The shop apprentice discusses the most involved intrigues of Nanking with an air of finality and a house boy told me that Wu Pei-fu could never come back. One man will point out how Feng will not come to Hankow but will circle the city. and come in at the back door of Nanking and another has it that Feng has already arrived and departed and the important centres of the government here are under his control.
The stories are as far-fetched as tone could wish but the important thing to me and the interesting thing. is that polities are discussed here by the rank and file of Chinese as they never are in Shanghai, 'A boy behind the bar at the Hankow Club told me that I would meet Wo Pei-fu in Chitngking and a young Chinese photographer produced a map from his long gown and showed me just the strategy that would put Feng Vu-hsiang on the throne in Nanking. On the way up here we passed many car floats on the river carrying armoured trains complete with engines down toward Nanking and ships captains will tell you that for weeks past the river has seen a steady shipment of war munitions eastward, all out of Hankow and going toward Nanking. The trains we saw bore the "P. H." of the Peking-Hankow line and ahead of them was a naval boat frantically }waving a red flag so that our wash [should not snap the tow line.
Just past Hankow we saw a San Peh boat loaded to the gunwales ]with troops and at her stern was a red flag with a white imprint in the centre which naval men. said was the bursting sun insignia of, the Shensi (or Shansi) troops who' have definite communistic leanings.
One finds politics the talk at every table and one is grateful even for polities, for in this city T have been impressed by the absence of foreig-Mors in the streets even though the populated houses which apparently have one
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.