(Contributed)
Hoshien, Anhwei, May 3.
'The collection of taxes is the most die ult part of the work in the office of the magistrate in this hsien. It the magistrates in other hsiens are handi capped as Mr. Liu is here, no wonder thats much' anxiety was expressed at the National Finance Conference regarding the subject of taxation.
'There ig no such a thing as a map of this hsien, that is, an exact map from which the area' of any specified section could be computed. Whether that section contains 5,000 or 50,000 mow the government authorities have no means of finding out except from receipt was left in the book attached forthe stub, There are stacks of these. books lying about the yamen, dating back as far as. the expulsion the Manchus. Some of the books fre Intact with nota receipt torn irom them. Very. few have more than one-tenth of the receipts tora Off. Although this sion has. been Fendered bankrupt by excessive taxation, the provincial government has not' received even the usual {axes. The new magistrate has been ordered to collect all back taxes for \the past six years. All he has to 60 by im collecting these taxes are these the data afforded them through the) Books. He knows very well that recorders and collectors of taxes. Of taxes have been collected from the these there a round thousand in. this Doorer people and no proper receipts hhslen—900 of the former and 100 of fiven and is very decided. in. mot the latter. very recorder is supposed, Wishing to collect one copper" from to keep an account of the amount of one who had already' paid. But property owned by every individ where is he to draw the line? The in his own precinct and also what People themselves are helping him. transfers have been made since his "The owners of the property, which previous report. The Tax Collector he sealed, are notorious for. the oP fof each section receives these repression of their' tenants. 'Through ports from his recorders and draws {hese, information is easly had. con a book, from the data thus fur~ cerning that family' and although the nished, which he sends In to the whole family fled to Wuhu to escape yamen, The yamen prepares a book! punishment, they have left behind of receipts corresponding with the their agent. He has to save his own collector's book which it keeps in skin, for if found lying he is liable the yamen and delivers receipts to to punishment on his own account. the collector as he brings in the So that this one family is pretty well taxes for each receipt given. Unless looked after. the collector brings in the taxes each individual, that Individual's tax} eeoipt remains in the receipt book attached to its stub, and the tax reckoned delinquent. The hsien magistrate has not to account for it to the provincial treasurer.
These one thousand officials receive no salaries but are allowed to collect from each tex-payer ten cents com-! mission, Alas this ten cents sometimes became transformed into a sum The ers had extortions were pai never gave the tax collected to the magistrate. Mr. Liu has changed much of this as possible until th a proper the Other delinquents, hearing that that noted family's" residence was sealed, reasoned that if such powerful person could not get off scot free, smaller fish like themselves had a poor chance. So they began to come in with their back taxes plus the fine imposed to the tune of some-j thing around $1,000 a day.
This is exactly what the magistrate expected, for he says these swindlers fare all cowards and fear nothing more than to have their lives exposed. What a revelling in swindling there must have been when magistrate and gentry worked to cheat the government not only out of the rightful taxes due, but to keep back also axes already paid by the people. When Mr. Liu came here to take el He sent out an order for all collectors to appear in person at the yamen and for each to furnish him With a list of the recorders in his section, A howl went up and many gave out that they would not conform. to this innovation. In the meantime, the mayor had been showing his determination to get matters in the hsien into manageable shape by such actions as sealing up the premises of the most powerful citizen in the hsien because he did not appear with his delinquent taxes fon the date appointed. Grudgingly al came in at last and brought the lists of their recorders with the report of each, In some cases found that one individual was hold-nye nine of these positions.
When he got them all together, instead of sending them back home to compile their books he set them all down in a big room in the yamen and there under the supervision the superintendent of the tax bureau, had them make out their books.
When the Books were finished, aid not pective sections to collect taxes and bring them in at their leisure but opened offices at the yamen where taxpayers could go. to window where he would be given slip stating the amount of taxes was to pay. This slip he took to the cashier's window and on paying the amount stated plus ten cents, was handed his tax-receipt. This ten cents is what is paid the recorders and tax collectors for their trouble. The people are coming in by the: hundred and are overjoyed at their: deliverance from the "squeeze" heretofore exercised by the collectors. To make sure that nothing goes wrong, Mr. Liu flits about from one window to another and scrutinizes a receipt here and another there, keeping the farmers Informed that they must not pay more than the receipts call for.
These offices for tax-collection he had prepared while the books were being made up. He had a row of tumble-down buildings repaired and, being a graduate in commerce speclalizing in banking, he had all the facilities for handling the receipts ar~ ranged around the cashier's office go that all the cashier has to do is. to hand each slip through a little slide door and the receipt is attached to it and both returned to him. The machinery works like a charm and the people are delighted, They pay their taxes direct to the office and get their receipts there and then. They rejoice to see their magistrate looking after their interests.
Old Records Re-opened this hsien, he found the previous magistrate confined in gaol, being held, there by an official sent' down from Anching. He had robbed right and left and was found to have cheated the Government of over $6,000, over trid above those transactions in which hho had covered his tracks. One right, when Mr. Liu was absent at 'Anching, this scoundrel climbed over the back wall of the yamen compound. Had he remained until the authorities had found out all they' could pump from him, it is almost certain that he would have paid for his crime by being executed.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.