New-York tribune., 1896-10-18
CHINl'S TININCTiL SYSTEM

II Hung Chang's visit 10 Europe and America
has called attention sharply 10 Chinas finances.
They are not In satisfactory state. Indeed.
they are in so bad a state that the hope or I'M
proving them was the one paramount cOnsidera-
tlon which prevailed upon the aged statesman
io undertake 40 arduous a journey. He has tried
to persuade the Governments OF the Great Pow
ers 10 consent 10 a modification OF treaties which
Will permit China to incrcnse her tarlff rates ana
thus increase her revenue. How far he has sue
ceodcd is not yet known 1t has been rnmorcd
that the British Government agreed to raising
~ the tariff provided that the 'llkin. or pro-
vlncal tariff be abolished-that il. thar the En-
plre adopt such "A system as the American, with
free trade between the provinces and uniform
imperial tarlG against all the outside world.
Whether the Chinese Government would or could
make such al arrangement is another and some
what doubtful question. What is certain is that
China must have a larger revenue AMI that she
ought to have a better financial system all around
than her present ANTICIPATED hotchpotch.
The increase Of revenue Is needed on many ac
counts one of these IS sufficient. however. TO
make il impcraiivc-to VII. the debt Incurred be-
cause OF the Japanese war. China now for the
first time has a considerable foreign debt Ii
amounts To fully S200.000.00O. That is small.
compared with the debts OF other nations. 1t is
a mere trlhc compared with the slupendous p0-
tcntlalitics of wealth which the Chinese Empire
contains Nevertheless. IT is a heavy burden for
the Imperial Government 10 bear under It's pres
ent financial system. or lack o. system. The In
tcrcst and slnking-fuud charges must be $4,000
600 or more year, and thar Is a good deal to add
to the Chinese budget Just what the total reve-
nues OF the Empire are Is not known No part OF
them Is made public excepting that from mari
time customs, and the opium 'likin.' which
amounts 10 about Sl7.O0O,000 il year The debt
charges will therefore consume the bulk Of the
customs receipts. What Ii wanted to do was to
get the Powers to agree TO an Increase of Gus
toms to nearly double the present amount so
that the dcbt charges could bc met thercfron
and still Il balance he left as large as the present
total If this Is not done. there Will have to be
an Increase OF taxation in some other direction.
and that will be IN awkward thing to effect.
After the customs the chief sources Of revenue,
apart from the ''lkin' are the land and salt
taxes The former ranges from - cents to
So - an acre. and has 80 long been fixed
that an attempt to increase 1t would prob
ably provoke n revolution. 1t Is supposed
To yield about SI6O00,OO0 year The salt
tax affects many strong vested interests
that an increase OF ii could hardly he
effected. 1t yields perhaps SS.000,000 n year.
Then there are the rice tax. the native customs
and the license system, which all together yield
about S0.OOO,OO0 Il year. Ii would not be prac-
ticabc nj present to increase them sufficiently
to meet the debt charges. The one remaining
source OF revenue is the ''likln," which Is
an inter.provncial and local tariff on all
goods transported from place to place. whether
native or foreign. This is supposed to amount to
S9,0OO,O0O year. but Ii varies greatly from
year 10 year, and Is the item i'm the budget most
susceptible Of increase. 1t Is, however, especial
ly Odions to foreign traders. and. with the great
cr freedom of trade assured by the Treaty Of
Simonosck, has now become more Objectionable
than ever. Ii Hung Chang gees this, and would
doubtless like to abolish it, rs the British Govern
nlont suggests. But how can he cut off $1,000
600 from total revenue of less than 500. .000, 600
at time when demands upon 1t have been in
creased by $i4.OO0,O0O?
or course revenue of S6OO0OOO0 is absurdly
small for an Empire Of 350.OOO.OOO people But
the taxpayers are mulctcd In n much greater
sum. the rest Of which goes into the pockets of
local and provincial officials For such an end
the financial system Of the Empire IL admirably
designed. Once year the Picking Government
sends note to the provincial viceroys telling
each how much revenue his province must FUR.
nish. He may raise II as he pleases, the favorite