ig6 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



some days, during which time the energetic syndicate members bought 

 all the rice in sight, put it in vessels and rushed it abroad to Japan, 

 a country which buys the inferior grade of Chinese rice for home con- 

 sumption and ships abroad its own superior article. As soon as the 

 embargo was published, the value of rice afloat at once rose and the 

 Tao-tai syndicate cleared a handsome profit. This illustrates Chinese 

 fiscal methods, and warrants the statement that the actual foreign com- 

 merce of the country is greater than the figures indicate. 



China levies on its foreign commerce a tariff for revenue only. The 

 rate charged on nearly all articles is five per cent, on imports and ex- 

 ports alike, although there are some special rates and a number of 

 articles on the free list. The actual average rate on imports and exports 

 runs from three to four per cent. It is the general opinion of merchants 

 in China that, should it become necessary to add to the Government's 

 income, this rate could be increased without any serious detriment to 

 foreign commerce. In Japan the Government has found it necessary, 

 in order to derive more revenue, to seriously increase its customs tariff, 

 so that the present charges range from thirty to fifty per cent, ad 

 valorem. 



Foreign articles destined for consumption at the treaty ports or 

 places of importation pay no further taxes. When, however, they are 

 sent into the interior they are obliged to pay internal transportation 

 taxes, called 'Likin,' collected at various stations along the trade routes. 

 These likin charges, although they form a perfectly legitimate method 

 of taxation, are objected to by the Chinese quite as much as by foreign 

 traders, on account of their uncertain amount, which, according to 

 Chinese custom, is left largely to the official in charge, who collects as 

 much as he can. The foreign nations, in order to obviate these difficul- 

 ties, have arranged with the Chinese Government to permit foreign 

 articles destined for the interior to pay a single tax of two and a half 

 per cent, to the Imperial Maritime Customs and then to receive what is 

 called a 'transit pass' entitling the goods to pass the interior likin sta- 

 tions without further charge. Unfortunately, these transit passes are 

 not always respected by officials in the interior, unless they think that 

 the shipper will appeal to a foreign government, and, therefore, the 

 officials are apt to levy likin in accordance with their own needs, and 

 of the total collected but a small part finds its way into the public 

 treasury. 



The native merchant has no such advantage as the foreigner in 

 securing immunity from likin extortion, and has to resort to all sorts 

 of subterfuges to escape the impositions of his own countrymen, one 

 of the most frequent of such resorts being to keep his goods under the 

 name of a foreign merchant if possible. Another device was told to 

 me by a customs official on the West River, where the local farmers 



