CHINA'S GREAT PROBLEM 461 



remainder has partly been invested in railway and other industrial 

 enterprises, and partly used in a variety of minor ways. To meet the 

 interest and principal upon this debt the returns of the Maritime 

 Customs has been the security, and the service has for years been under 

 foreign direction. Besides being a source of income the custom service 

 has been an object lesson and a training school for the Chinese. Out of 

 it has grown the excellent postal, telegraph, and telephone service which 

 China enjoys. In 1905 35,110,000 taels- 2 were collected from the import 

 and export tax on merchandise. In the budget recently published in 

 the Chinese press, following the address given by President Yuan before 

 the National Assembly, the expected receipts from the Maritime Cus- 

 toms this year is given as 35,140,000 taels. The growth is inconsider- 

 able while the fluctuations in exchange during the past year correspond 

 to a difference of about 5,000,000 taels in the conversion of this sum 

 into gold. 



Consideration of this budget as a whole offers an interesting study 

 and I therefore give the estimated revenues and expenditures under the 

 new government, as printed in Chinese journals, and translated by the 

 well-informed National Review of Shanghai. 



Estimated Bevenue 



Ordinary 



Land Taxes 46,164,709 



Salt and Sea 46,312,355 



Maritime Customs 35,139,917 



Native 6,990,845 



Sundry Duties 36,136,842 



Likin 43,187,907 



Income from Official property 36,600,899 



Sundry Eeceipts 19,194,101 



Total Tls. 269,754,579 



Provisional 



Land Taxes 1,936,636 



Native Customs 8,524 



Contributions 5,652,333 



Government Credit Notes 3,560,000 



Sundry Eeceipts 16,050,648 



Total Tls. 27,208,142 



Grand Total Tls. 296,862,721 



2 



: The tael is a Chinese ounce of silver, and has different values at different 

 places. The customs tael = 1.0164 Kuping tael. The latter is 575.8 grains of 

 pure silver, and is doubtless the tael used in the budget. Naturally, its value in 

 gold varies according to the rate of exchange. 



