168 COGGIN BROWN : MINES & MINERAL RESOURCES OF YUNNAN. 



Lo-ten-ching. ") 



Lu-ching. > — in the unsurveyed area to the north of 



Shwun-tan-ching, ) Ytin-lung Chou. 

 An official of the Imperial Chinese Customs Service has recently 

 written : — - 



"If the collection of the land lax is veiled by obscurity, of 

 n ... f ,, tin 1 grain t tribute by equal obscurity, of the 



Organization of the o •' I J' 



salt gabefle in the "Regular" Customs by greater obscurity, 

 Yiin-lunuChonaroa. ^ gj. eatest obscurity covers the revenue from 



the salt gabelle, owing to the mixture of the official and 

 mercantile elements in its collection. Salt is everywhere under 

 the strictest Government control, and is taxed at every stage — 

 in its manufacture., purchase, at the vats, transport, sale at the 

 depot, and sale to the people." 



In Yunnan it is easy enough to see into the higher department 

 of the salt gabelle, to understand the official relationships of the 

 mandarins, who occupy the highest posts in the administration, 

 but to come to a proper appreciation of the organization at the 

 other end of the scale — which is vastly more important to under- 

 stand in a discussion of this sort — the obligations of the brine-winners 

 and salt-manufacturers themselves to the government, is often a 

 difficult matter. So long as the smaller officials of the salt admini- 

 stration keep the peace in their respective areas, and regularly 

 forward to the central bureau at the appointed times, the amounts 

 of revenue for which they are assessed, the provincial government is 

 not likely to concern itself very much in the dealings of its agents 

 with the producers. It is therefore found that different systems 

 of work are in operation in different districts, sometimes even at 

 neighbouring wells in the same area. A local official will modify 

 or alter the methods of working with the people in accordance 

 with local tradition and custom, with the alteration of the assess- 

 ments, with the price of fuel, or in any way to suit his pocket, 

 being always careful enough to keep clear of conditions which 

 would cause active opposition, for which he would certainly be 

 held responsible by his superiors. Wells under a mandarin may 

 be worked entirely by him, that is to say, he may supply the capital 

 and take the risk, the actual workers being merely his servants ; 

 or again, he may control a company (in the usual Chinese meaning 

 of the word). Sometimes in the case of salt wells and mines the 

 mandarins have no connection with the companies, which may 



