Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/667

 REVENUE AND POPULATION.

63I

is done contrary to the civil and religious laws of the empire, con- tained in the Ta-tsing-hwei-tien, and in the sacred books of Con- fucius. These members are denominated ' Ta-hyo-si,' or Ministers of State. Under their orders are the Li-poo, or six boards of government, each of which is presided over by a Tartar and a Chinese. They are : — 1. The board of civil appointments, which takes cognisance of the conduct and administration of all civil officers ; 2. The board of revenues, regulating all financial affairs; 3. The board of rites and ceremonies, which enforces the laws and customs to be observed by the people ; 4. The military board, superintending the administration of the army ; 5. The board of public works ; and 6. The high tribunal of criminal jurisdiction.

Independent of the Government, and theoretically above the central administration, is the Tu-chah-yuen, or board of public censors. It consists of from 40 to 50 members, under two presidents, the one of Tartar and the other of Chinese birth. By the ancient custom of the empire, all the members of this board are privileged to present any remonstrance to the sovereign. One censor is to be present at the meetings of each of the six government boards, with- out taking any part in the deliberation, and others have to travel through the various provinces of the empire to inspect and superin- tend the administration of the chief public functionaries.

Revenue and Population.

The estimates of the public revenue of China vary greatly, and while they are stated by some to exceed 100 millions sterling, are held by others not to come up to half that amount. Official returns of the Chinese Government — intended for a special public use, and as such not very reliable — which were published in 1844, give the revenue as follows : —

Land-tax, in money

Ditto in kind, valued at ,

Salt tax.

Tea duties

Duties on merchandise

Duties on foreign ditto, at Canton

Sundries ....

Duties on marketable articles.

Duties on shops and pawnbrokers

Ginseng. ....

Coinage .....

Total taels

Sterling

Taels

53 r 730.218

113,398,057

7,486,3*0

204,5:50

4,335,459

3,000,000

1,052. 70S

1,174,932

5,000,000

1,000,000

1,000,000

191,804,139

£63,934,713

The above was returned as the net revenue of the country. No statement of the expenditure is given in the official accounts ;