Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/291

Rh coast-wise traffic and inland transit trade; the exemption of imports, upon which an original duty had been paid, from further taxation; pilotage; lighting of the coast; emigration; the ton equivalents of various lasts and metric and other tons; the completion and publication of statistics; and, above all, the proper dovetailing of the foreign and Chinese sides of the administration. All these questions were settled, as Mr. H. B. Morse points out in his excellent work on "The Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire," upon lines which have endured. In short, under the administration of Mr. Robert Hart, who was knighted in 1882, "there was developed a strong, loyal, well-organised, and cosmopolitan service."

As showing how thoroughly cosmopolitan are the ranks of the Customs Department, it may be mentioned that the foreign staff, numbering altogether 1,387 persons, includes representatives of twenty different nationalities. The British Empire has 738 representatives, while Germany, which comes next, can claim 170. No fewer than 12,389 Chinese find employment in the service. These figures, compared with those for 1875, when only 424 foreigners and 1,417 Chinese were employed, afford striking evidence at once of the growth of the trade of the Chinese Empire and of the organisation which controls it.

The Chinese Customs collect duty not only on foreign imports, but also on exports and imports from and to different ports in China. They also collect tonnage dues on shipping, transit dues exempting from further taxation foreign imports conveyed inland, and native produce from inland marts intended for export to foreign countries, and likin on foreign opium.

The service is organised in four departments, under the Inspector-General of Customs and Posts, namely, the Revenue Department, Marine Department, Educational Department, and Postal Department.

is divided into three branches:—the In-door Staff, or executive, controlling, and clerical branch; the Out-door Staff, or inspecting and preventive branch; and the Coast Staff, or preventive cruiser branch. It furnishes employment to 1,151 foreigners and 4,480 Chinese, or about one-half the total number of the employés in the Customs service.

The Revenue Department—the Chinese Customs proper—has exceptional difficulties to contend with, by reason of the extraterritorial rights enjoyed by foreign merchants, and because there is no competent tribunal before which a revenue case can be tried, the Chinese courts being ruled out, while there are obvious objections to the jurisdiction either of the consul concerned, or the Commissioner of Customs. For clandestine trading a ship may be prohibited from further trading along the coast; for a false manifest a fine not exceeding Tls. 500 may be inflicted upon proof of the offence before the Customs, and the consul of the nationality under whose flag the ship sails; for certain offences the privilege of clearing before the payment of all import duties on the ship's cargo may be withdrawn; and for a false declaration on the part of an importer the goods are liable to confiscation.

The movement of goods in China is taxed at every point, but provided that the payment of an import duty within the last three years can be proved, exemption is afforded if the goods are removed to any of the other Treaty ports. At Shanghai the great volume of the re-export trade has led to the adoption of "importers' passes," by which an importer is enabled to convey his rights to a purchaser. Provided the goods remain in their original packing, they may be re-exported to another Treaty port, either by the original importer or by the purchaser, without paying import duty on arrival at their destination. If re-exported a second time the goods are again covered by an "exemption certificate." Upon imports intended for any place other than a Treaty port the purchaser may either pay likin en route, or pay half the import duty additional, and obtain a "transit pass inwards." Likin is payable on Chinese produce brought to a Treaty port, but a "transit pass outwards" is issued upon payment of a half duty if the goods are intended for shipment abroad. Export duty is paid on shipment at any port, but if the cargo is destined for another Chinese port a "duty proof" is issued, and upon arrival only a half duty, or "coast trade duty" is levied. In the event of the goods being re-exported this charge is refunded. If the goods are then to be conveyed to a third Chinese port, the repayment of the "coast trade duty" is demanded upon their arrival. If sent inland, these goods have no "transit pass" privilege. The payment of "tonnage dues" exempts a ship from further payment for four months; this period may, however, be extended by any time spent in effecting repairs in a Chinese port.

Foreign opium, and such native opium as comes under the cognisance of the Customs, having paid duty and likin, is labelled by the department, and, so long as the labels