VILLAGE GOVERNMENT IN CHINA, 1933
trate for investigation.'
151
He has the position, therefore, of chief investigator of and informer against anything suspicious or evil. But his powers of arrest seem to be limited. Meadows reports that while it is his duty to point out any person to police (Yâmen) runners who may be looking for a man, he is not called upon to execute a summons; and likewise that in grave cases of robbery he is not held responsible, but must report to the magistrate as soon as such a case occurs.2 The Ti-pao organizes part of the militia in his district for the use of the magistrate in protecting public granaries and treasuries, or for dispersing bandits.3
Although the agent of the central government in preserving peace and order, the Ti-pao is also the defender of the people. In case of wrongful arrest he should inform the magistrate, giving circumstances, and has the right of bailing out citizens of his own district who are held in the magistrate's gaol. If any of his constituents presents a petition or otherwise has dealings with the magistrate's court it is the Ti-pao's duty to be able to identify him. For this purpose he has a wooden stamp which he must affix to such an application before it will be accepted at the Yamen.4
While it is thus the Ti-pao who is the chief agent of the central government in the rural village, it is the village elders themselves who are held by the government to be responsible for the village as a whole. The village peace and morality is in their hands, and the proper subject of their supervision. This resting of authority in the hands of a few responsible individuals is founded upon several sensible considerations. Firstly, the plan is practicable: villages are compact and coalescent units due to their relative isolation,
1 Ta Ch'ing Hui Tien, Chuan 134, sec. (1% T) translated by Jamieson; ibid., p. 68. "Tithing man" means in Jamieson's translation the Ti-pao. Hsieh seems also to use this passage to describe the duties of the Ti-pao, and cites one or two more malpractices which the officer must report against, such as transport of counterfeit goods and swindling, though he does not mention his source. Hsieh, Pao Chao; The Government of China, p. 309. An ordinance by Hsien Feng (41) in 1852 gives an even fuller account of what was expected of the Pao-chia (T), (presumably Ti-pao). Boulais; op. cit., 162-163.
2 Meadows, Thomas T.; Desultory Notes on the Government and People of China, p. 118, 119.
3 Hsieh; op. cit., p. 309.
4 Meadows; op. cit., p. 117.
5 Leong and Tao; op. cit., p. 36.