CO129-362 - Public Offices - 1909 — Page 147

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to each Tai in silver, and there is thus no need for the station holders to proceed to head- quarters to receive payment. I was also informed that the money is never "squeezed;" which unusual occurrence in Chinese financial transactions must be a matter of congratu- lation for the Mongol officials. There are occasionally instances of no subsidy being paid, e.g., five of the stations on the track from Kweihuacheng to the Kalgan-Uliassutai track were at one time a present for all time to the Chinese Government generously given by the Prince of the district in which the stations lie.

I will now pass to the abuses which came to my notice in connection with the Tai-lu system. The system is of course one for the rapid transaction of official business and transport of officials. It should therefore be exclusively used by persons employed in Government business. It is possible, however, for a Chinese merchant to buy a permit to travel the whole length, say, from Uliassutai to Kalgan. Thus the official pockets a handsome sum; the merchant is saved a large amount, and the Mongols have extra work to do. The Mongols complained a good deal of this, but I could not find that it often occurs when it does occur, it is possibly on a large scale. I imagine that if it often happened, the Mongols would make such an outery that several Chinese officials would lose their billets. It must be a tempting way to these to increase their income. While a pass is thus given occasionally to a Chinese merchant for his own affairs, one is also occasionally given him for the official's affairs, e.g., suppose the Tutung at Kweihuacherg wants some goods from Kalgan which he cannot obtain at Kweihna- cheng, he will write to his friend the Tutung at Kalgan, and ask him to send them in the care of a Chinese merchant along the Tai-lu; this the Mongols also resent. Another set of people privileged to receive the pass are the Chinese moneylenders who, osten- sibly selling goods to the Mongols, and established at some of the Tais, really lend money at high rates of interest, These men receive an official pass to travel on the Tai-lu. The trouble incurred by the Mongols by the issue of a pass is not great, pre- paration of the official gher, slaughter of sheep, collection of argol, drawing of water, and preparing a fire, collection and loading beasts for the road, and accompanying these as far at the next Tai, all these amount to little real trouble, which is easily repaid by the outlay of a small sum of silver at each station, but these people who have no legal right to an official pass, take everything and give nothing. All these abuses, however, pale before the action of the officials themselves. These when travelling by the Tai-lu seem to regard their journey as a looting expedition; they can indeed only be described as robbers. I will give the following instances which occurred within a few days; at each Tai they demand money or a present.

July 5.-A Chinese man arrived riding post-haste from Kobdo with despatches for Peking; he takes eight days to do the whole journey, riding day and night, and sleeping in the saddle. He was accompanied by two Mongols and one baggage pony. He literaly fell out of his saddle, and was all bent up with riding. He was not too exhausted to call for five sheep, and when the Mongol officer remonstrated, saying he could not possibly eat so many, he said he didn't care, and that if he didn't have the sheep, he must have 10 taels (30s.). He was given 6 taels (18s.), and left an hour later. After four days' stay in Peking he will return to Kobdo, taking another eight days over the journey. He has travelled like this five times in as many years. He said he made abont 1,000 taels (150%) out of each journey, and never dared sleep properly except on horseback, else the Mongols would kill him for his money.

July S.-A small official bearing a letter from Urga to Peking arrived in a cart and stayed an hour. He asked for 5 taels, and when the Mongol official said he had no money, demanded as many sheep. He was finally content with four rolls of silk, I asked why the Mongol official did not let him have the sheep, as they could not possibly have been removed in the cart, but this had not occurred to the Mongol's mind.

No matter of what rank the official is who is travelling, money or presents are invarially demanded. In the case of the highest officials, I do not think it is always they, but rather their retinue, who commit these acts of robbery, and I was given to understand that if done on a large scale the remedy was to appeal to the Tutung at Kalgan or Kweihuacheng, who increased the subsidy somewhat to make good the losses and so hushed the matter up. That a traveller could pass who not only did not ask for a present but even gave one in the form of silver, was an event which will remain long in the memories of the Mongols on the Tai-lu from Kweihuacheng to Urga. The Mongol officials are sometimes decorated with buttons of various grades, and the coveted peacock feather, and their injured pockets soothed thereby,

It may also be of interest to show how a Chinese official behaves approaching the residence of the Mongol Prince, to whom he is the bearer of a letter from the Emperor. Such letters are of rare occurrence, possibly fortunately for the princely

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recipients. The official halts some 3 miles from the Prince's residence, and the Prince, who has been notified of his approach, sends mounted men to ask him why be does not proceed. The official replies that he has no clothes in which he would be fit to appear. The Prince's messenger then asks what he has need of, and the official replies that he must have a new coat, a robe, a hat, boots, &c. As the Prince cannot provide these, the official is begged to accept a present of money instead. This pleasant little farce seems to be enacted in each case.

It addition to the above facts it appears that every official treats himself to at least one tour of the Tais in his charge during his tenure of office. This visit is not made with the object of inspecting the working of the system, but to obtain money, cach station being obliged to make a handsome present in silver to the amount of 100 taels (15/).

It must not, however, be supposed that the Mongol station-holders are not also corrupt in their turn, for these squeeze the farms in their neighbourhood.

Each official letter states how many sheep, or what portion of a sheep, the holder is entitled to. When the traveller passes six or more Tais a-day it is quite impossible he should require sheep at each one, but the letter says nothing about the number of times a-day sheep may be called for, it says only that each Tai must furnish so many sheep or so much mutton. Consequently, each Tai is mulcted. The Acting Chiangchin at Uliassutai told me that the Government allowed each Tai several thousands of sheep a-year for the purpose.

This may have been the original arrangement, but the present practice I believe is quite different, and to be that round each Tai so many Mongols have pitched their yourts who allow themselves to be squeezed of sheep; they thus avoid all furtber taxation.

On the 23rd August we fell in with a party of twelve Chinese conveying 1,600 ponies from Kuldja to Peking. I asked how much money they had taken from the previous Tai; the reply was that they had taken four and a-half sheep, to which their letter entitled them. Will they eat as many ? Certainly not; they may eat the half, the remaining four they will sell back to the Tai officer, and probably net 10 taels over the transaction, or perhaps the Tai officer will ask them if they want all the sheep, and they will ask for money instead. The officer, however, will in his turn demand the sheep from the family whose turn it is to provide these, and they in their turn will try and escape as cheaply as possible by paying any silver they have.

A profitable occupa- tion truly to convoy ponies to Peking, for in addition to the amount levied per tai, a merchant or two can be taken along with his goods at so much a head. Can the Central Government be ignorant of the manner in which the Tai system is abused? One would think not, as there are many members of it who have served in the Mongolian provinces and know the system; but as many of them may be called upon to serve there in future, it is to everybody's advantage to uphold the present régime.

In conclusion it must be said that the Mongols who provide the sheep do not in all probability object to the system, for if they did so they could fold up their tents, disappear, and pay elsewhere the taxes demanded.

Such is the Tai system, a complicated network of dishonesty in which no one and nothing seems to suffer except the prestige of the Chinese, who are cordially despised for allowing this state of affairs to continue.

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The following entry in my diary, after a conversation with the Acting Tartar General of Cliassutai on the 17th August, is interesting: "The Tai system must be enormous expense to the Chinese Government; it is an interesting example of the intricate financial system of the Empire that certain revenues of certain provinces are set apart for the payment of the Tai system, and this money is sent direct to the Uliassutai Government from the provinces without its passing through Peking, a decentralization which seems unsound. Shansi contributes a good deal to the upkeep of the Tai roads in Mongolia, but the financial system is such that a portion of the revenue of Kwantung in the south might be earmarked for purposes in the north in which the Province of Kwantung had no interest whatever."

Chinese Immigration.

The tide of immigration into Mongolia in a direction due north of Kweihuacheng which was reported by Mr. Ney. Elias in 1872 to have reached Koko Uikung (two days' distance from Kweibuacheng) appears to have received a check for even to-day, that is to say, thirty-six years later the furthest outpost is only a few miles further. I an

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