CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910 — Page 151

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pays no taxes thereon; they are paid by the holder of the long-termed lease, ie., the full term of the lease which the railway company can grant, originally eighty, now seventy-three years. In order to exercise the franchise a person must pay annual taxes in some form or other amounting to 10 roubles and must be the holder of a long- termed lease of land or houses of an assessed value of 1,500 roubles, or the holder of a short-termed lease of land or houses the annual rent of which is not less than 500 roubles.

Tazation.--The incidence of taxation, excluding the imposts levied upon factories and commercial undertakings to which I shall refer presently, does not seem to be unduly heavy, and this will be the more apparent if a comparison is made with the principal taxes levied in the British concessions of Canton and Tien-tsin.

Land Tux-Harbin: Improved or occupied land 4 per cent. of market value. Unimproved or unoccupied laud 2 per cent. of market value.

Canton; 25 dollars per lot.

Tien-tsin concession: 14 per cent. on value as assessed by two independent

assessors.

Tien-tsin extension of 1 per cent. ('5625 per cent.) on value as assessed by two independent assessors.

The ratepayers of the Tien-tsin extension recently agreed to the introduction of an additional tax of 14 per cent. on all undeveloped land, and it may be remarked that in Harbin it would require improved land of the value of 6,250 roubles to yield a tax of 25 roubles, the equivalent of 25 dollars per lot as charged in Canton,

Building Tax-Harbin: 8 per cent. of the value of the building in relation to the net rental as explained earlier in this report.

Canton and Tien-tsin appear to have no building tax; but in the former place a building permit costs 25 dollars.

Lodging or Apartment Tux.-For purposes of comparisou, I contrast this tax with the rental assessments of Canton and Tien-tsin.

Harbin 1 per cent.--10 per cent. as shown in the scale hereto attached.* This scale is, I understand, identical with that of St. Petersburgh. Property valued at 20,000 roubles and 300 roubles pays respectively 2,000 roubles and 5 roubles.

Canton 5 per cent, on a moderately assessed rental. Property valued at 20,000 dollars and 800 dollars pays respectively 1,000 dollars and 15 dollars.

Tien-tsin concession : 3 per cent. on rent as assessed by two independent assessors. Property valued at 20,000 dollars and 300 dollars pays respectively 600 dollars and

9 dollars.

Tien-tsin extension: 9 per cent. on rent as assessed by two independent assessors. Property valued at 20,000 dollars and 300 dollars pays respectively 1,800 dollars and 27 dollars.

Licences. Taxes per annum."

Harbin Izvozchiks, 12 roubles; four-wheeled carriages, 12 roubles; two- wheeled carriages, 5 roubles; horses, 3 roubles; cycles, 3 roubles; goods carts, 6 roubles.

Cauton: Dogs, boats, and hotels, 10 dollars.

Tien-tsin Jinrickshaws-private, D dollars; public, 12 dollars; trolleys and wheelbarrows, 18 tacls; carriages, pablic and private, 24 dollars; dogs, 5 dollars; hotels and restaurants, from 60 dollars to 180 dollars.

In Harbin, hotels, restaurants, &c., are, as explained when considering the local taxes separately, included in establishments selling alcoholic liquors and taxed accordingly.

Annex 6 explains the system under which taxes are levied on factories and commercial undertakings. This system appears to be a very objectionable one, and to be calculated to open the way to the evils which are inherent in articles 3 and 8 of the Municipal Regulations for the South Manchurian Railway Settlements, copy of which was forwarded in Mr. Willis's depatch No. 42, of the 6th September last. As an example Messrs. Craig and Co., who were last year asked to pay a commercial or business tax of 200 roubles, were this year requested to contribute 1,500 roubles, having been placed among the first-class trading concerns. The method of classi- fication would seem to be founded on an unsound and speculative basis, as I am informed by Messrs. Craig and Co. that the taxation committee had formulated their demand on information received from Russian and Chinese bean merchants, beans being Messrs. Craig and Co.'s chief business. It seems undeniable that a tax levied

* Not printed.

in this manner must lack consistency, and that to introduce an equitable rate and scale an examination of a firm's books would be necessary. Business taxes are

imposed elsewhere in China, but the system of computation and collection is free from objection. Thus, in Canton, every firm pays an annual business tax of 50 dollars, and to silk firms, which do the most valuable trade, pay 10 cents per bale of silk shipped from the concession, the first 500 bales being exempt as the tax thereon is considered as equivalent to, and as satisfied by, the business tax paid by the silk merchants in common with all other hongs. At Tien-tsin, again, in the concession, vessels putting their cargo on the band pay bund rent amounting to 30 taels, and 35 taels per ten days for vessels of 1,000 and over 1,000 tons respectively. If, then, a business tax is a necessity in Harbin, it should be possible to devise à formi of taxation to which legitimate exception could not be taken.

The Police.-The police force is under the control of the railway administration, and a yearly payment is, as previously explained, made by the municipality for the services rendered on its behalf. A very large part of the executive power of the town or municipal council appears to be entrusted to the police, and the same thing is noticeable in the regulations governing the administration of the Russian concession at Tien-tsin. They are not, apparently, a very satisfactory body of men, and are, it is said, like all Russian police, not clean-handed.

The Outstanding Account between the Railway Company and the Municipality.-The advance made by the railway company to the municipal administration, when the latter was initiated, was 60,000 roubles. Certain properties, such as land, buildings, slaughter-houses, and a fire station, with accessories, were handed over on the under- standing that their value should be assessed and payment nude in annual instalments of equal amounts beginning with the eleventh year of the council's tenure of office. The value of these properties, with the exception of the fire station, has not yet, I understand, been determined, and the exact indebtedness of the municipal adminis- tration is not known.

Educational Establishments, &c.-Article 2 (h) of the 1907 regulations gives authority to the municipal administration to establish public educational institutious, libraries, museums, theatres, and other educational establishments-also to give support to private educational institutions. No institutions of this kind bave been established, but a grant of 1,000 roubles has been given to the two commercial schools, boys and girls, which come under the control of the railway company, and one private establish- ment has applied for assistance which has not yet, however, been afforded.

Control of the Regularity of Commercial Dealings, &c.-The powers of the municipal administration in these matters are fully set forth in article 2 () of the 1907 regulations. The authority given is obviously very extensive, and is, as far as foreigners are concerned, in certain respects entirely inadmissible.

The Work of the Municipal Administration.-It is yet, especially in the absence of full statistics, somewhat early to judge of the work of the municipal authorities. The police, as already stated, are under the control of the railway company. There are no municipal water works, and the drainage system is very defective. The roads are generally in a very bad state, and, when not covered with ice or frozen snow, are thick with dust or are, after a thaw or a fall of two hours' rain, veritable quagmires interspersed with ponds. To put them in proper order would cost a great deal of money, and in the Pristan would be attended with no little difficulty. In the Pristan, which lies low, water is in places found a few inches below the surface; the new town is high-lying, but is a straggling quarter, and the total length of roadway is groat. The repair of roads and pavements is done by the landlords and householders; this does not make for uniformity or efficiency, and, as far as pavements are concerned, the best type is, with few exceptions, ordinary wooden boards. The chief difficulty with which the fire brigade has to contend is water; during the bitter winter all surface water is frozen for several months, and water for the use of the fire brigade is stored in towers and kept from freezing by heating. There are two of these towers in Pristan, and one in the new town; in the Pristan, also, the practice is, in case of necessity, to draw upon the public baths. There is no municipal electric light station, and both in the Pristan and in the new town the bulk

the power

is obtained from three different institutions. The three new town stations are owned by private parties; in the Pristan two are also private concerns, and the third is the property of the railway company. Considerable improvement is being made this year in the matter of street- lighting, and it is to be hoped that this will tend towards the reduction of crime.

The foregoing statistics and remarks concerning the present system of municipal government, though by no means exhaustive, will, it is hoped, be sufficient to give a

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