TWO ESSAYS ON THE CH'ING ECONOMY OF HSIN-AN
69
was occasioned by the second, more famous event; the occupation of the leased Kowloon hinterland under provisions of the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong, implemented by colonial troops in April, 1899.1
Mention must be made of these events, for had they not occurred, little would be known of the actual workings of revenue collection in late Ch'ing Hsin-An. For reasons which will become apparent, local magistrates were loath to describe the realities of tax collection, and usually preferred to maintain a semblance of li-chia (2*) in official accounts. Hence, we must turn to those foreigners whose job it was to decipher the workings of the system, in order to impose a more formal, “rational” approach.
Brown, in the Report for 1887-1891, relates the initial difficulties brought about by local opposition to the establishment of the Kowloon Customs:
Although as stated, the Hoppo and the Likin Department withdrew from the stations in 1887, there still remained the agents of certain syndicates who had farmed the collection of Likin and other local charges on some of the principal articles of trade, as kerosene oil, matches, etc. The presence of these men at the station was an inconvenience, a cause of friction, and a waste of time, as merchants were obliged to have their goods examined by, and to pay dues to, two or more independent offices. It was pointed out to the provincial authorities that the method of collecting Duties by means of farms was most wasteful, as no more than half the money taken by the farms from the traders reached the provincial treasury. These representations finally prevailed, and about the middle of 1890, as soon as vested interests could be got rid of, the whole of the farm agencies were removed.
Unfortunately for Brown and the merchants, tax farming was not restricted to the four stations under his control. Evidence suggests, for example, that the primary market mechanism employed by magistrates in late Ch'ing Hsin-An was the farming of brokerage taxes (†) to local tongs (*) which in turn oversaw the operation of periodic markets (3); Freedman (1966) and Groves (1965) supply us with some data on this aspect of tax farming as it applied to Tai Po Kau Hui (★★⇓). Similarly, services along trade routes, as well as the collection of corresponding duties, were farmed.
TWO ESSAYS ON THE CH'ING ECONOMY OF HSIN-AN
69
was occasioned by the recond, more famous event; the occupation of the leased Kowloon hinterland under provisions of the Conven- tion for the Extension of Hong Kong, implemented by colonial troops in April, 1899.1
Mention must be made of these events, for had they not occurred, little would be known of the actual workings of revenue collection in late Ch'ing Hsin-An. For reasons which will become apparent, local magistrates were loathe to describe the realities of tax collec- tion, and usually preferred to maintain a semblance of li-chía ( 2 *) in official accounts. Hence, we must turn to those foreigners whose job it was to decipher the workings of the system, in order to impose a more formal, “rational” approach.
Brown, in the Report for 1887-1891, relates the initial difficulties brought about by local opposition to the establishment of the Kowloon Customs:
Although as stated, the Hoppo and the Likin Department with- drew from the stations in 1887, there still remained the agents of certain syndicates who had farmed the collection of Likin and other local charges on some of the principal articles of trade, as kerosene oil, matches, etc. The presence of these men at the station was an inconvenience, a cause of friction, and a waste of time, as merchants were obliged to have their goods examined by, and to pay dues to, two or more independent offices. It was pointed out to the provincial authorities that the method of collecting Duties by means of farms was most waste- ful, as no more than half the money taken by the farms from the traders reached the provincial treasury. These represen- tations finally prevailed, and about the middle of 1890, as soon as vested interests could be got rid of, the whole of the farm agencies were removed
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Unfortunately for Brown and the merchants, tax farming was not restricted to the four stations under his control. Evidence suggests, for example, that the primary market mechanism employed by magistrates in late Ch'ing Hsin-An was the farming of brokerage taxes (†) to local tong (*) which in turn oversaw the operation of periodic markets ();3 Freedman (1966) and Groves (1965) supply us with some data on this aspect of tax farming as it applied to Tai Po Kau Hui (★★⇓). Similarly, services along trade routes, as well as the collection of corresponding duties, were farmed
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