44
the Delta on fishermen going out to sea and returning with their catches, citing so-called 'watchmen's wages, registration charges and gifts of money to buy firecrackers and joss-sticks at festivals' and 'presents' of fish. The pressure had intensified after a soldier had fallen into the sea and drowned whilst collecting. Failure to pay led to their catches being speared with iron rods on the pretext of looking for contraband. It was recorded that a similar prohibition had been set up in 1801, but after being observed for a time had then been ignored by the garrisons and patrol boat crews.60
The prevailing climate of bad behaviour
The general expectation of the populace was that officials and their underlings at all levels of government would feather their nests whenever they could.
Early British consular reports after the Opium War reflect the condition of the people and the exactions of the mandarins.
First, there was the general poverty. In his report for 1862, the British Consul at Canton described the people of the province as being 'a people among whom wealth is an exception and poverty a rule.'61
Next, there were the reasons for it. A brother Consul at Tientsin attributed various causes and wrote that it is, no doubt, owing still more to the bad civil administration under which the people live,' adding: "They generally content themselves with the acquisition merely of a moderate subsistence because wealth would be certain to lay them open to the extortions of the officials, with all the troubles which these involve. The Imperial Government, it is true, taxes lightly, but the rapacity of the civil officers discourages the accumulation of wealth in private hands, by subjecting its possessors to unmitigated oppression and spoliation."+62
Thirdly, there was the system. As reported by the British Consul at Amoy, another feature of administration was the farming out of collection duties, and the collusion between the farmers to whom the collection of taxes and duties were delegated ('who are people more or less connected with the mandarins') and the officials. The two shared 'the difference between the amount at which the revenue is let and that
44
the Delta on fishermen going out to sea and returning with their catches, citing so called 'watchmen's wages, registration charges and gifts of money to buy, firecrackers and joss-sticks at festivals' and 'presents' of fish. The pressure had intensified after a soldier had fallen into the sea and drowned, whilst collecting. Failure to pay led to their catches being speared with iron rods on pretext of looking for contraband. It was recorded that a similar prohibition had been set up in 1801, but after being observed for a time had then been ignored by the garrisons and patrol boat crews.60
The prevailing climate of bad behaviour
The general expectation of the populace was that officials and their underlings at all levels of government would feather their nests whenever they could.
Early British consular reports after the Opium War reflect the condition of the people and the exactions of the mandarins.
First there was the general poverty. In his report for 1862, the British Consul at Canton described the people of the province as being 'a people among whom wealth is an exception and poverty a rule.
761
Next, there were the reasons for it. A brother Consul at Tientsin attributed various causes and wrote that it is, no doubt, owing still more to the bad civil administration under which the people live,' adding: "They generally content themselves with the acquisition merely of a moderate subsistence because wealth would be certain to lay them open to the extortions of the officials, with all the troubles which these involve. The Imperial Government, it is true, taxes lightly, but the rapacity of the civil officers discourages the accumulation of wealth in private hands, by subjecting its possessors to unmitigated oppression and spoilation."
+62
Thirdly, there was the system. As reported by the British Consul at Amoy, another feature of administration was the farming out of collection duties, and the collusion between the farmers to whom the collection of taxes and duties were delegated ('who are people more or less connected with the mandarins') and the officials. The two shared 'the difference between the amount at which the revenue is let and that
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