CHINA
tions, however effected, are paid into the hands of the local officials, and none, with the sole exception of the revenue derived from the maritime customs, is held absolutely at the disposal of Peking.
There being no budget nor any settled accounts, whether for the Empire at large or for each province as a whole, it is impossible to ascertain whether a surplus exists in either case. Prior to the Taeping rebellion, or, at any rate, up to the end of the eighteenth century, there is reason to think that whereas the annual state income amounted to some forty million taels, the disbursements did not exceed thirty millions in normal times, so that a constant surplus accrued, and an accumulated reserve of sixty or seventy million taels was generally in hand. Foreign intercourse had not then begun to lay its burdens upon the country, nor had western civilization forced the nation to spend a large part of its income upon instruments for destroying life. But it may be safely asserted that neither in central nor in local treasury is there any surplus now. On the contrary, the close of each year sees some demands unsatisfied and, if not carried forward to the next year, doomed to remain unsatisfied. It is presumed that if a province fail to send up the full amount of its assessed quota to Peking, the responsible viceroy or governor is punished. But a plausible excuse is generally accepted, and the Board of Revenue in the capital, taught by long experience, takes care that its de-
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