g8  THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE
are  some  elements  of  that  variability  which  is  so  constant
a  factor  in  Chinese  taxation.  The  two  lots  are  adjoining,
and  apparently  of  the  same  class  of  land.  One  is  assessed
at  the  rate  of  o  0069  shih  of  grain  per  mow,  converted  at
6,000  cash,  and  the  other  is  assessed  at  0^00596  shih  p er
mow,  converted  at  7,000  cash.  The  official  accretions  ate
assessed  in  silver  and  collected  in  copper,  but  the  spring
accretion  is  converted  at  2,500  cash  and  the  autumn  accretion ­
  at  2,800  cash,  the  actual  market-rate  being  now
about  1,100  cash  ;  the  accretion  for  the  smaller  lot  is  larg er
in  amount  than  that  for  the  larger  lot.
The  copper  from  Yunnan  is  sent  now  in  much  reduced
quantity,  probably  from  5,000  to  10,000  piculs  a  year  ;  and
with  so  much  of  guesswork  in  the  calculation,  nothing  need
be  added  for  the  silks,  porcelain,  and  other  articles  of  tribute,
though  collecting  and  forwarding  them  provides  honorable,
but  not  honorary,  employment  for  many  deserving  officials-3.
  Customs
The  same  veil  of  mystery  which  hangs  over  other
branches  of  the  revenue  service  covers  the  Customs,  called
the  “  Regular  ”  or  native  Customs,  to  distinguish  it  fr 0lil
the  newly  established  “  Maritime  ”  or  foreign  Customs-The
  offices  of  this  establishment  may  be  divided  into  tw'°
classes,  those  controlling  shipping  and  those  at  land  stations-The
  “  Regular  ”  Customs  offices  within  fifteen  miles  of  a
treaty  port  have,  since  November  1901,  been  placed  unde
the  control  of  the  “  Maritime  ”  Customs,  with  the  resu’
that  most  of  them  are  so  far  regulated  that  irregular  exa c '
tions  are  suppressed  and  the  full  collection  reported.
collection  of  the  Native  Customs  under  the  Commissioned
of  Customs,  increased  from  Tls.2,206,469  in  1902
Tls.3,699,024  in  1906.  Even  before  1901  the  income  n
the  offices  had  suffered  from  the  inevitable  transfer  of  traft 1
from  the  junk  to  the  safer,  insurable  and  speedier  steamed
What  can  be  said  of  them  relates,  therefore,  more  to
past  than  to  the  present.  ^
The  typical  Customs  post,  and  the  fattest,  was  that  0