REVENUE  AND  EXPENDITURE  107
theory  of  the  levy,  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent,  on  the  value,
imposed  no  great  burden  on  trade,  a  tax  of  the  same  amount
levied  as  wharfage  dues  for  the  maintenance  of  the  foreign
municipalities  at  Shanghai,  Tientsin,  Hankow,  and  elsewhere, ­
  being  scarcely  felt  ;  but  practice  soon  parted  company ­
  with  theory,  and  the  official  rates  were  much  incieased.
Nor  is  the  tax  uniform  in  its  incidence  in  all  provinces.
Hunan  is  proud  of  its  independence  and  freedom  from  noncustomary ­
  exactions,  and  in  this  province  the  payment  once
of  the  full  tariff  rate  of  likin  exempts  goods  from  further
payment  within  the  provincial  limits,  while  the  accretions
and  irregular  exactions  are  less  than  elsewhere  in  China  ;
Hunan  is,  however,  exceptional.  Kwangtung  is  more
nearly  typical  of  the  Empire  ;  here  between  Canton  and
Wuchow,  a  distance  of  about  two  hundred  miles  on  the  West
River,  there  are  six  likin  “  barriers,”  each  constituting  a
barrier  to  the  free  movement  of  traffic,  and  each  involving
delay,  vexation,  and  payment.  Along  the  Grand  Canal
between  Hangchow  and  Chinkiang,  likin  stations,  alternately ­
  collecting  and  preventive,  are  established  at  distances ­
  averaging  ten  miles  one  from  the  other  ;  and  in  that
part  of  Kiangsu  lying  south  of  the  Yangtze  there  are  over
250  stations,  collecting  or  preventive.  The  route  from
Shanghai  to  Soochow  presents  a  curious  condition  :  the
opening  of  Soochow  as  a  treaty  port  enables  foreign  imports
to  be  carried  there  from  Shanghai  without  further  payment
of  any  sort,  but  in  1904,  excluding  coal  and  kerosene  oil,  the
foreign  products  declared  at  the  Custom  House  amounted
only  to  Tls.310,000  ;  for  the  rest  of  the  large  traffic  between
the  two  places  the  Chinese  traders  prefer  to  pay  a  composition ­
  in  lieu  of  likin.  To  get  their  goods  beyond  Soochow
into  the  “  interior,”  they  would  still  have  to  come  under
the  cognisance  of  the  likin  authorities,  and  by  recognising
that  control  from  Shanghai  instead  of  Soochow,  they  are
enabled  to  commute  on  the  basis  of  estimated  quantities,
which  may  be  made  the  subject  of  manipulation  and
negotiation,  and  not  of  actual  quantities  reported  to  and
published  by  the  Customs.