io8  THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE
To  get  at  the  amount  paid  by  the  people  is  more  difficult
in  the  case  of  likin  than  of  other  taxes.  The  land  tax  and
the  grain  tribute  are  assessed  according  to  registers  very
strictly  kept,  and  both  are  under  the  control  of  the  Hsien»
the  "  Father  and  Mother  of  the  People  ”  ;  and  yet,  as  we
have  seen,  the  regular  legal  accretion  is,  at  the  very  lowest
estimate,  from  ioo  per  cent,  up  to  almost  anything  in  reason-The
  Salt  Administration  is  an  old-established  organisation  ,
and  yet  the  actual  receipts  are  threefold  the  reported  col'
lection,  while  the  people  pay  fivefold  that  amount.  Lik in
is  a  new  levy,  with  its  own  administration  independent  0
all  other  taxing  agencies,  and  the  collection  is  much  more  #
the  hands  of  the  officer  in  charge  of  each  barrier  and  his  sub'
ordinates  than  is  possible  with  other  taxes.  For  the  régulât
“  accretion  ”  a  calculation  may  perhaps  be  based  on  th e
following  note  :—
“  To  begin  with,  these  are  the  'official  fig ur *f
used  in  rendering  accounts  to  the  Superior  Boards
in  Peking.  When  these  same  figures  come  to  ^
translated  to  the  rustic,  they  bear  a  very  difiere 11
meaning.  A  special  case,  for  the  facts  of  which  we
vouch,  will  perhaps  best  illustrate  our  meaning.
fees  which  a  certain  junk,  chartered  by  a  foreig 116 ^
was  called  upon  to  pay  in  passing  a  barrier,  amount
to  12,000  cash.  The  charterer  was  not  interested  ia
disputing  the  amount,  but  he  wished  to  have  a  rece#
as  a  voucher  for  the  disbursement,  and  for  tb a
purpose  he  applied  to  the  native  office,  where  b e
was  tendered  a  receipt  for  Tls.4.  Failing  to  cod
vince  the  officials  there  that  Tls.4  could  not  ^
any  possibility  be  regarded  as  the  equivalent  0
12,000  cash  when  the  market  value  of  the  tael
about  1,600  cash,  he  applied  to  his  Consul,  claim 111 »
either  a  refund  or  a  receipt  for  what  he  had  actuad;
paid.  In  the  correspondence  that  ensued  the  cld e
Chinese  authority  explicitly  declared  that  thoug
Tls.4  was  the  proper  charge  (which,  indeed,  ^
easily  ascertainable  from  the  tariff),  yet  a  tael  ^