II2  THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE
great  extent  at  their  own  sweet  will.  Both  accretion  and
collectors’  charges  are  stigmatised  by  critics  of  the  Chinese
Government  as  “  squeeze,”  or  extortion  ;  but,  while  the
method  of  collection  opens  the  door  to  personal  corruption,
still  this  is  the  Chinese  system.  In  the  West,  the  collector
is  paid  a  fixed  salary,  with  possibly  a  commission  on  his
takings,  but  issued  from  the  Treasury  ;  and  the  magistrate,
the  official  with  a  fixed  office,  is  paid  by  a  sufficient  and
all-inclusive  salary.  This  is  not  so  in  China,  where  both
collector  and  magistrate  must  fend  for  themselves.  The
collector  takes  his  charges,  but  it  is  a  mistake  to  supp° se
that  his  takings  are  all  pure  profit  :  to  maintain  his  position
he  must  satisfy  all  in  direct  authority  over  him,  thereby
securing  to  his  superiors  what  is  considered  the  just  Chinese
equivalent  of  “  salary.”  The  Hsien  will  have  received  the
basic  tax  plus  accretion  plus  what  may  come  to  him  as  h#
share  in  collectors’  charges,  and  from  this  must  provide  f° r
the  maintenance  of  all  his  subordinates,  less  the  proportion
which  they  themselves  may  have  received  as  their  share
out  of  the  collectors’  charges  ;  and  he  must  then  provide
for  the  maintenance  (what  we  would  term  salary)  of  all  in
direct  control  over  him  or  able  to  influence  his  appointment
or  his  actions.  On  his  first  appointment,  and  annually  ° r
at  more  frequent  periods  during  his  tenure  of  office,  he  mu^
give  gratifications,  depending  in  amount  upon  the  mof e
or  less  lucrative  character  of  his  post,  to  his  immediate
superiors,  the  Fu  or  Prefect,  and  the  Taotai  ;  and  he  is  th e
more  bound  to  satisfy  the  provincial  magnates,  Judg e '
Treasurer,  Governor,  and  Viceroy,  in  whose  patronage  h e
his  appointment,  retention  in  office,  and  promotion  ;  and  h e
must  not  neglect  these  great  men’s  secretaries  and  account'
ants,  who  are  in  a  position  to  slip  a  good  or  evil  word  hh 0
their  master’s  ears.  So  with  the  Fu  and  the  Taotai.  Th e
high  provincial  authorities,  too,  must  fortify  their  positif
at  the  capital,  and  a  portion  of  their  emoluments,  receive
from  their  subordinates,  must  be  passed  on,  regularly  an
almost  as  assessment,  to  the  higher  metropolitan  officia 5
and  Ministers  of  State,  and  to  the  officials  of  the  Palace,  any