220

THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE
and  from  its  inner  end  Knblai  Khan  (a.d.126  )  ^
canal  to  the  north  shore  at  Laichow,  w  1C  ’  provided
restoration  and  completion  of  the  Grand  Umc  p^
a  safer  route,  enabled  the  tribute-laden  junk  Q f
iourney  to  the  north  without  encountering  the  p
the  stormy  passage  around  the  Shantung  10^
The  canal  has  long  since  been  unavailable  1  t0
but  its  modern  substitute,  the  railway  from  bin 8  . n
trtws  í  ssr»  ”«-&lt;
but  the  authorities  have  had  the  wisdom  0  n *  .  ,  jy
fiscal  co-operation  of  the  Chinese  Government,  an  nr
1899  the  Chinese  Kiaochow  Customs  Office  was  °P  *  *
and  functioned  at  the  port  itself.  The  fiscal  arrange  ^
then  made  was  tentative,  and  has  since  been  impro»
Beginning  from  January  1,  1906,  the  Kiaochow  uS  ¿
took  entire  control  of  the  movement  of  merchan  íse  in  ^
and  outward,  at  the  same  time  conceding  to  sing  a
the  trade  privileges  of  a  Chinese  treaty  port  ,  ®  a  e a
with  its  moles,  and  the  railway  terminus  wit  1  e ..,  a
around  them,  were  declared  a  “  Freibezirk,  muC  1
huge  bonded  warehouse,  into  which  movement  is  un  .
stricted,  and  in  which  bonded  manufacturing  may  be  earn
on  ;  the  Chinese  Customs  tariff  duty  is  levied  on  expor^
when  shipped  by  sea,  and  on  imports  when  leaving  the  r  ^
zone  ;  every  facility  is  to  be  granted  to  the  Chinese  Custo#
as  if  on  Chinese  soil  ;  and  20  per  cent,  of  the  collection  fr°
imports  is  to  be  handed  over  to  the  German  authority
as  a  contribution  to  the  maintenance  of  the  port.  With  t
arrangement,  if  it  is  found  to  work,  and  the  railway  corT ^
munication  with  its  hinterland,  the  future  of  the  port  *
assured,  the  more  that  the  ordinary  bureaucratic  metho