370

THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE

that  the  Amoy  Commissioner  controls  most  of  the  lights  in
the  adjoining  districts—Foochow  and  Swatow,  while  the
Shanghai  lights  and  most  of  those  in  the  Ningpo  district
are  directly  under  the  Coast  Inspector.
The  Educational  Department  (merged  in  the  Peking
University  by  Imperial  Decree  of  January  n,  1902)  had
only  an  indirect  connection  with  the  Customs.  It  was
supplied  with  funds  through  the  Customs,  and  the  Inspector
General  nominated  to  vacant  chairs  in  the  Peking  College»
and  frequently  “  lent  ”  men  from  the  Customs  for  temporary
instructing  duty  ;  but  the  College  was  built  up  and  directed
for  many  years  by  the  venerable  Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin,
educator  and  sinologue.  The  College  at  Canton,  which
still  survives,  is  smaller,  and  is  under  the  direct  control
of  the  Commissioner,  as  quasi  colleague  of  the  Tartar
General,  appointments  to  its  staff  being  made  by  the
Inspector  General.
The  Postal  Department  will  be  more  fully  described
in  the  chapter  on  the  Post  Office,  and  it  will  suffice  here
to  show  its  connection  with  the  Customs.  In  the  early
days  foreign  mails  were  sent  along  the  coast  by  the  primitive
method  of  handing  them  to  the  steamer  agents.  The
Customs  organised  a  Postal  Department  for  the  transmission
of  its  own  mail  matter,  and  in  1876  the  postal  facilities  of
the  offices  at  Shanghai,  Tientsin,  and  Peking,  subsequently
extended  to  Newchwang  and  Chefoo,  were  thrown  open
to  the  public,  in  order  to  provide  uninterrupted  communie^'
tion  with  Peking  and  the  north  during  the  winter,  when
the  northern  ports  were  closed  by  ice.  Communication
was  maintained  by  a  trunk  line  of  couriers  from  Chinkiang
to  Tientsin,  a  distance  of  800  miles,  and  a  postal  servit
organised  by  Mr.  G.  Detring,  Commissioner  at  Tientsin,
was  in  full  working  order  by  1878.  This  “  Customs  Post
was  found  to  be  a  convenience  to  the  public,  and  in  188%
the  facilities  were  extended  to  all  ports  north  of  Fukio 11 '
In  1896  a  decree  was  issued  creating  an  Imperial  Posh
the  organisation  and  management  of  which  were  entrust^
to  Sir  Robert  Hart.  The  new  establishment  was  thn 5