CHAPTER  XIII
THE  POST  OFFICE
An  organised  service  for  the  conveyance  of  government
despatches  has  existed  in  China  for  many  centuries,  the
I-chan,  or  Government  Service  of  Couriers,  being  mentioned
in  the  records  of  the  Chow  Dynasty,  the  beginnings  of  which
date  back  3,000  years.  During  the  succeeding  centuries  the
necessity  was  always  felt  of  maintaining  regular  communication ­
  between  the  Emperor  and  his  Government  at
the  capital,  and  his  officials  and  garrisons  in  the  provinces  ;
and  what  may  be  called  postal  communication  was  as  fully
organised  in  China  as  it  was  under  Persian  Kings  or  Roman
Emperors.  The  I-chan  is  wholly  maintained  by  the  State
through  provincial  contributions  from  ordinary  local  taxes,
the  cost  being  estimated  in  a  joint  memorial  to  the  Throne  in
1902  by  the  two  Yangtze  Viceroys,  at  some  Tls.3,000,000
annually.  The  service  is  under  the  supervision  of  the
Board  of  War  at  Peking.  The  direct  control  is  exercised
by  the  Cart  and  Chariot  Department  of  the  Board,  and,
under  it,  the  Horse  Office  controls  the  couriers  and  their
horses,  and  the  Despatch  Office  receives  and  forwards  the
official  mails  at  the  capital  itself.  At  each  provincial
capital  is  a  Director  of  Posts,  a  military  officer  appointed  by
the  Board  of  War,  and  placed  under  the  orders  of  the  Provincial ­
  Judge,  his  duty  being  to  see  that  despatches  are
transmitted  without  impediment.  The  actual  forwarding
is  done  by  each  District  Magistrate  from  border  to  border  of
his  district,  and  the  cost  is  a  charge  on  his  budget.  With
the  constitutional  conservatism  of  Chinese  officialdom  in
matters  of  expenditure—in  never  letting  go  a  good  thing
when  they  have  it—the  full  machinery  of  the  I-chan  is  still
maintained,  though,  when  available,  steamers  and  railways  are
now  utilised  for  the  more  rapid  transmission  of  despatches.
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