CHINA MARITIME CUSTOMS.
Decennial Reports on the Trade, Navigation, Industries, etc., of the Ports Open to Foreign Commerce in China, and on the Condition and Development of the Treaty Port Provinces, 1892-01 (Second issue).
RARE
The China Maritime Customs Service (aka. Imperial Maritime Customs Service) was founded in 1854 in order to administer the collection of taxes after this became impossible during the Taiping rebellion. It was notionally controlled by the Imperial Qing government, but was in fact largely staffed by foreigners (in the higher ranks) who reported to an Inspector General (Nelson Lay & Sir Robert Hart). All foreigners had to be fluent in Chinese, and the Service prided itself on its efficiency, and the unbiased enforcement of the tax collecting regime on foreigners and Chinese alike. By 1900 they were collecting about a third of the total tax revenue available to the Qing government. They were also involved in the postal administration, harbour and waterway management, lighthouse construction, weather reporting, and the policing of coastal areas and the Yangtze.
The Decennial Report provides a highly detailed survey of ten years of commercial developments and statistical analysis of the Treaty Ports in China. The first issue was published in 1893. The present second issue is the most comprehensive in two large 4to volumes. Vol. 1 deals with the Northern and Yangtze Ports (incl. Nanjing, Suzhou & Shanghai), while vol. 2 describes the Southern Ports (incl. Fuzhou, Xiamen, Canton, Hong Kong, and (strangely) Tianjin) together with two appendices on trade statistics, and a postal report.
