Wuchang

The tribute to be paid to England after the unfortunate war of 1840, the great unproductive consumption of opium, the drain of the precious metals by this trade, the destructive influence of foreign competition on native manufactures, the demoralized condition of the public administration, produced two things: the old taxation became more burdensome and harassing, and new taxation was added to the old. Thus in a decree of the Emperor, dated Peking, Jan 5 1853, we find orders given to the viceroys and governors of the southern provinces of Wuchang and Hanyang to remit and defer the payment of taxes, and especially not in any case to exact more than the regular amount; for otherwise, says the decree, “how will the poor people be able to bear it?” And “Thus, perhaps,” continues the Emperor, “will my people, in a period of general hardship and distress, be exempted from the evils of being pursued and worried by the tax-gatherer.” Such language as this, and such concessions we remember to have heard from Austria, the China of Germany, in 1848.