require bambooing before it can be got from them; and the unfortunate proprietors hail the advent of a revolution as a means to relieve them from payment of the impost. And with justice, indeed, may the people complain, when, for whatever tax they pay, they see nothing in the shape of return. The Government, to all intents and purposes, is conducted by the people themselves. The laws of society outraged, the offender is taken to the ancestral hall of his clan, or to the nearest monastery. There, the superior of his tribe, if the offender is a native, or the superior elder if a stranger, investigates the complaint, enforces the punishment, and at once ends the matter. The bamboo for infliction of punishment hangs in the Monastery kitchen ready for the culprit. There is no imprisonment—no law's delay. When offences are really serious, as defined by the Ta tsing leu lee (Code of the present dynasty) a messenger is sent to the Yuen or district town with a report, and, if the offenders are several in number, soldiers are despatched to bring them to the Yamun, where the complaint being detailed (the investigation ends with the patriarchs) punishment is inflicted according to the scale. (8)
Whether the incoming Government can amend this system is doubtful, whether they will attempt to alter it, and whether Government generally can or will be conducted at a cheaper rate than the present, are problems, the solution of which remains in the womb of the future. One thing is certain—the mode of obtaining office must be altered. Western writers point to China's system of giving office to men who have distinguished themselves in a literary way as something excellent. The idea, speaking generally, is a fallacy. No matter how excellent a man's ability—the first office can only be obtained by purchase after the literary degree
