Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/470

Gold and silver ornaments of a rude description are made in various parts of the country; weapons, scissors, and carpenters' tools are manufactured at Ava; idols are sculptured in considerable quantities in white marble. What mining is done is mainly carried on by the Chinese. Lead, silver, and gold, all uncoined, form the circulating medium, and have to be weighed and assayed at every change of hands. A large portion of the trade is transacted by way of barter, in consequence of the difficulties attending the making of small payments. Commerce with China and Britain is carried on mainly by means of the Irrawaddy; the minor traffic is mostly in the hands of Chinese and Armenians, who have long been settled in the capital. The standard silver of the country has generally an alloy of copper of 10 or 15 per cent. Below ⁸⁵⁄₁₀₀ the mixture does not pass current, that degree of fineness being required in the money paid for taxes. The revenues proceed from a house tax, which is levied on the village, the village authorities afterward assessing householders according to their respective ability to pay. Those subject to military duty, the farmers of the royal domain, and artificers employed on the public works, are exempt. The soil is taxed according to crops. The tobacco tax is paid in money; other crops pay 5 per cent. in kind. The farmers of the royal lands pay over one half their crops. Fishing posts on lake and river are let either for a stated term or for a proportion of dried fish from the catch. These revenues are collected by officers of the crown, each of whom receives a district, from the proceeds of which he lives. The royal revenue is raised from the sale of monopolies of the crown, among which cotton is the chief. In the management of this monopoly, the inhabitants are forced to deliver certain articles at certain low prices to the crown officers, who sell them at an enormous advance. There are also certain tolls levied in particular districts. This system of taxation, though despotic, is simple in its details; and a further exemplification of simplicity in government is the manner in which the army is made to maintain itself, or at least to be supported by the people. There is no regular system of conscription, and every man is liable to serve. Nearly all are infantry armed with long spears, two-handed swords, muskets, and the jinjal, a kind of carbine. In the province of Padoung every soldier is quartered upon two families, who receive five acres of tax-free land, and must furnish the soldier with half the crops and 25 rupees per annum, besides wood and other minor necessaries. The captain of 50 men receives 10 tikals (the tikal is worth $1¼, or 2½ rupees) each from six families, and half the crop of a seventh. The bo, or centurion, is maintained by the labor of 52 families, and the bo-gyi, or colonel, raises his salary from his own officers and men. The Burman soldiers fight well under able officers, but the chief excellence of a Burman army corps lies in the absence of the impedimenta; the soldier carries his hammock at one end of his musket, his kettle at the other, and his provisions in a cloth about his waist.—The government of Burmah is a pure despotism, property and life lying at the mercy of the sovereign. He has the title of boa, or emperor. The sovereign is assisted by four woongees, or public ministers, four atween woons, or private councillors, four woon docks, or ministers of the interior, four state secretaries, four reporters, four officers to regulate ceremonies, and nine to read petitions. Anything suggested or approved by the emperor has the force of law. The four public ministers have no distinct departments, but act wherever chance directs. They form also a high court of appeal, before whom suits are brought for final adjudication; and in their individual capacity, they have power to give judgment on cases which are not brought up to the collective council. As they retain 10 per cent. of the property in suit for the costs of the judgment, they derive very handsome incomes from this source. Justice is rarely dealt out to the people. Every officeholder is at the same time a plunderer; the judges are venal, the police powerless, robbers and thieves abound, life and property are insecure, and every inducement to progress is wanting. No person in Burmah possesses any hereditary rights except the descendants of subdued princes, who are privileged to use the insignia of royalty, as white umbrellas, &c. Any subject can aspire to the highest office in the state. Near the capital the power of the king is oppressive; but it decreases with distance, so that in the more distant provinces the people elect their own governors, and pay but slight tribute to the government. The provinces bordering on China display the curious spectacle of a people living contentedly under two governments, the Chinese and Burmese taking a like part in electing the rulers of these localities. Each large city has its judicial tribunal, and townships have each a governor, who is assisted by police officers placed over the several wards. From the decision of the governor there is an appeal to the provincial governor, and from him to a higher law officer in the capital. The code of laws is derived from the “Institutes of Menu,” and though it contains many salutary regulations, the aims of justice are frequently perverted through the corruption of the judges. The enslavement of a debtor in discharge of a debt is common, and females in such a case may be used as concubines. Trial by ordeal often takes place, and in criminal cases punishments have been marked by the greatest cruelty.—In physical conformation, the Burmese, like most of the race which inhabits the countries between Hindostan and China, have more of the Mongolian than of the Hindoo type. They are short, stout, well proportioned, fleshy, but active; with large cheek bones, eyes obliquely placed, brown but