On Hart's Thought Of Tariff

Robert Hart who is one of the most influential foreigners in modern China has managed Chinese customs for nearly half a century. He focused on customs, participated in China's domestic and diplomatic affairs, which had a certain impact on the development of modern Chinese society. In the period that Hart served in the Chinese maritime customs, China's tariff revenue increased by nearly seven-fold, which provided the Qing court with a"life of the soup"in the external and internal crisis. Hart introduced modern western technology and management experience in the management of customs, achieved a clean and efficient customs that had laid a solid foundation for the modernization in the China's customs. So far, despite the academic community have done a lot of discussion, there has not been specifically discussed in Hart's customs and ideas. Hart's tariffs is not only an inheritance and development of Adam ? Smith's"four tax principles", and is also the theoretical guidance of Western classical economics to China's customs. On the basis of"four principles of national tax", this article inspects the recommendations and practices of Hart and probes Hart's ideas from the outside to the inside of the tariff. And the author hopes to provide useful lessons for a modern Chinese customs and executive management.In addition to the introduction and conclusion, the theme is divided into five parts.The introduction describes the reason, scope, research status and significance of the major topics.The first part introduces Hart's birthplace, family and school environment's impacting on youth Hart.The second part examines Hart's preventing smuggling, unifying customs, agreeing with foreign investors about business to reveal Hart's tariff"equitable principle". The third part explores the process of establishing the kinds of customs taxes and the tariffs and reveals Hart's tariff"confirming principle".The forth part studies the measures of improving efficiency and adjusting measures to local conditions to reveal Hart's tariff"convenient principle".The fifth part analyzes the honesty system, accounting system, auditing system of the late Qing to reveal Hart's tariff"economic principle". The conclusion section summarizes the achievements and problems of the late Qing customs. and points out that the tariff customs of the late Qing under the guidance of Hart thought just achieved a fair tariff under the Treaty. Chinese customs modernization could be completed by the Chinese people themselves only in independent circumstances.