Songzi County Financial Research In The Late Period Of The Anti-Japanese War(1942-1945)

Finance is the mother of government,and finance plays a very important role in national politics and economy.When the country is in danger,the financial problems are particularly severe due to the increase in spending.In the late period of the Anti-Japanese War,Songzi County Finance operated under the background of war,and it had its operating system environment.Songzi County was close to the enemy-occupied area and had been invaded by enemy forces several times.Although the enemy's occupation time was not long,the social economy of Songzi County was still hit hard,and the financial structure of Songzi County changed at this time.After 1941,the National Government divided the national finance into two major systems,the state and the autonomy,and allocated the provincial finance to the central government.The county finance was the autonomous fiscal system.The independent financial status of Songzi County was established,and county finance could independently earn and spend.In the later period of the Anti-Japanese War,the amount of fiscal revenue in Songzi County increased year by year,and the income structure initially relied on the national tax distribution income,especially the income from the distribution of land tax.Affected by the land tax in kind and inflation,the proportion of national tax revenues to the county's finances continued to decline.By 1945,a fiscal revenue structure dominated by autonomous taxes was gradually formed.Different from other regions,in the post-war Songzi County self-government tax donation,"unlawful" autonomous business tax had always occupied a dominant position.The autonomous business tax were approved by the Hubei Provincial Governnent,but they did not receive the type of county tax donation recognized by the central government and were forced to abolish after the war.There was a shortage of funds in the county,and the county affairs were increasing,which made the administrative agencies of Songzi County expand and the office expenses of townships and towns increase.Because of the soaring prices,civil servants did not have a large amount of living allowances other than the salary,and they cannot maintain their lives.As a result,the administrative expenses were huge,and the percentage of administrative expenses was increasing.Education funds,childcare relief expenditures,economic construction and health care expenditures all increased slightly,but prices had risen sharply over the years.The increase in such expenditures was mostly superficial.In the latter part of the Anti-Japanese War,Songzi County's fiscal expenditures formed a high proportion of government expenditures,and the characteristics of steady education investment and low-level economic construction investment.From the policy of Songzi County,it could be seen that the Songzi County Government could fully exercise its functions and perform its duties after being affected by the war.It had achieved certain results in civil afFairs,financial administration,education,police protection,construction,and society.This was carried out with the support of the county finance,which reflected the county's financial support for the county government.However,the county finances had to face problems such as a single source of income in the county,a deformed structure of county expenditures,and a rigid financial administration in the county.