Research On County Mayors’ Administration Of Conscription And Grain Levies In Sichuan During The Full-Scale Anti-Japanese War

The system of administrative supervision commissioner was fully established after the unity of Sichuan administration in 1935.Sichuan was divided into 18 administrative supervision districts,and the third district was significantly contributing to conscription and grain levies while governing ten counties and one bureau.During the full-scale war,the number of conscripts in the third district was 3.7 percentage points higher than the proportion that the statistic size of residents in the same district accounts for the overall population in Sichuan Province.Meanwhile,the ratio of levied grains to agricultural acreage was 5.9 percentage points higher above the average level in Sichuan.Administrative performances by the third district was noticeable in contrast with the other districts,which was both credited to local nature and county mayors’ acts.In order to raise working efficiency during the full-scale war,the county mayors adopted a series of incentive measures.Conscription was practiced by contests,propaganda,welfare system and punishments.Grain levies were proceeded by festival events,field investigation and instructional patrols.However,the acts were causing corruption while being supported by the primary layer.As the public raised complaints against malpractices,county mayors’ gave essential responds in accordance with their duties and the network of interpersonal relationship.The third district reached quantitative achievements: 0.36 million conscripted soldiers,and 410.4 kilogram of levied grains.People were actively responding to specific policies although evasive actions were taken.Different responds showed the complexities that were remained by conscription and grain levies during the war.This fact was a persuasive answer when we try to explain the interplays between "support" and "opposition".During the war,conscription and grain levies were influenced by varied factors.Firstly,there were many branching jobs taken by county mayors,and constant resignation was raising due to inefficiency.Secondly,the funding was not enough to support the chief’s positions,and brought impacts to work enthusiasm at different levels of administration.Besides,strict conscription were challenged by pressures imposed to households,and statistics of land ownership remained inaccurate.The interplay of three factors above weakened the effects of the county mayors’ acts.