清季中央对外省的财政清查

宣统年间，清廷实行中央财政集权，制定了强行核查外省财政的政策，通过向各省派遣财政监理官和设立清理财政局，全面清查外销、陋规等匿报之款。外省督抚司道面对强力核查的压力，由抵触敷衍逐步趋向奉令配合。监理官在克服各种阻力后，督责各省限时清查，全面上报。大规模清查的结果显示，各省隐匿之款绝大部分上报，财政总量大大超过以往。清查财政的行动虽具有重大意义，然而持续效果却受到各种制度改革缺陷的影响，近代预算制度的建立尚须经受各种考验。     

光绪前期清廷整顿财政的努力与限度——以清查外省库款为中心的考察

光绪前期,国家由战时回归常态,清廷致力于恢复因战争被破坏的各项财政经济体制。光绪八年,经户部奏请,清廷饬令各省设局清查藩库,旨在革除司库积弊,掌握外省库款真实情况,加强对外省财政的监管。清查过程中,地方督抚基于畛域利益进行了不同程度的抵制,外省内部财政整合也遇到了不小的难度,成效不尽理想。此轮清查外省库款行动,是光绪前期整顿财政的重要一环,折射出该阶段清廷整顿财政的复杂境况与限度。     

纾困与破局:清末财政监理制度研究

清代钦派专官巡查外省营伍和吏治夙有其例。清末新政期间,为督责外省开展各项新政改革,清廷逐步将过去个案性巡查活动转变为监理督查外省的常规化操作,财政层面则派遣监理官驻扎各省,监理督责清理财政,这是清季制度变动中引人注目的范例。监理官在外省监理权限的确定比较曲折,其官秩方面虽有提升,但实际授权仍存在诸多缺陷。监理官群体克服外官抵触和旧制惰性,基本实现了督责各省外销财政核实上报、建立近代预算制度的目标。清末财政监理制度虽具显效,却为其制度本身缺陷所限制,不可能挽救清廷财政颓势,然其鉴戒意义不应忽视。     

晚清局所与清末政体变革

晚清局所适内忧外患之变局而出现,为平定战乱与善后、筹措赔款的应急措施。成同以后局所膨胀与捐纳、保举泛滥及行政新事务的扩展相交织,形成了由督抚掌控的非正式行政机构,造成了官与差、名义与实权相分离的局面,加剧了吏治腐败与财政困窘。清廷三令五申裁撤而未能显效,客观上削弱了其分权制衡的掌控力。局所泛滥的乱象背后,既隐伏着各级政府对社会变动下既有政体结构与职能如何调整的角力,同时也掩盖了局所在接引新知与发展新兴事业方面曾起过的重要推动作用。丙午官制改革与清理财政,以司道改制的方式归并局所功能,使之纳入职官体制,直省行政由此根本改变。     

浅谈清末的清理财政局制度

清理财政局作为清政府后期财政清理的主要机构在督抚督饬下成立,由度支部派遣的副监理官和本省司道等员组成,实行分科治事,担负起稽覆全省出入确数、改良收支方法及调查财政沿革利弊等职责。清理取得一定成绩,但由于旧有财政积弊太深,缺乏充分的准备和计划,使其工作存在较多问题。     

辛亥革命时期清廷的战时财政运筹

战时财政是一种非常态财政,辛亥鼎革期间,为配合战争机器运转,清廷被迫放弃预算财政轨道,转入停办其他新政,筹措所有潜在财源,力顾国防的战时财政状态。在部库与省库均近乎告罄的情况下,部省极力筹画举借外债,但先后格於列强的中立政策,不具成效;统兵将帅与北省督抚极力献策发掘内款的各种方案,却依然难遂人愿。因部库窘困,清廷针对战时请款不得不流於敷衍,空言指拨,而无实际,战时财政运筹由此陷入绝境。它折射出财政改制面临巨大变故后,国省财政应对乏术,内外疏离趋於显性的极端态势。     

论晚清"裁厘统捐"与"裁厘认捐"的尝试及夭折

厘金在晚清财政中占有重要地位,但因多次征收而导致的税率过高使多方极为不满,也造成了中央与地方的财政矛盾。《辛丑条约》签订后,为了预备“裁厘加税”,清政府决定对厘金进行改革,实施“裁厘统捐”。随着立宪运动的展开,商民势力较大的江浙等省发起“裁厘认捐”,以抵制清廷的“裁厘统捐”。由于厘金问题事涉中央、地方、商民等多方利益与矛盾,加之清廷措置失当,短时期内难以顺利调适,博弈的结果是官方的“裁厘统捐”和商民的“裁厘认捐”均以失败告终。     

辛亥鼎革之际地方督抚的出处抉择——兼论清末“内外皆轻”权力格局的影响

从群体结构看,武昌起义时在职的地方督抚仍然是一个旧式的官僚群体;武昌起义后新任的地方督抚群体则注入了新的因素,同时也暗伏了新的变数。各省督抚在武昌起义后的反应,可谓情形不一。那种认为督抚大都奔逃自保而少有效忠清廷者的说法,未免有简单片面化之嫌。其实,真正转向革命阵营或死命对抗革命的督抚只是极少数。大多数督抚还是存效忠清廷之心,虽然因无法控制新军及当地绅商不肯合作,而不能有效地镇压革命,但他们并不愿看到清王朝的覆灭,还是采取了不同程度的防范应对措施。这既与其切身利益有关,也与其思想观念状况有关。辛亥鼎革之际,因清末新政过程中清廷不断收束权力,中央与地方权力关系表面上演变为“内重外轻”之格局,但实际上是一种“内外皆轻”的权力格局。其总体表征是中央与地方权威一并流失,中央无法控制地方,地方无力效忠中央。“内外皆轻”权力格局的形成,直接后果是清廷中央与地方均无法有效地应对革命,致使清王朝走向覆亡之路;另一个严重的后果是掌握军队尤其是新军的军人势力的崛起,出现军人干政,导致民国初年的军阀政治。     

清代咸同年间湖南东征局兴废考析

清代咸同年间,曾国藩挥师东征太平军,因户部库储空虚,酌拨维艰,不得不自筹军饷.为此,曾国藩精心策划,在两湖督抚支持下,克服重重困难,在湖南设立东征筹饷局这一临时性机构.东征局创办数年,济饷成效显著.湘军攻克江宁后,曾国藩筹划撤局,却因多省觊觎局饷,最终局名虽裁,而厘税加征做法却基本保留.东征局这种祖制之外的权宜机构,其兴废历程揭示了晚清战时财政运作备受牵制的复杂面相.     

清朝同光时期贵州隔省捐输研究

太平天国运动后,东南各省军费浩繁,应解贵州的协饷欠解严重。同治三年(1864),清廷将道府州县等实官收捐权收归户部,但在三年后允许贵州省继续开办,贵州省借机办理隔省捐输,赴外省推行实官捐以抵充协饷。贵州先后在湖南、四川、湖北、广东、广西、江苏、山东等省设立黔捐局,至光绪五年(1879),捐输所得超过2170万两。探究这一时期的贵州隔省捐输情况,可以看出作为传统财政收入的捐输在晚清财政体系中仍占重要的地位,同时可以透视清廷调剂省际财政的努力及其实际运行。     

近十年晚清财政史研究综述

晚清财政史研究是晚清经济史研究的重要领域之一。近十年来,学术界的目光主要集中于晚清财政状况、财政收支、财政制度等方面,在论和资料整理上均取得了丰硕成果。学们从纵向与横向两方面着笔,对晚清财政状况进行了宏观考察。财政收入研究侧重于外债、关税与厘金,而对外赔款仍是财政支出研究的热点。财政制度与体制方面,学界论述较多为中央与地方的财政关系问题。至于财政思想,学们对重要人物的财政思想研究较多,对总体性财政思想的研究则相对薄弱。此外,他们还对太平天国政权的赋税制度与政策予以客观分析和评价。     

Financial policies in the Papal States, 1790s–1848: a comparative study of Napoleonic Europe

This article discusses the financial policies of the Papal States from the late eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century in relation to the rest of Europe, and especially Italy. Its crucial starting point is the Napoleonic economic reforms, which had important and often lasting effects throughout its former empire. French reliance on debt reduction and heavy though equitable taxation improved the financial conditions of most European lands even as they convulsed from the protracted wars. The economic austerity prior to 1814 forced post-Napoleonic Europe to make decisions on the degree of continuity on these two financial fronts. Political instability beginning in the 1820s for some, and the early 1830s and late 1840s for the rest, upset the rather tenuous financial position that most lands found themselves in. For the Papal States, the Napoleonic period improved its financial position to the detriment of ecclesiastical institutions. The period also revealed the inherent flaws in its financial system, necessitating a decentralized approach to the restoration, relying on individual (or institutional) initiatives and large foreign loans, in lieu of overarching policies. By the 1850s, a further lack of financial control induced the renewal of Peter’s Pence.     

辛亥革命時期清廷的戰時財政運籌

戰時財政是一種非常態財政,辛亥鼎革期間,爲配合戰爭機器運轉,清廷被迫放棄預算財政軌道,轉入停辦其他新政,籌措所有潛在財源,力顧國防的戰時財政狀態。在部庫與省庫均近乎告罄的情況下,部省極力籌畫舉借外債,但先後格於列强的中立政策,不具成效;統兵將帥與北省督撫極力獻策發掘内款的各種方案,卻依然難遂人願。因部庫窘困,清廷針對戰時請款不得不流於敷衍,空言指撥,而無實際,戰時財政運籌由此陷入絶境。它折射出財政改制面臨巨大變故後,國省財政應對乏術,内外疏離趨於顯性的極端態勢。     

辛亥革命时期的省制纠结

辛亥各省光复政权乃至民初政府的省制,多在清末外官改制和各省独立自治的基础上加以变通,共和制下如何确定中央与地方的关系,省制成为关键。民初朝野舆论相持最久、困扰最多的省制方案与争论,不宜单从民主与专制较量的角度立论,还应考虑时人对国家统一的向往与对分裂的隐忧。中国历史文化中,分合与治乱兴衰紧密联系。省制模式中集权与分权、官治与自治的平衡取舍,既与民主、专制相关联,也与统一或分裂的抉择相始终。由于以省为地方自治层级范围过大,东西方各国无此先例,单一制与联邦制均不适合,民初省制因此成为本土国情与域外制度纠结甚深的焦点。这一难解的症结,或许仍将对中国的政治体制改革产生深远影响。     

清季外官改制的“地方”困扰

民国以来,学界习惯用中央与地方的观念,讨论清季新政内外官改制及其引发的矛盾纠纷,忽略了督抚反复强调元代以来行省并非“地方”的申辩,且多不愿成为立宪政体下的“地方”官吏,以及清廷所颁政令中,直省始终未成为地方行政层级的事实。时人套用外来政体的中央与地方概念观照清代的部院与直省,不仅与清朝集历代王朝体制之大成的设制用意形似而实异,且对清季改制及民初省制造成很大困扰,亦长期制约后人对中国政治制度史的认识。这种观念体制上中西新旧不相凿枘的纠葛,折射了制度兴革与历史文化复杂而深刻的联系,也给未来中国的改革设置了难题。     

Heeding the warnings: Deng Huaxi and Zheng Guanying’s Shengshi weiyan

ABSTRACT

This article establishes a link between Qing-dynasty official Deng Huaxi (1826–1916) and comprador Zheng Guanying’s (1842–1922) political treatise Shengshi weiyan (Warnings to a Prosperous Age). It suggests that Deng Huaxi’s reforms as provincial governor of Anhui and Guizhou were inspired by Shengshi weiyan. The work did not come to be applied in the 1898 Hundred Days Reform but saw at least partial success in the modernization of the two landlocked provinces. This interpretation supports the scholarly consensus that the geographical extent of the late Qing self-strengthening reforms was contingent on various persons and places and being far more focused on coastal provinces. It also suggests that the nature, pace, and scope of reforms lay at the discretion of governors-general and provincial governors, many of whom possessed few resources with which to implement them fully. The story of Deng Huaxi challenges a common idea about late Qing China: that meaningful reforms relied only on men with deep political connections to the central court and access to private fortunes. It also shows how effectively messages by Zheng Guanying and other theorists could reach local administrators and leaders and how, in provinces not so dominated by conservative literati elites, Western-style reforms garnered much appeal without too much resistance.     

Architecture of Commercial Redevelopment in Post-War Britain

The architectural styles associated with the redevelopment of British central business districts since World War II are described, largely through an examination of two provincial centers, one an administrative, commercial and industrial town and the other a suburban town. The influence of the historical legacies with which the two centers entered the post-war period is emphasized and the succession of styles, especially neo-Georgian, modern and post-modern, is discussed in relation to the characteristics of the owners and architects of buildings. Owner-occupiers tended to adopt new architectural fashions more rapidly than speculative developers. After the mid-1950s increasing influence from outside the study centers was channelled primarily by national property companies, with the financial backing of insurance companies. Architectural styles diversified after the late 1960s, and within individual centers, though not nationally, they were the responsibility of a greater range of firms, mostly operating countrywide.     

Tensions between municipal reform and outdated fiscal levers in rural British Columbia

Debates about the future of small municipalities in Canada are set against a backdrop of economic, political, and social restructuring processes that have displaced former state investment policies in favour of neoliberal public policy approaches. Small municipalities struggle with outdated financial and governance structures and a provincial public policy agenda that asks them to become more creative, innovative, and “entrepreneurial” in their approach and responsibilities. Drawing upon key informant interviews with eight case studies in British Columbia, Canada, this research examines the tensions between municipal reforms mandated by the provincial government over the past 30 years and commensurate fiscal levers and capacities in place to address these broadening responsibilities for small municipalities in volatile staples-dependent regions. Our findings demonstrate how successive provincial governments have mobilized New Public Management objectives through a host of legislative and regulatory changes that have increased the responsibilities and requirements on local governments without commensurate fiscal or jurisdictional capacity.     

日本的不良债权及其政策措施

自泡沫经济崩溃后产生不良债权以来,日本金融机构的不良债权就一直是持续增加的趋势,这在90年代后期尤为明显,巨额的不良债权对金融机构和日本经济都产生了极为严重的影响,为此,日本政府通过制订有关金融法规推进金融改革,实和金融稳定和政策和金融缓和政策,加强金融监督和金融检查等有关措施,千方百计地解决不良债权问题,日本政府解决不良债权的政策措施并未能阻止不良债权的继续增加,其处理不良债权的计划一再的落空,今后也不会一帆风顺,尽管如此,有关政策措施确实是起到了一定的作用,有值得学习和借鉴之处。     

Public debt and financial crises in the twentieth century

The costs of wars have been the main driver of public debt in the Western World during the modern era. The late twentieth century stands out as a period that saw a pronounced increase of government debt to GDP ratios in peacetime. This paper assesses the role that financial crises have played in shaping the public debt trajectory in the twentieth century. Focusing on the experiences of 14 industrial economies, I show that financial crises have long and lasting effects on public finances. I provide evidence that the costs of financial crises have increased strongly in the second half of the twentieth century and that the costs of financial crises grow with the size of the financial sector. In many countries, the rising costs incurred from stabilizing the economy after financial crises were an important cause of the peacetime surge of public debt ratios in the late twentieth century. In today's highly financialized economies, financial crises have become a key risk for public finances.