清末民政部经费考——兼论民政部堂司各员的筹款之议

A Study on the Funds of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in the Late Qing Dynasty

清末民政部经费,延续自巡警部经费,其中各省关款项54万两,来自于巡警部自筹,占据了民政部经费的一半。民政部自成立以后,就款项支绌,经费困窘,不得不时常靠借贷周转。因此,民政部尚书肃亲王善耆等谕令各司员筹议开源与节流之策。其中,开源筹款之策多基于民政部职掌而衍生出种种琐细捐费,节流之策主要是裁减京城巡警经费。为了解决经费难题,民政部尚书善耆等采取裁撤内外城巡警分厅、将部款交由度支部收发、奏请拨款等多种措施,但只能在一定程度上缓解经费短缺。民政部的经费问题,反映了清末中央层面的财政乱象。

The funds of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in the late Qing dynasty was inherited from the Ministry of Patrol,of which 540,000 taels came from the provinces and customs and were raised by the Ministry of Patrol itself,accounting for half of the funds of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.Since its establishment,the Ministry of Civil Affairs had been short of funds and had to rely on loans from time to time.Therefore,the Minister of Civil Affairs Prince Su Shanqi ordered all officials to discuss measures to reduce expenditure and increase revenue.Among them,the policy of reducing expenditure was mainly to reduce the capital patrol funds,while the policy of increasing revenue was mostly based on the duties of the Ministry of Civil Affairs,which introduced various trivial taxes and fees.In order to solve the problem of funding,the Ministry of Civil Affairs took a variety of measures,such as abolishing the inner and outer city patrol branch,handing over the funds to the Ministry of Finance for receipt and disbursement and request for funding,but it could only alleviate the shortage of funds to a certain extent.The funding problem of the Ministry of Civil Affairs typically reflected the financial chaos at the central level in the late Qing dynasty.