A Study On The Relation Between Government And Charitable Organizations During The Nanjing National Government Period (1927-1937)

The Kuomintang completed the national reunification in form through the Northern Expedition.In order to consolidate the new regime,the Kuomintang proposed to replace the popular movement with social construction and try to eliminate the revolutionary nature of the public organizations.As a member of the public organization,the charity was regulated within the national system under the guidance of this policy.Under the Kuomintang's political tutelage system,the Kuomintang government's supervision of charities adhered to the guidance of the party and the government,and the party department took precedence over the government.The specific practices of the Kuomintang to supervise charities were mainly reflected in registration,property supervision,and solicit contributions' norms.The period during the Beijing government came to power about the registration of charities,the development of these organizations were in a state of laissez-faire,and its social legitimacy was long-lived.After the establishment of the Nanjing National Government,charities were required to register,giving them legal legitimacy,which was negatively resisted by charitable organizations.Besides,after the establishment of the political tutelage system,the Kuomintang Party Department also began to intervene in charities to help them register,Kuomintang even sent party members to guide the organization of charities in order to incorporate them under the banner of the Three People's Principles.What Kuomintang has done caused strong dissatisfaction of different charities.Therefore,although the Kuomintang and the National Government have repeatedly requested the registration of charitable organizations and reprimanded them time and again,the registration of all charitable organizations was still not optimistic.As far as property supervision,charities have always insisted on property's self-management,while the National Government required charity to report property regularly and attempted to interfere with the charity's property change and use,which was strongly opposed by charitable organizations.In fact,the government's supervision of property is not entirely to control charitable organizations.Instead,the government was to reform the ills of the development of charities to help them realize the scientific management of property management and promote the further developmentof philanthropy.In terms of fundraising,social fundraising is the source of charity development and the main source of income for many charities.However,due to the lack of supervision,some people lined their pockets in the name of charity,which caused waste of social resources and damaged the reputation of charities.To this end,the National Government supervised both charities and the society.Charity fundraising must be reported to the competent department for approval,and the social unscrupulous fundraiser will be severely attacked.In addition,some charitable organizations also took the initiative to request the government to supervise the fundraising process and the use of money in order to gain the trust of the public and to raise more charitable funds.There was a positive interaction between the government and the charity.Unlike public organizations,such as chambers of commerce,peasant associations and trade unions,which had strong political appeals,charities were non-political.Therefore,the supervision and regulations formulated by the National Government and its specific practices are mainly to regulate and guide the internal management and external activities of the charities,its regulatory policies are quite flexible.In order to encourage charitable organizations to handle charitable causes,the government provided some financial support and awards honors.The support of Economic manifested in two aspects mainly:In the first aspect,It gave the group financial subsidy regularly,the general amount was relatively small and it was not implemented universally.but to some extent,which was an incentive policy to maintain and help the development of charity.The second aspect focus on property tax relief,which involved land tax,house donation,and income tax generally.In the famine period,the tax reductions would root for charity purchases,transportation,and telegraph transmissions,which supported charitable organizations effectively.For outstanding achievements groups in charity relief,the government often encouraged them by awards different levels of medals and plaques.In order to provide charitable organizations with a good relief environment and favorable development conditions,the government protected it from all aspects.For example,to fight against good deeds,to maintain their reputation;to protect their property from being expropriated by the party,government and militarydepartments;to protect the personal safety of their personnel;and even to protect the identity of charities and to recognize their exclusive rights.In disaster relief,in order to achieve the integration and optimization of disaster relief resources,the government often cooperated with charitable organizations so as to give full play to the advantages of them.