Morning journal and courier., 1882-12-19
A Peculiar Custom.
Ehe Manner in which Chinmmen Loan
 Money to One Another

! The Manner in which Chinnmen Loan Money to One Another.
 From the Sacramento (Cal) Bee.1
 When Chinanan finds himself financially embarrassed and needs money he does not do as other people do borrow it and either give
 promissory note or chattel mortgage as se- curlty for the same, but he forms what in
 Chinese is called an "owey." This is some- l thing which is peculiarly Chinese, and re- quires minute explanation in order that it may be clearly understood. The lowest "owey" is fixed at SS1 for each person form ing t, and the highest $2OO For instance, Ii Chlnaman needs $1e0 he will call on number of his friends, not to exceed ten, and tell them that he wishes that amount of money, and desires to form an "owey." If it is decided that it shall be $2O "owey" then five persons in addition to the originator will
 be designated Sam, and his five friends as Vow, Ton, Kow, Chew and Hing At the first meeting of the six the originator receives
 from each of the other five $20, making up the amount he requires This is loan made to him without interest, which he must re- pay at the rate of $2O month. At the time this sum Is advanced the other five bid for the privilege of the ''owey" for the running month. Each one writes on 8 slip of paper the amount of the premium he will give
 These slips are rolled separately and thrown into bowl and shaken up, after which each slip Is unrolled and the amount noted. The
 'owey" Is then awarded to the one having bid the highest premium. Vow having bid $l premium, Yen, Row, Chew and Hing each pay $19, which Is the amount less the premium. and amounting in all to $76; and If he adds the amount of his own contribu- tlon 1t will make total of $96, or equal to the amount advanced to Sam, less $4, which Is reckoned as interest. allowing $1 for each of the four who advance the money. At the close of the first month Sam, the originator Is, by the rules which govern this system of money lending, forced to notify all who be- long to the ''owey" of the next meeting At this meeting Row, Chew and Hing are the only ones who are permitted to offer pre- mlum, Sam and Vow having no voice in the matter. At this meeting the premium of S1 IS again offered, and it having been awarded to Yen, the other three pay him $I9 each and Sam and Yen repay their first monthly installment of $2O each. At the next meet ing only three, Row, Chew and Hing, can bid, and if the same amount of premium is bid, and 1t is awarded to the first of the three named, the other three Sam, Vow and Yen pay him $20 each. At the next meeting only two. Chew and Hing, are permitted to offer pre- mlum The one to whom the ''owey' is awarded receives from the other the amount less the premium, and from the other four $2O each. At the next and last meeting, only one remaining, he receives from the other five $20 each, making the full sum of $1O0. By this method the originator of the "owey," who obtains the money without in- En, $80 for four months, $6O for three months, $40 for two months and $2O for one month In return for the use of the money he is forced to act as collector from the other members of the ''owey," who required to pay the monthly installments of $2O. He also as sumes risk, and that is, if any member of the "owey" does not pay at the appointed time he has to be responsible for the amount due The other members of the "owey" who by 1nstallment advance money to oae another receive interest for the amount of their advances, and each in turn has the use of the total amount of the ''owey" in the same proportion as the originator This method of money lending is in vogue among all classes, and women often form "oweys" among themselves When the slips of paper betofe alluded to are drawn from the bowl it often happens that two or more contain the same amount of premium. In such an event the "owey" is given to tho one whose slip is first drawn. The "owey" may be composed of any number not exceeding ten besides the originator, and the greatest amount that may
 be raised by such means is $2, 900. When
 ever an "owey' Is formed and the amount to
 be awarded to the originator is $500, or in
 excess thereof, he is required to treat those who loan him the money to dinner, not to
 cost less than $2 head Oftentimes a high
 premium is bid for tho privilege of the
 'owey" for each succeeding month, and this gives the lenders considerable interest for the use of their money.