Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1889-08-31

plre Condust Their Financial AnAirs.
There Is at present no national bank
In China, and the proposed American
bank, with its $50. COG, 900 OF capital.
would. In q measure. take the place OF
ever. possess thousands OF private
banks. There are 400 banks In Picking.
500 native banks in Tientsin, and Can
ton has banks and pawnshops by this
hundred. The rates of interest are
high. and short loans IN tight times
reach 80 per cent The pawnbrokers
charge 80 per cent year. or per |
cent. a month, and the rates OF ex-
change from one province TO another |
are very heavy. China has no national !
currency and each bank issues Its own
notes. These are much like our notes.
save that they are Chinese characters
and on cheap white paper. The only
coin OF the country Is the cash. of
which il takes from 600 To 500 10
make q land which coin. small as It II.
Is counterfeited The cash Is thin.
round coin little larger than one OF
the big American cents OF a century
ago. and sometimes no bigger than a
nickel II has u square hole In the
center. and il usually carried In
strings OF 100 or 1000 each. Gold
bricks and silver nuggets are used In
making large purchases. and the unit
OF weight IL the tael. or ounce. One
ounce Of silver. or tael, In worth
about $l.40 Mexican. and a common
denomination Is ten-tael piece,
which Is a chunk OF silver east In the
form Of a Chinese shoe. Cold bricks
are Of the size OF little cakes of Indian
Ink. and these. like the silver, are sub
ject 10 counterfeit The business OF
the treaty ports. which includes that
OF all foreigners with the. Chinese. liz
done In Mexican dollars. and each
business house has man. called "a
shroG. who does nothing else but count
money and pass upon It's genniness-
The Chinese do all their business
with foreigners on a cash basis, though
the credit system prevails largely
among themselves. They are honest
In their dealings. and merchants tell
me that they stick. to their bargains
even II they lose by them. China has
no bankrupt. laws and debtors are
liable 10 corporal punishment from
their creditors BY not paying their
debts they lose caste. and are practi-
eally drummed out OF business IL il
disgrace In China not to pay your
debts. and. as rule. tho whole nation
settles up at New Years Day. which
comes in February The result Is that
China never has a panic. and in the
case OF famine or failure Of crops the
Government sometimes loans money 10
the people.
The biggest OF the Chinese cities
have their stock exchanges. and the
queerest sight have seen was the sill
yer exchange in Picking. a long, low
building. lighted from the roof and
filled with from 500 to 1000 round
headed. pig-tailed, yellow-faced men,
each OF whom seemed to be yelling al
the top OF his voice and each pushing
his fingers into the face oil his neigh
Dor. These men were buying and sell
Ing silver dollars. just n our brokers
do in Wall street. and they made more
fuss than all the bulls and bears OF
New York. At eight o'clock the rate
was fixed for the day and the news was
photographed" by means Of carrier
pigeons to the various banks Of the
city. The pigeons OF Picking are large
ly used for messengers, and they
are. perhaps. the only pigeons In the
world that whistle As they fly through
the air they make whistling sound
which. In the case OF flock, sounds
like whole school OF boys operating
lin whistles at the same time. Thi-
noise comes from actual whistles
which are tied In their tail-feathers by
their owners. and the noise OF which
scares away the hawks from them.
Il Is curious sound. and | heard /,
many times before could find out from
whence II came. They are the tickers
OF the Chinese bankers. and they give
him all the quotations.
The foreign banks which do business
In China have large capital stocks. and
they pay big dividends. The Hong
Kong and Shanghai Banking Company
for instance. has paid-up capital o.
81. 500. 900. Ii has surplus OF $1,000,
600. and Its proprietors are liable 70
1880, 600 In addition 10 the capital
II pays interest ON deposits OF sis
months at the rate OF per cent and
per cent. per annum on daily balances
IL hes immense establishments
throughout the East. and lis banking
offlce here at Shanghai will compar,
In size and appointments with the bes
bank VI Wall street or London. Ii il
the same with number Of other grea
banks here In China English ant
French capital manages shem. but /
Cinnamon always counts the none,
and figures up the profits and losses on
one OF those little boxes OF button,
strung ON wires, which makes up III,
Chinese neutrality-suspicious.. and upon
which all China does Its arithmetica
problems. These banks viii give you
drafts on any part Of the world or lot
tiers OF exchange and credit. which viii
be good anywhere Their chief Of
ficers are among the leading cuisines,
men OF the East. and they all seem u
be making money Picking Cor. Chi
cago Times
Outside OF the thousands o.
churches In Inudon there are Avs