The Delta independent., 1889-04-30
THE BANKS OFNCHINA.
How the Heathen cnInee Lsnds
and Borrows and Transacts His
Financial BUSINESS:
Faots About the Oldest Banking Country
In the World and the Current
Rates of Interest,

Faots About the Oldest Banking Country
In the World and the Current
Rates Of Interest.
In one of the leading business houses of
Shanghai I find reminiscence of the
Mitkiewicz syndicate. 1t is brass sign
and 1t bears the name of Warton Barker
| upon it. Mr.. Barker is supposed here to
be still working for the concession, and
| during my interview with Ii Hung Chang
noted that he asked very particularly as to
Mr.. Barker's character and his standing
pnong our bankers. am told that Warton
Barker insends to visit Russis soon, and to
| look into the railroad projects, which pro-
pose line from Siberia above Picking,
westward through Europe and that the
status OF this road will materially affect
his plans. Ii Hung Chang feels much
| ashamed Of being taken in by Mitkiewicz,
| and he thinks that If the American banking
| scheme could be made u fixed fact he would
| retrieve his reputation. The concessions he
gave Mitkewicz were genuine, and he
signed them as the secretary of state of
China. When the government, however,
found that Mitkiewicz was an adventurer
honorable Ii in tho lurch Ii Hung
Chang is now in correspondence with Mr.
Barker, and the next agent that Barker
SENDS to China will probably have enough
oShASo W hSSP LID olub uDlll UIlb ArUl-
parties.
There is at present no national bank In
Chlna, and this American bank with its
take the place of a national bank The chi.
nese, however, have thousands of private
banks. There are 400 banks in Picking,
3Oo native banks in Ticntsin, and Canton
mas mas ks'and pawnshops by the hundreds.
The rates OF interests are high and short
loans in tight times reach 33 per cent, The
pawnbrokers charge Sc per cent year or 3
per cent month, and the rates of exchange
from iron one province to another is very heavy.
China has no natural currency, and each
bank issues its own notes. These are much
like our notes, save they are Chinese char
acters and on cheap white paper. The only
com. com OF the the country our is the cash. of which it
winch, small as it is, is counterfeited. The
cash is thin, round coin a little larger than
one OF the big American cents of a century
as1 and sometimes no bigger than nickle
1t has a square hole in the center and is
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 is the teal or ounce. One ounce
OF silver or teal is worth about 81. 40 Mexi-
can and common denomination is O ten-teal
piece, which is chunk of silver cast in the
form Of Chinese shoe. I saw some of
these silver shoes at the Hong Kong and
Shanghai bank at Peking. They are stamp
ed with marks denoting the fineness of the
metal within them and they contain from g7
to W per cent of pure silver. Gold bricks
are OF the size Of little cakes of India ink,
and these, like the silver, are subject to
counterfeit. The business d the treaty
ports, which includes that of all foreigners
with the Chinese, is done in Mexican dol.
lars, and each business house has man
called a shroff, who does nothing else but
count money and pass upon its genuireness.
The Chinease are the greatest swindlers in
q small way in the world. They appreciate
the accumulating proprieties of little drops
than any other people, and they will shave
bit of silver dust of of dollar after dollar
so small that You can not perceive the loss
until they have shaved enough to have made
amite All gap pron,t They bore holes in the coin,
silver, and in taking money from the banks
here it Is necessary to ring every com.
The Chinese do all their business with
foreigners on cash basis, though thecredit
system prevails largely among themselves
They are honest in their dealings and mer-
chants tell me that they stick to their
bargains even II they lose by them. China
has no bankrupt laws and debtors are liable
70 corporal punishment from their creditors.
BY, not paying their debts they lose caste
and are practically drummed out of bust
ness. 1t Is adisgrace in China not to pay your
oe.5, ae6t5s, and; as as rule, the whole nation
In February. The result is that China
never has panic, and in the case of famine
or failure of crops the government some
times loans money to the people. The silver
regulate the value of "a dollar by the
rise and fall of silver in the markets of
the world. The biggest of the Chinese cities
have have their stock exchanges, and the .queerest
change in Picking. In company with
Charles Denby, the son of our minister.
went at o'clock one morning into the
crowded Chinese city. We wound our way
keys and men could pass through
them, through passages where men had to
walk sidewise in order to get by each
other, and finally found ourselves in long,
cattle-shed than a business room. IT
was lighted from the roof and was filled
with from 800 to 1000 round headed, pig
tailed, yelIow-faced men, each of whom
and each pushing his fingers into the face
OF his neighbor. These men were buying
and selling silver dollars, Just as our brokers
40 in Wall street. and they made more fuss
At 3 O'Clock the rate was fixed for the day
and the news was ''telegraphed" by means
OF carrier pigeons TO the various banks OF
the city The pigeons of Peking arc largely
the only pigeons in the world that whistle
AS they fly through the air they make a
whistling sound which, in the case of a
flock, sounds like whole scholl of boys
OpCtotihS "HlStleS NJ inc same time.
This noise comes from actual whistles
which are tied in their tail feathers by their
owners and tho noise of which scares away
the hawks from them. 1t is curious sound
and heard it many times before could
lind out from whence it came. They are
the ticKers of the Chinese bankers and thew
give him all the quotations
The foreign banks which do business in
China have large capital stocks and they nav
big dividends. The Hong Kong and Shang-
hal banking company, for instance has n
paid up capital at $7,500, 900. It has a sur
plus of S4,0O0,000 and its proprietors are
liable for 81, 800 600 in addition to the capital.
1t pays interests on deposits of six months at
the rate Of per cent and per cent per
annum on daily balances. It has immense
establishments throughout the east and its
banking office at Shanghai will compare in
size and appointments with the best banks
Of wall street or London. II is the same
with number OF other great banks here in
China. English and French capital
manages them, but Chinaman always
counts the money and figures up the profits
and losses on one of these little boxes of
buttons strung on wires, which makes up
the Chinese calculating machine and upon
which all China does its arithmetical prob
lens. These banks will give you drafts on
any part Of the world, or letters of exchange
and credit, which will be good anywhere.
Their chief officers are among the leading
business men of the cast, and they all seem
to be making money
Speaking Of the credit system, there are
large stores run by foreign merchants at