The sun., 1894-05-06
cHIsEsE Roam lssotTl ffoxs.
Th.,e .r. nrsuy or Tksr. n rats City. s-a
An are on Oss Ne1et.

Thefe ere Hany OF Them " Thte Ottyt 80
An Dee Wefei.
The financial methods Of the Chinese In this
city are peculiar. In the agerenste they have
money. and lots Of II. and In the handling Of IL
they show queer mixture Of suspicion. faith.
and honesty. There are Chinese merchants
here who carry stock Of $500 OF $1,000. and
at the same time have open book accounts OF
$4,000 absolutely unsecured and without
even a scrap OF paper to prove them In law.
The merchant princes Of the Chinese colony
those who pay customs duties at this port OF
from 100000 to 100000 year-more nearly
approximate to American ideas Of business.
Their loan associations are q feature OF
their financial system. There is no way Of es-
timatine the number Of such associations in
this city. They spring up By the score and die
q natural death at the end OF two or three
years. unless the Treasurer has wrecked the
association before that time. They all have
the same articles OF association. brought with
them years ago from China. and retained with
all the fervor OF Oriental conservatism. The
fact that one Chinaman is accused of having
made himself Treasurer Of about twenty asso-
Citations, Of collecting 5000 or 500 from each
in certain month. and OF then hiding him
self and all his wealth from the saddened eyes
Of his countrymen. has not served to destroy
their confidence In the integrity Of their nnan-
cial system. A feature Of the associations is
that the Treasurer is made personally liable
for all delinauoncies Of members.
Mutual benefit Is the dominant idea OF these
associations and they are organized and con-
Quoted on this plan: A Chlnaman who needs
q little ready m money gets together twenty-four
Of his acquaintances forms them into an as
sociation. and has himself elected Treasurer.
Each member contributes $50. and the
entire sum is turned over to the Treasurer
III.
day after that the association meets
In an upstairs room. usually In pell,
Doyers or Mott street. and that months dues
the successful bid IS say, S6 That m cans that
every member except the successful bidder
sn% Of tSe bd bens snStrneteI from ths
regular dues OF $50 for each ,memb Der who has
not bad the use OF money collected ut any ono
4 TiiI bo seen from this that the Treasurer
rns the the " o 'Gs $50 s
cessful bidder at the second meeting will have
plus $50 from tho Treasurer. making a total oi
s1S2 Thereafter his dues will be $50 at every
nnG a ths snd Of the
life. he will have repaid sT20 In other words,
he will have paid yearly interest Of nearly Is
putting the successtul bid again at $Ij. there
or S2SS. a total OF S64S Thenceforth the
bidder must himself contribute $50 at every
meeting. and when the time for balancing up
comes he will lind that he has paid into the as
sociation altogether about tho came sum that
he drew out. For the memb Dor who waits until
the last meeting of tho association. the prize
remains. He will have contributed about S5S2
to relieve the needs OF his associates and they
in turn. will hand over to him S12O. for by that
time every member will be on the $40 list.
All is well for the Treasurer II the mem bers
are faithful to their obligations. But should
any prove delinquent the Treasurer must by
the articles of association. advance the neces.
sary funds himself. and take such steps nc he
can TO collect them on his own account from
before Civil Justice Moore In the Third Dis
trict Court Few weeks ago. and the Justice
Ravo decision In favor OF the Treasurer for
the full amount OF his claim.
, This Is the way the articles OF association
begin:
Tue origin of the beneficial association is traced to
Duke Fang. the object being TO aid those who
are IN financial straits and to enable others to nut
their money Al Interest Now md bted to The
Kindness Of our friends for the this ns
t0caton with the view OF putting this principle into
practice.
i Is OF the utmost Importance manage tho Affairs
OF the association carefully fr be ginning end
mat not only person. but all members derive
benefits thererrom; for the kindness OF all who come
to one anothers AID ought not to be forgotten.