Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-19

Of spurious metal, and have seen some Of
them which were so poor that could break
ent rates of exchange I could buy two thou
sand of these coins for one of our dollars,
and 1t would take twenty to equal the value
of a little American red cent, and you could
buy pound of them for a nickel sent
my Chinese servant for ten dollars worth
of these cash today, and he came back
loaded. His hands were full and his Shout
ders were covered with strings of cash.
The picture was so curious that l had my
photographer snap his camera on him as
helped him unload.
Banking System and Loan AssOcia-
ton.
The banking system of China is the Oldest
known to man. According to Chinese
records there were banks of discount and
deposit here as far back as 26OO B. c., and
the interest laws of China were made long
were Shylocks here a thousand years before
the real Shylock was born in the mind of
Shakespeare, and nowhere on earth among
civilized people will you find higher rates OF
interest paid, more money borrowed and
more debts conscientiously paid. The legal
rate of interest In many Of the provinces of
China Is 80 per cent and in others 1t Is 36
per cent. Still millions are lent. l am told.
In the shape of call loans In the seaport
towns at 5 and per cent and all sorts of
money transactions are entered into. China
had system of building and loan associa-
lions long before We began to exist as a
associations for the loaning of money, in
which the different members pay so much a
month and the joint capital is passed from
one member to another from year to year,
SO that each gets chance to use 1t for a
part of the ten years during which such as
sociations usually run. There is no place in
the world where capital combines more
readily than in China. The bankers have
their guilds or associations, which fix all
their rates of credit and interest. Every
city has its clearing house. which settles up
the business between the banks at the close
of each day, and the native banks issue cir
cular letters Of credit to travellers going
through the empire. There are big banks
who push Chinese patent medicines, and
little ones who loan out sums which we
Americans would hardly think worth while
borrowing. There are trades unions of all
sorts and even the beggars club together
and are bound by the rules of their union.
Farmers combine together to buy cattle,
peddlers buy and sell the custom Of partic-
ular streets to their fellows, and a man
who wants to get married and has perhaps
not enough money to buy a wife will go into
one Of these loan associations to get It,
The Annual Settling Up.
tried to buy some pictures at Kiukiang,
but found the dealers store shut and was
told that he was closed until he could get
enough money from his friends to pay his
last years debts. All firms here have to
settle up at the close Of the year, and 1t is
the greatest disgrace to go into bankruptcy.
Bankrupts often commit suicide, and the
son feels bound to pay his fathers debts
1t Is the same with other relatives. The
debts Of any member of a family are a dis
grace to the whole family. and rich men
having failed will go to work at the most
mental occupations in order to pay up. Big
failures are always punished by law. If
the amount Is from 81 800 to IS, 900 the bank
rupt is banished. and If it runs above that
amount his head is taken off. There is not
much discussion about the matter and the
law Is that the bankrupt who becomes such
from unavoidable circumstances is decapi-
tated just the same as the fraudulent one.
There are no lawyers and no juries and the
judges or officials of the town pass the SEN
fences. Sometimes the bankrupts carry