Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-08-09
Chimes. Commerce. and silver.


(New York Journal Of Commerce)
In his report on the foreign trade Of
China last year, Mr.. klopsch. the Sta
tistical Secretary OF the Imperial Mari
time Customs. says: 1t seems tnexpi-
bile that the gold-currency Countries
while striving to extend their trnde.
should resolutely ignore the fact. so
clearly demonstrated In the desline u the
demand for piece-goods, that to The mil
lions in China the tael. or ounce u si-
yer. ia still tael of Wdiminished pur-
chasIng-p whether the sterling value
be shillings or shitflngs" But Mr..
klopsch himself furnishes abundant evi-
dence that this statement is mkleadAnl,:
it is true In a literal sense. but Il IL
not true applied To the relation OF
the exchanges 20 internationJ commsrce.
What we have said is that While rwtva,
lions In the exchanges will have tenn
porary effect upon Imports and exports,
prices expressed In a deprecated cur
rency. even In India and China, tend 10
rise as the unit In which they are ex-
pressed goes down. Ii may be true. AZ
discredted tael fails ~ buy the Same
quantity Of foreign goods IA heretofore,
the consumer ceases TO be "A customer"
but the merchant through whom the
prices or merchandise going up as silver
goes down. Wages are apt 10 rise late
after the prices OF c?rntnodIt'es have
ADVANCE of pEice In taSk. or rupees or
doAaJs u 10 restrict purchasing. but In
the course OF time the price becomes 6xrl.
and thu price of what the native hns TO
sell rises proPor,ionstely. a9a Ss equai-
season by season, be examiHsd q ID aas-y
10 make out case for TIE tnfiusnce "
the DEPRECATED rupee In stirpha,ing Eek
ports and restricting imports, but II the
continuous period Of years be examined
II WIZ be found that this Influence Is ex-
tremely small and irregular. In short.
there H. nothing in the figures OF Indian
alarm us with the idea that the cheaper
| Ing OF the rupee has impaired our position
In The wheat and cotton markets OF the
world.
The value Of the Haikwan tsel. in Eng
iish currency, was 4s. Nd lp 1891; H. slad.
In lssa. and IS, lftsd. in lsG IRE value
| Of the exports In pounds sterling fell con-
sideraby from 1881 to ls2. and rosa
slightly IN 1888. The value q the exports
also feh pefceptibiy from 1881 to 1872 and
we are dealing not wi,h quantities. but
with gold valdes. but Il Is worth noting
that the value 81 both imports and eNnart5
fell in 1892 and rose in 1898. though the fall
| Of the tael was Continuous ann II was IN
| 1893 MAT tho mints of fnda were closed
| To silver and we repealed the silv0r-pt -
chase law. There are some differences IN
the method Of compiling the figures Of
~
these comparisons. out those figures ara
by no means worthless. There has been Il
| large Falling or in the importation OF
| opium from India, which Mr.. klorsch at
! tributes to the enhanced value OF the
| rupee but he also speaks of "a great m-
! provement in the quality OF the Chinese
| opium. 80 That smokers prefer the domes-
| tic article now. The Importation OF tex
J tiles from European goid-usfns countries
fell off In marked degree. but the inn
pOrtation OF kerosene. both American and
| Russian. increased enormously II we
| look at the gold values OF the leading eH-
ports we md large decrease In raw
silk and silk goods, but we also find IA
large increase In tea, cotton, and misce-
laneous articles. The increased exportu-
tion of tea, In quantity was 1873, $50 piculs.
| out as three fOurths Of this went 20
| European aud Aslatic Russis Il canno I
be attributed to the lowered gold pr.ce
| due to the silver price ling stationary.
| Indeed. we learn from Mr.. kiOpsch that
| The silver price has not been stationary.
| 1T Is reported" he says. that the ave-
Iage tael price paid by foreign buyers Of
northern black tea Was about 10 per cent.
| above that given In 1892. while the ave-
| rage cost of green tea was, say, per
cent. higher: but owing TO the fail in ex-
! change. the laying down cost In gold waH.
on the average. somewhat lower than n
lsG" Instead Of proving that the tael IS
Of "undimnished purchasing power" this
is evidence that sf tael goes down
the price In taeIs goes ,yb. but the advance
in price IS not 80 rapid Us the feii IN eN-
change, because a commercial change Of
this sort Is of course more quickly felt in
banking circles than I'm the agricultural
districts. The other staple export OF
China ~ silk: In sIste OF the fail IA es-
change the quantity Of silk exported WAS
less I'm 1893 than in 1892. The export Of
white ELK fell OF $50 piculs; thu export
! of yellow silk 10 India Increased, but its
| export 70 Europe decreased, and the total
EXPORT OF yellow and white silk TO all
countries fell of 4.357 piculs. Mr. Klopsch
says the export OF yellow silk 10 India
increased ION account Of exchange with
| that country being favorable 10 export
ers." bat the exchange with Europe was
also favorable 20 exporters SET the export
| of yellow silk fell on considerably iii
spite Of low exchange. owing. 70 al
| legged. ~ the very inferior reeling." We
are not prepared 20 question the sum
|. cheney II Mr. kIopsch's explanations. bui
IL looks as II he were trying To make on
a case, when he attributes every increase
In exports TO the fall Of silver, and everj
| decrease In exports to something e'se
Wool ne says. has now declined boy
, 1884 Iiculs below the ll3. 400 plculs eS
ported In 1899, owing TO the dlsturbe'
. | state OF the American money market, an
the anticipated repeal of the duty in tina
country" This explanation is undoubted''
| correct, but IL goes TO show that the ex
ports Of Asia depend upon very man
things besides the rate OF exchange. tn
general conclusion that must be draw
from bfr Kiopsehs figures Is that Va
, taei Is a tael OF diminishing value In com
, meFcial circles. and that in the course
time its value In the agricultural region
> OF China will diminish; that while price
do not rise fast as exchange falls
they move upward while the unit In whic
they are expressed moves downward.