Evening star., 1900-08-17
Returns TO Make ReDort

After three years the branch manager
ship terminates. and the employe returns
TO the head office to render an account of
MS stewardship. If he has conducted the
business successfully, he is substantially
rewarded and restored to the bosom of his
family, but if things have gone badly. wife.
and children are kept in bondage and he is
not allowed to have them back until ne has
paid the fine which has been imposed upnn
MIN Tor his misdeeds. 1t NAV be taken as
strong evidence of the high standard ~
Chlnese morality that this method Of en-
FORCING the payment of fine is found ra
WGrk satisfactorily. There are countries in
whlch the ransom might possibly be with
heid under the circumstances Ii is stated
.hat .hat when an employe has defrauded a
shansi bank no appeal is made 10 the mag
lstrates, but he is sent home 10 he tried e,,
the family tribunal The crime is con,
sidered so heinous that such delinouents
nave sometimes, II is said, been condemned
TO be buried alive.
1t is a curious fact that tho Sba,.; ..,-.
90 not lend money on mortgages ana
rarely on goods or merchandise They will
ludhe advances to mandarins who wish 10
tanoat promotion, at high rates of in
terest' ana TO merchants, or On excentionaI
cases. private individuals on personaI G.
SuiltS. But II Chinaman wishes TO nlad,a
ms ds mouse or land he must go to a local
pahk or cash shop.
Mutual Loan Assocfatfon.
'eopie WHO require loans in China do not
diwaEs go TO banks or cash shops The
Ihinese have invented an ingenious system
OF their own. They form themselves into
mutual loan societies in which every no.rn-
Der Is entitled TO borrow a sum of rnrna,,.
edcn IN turn has the use of a cert ain
amount of capital, and the syndicate n -
tne rate or the subscriptions. and the period
over winch they shall extend in such a
manner that this plan can be carried out
10 young men who wish to obtain a start
IN business; or who have passed the exarni-
nations and lack the needful brfhe 10 o,.r
the official door, these societies are a s-raa+
ooon Their existence serves the ,isef,I
purpose or preventing borrowers from fall
ing INTO the clutches of professional money
lenders, ana enables honest men who could
not oHer the security required by the Shansi
paHhs 10 OBTAIN necessary advances with
out hg pelhg hampered by the payment of ex
orbitant Interest. 1t should be narticnI.r;,,
remembered that in the case OF tbaSs 80,
tuai loan societies no other securit, a. -
CURED than the good faith of the horroua-
aro ,.u me Iact lhat instances OF disloyalty
are extremely rare exemplifes the reynarL
able degree to which commerciaI tn,aar.,,-
Is carried on in China 'e'i'S
An extraordinary contrast TO the chaos
OF Shlnese administration is presented ~,
the admirable system of trade orpani.a,,S
Which prevails throughout the emnire
Broadiy speaking, there are two kinds of
sd h's ,h the provincial guilds, form
ed py the associated merchants of a mar
ucuiar province, such as. for instance Tho
Hupeh merchants guild in Chungl,ing and
@secohoIy' Sec the Local guilds representative OF
each trade. The former were the first 10
come into existence. But the initial i'm
petus TO the formation of guilds was given
by the provincial mandarins, who Instituted
clubs at the capital. where they could he
sure OF hnding congepial society or meet
Tor the purpose Of devising measures To re-
sist the extortions Of the central author
tiles In similar way merchants from
the same district used to combine with he
two-fold object of business and pleasure
and out of this movement grew the pow
erful organizations known trade guilds.
Power of the GuiIds.
The Chinese guilds can strike swifter ana
more crushing blows than any of the mil
lionaire syndicates loated here Their
power extends to merchants dealers
agents and shopkeepers and in fact. TO
everybody interested. however remotely,
in a particular trade. and 1t can be ex-
ercised with such instantaneous effect that
the least significant individual may be
speedily made to feel the Inconvenience OF
opposing the wishes OF the guild.