The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-06-11
CHINA AND SILVER.


The present situation in China and the
possibilities that may grow out of it are
giving rise to many speculations. One
these relates to the possible effect the
value of silver and incidentally on the
silver question. A London dispatch quotes
a well-known American fnancier point
ing out that copper is now the general
medium of exchange in China" and adds:
with the ingress of Europeans these cum
away with and silver introduced in the
most populous country in the world. On
this basis there has been a strong under
tone in the silver market with interesting
discussions on the political and economical
changes incident upon the possibilities of
the increased use of silver" This is i'm
portant If true, but the contingency Is
much too remote to justify the American
advocates of double standard in building
any hopes for the appreciation of silver
upon 1t. In the first place. it is very far
from being true that copper is now the
general medium Of exchange in China"
On the contrary. it constitutes less than
one-third anu not much more than one
fourth of the money of the country. China
is already very largely and very solidly on
the silver basis, though most of the sill
yer coin in circulation there is the COIN
age of other governments. There is also
a large amount of silver in the shape of
small bars or slugs. Until within a few
years the only coin issued by the Chinese
government was the leash - a base alloy
of copper and zinc, made with a square
hole in the center for convenience of
stringing. and worth less than one-tenth
cally no paper money. The government
does not issue any. and there is not a bank
of issue in the empire outside of Hong
Kong, which Is British. The Chinese gov
eminent has never coined any gold. and
never coined silver until 1892. Now, be-
tween foreign silver and its own coinage
and silver slugs China has s750,000,0O0 of
the white metal in circulation. Accord
ing to a recent reliable estimate the cur
rency of the country consists of full sill
yer. s74O.OO 900; subsidiary silver. s10OOO,OOO.
and minor coin, or cash." 500. 600. 900.
There is 100000 of gold, but as 1t is
boarded 1t is not counted In the effective
stock Of currency. The Hong-Kong cur
rency consists of s4oOoo.OOo of full silver.
$50. 900 of subsidiary silver. s1O.000.0OO of
bank notes and 100000 "cash." In the
whole empire. therefore. including Hong
Kong. there is 7So.0Oo.OOO of full silver. s4O.-
100000 Of subsidiary silver. slO,OOO.OO0 of pa
per money, which only circulates in the
vicinity of Hong Kong. and s2O2 100000 of
cash" AS the latter coins are worth only
a fraction of a cent their number must be
enormous. but 1t must be remembered
China has a population of 100000 and
the great mass of people are very poor.
The point of interest in these figures is
that China is already on a silver basis.
her silver coin aggregating ss2o,OooooO as
against 2O2OOO,OoO of copper alloy.
Whether the opening up of China would
have any effect on the price of silver is
doubtful. but in any case the effect could
hardly be appreciate. The coinage of a
country is an evolution of conditions and
not of theories. A cheap people is apt to
have cheap money. and a country with a
large proportion of very poor people will
certainly have a large proportion of very
small coins. The immense quantity Of
small copper coins in China, worth from
one-tenth to one-fourteenth of one cent,
is there because the people need them
They represent the poverty of the masses
and stand for social and economic con-
dition. No matter what becomes of the
Chinese government the people will re-
main there. and poverty will remain. The
Chinese people are not going to be swal-
lowed up. deported nor wiped out They
have been in China thousands of years.
and will remain there for some time to
come. Moreover, the masses of the people
will continue to be very poor, and there
fore they will continue to need and use
cash. which the government issues 1000
on a string at a valuation of about 972 to
the Mexican dollar. China already has
all the silver she wants. and no change in
the form of government can make her need
or use more. The cash will not be re-
tired. and II they were their place would
not be taken by silver. All of the countries
now watching China or likely to have any
hand In her ACKNOWLEDGMENT are gold
standard countries. and If she ever comes
under western or European civilization
the gola standard will be established.
Even Japan is now a gold standard coun-
try On the whole. whatever may hap
pen in China there is no probability that
1t will cause the value of silver to appre-
ciate. The Bryanites will have to build
their hopes on something else.
RUSSIA AND JAPAN.