Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1900-04-25
DOLLARS MEX" :"
Tho Common Currency 8f 3 Great Part
of the Far East.

OF the Far East.
Reports of recent military opera
tious in the Philippines include state
msnts that the American troops have
captured from the insurgents SO many
thousand Mexican dollars. Such state.
merits must not be interpreted as
mere verbal artifces to magnify the
Importance of the exploit by using 8
small unit Of value in reckoning the
booty. The public are thoroughly
familiar by this time with the distinc-
tion so common amony the Americans
at Manila between "dollars Mex" and
"lollars gold," and the fact that one
OF the former is worth less ithan half
one OF the latter, but the treastirJ OF
Aguinaldo was, in all probability.
stocked neither with paper money nor
with coin of the United States mints.
but with actual Mexi 'su silver dollars.
The Mexican silver dollar Is, in fact,
the popular currency, not only of the
philippine Islands, but also to large
extent of the Chinese coasts, OF the
Malay Archipelago, and, outside OF
such great mercantile centres as Singa-
pore, of the Straits Settlements, as
we'll rs OF Japan. Hong Kong aud
Canton have in general fallen in with
the pecuniary habits of the British
colonists and traders, and japan has a
very convenient currency OF her own,
in harmony with advanced western
ideas. But the yellow races OF the
East, rs races, have taken a strong
fancy TO the white metal Of Mexico.
The persistence In the preference
is more easily understood than the
manner in which the preference first
gained It's hold. A New. York fnaD cier
explained the original fact partly Oh
aesthetic rounds. ''The design OF
the Mexican dollar" he said, 'is q
bold and striking one, and it impressed
those Orientals from the time the
coin first began to circulate among
them. That, I suppose, was more
than so years ago. At that period
there was very little trade between
this country and the Philippines or
any of those far Eastern regions. OF
course, among the population of the
islands, the natives not being i'll an
advanced stage OF commercial civili2a-
tion, the convenience Of English small
change was not apparent Not being
informed of the financial stability OF
of the British Empire, they could not
be expected to appreciate the stamp
that gives the shilling most Of its
value; what they did appreciate was
the bigness and the weight and purity
of the Mexican dollar, as well as the
imposing appearance of it.
"As to how. the demand came to be
so we'll supplied, that is easy to under
stand when you rem ember that most
of the silver in the world was then
produced in Mexico, and that the coin
age OF it was free and unlimited. As
the traders in the far East wanted
Mexican dollars, it was to the interest
of the Mexican mines to export their
lsoutpnt In that form, and it cost them
/ otiang Ia 2sre stamp pat+o 81
was only necessary for them to keeI
the coming OF their dollars down be-
low the point of Cutting the markes
in other words, it would have been
possible to ship so much coined silver
to the East, either direct through Lon
don or through London by way o
New York, that the premium on i
would fall.
"There is premium on the Mexi
can silver dollar in that rart of th
world even now. Here, for instance
is a cable from Manila, dated Jan. y
which quotes the Mexican dollars q
42 1-2 cents, gold. According to th
current price of silver, the Me1ical
dollar was worth at par about A cens
on that date. The difference is &C
counted for by local preference TO
Mexican dollars. The insurgents il
the Philippines were we'll advised il
using that coinage, because it is tn
coinage which the people Of the coun
try understand and like. If the.
were educated bankers, they woul'
know that American money takes VI
less room in proportion to its rea
value, and they might admire the de
sign of our dollars and dollar bills n
much as the Mexican design; as it is
they don't thoroughly understand tn
theory of token money and nationa
credit. And so Mexico goes on export
ing her 40, O0C, 900 silver dollars an
nually to be the popular currency Q
the far East. %