The Washington times., 1902-03-23
PHILIPPINE DOLLAR TO
PASS AT bULLIOM VALUE
Continued from second Page.)

the monetary unit of the archipelago.
These were Managin Director Townsend,
of the Shanghai and Hongkong Bank,
and Francis B. Forbes, for many years a
| member of the firm of Russell * Co, a
prominent business house of Shanghai.
MIR. Townsend has had twenty years eX-
perience in banking in the Orient, while
Mr. Forbes was nearly thirty years in
mercantile life in the Flowery Kingdom.
| Their testimony before the committee
| agreed that, as silver had been the
| standard Of value of the Asiatics for ages,
| and was best suited for their transac-
| tions. any change would greatly upset la
| Dor values and would cause much dis
| tress
They urged the United States to take
! into consideration the experience of Eng
| land in her dealings with the people of
| the Orient and India, and not arous dis
| content among the Filipinos by upsetting
| their customary medium of exchange.
| Mr.. Forbes said there were three we'll
| known principles for guidance in dealing
with an Asiatic dcpendency-make all
| possible use OF existing materials; re-
spect native customs and prejuGices,
| and innovate cautiously and only when
the change is clearly Tor their well be-
| ing.
The establishment Of the gold standard
he said would violate all three OF these.
The people did not want gold money, and
| experience had shown they would not
| cept il. England, he pointed out. had
| tried il, with disastrous results, and ia
pan, with practically the same system as
proposed by Special Agent Conant, would
soon be forced TO abandon it.
The maintenance of fixed ratios for gold
and silver was almost impossible in the
Orient, Mr.. Forbes told the committee,
and il would cost the United States con-
siderable to put in operation the plan
outlined in the bill besides locking up the
large amount of gold that would be nee
essary for reserve.
Mr.. Townsend told of the difficulties of
using American gold and notes in the
Philippines at present. He noted the
complaints made by the American sol
diers of their losses in changing the money
into Mexican. when they wished to pur-
| chase anything and said the gold being
disbursed in the islands by the United
States was not staying there, but was
flowing to London and San Francisco.
His bank was handling large sums of
both gold and notes. The Chinese brokers'.
he said were reaping a harvest in the ex-
change, sending Mexican dollars TO Ma
Mia to buy gold then sending the gold TO
Hongkong, where they received more Mex
lean dollars for it than they paid in Ma
Mia.
He thought there would be less chance
for speculation by the shrewd Chinese
bankers If a Philippine dollar were issued
to pass at its bullion value. The price of
silver did not vary greatly, not more than
the price of exchange in gold countries,
and he saw no great difficulty in exchange
between the Unied States and the
Philippines because their standards were
different. Those matters adjusted them
selves.
Mr. Forbes also called attention to the
fact that the loudest complaints from the
archipelago in regard to the monetary
conditions came from the soldiers who.
being paid in gold or notes, were com
PEELED to pay for the exchange when they
wished silver.
He referred to the practice in the United
States Navy OF paying the men in the
currency of the country in which the YES
sells were stationed, the Government pay
ing the cost of exchange. and suggested
that a similar provision as to the pay of
the army IN the Philippines would remove
that source of complaint.
The committee may insert section in
the bill to provide that the soldiers and
employees of the United States in the Phil
ippines are to receive their pay in gold
or its equivalent in the new coins if they