The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-08-30
KoREA's CURIOUS cURREucy
Government Flooding the Coua.iy y
 With Nickel Coinage.
London Globe.

1JOnuDn
 An interesting report has just been is- sued by the Foreign Office on the trade of Korea for the year 1901, by Mir. H. Goffe. acting British Vice-Consul at Che mulpo. It states that the chief difficulty with which foreign trade had to contend is the disastrous condition of the cur rency throughout the Empire.
 The Korean Government, in defiance of the first principles of sound tinaAe, is flooding the country with nickel coin age whose intrinsic value is only one eighteenth of its face value, without any gold or silver reserve with which to re- deem 1t As natural consequence these coirs, which under proper conditions tinually increasing rate of discount as against Japanese gold yen. the'recognized basis for calculation of prices where for eign articles are concerned
 Hitherto the circulation of nickel pieces has been confined to the capital and the neighborhood of two or three of the treaty ports. the old cash being current else where in the country; but recently. with view to making their use general. the magistrates throughout the Empire have been ordered to accept payment of the land tax in this currency only. The face value of these coins is 5 ser, and they now stand ot discount of % per cent. as against Japanese gold yen.
 The wages pf Korean laborers and em- ployes generally are paid in this curren- cy. and this class. which comprise the
 
 than they formerly were; consequently the purchasing power of their earnings, as far as foreign goods is concerned, is little more than half what it was few years ago. And, unfortunately, there does not seem any prospect of these conditions being improved in the near future. The Government, caring only for the profit they are making out of the transaction and ignoring the permanent harm they are doing to the country, are bent upon continuing their present reckless course, and 10000 oO0 more of these coins. con tracted for with an American firm, are now almost due for delivery. The issue of these will bring the total face value of this coinage in circulation up to 14,0O0 000 yen, or more thar $7,000,000
 But even this is not the worst feature. The number of counterfeit nickels is rap idly increasing, permits to coin are freely issued by the Government to private in- dividualst nickel is openly imported through the customs. and spurious cOisrs in large quantities are brought by ar most every steamer from Japan and smuggled into the country The Commis- soner of Customs at Chemulpo in his an nual report writes as follows: The $95,O00 worth of nickel against $42000 in l900 have, 1t is feared. been entirely em- ployed in manufacturing counterfeit nick el coins." The fact that in Chemulpo quotations are current for CD Government nickels, t2 trst-class commercials; t3) medium counterfeits; and (4) those pass able only after dark, will show what a condition affairs have reached.
 This currency question is of vital i'm portance to foreign merchants and is en- SdginS the earnest attention of the for. eign representatives. Japanese silver yen the supply of which seemed to be ex- hausted in 1900, have again appeared in large quantities. most of them having come from the interior. where they were boarded by the natives. They are now at d discount of E per cent. as against gold yen. The largest of the copper cash continue to be exported to Japan. where they arc melted down for the value of the copper they contain. No progress has been made by the Korean Government with their projected subsidiary silver coinage, although silver has been import ed by the Imperial Mint for this purpose.