Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-09-03
may be evolved.

may be evolved.
The foreign banks, as well as the Chi
nese exchange men, probably will resist
the introduction of a sound money sys-
tenn. The banks in Manila opposed the
action of the American government in
giving stable currency to the Philip
pines. They will support the fuctuating
silver system in China as long as posi-
BILE. The reason is plain to see-thc
banks make money when silver rises in
value, they make money when il falls.
Their chief business Is exchange, and
they get their squeeze" coming and
going.
In lower scale than the foreign banks.
the Chinese exchange brokers carry
their business to a Reimbursement which
is quite beyond the power of the Occi-
dental mind to grasp. The silver tael Is
the standard of value in China. But
there are no tael coins. That would be
too simple. The coins are Mexican dol
lars, Hong Kong British dollars, and
Chinese dollars from various Chinese
provincial mints. Large sums are paid
in silver ingots by weight. There are a
half dozen different kinds or taels. with
carrying values, and no two of the vari-
exactly the same value.
In the treaty ports the ordinary cur
rency is the bank notes of the foreign
banks. These are expressed in dollars,
as promises to pay in local currency on
demand. But they are not accepted at
par value in any other port city, even
by other branches of the same, parent
bank Of issue. In any other country IL
would mean instant bankruptcy for a
bank to discount it's own demand notes.
but they do things differently in China.
II one has an American or European
draft to sell he goes to one of the big
foreign banks. He asks what the rate
Of exchange is, and he Is told the price
of pound sterling or of a gold dollar In
taels-never in dollars But he sells his
draft for dollars. No one but an ex.
pert can attempt to follow the ramiica-
lions OF the calculations of the Chinese
compradore who pays him the supposed
value Of his draft in dollars This illus
tration applies, of course. only to small
transactions, but 1t throws light on the
iniquities of Chinese exchange banking
But that is not all. The dollar. be it
Mexican, Honk Kong, Shantuns, KERN
or what-not, is composed of 100 cents
Very simple, you think. But If you at
tempt to pay a dollar debt with five 90
cent coins, the payment will be refused.
Small money" you are told, lis not good
In dollar lots" Then you are informed
that while 100 cents make a dollar, it re-
quires Ill coin cents to make 100 actua;
cents. To the Chinese such a system is
perfectly logical and ineligible, even de-
sirable as adding zest to the transaction
of ordinary business. In one community
100 may mean in practice, S.
cash, while in another it may mean 24j
cash Nobody but the Chinese ever knows
what's what in low finance.
In a village where it il customary 10
go to market with three kinds of money
genuine cash mixed lots of genuine and
counterfeit cash, and another lot of all
bogus cash; and where it Is understood BY
merchant and by customer that certain
articles. such as rice and sweet potatoes.
must be paid for in genuine money, while
a mixture of good and spurious coin will
be accepted for pork and eggs. and the
counterfeit money as quite good for bam-
boo sprouts: the ordinary western man
will give up in despair any attempt to
fathom Chinese transactions.
AS long as the foreign banks. represent
ing large transactions. and the Chinese
money changers, representing small trans
actions, continue to find the fluctuations
Of the money market profitable they will