The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-05-02

oash. Other materials have been used
iron, cowrfes and 50 forth. Though Mr.
Morse passes over prehistoric times hs
begins his recount with the year il22 b.
and shows that inscribed round coins
begin With the seventh century before
Christ and those with square holes with
22i B. G. China has had a copper ooin-
age for twenty-five centuries and q
coinage Of the shape We know to-day
uninterruptedIy for twenty-one con-
turtles" Tho copper coinage 10 the
currency Of the people. In which
the daily transactions OF 400 1000, 900 are
carried on The importer and the ex-
porter have an exchange question ever
present. The wholesale dealer buys and
sells with taels of silver bullion. but the
shopkeeper sells his commodities and the
artisan and the farmer sell the produce
Of their labor for copper coins, and with
these copper coins buy what will sufioe
for their daily needs" Two years ago 1000
Of these copper cash we're approximately
equivalent to an American dollar. Cash
are strung on strings In rolls Of 100, OF
which ten 20 to the string or Goo. Moth
ing 10 ever done In China for nothing and
no opportunity is ever lost Of making a
little extra profit or lasniappe. and the
money changers have always charged
for their trouble in stringing and for he
cost Of the string. This charge IL made BY
deduoting one or two or three or four
cash from each hundred; the deduction
Is more or less Gas everything in China
is more or less') recognized and fixed
for each place. with the result that the
tao OF 1000 cash contains in place
90 and in another $50 actual coins, the
full tao passing, however, for 200 cash.
The local quota IL fixed.'
Turning now to the silver currency Mr.,
Morse endeavors to throw light on the
meaning of the taeL. This is both a weight
and a unit OF currency, like the French hire
and the English pound. It may DO simpler
to consider it first merely rs q weight.
The tael Ia tho ounce Of China, Of which,
as In England and America, sixteen mako
one oatty or Chinese pound. In Weighing
the precious metals, however, the tael
Ia the heaviest unit" Az In the way Of
China, this standard unit varies in weight
which ranges at different places and In
the same place from $40 TO ss3 grains"
The weight varies also by custom for
every commodity. The standard Of purity
of silver, which varies in every district,
must also be considered. For instance, a
Tentsin tael IL described as measuring
up to the Hans-ping standard Of weight
for the tael and containing silver OF N
Hwa-pao standard Of purity, coz fine.
The two ideas are inextricably. inter
woven and the foreigner in China must
learn Il understand them. The silver
employed 10 cast in Shoes Of varying
weight and varying purity. OF the vari-
GUS taels Of currency two have q universal
range, the Haikwan or 4customs' tael
and the Kuping or treasury tael. The
Haikwan tael, the currency in which
duties are levied by the Imperial Mari
time Customs, is a purely fictitious and
no~n-existent currency, a mere money Of
account. There Is nc indication that 1t
ever has boon an existent currency at
any time since the opening Of the Inspec-
torate-General Of Customs, and It Is GER
tain that 1t Is not In current use at the
present day" Moreover. the actual
theoretio weight, apart from any ques-
ton of the value Of the silver, IL not ascer-
tainable with any degree Of certainty
Yet the official accounts Of tho customs, |
the most ineligible In Chinese finance,
are kept In this conventional currency.
Mr.. Morse describes infinitely others Of
the principal taels employed in China,
and the reader who follows his dssorip-
tions will easily share his hopeleasn ess
that q general standard Of currency ro-
sembling those Of Europe can be estab-
lished throughout the Empire. He tells
also Of the effort to introduce q currency
Of dollars and cents. |
Historical interest attaches to his 40
counts Of the methods employed by some
Emperors to debase the coinage and espe-
cially to the experiments with paper
The first record Of these In at the
beginning of the ninth century A. D.. with
the Tang dynasty. and within two centu-
ries true paper money, with no guarantee
Of hypothecated value. appeared. China
had her experiences with overissues and
depreciation to the point Of worthlessness,
and had recovered from them long before
Europe dsbbled in paper. Marco Polo
admired the paper money Of the Mongol
but from 14OO on China was
free from 1t until the present con-
tury. The fourteenth century Ming bank
note. which formed part Of the loot a the
taking Of Pekin and which Mr..
Morse reproduces as an Illustration. would
be oreditabie to any modern banking insti-
tuition for artistic execution, for the pre-
against oounterfeiting and for
the businesslike statements Of It's pur-
port on It's face.
1t 10 with regret that We must pass over
Morse's valuable analysis Of the con-
ditions Of the foreign commerce and the
trade OF China, the story Of that
establishment, the maritime
customs, in which he has spent his life,
and of his late chief, Sir Robert Hart, and
other matters Of interest. His oontribu-
ton to the understanding Of China Ia Of
great value and will be appreciated by
who enter into dealings, CONNER
Dial or political. with the empire. It Il
solid information Of permanent import
moo.