The Washington herald., 1912-08-25
Governor Was Enemy.

New York. Aug. "A few weeks age
China sent out hurry call to America
for money. But. you protest, the papers
| have said that the young republic is not
very eager for a foreign loan. Why have
its officials changed their minds? They
haven't changed their minds. What they
wanted was not loan. but just paper
money. and they asked Americans to
make it for them in n hurry.
So. right here in New York. people set
to work to design money for China and
factories started in to engrave and print.
The American Bank Note Company,
which makes most OF the paper money in
the world. has this particular job. and is
rushing it through as fast as anything so
dignified as a steel press can rush.
The new bank notes are particularly
interesting for a variety Of reasons. At
present the republic is using the bank
notes of the issue of 1905. which bore the
head OF Ii Hung Chang, and the new
money will closely follow the old in de-
sign but there will be one important
change
Ii Hung Chang viii be done away
| with: the republic wants none OF him,
and the head they substitute is not that
of any OF the leaders OF the revolution,
who lived centuries and centuries ago.
and was the first man to agitate for
democracy in China.
He was not the first to believe in
democracy. Confucius went as far as
that. but he did not agitate for It.
Meuences, who was a disciple of Con-
fucius. made 1t his chief interest In life.
He put his head in danger. but he did
| not care; he insisted that the Chinese
lnnDbt n than, A.
he was considered very i'll balanced
Now. after 1,4oo years the republic which
| has realized the ideals this fanatic
proclaimed has done him the honor to
| place his head on their first money.
Millennium of Paper Money.
Another point OF interest about the new
| money is that it marks actually the mil
lennium of paper money in China For
1000 years the country has used paper
as currency. centuries before the West
| ern world began to dream OF the posi-
bility of any such thing When our own
ancestors were biting of bits of gold
chain. at least Sir Walter Scott says they
did. for change in restaurants. China had
a system of paper money which was
| about as modern a thing as could be
imagined
There seems to be no doubt that paper
money, precious dis they called them,
was used as early as the ninth century,
but 1t was not until some centuries later
that the scheme was really developed.
| 1t was in the time of the Ming dynasty
| that there arose In China a real finan-
der, who saw Just how he could make
\ his own fortune and incidentally not do
| vast amount of harm to other people.
| 1t was the thirteenth century that the
young Venetian went to China and found
the Great Khan ruling over a remark
| able country. the like Of which was not
dreamed Of In Europe. He wrote his
famous book of his travels. and for his
pains has been blackguarded as the most
absolutely untruthful Of authors, but II
turns out quite often in the light Of mod
ern discoveries that he was right and
those who contradicted him were wrong.
| First Of all. the traveller describes the
manner In which the paper was made.
He speaks Of the process, in terms of the
highest praise, but We don't have to
take Ms word for that In the offices OF
the American Bank Note Company there
/ Is one of the notes issued only a few
years after Marco Polo wrote. and II Is
in a splendid state of preservation. The
paper was made from the bark of the
mulberry tree in such a manner that n
would be most difficult to duplicate. and
1t was stamped with seals and adorned
with designs. just like our money to-day