Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-06-29
CRAZY CURRENCY
China Has a Monetary System
That Borders on the Chaotic.
UNIT OF VALUE IS THE TAEL.
Vet the Tasl 10 Neither . Coin Nor an
lneot, but Merely an Abstract Term,
and Signifies q Unit Of Wsisht-Sil.
vor Shoes and Cash on . String.

lnsot, but Merely an Abstract Term,
and Signifies q Unit Of Wsisht-Sh.
vsr Shoes and Cash on . String.
or the many strange things in China
not the least strange IS its currency.
10 the foreigner 1t seems Il miracle
that any business can be transacted
successfully with such a medium OF
exchange. 1t has been d0cribed as
chaotic. Nevertheless business and
trade flourish IN China. which speaks
volumes for the business acumcn Of
the Chinese. Perhaps the fact that
trndc tiourished In China long before
such a thing as currency was known
accounts for the fact that the Chinese.
with such a Tax system rs they now
possess. still stand In the front rank
of commercial nations.
In China all forms Of exchange from
barter Up are in use. A very large
part of the country's business Is done
against the actua. delivery OF weighed
silver. For convenience silver Is melt
ed into rough ingots having the shape
OF the Chinese shoe. These silver
shoes have stamped upon them their
fineuess and weight. The unit OF
weight is the taei. which Is equal to a
quantity OF silver weighing $50 grains
troy and Is worth about 60 cents in
our money. s. a.,.n ~ '-,riN
The taeI is not an 'ingot nor a coin.
but simply an abstra ct term sisnlfying
a unit OF weight. snch as q pound" Of
butter or an, ounce OF gold. Though
IN abstract term. It Is the measure Of
wealth and the unit or value through
out the length and brendtb OF China.
A mnn buys n business for 80 many
taeIs OF silver. His profits are com
puted IN taels. When he makes pay.
ment he weighs out the silver accord
ing to this unit. 3aFu NJ 8
The silver shoes vary, In weight from
Que to seventy-fve taels. All silver
shops and banks have FORCES. where
the silver is melted In iron ladies' and
poured into motds. The smelters with
their ladies' and nolds remind one OF
COOKS. They stir the silver with n pair
Of metal chopsticks. 70 one not aware
Of what they were doing It would be
natural to suppose that they were en-
gagged In connecting something good t"
cat. In the process Of ~recasting the
ingots their 6neness Is often changed,
being either improved or deba sed.
whichever best suits the interests OF
the shop. Bankers and money chang
ers are able to determine the qua lily
Of the silver BY the sensc Of touch.
The sellers or %depositors are always
Mt their mercy and must often submit
to the operation, OF having their silver
discounted on account Of bad touch"
In the interior Of China small pur.
chases are made With copper coins
with squire holes in the center. These
are called cash" md are threaded on
strings 80 that they may be carried
across ones shoulder or IN a pole. A
string Of 1000 Of these cash is worth
about 81 cents in onr money. Some
times bits Of silver are Clipped from
the silver shoes and used for small
purchases. When travelling ID the in.
terfor one must take with him d large
amount Of silver shoes. exchanging
them for strings Of cash at the various
shops. The money changers have two
sets Of scales. one to he used 10 the
purchase Of silver and the other in the
selling Of II.
In an attempt some years ago to In.
troduce a currency based on western
models the Chinese government pur-
chased and put into circulation several
million Mexican dollars. The people
took to the new coins and called for
more. The provincial governments
then, set up mints and began to coin
Chinese dollars Of approximately the
same weight and 6neness a. the Mexi-
can dollars. They also coined an enor,
NOUS amount Of subsidiary items in
the shape Of small silver coins and
copper pennies, 4 a
Soon It wns discovered that the new
currency was 10 unstable AS the old.
The, xalnea at TIL. dollat In relalioa =,
the subsidiary coinage yAiieA from fay
to day. The cent was mover worth the