Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-26
THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA.
VIA TANGLED CURRENCY.
BY Frederic ]. Haskin.

copper. paper and silver. Copper Cor
oronze) is the basis of the lands cur
rency. Coinage legislation began in B. c.
lOS2 when the emperor decreed that there
after metallic pieces should be exchange
able according to weight. Inscribed coins
soon followed. but for 800 years the in
scr1ptions did not stipulate weight or
value The custom of casting coins In
regular shapes and sizes and of constant
weights began early in the seventh GEN.
tury b. G. China has had a copper coin
age for twenty-five centuries and a coin
age of the shape used to this day, round
coins with square holes, for twenty-on
centuries without a break. In other
words, the Chinese were using currency
when only the Druids peopled the British
Isles, when the wild Germanic tribes
CROPPED in the Black Forest, before the
rowing Norwegians discovered America
and founded the colony of Vinland.
The first paper money was issued in A.
d. SOC by the Emperor Hientsung in
der to meet a money stringency. This
paper was called flying money The
government issued it and received real
money in return, paying off its obiga-
tons in this artful manner The Mon
gols. when in control of North China, is
sued only paper money for the reason
that all the copper, silver and other min
erals known at that time were in South
China.
All Europe was astounded at Marco
Polo's description of this paper money in
A. .. 1860
In the museum of St Johns College in
Shanghai is paper bill worth 1000 cash,
the equivalent
Unusual Bill of 90 cents
in College Museum. mnn IN which =
was issued by the first Ming emperor
Hung-wu, \. D. 136S-1399). 1t is nearly
two feet long and one foot wide. The
conglomerate paper issues of today are
not Il startling Improvement over that
veteran greenback which, as a matter of
fact was printed on mulberry-bark pa
per and is a dark slate color. 1t was I'M
earthed in the summer palace by Euro
pean soldiers during the looting which
followed the smashing of the Boxer
movement and the relief of the foreign
legations in Picking in 1900. Maj. Louis
Livingston Seaman, Medical Corps, u. S.
A. took possession of it and later pre-
scented it to st. Johns. The wording gives
value, dat dynasty, etc, and warns 10
counterfeit is death. The informant Will
receive 30 taels of silver in addition TO
the entire property of the criminal"
AS TO the prospects for currency re-
form in China the bare facts are that an
imperial decree of May "a, 1910, called for
a standard currency, the national unit TO
be the yuan or dollar and the standard
silver. 1t prescribed the weight of the
dollar and defined the subsidiary coins. 1t
that all the old coinage should be
called in. and that after one year pay
ment of taxes and all other governmental
charges should be in the new coinage. In
order to bring about this reform an
American loan of SAC, 100000 gold was ne
gotiated in the fan of 1910. The decree
has never been put into effect Now, how
ever. the republic is pledged to bring
about the desired reform and may be able
to do so in due time 1t is understood
that the position of financial adviser in
this connection has been offered to Prof.
jeremiah jerks, the American financial
expert