The Daily Missoulian., 1913-01-22
The Republic of China
VIA Tangled Currency.
By Frederic J. Haskin

and Granny OF the country who make
their living by the traffic.
Primitive Chinese currency, dating
back to prehistoric times, consisted o.
axes, spades, inscribed skins, tortoise
shells, coWries, armlets, rings and silk
rolls. AS far forward as A d. 1929
the imperial treasury received 1,133,-
119 strings of CoWries. Silver was
used to a certain extent about the
same time, perhaps a century or two
before. Gold passed as currency from
the beginning of the eleventh century
B. C. In modern times pure Chinese
gold has been boarded by the wealthy
in vaults or pawn shops in the shape
of ingots, gold leaf and jewelry. Iron
was used for money in the Han dy-
, nasty, b. c. 206. In the tenth century
iron was common, every day money
, in that part of China which is now
known as Szechuen province. AS late
as A. D. 1851 iron was used for money
in some remote provinces when cop
per was not forthcoming from Tun-
nan province. This coinage, of course,
was big and heavy and below its face
| value.
All these Were eccentric forms of
currency, and China's real money has
i been copper, paper and silver. Cop
per Cor bronbe) is the basis of the
! lands currency Coinage legislation
| began in B. G. 1892, when the emperor
| decreed that thereafter metallic pieces
| should be exchangeablc according to
| weight. Inscribed coins soon followed,
| but for three hundred years the in
scriptions did not stipulate weight or
value. The custom of casting coins in
regular shapes and sizes and of con-
stant weights began early in the
seventh centudy B. {. China has had
copper coinage for twenty-five CEN
turtles, and coinage of the shape
used to this day. round coins with
square holes, for tWcnty-one centuries
without break In other words. the
/ Chinese We're using currency when
only the Druids peopled the British
Isles, when the wild Germanic tribes
groped in the Black Forest, before the
rowing Norwegians discovered Amer
| lea and founded the colony of Vim
| land.
| The first paper money was issued
| in A. D. SOC by the Emperor Hent-
sung, in order to meet money strin-
gency. This paper was called flying
money" The government issued it
and received real money in return,
paying off it's obligations in this art
full manner. The Mongols, when in
control of North China, issued only
| paper money for the reason that all
the copper, silver and other minerals
known at that time We're in South
China. All EuEope was astounded at
Marco Polo's description of this paper
money in A. d. 1860 In the Museum
of st. Johns College in Shanghai is
a paper bill worth one thousand cash,
the equivalent Of fifty cents American
money, which was issued by the first
Ming emperor 5tHung- wu A. D. 1866
1899 1t is nearly two feet long and
one foot wide. The conglomerate paper
/ issues of todayyare not a startling i'm
provement over, that veteran green.
back, which, as a matter of fact, was
printed on mulberry bark paper ant
is dark slate color. 1t was unearthet
in the Summer Palace by European
soldiers during the looting which fol.
lowed the smashing of the Boxer
movement and the relief of the foreign
legations in Peking in 1900. Major
, Louis Livingston Seaman, medica
corps, United states army, took pas.
session ofs 1t and later presented i
to st. Johns The wording give.
value, date, dynasty, etc, and warn.
To counterfeit is death. The infor.
mant will receive $50 taels of silver il
addition to the entire property of tn,
criminal"
AS to the prospects for currency il
emma the bare facts are that an i'm
perial decree, of May "a, 1910, callet
for a standard currency, the nationa
unit to be the yuan or dollar, and th
standard silver. 1t prescribed tn
weight of the dollar and defined th
SUBSIDIARY coins. 1t ordered that al
the old coinage should be called in
and that after one year payment O
taxes and all other governmental
charges should be in the new coinag.
In order to bring about this reform
an American loan OF forty million
dollars gold was negotiated in the fal
or 1910. The decree has never bee,
put into effect Now, however, tn
republic is pledged to bring about tn
desired reform and may be able TO d
; SO IN due time, 1t is understood tha
the position of financial adviser i,
this connection has been offered +,
Professor jeremiah jerks, the Ameri
can financial expert.
Iomorrow-The Republic of China
Vll-Rairoad Extension.