The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-14
'CH|NA'S BANKING IS MUCH DEMORAL|zED Suspension of Specie Pay
 ment Is Main Cause
 WITHDRAWING MONEY Business Has Been Bad as Result and| Prices on All Commodities Have
 Been Raised by Crafty Mer-
 chants, Who Evade Laws
WITHDRAWING MONEY
By "Hop"

Peking, June -(Correspondence of tn Associated Press. )-China has been mucl stirred by the action of the governmen on May 12 in suspending specie paymen on the notes of the Bank of China ant the Bank of Communications, the tw, government institutions having branches throughout the principal cities of China.
 Recently there was a great rush tt withdraw funds from these banks becaus, of charges made by the enemies of tn, government that the late Yuan Shi-kai; administration was utilizing the bank, funds to maintain itself Furthermore much speculation in the white metal and resulted in it's transfer and exportal tion
 Tien-tsin has been great center fol politicians out of sympathy with the pres| ent government, and it was there that thu rush to withdraw funds from the Banl of Communications first began on a largI scale It soon became apparent that th| limited reserves would not stand th| drain, and Premier Tuan Chi-jui and hiI cabinet declared a limited moratorium
 
 viduals, but merely to the financial atI fairs of the government. It provides tha the government banks shall not redeer their notes in hard money, and sha not permit the depositors to withdra ! their funds from the banks.
 With the suspension of specie paymen| on the notes of the two banks, businesI in Picking came to a sudden halt.
 The cabinet mandate provided that all ll-- banks at their face value or underg( severe punishment. Soldiers and policed men have been stationed in the variou| parts of the city to enforce this ordey in shops
 Nevertheless, merchants have founi3 means of evading the order. Nearly all prices in the city have been raised. anSI when merchants feel that payment will be made in Chinese bank notes, they frf1 quently advance their prices to poiral that is prohibitive in order to avoid sale I
 Picking is, in fact threatened with fanAI inc as a result of the partial moratoriunsl for farmers and produce dealers will ndf bring their products to Peking, as the T do not desire to be paid in the depr9a ciated paper bank notes of the two goy| ernment financial institutions. X
 Grains and all sorts of vegetables ag getting very scarce, and the Chine%Y
 
 have petitioned the government urging it to devise means to relieve tHl situation. There is a plan on foot F' establish official granaries and depdts H, which all sorts of foodstuffs will be hal39 dled by the government for sale at noFs nal prices. All sorts of foodstuff hHs advanced in price from 20 to 100 per cenNF
 One of the worst features of the limit&5 moratorium Is the criticism directed %s foreigners by the vernacular press MarMs of the Chinese newspapers are declarirNA that foreigners have bought up all tl%s silver and gold in China, and are rMA sponsible for the depreciation of tMs notes of the Bank of China and t#l Bank of Communca tions. Posters makirX| this announcement have been pasted d&| many of the dead walls in Picking, all Chinese papers are encouraging the poM ulace in this belief. Foreigners are sAA ready beginning to feel the unfriendly aN| titude of the masses, who have accept&aI the statements of unreliable papers, aIT| are quite willing to believe that Eurtkl peans, rather than Chinese officials, a&l responsible for the present financial coel ditions in China.
 Coolies hucksters ana small merchanlX whose business has been almost entirely ruined by the moratorium. are beoomil W especially curt in their treatment of fdH eigners. The newspapers are discussil N the organization of a clearing house M Pe1ing for foreign and Chinese mercharDH| to relieve the money stringency. EN