418
THE CURRENCY.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
"
64
C
[May 28, 1898, House of Commons on the 28th March last to a question of Sir HOWARD VINCENT is quoted, to the effect that "according to the returns of the Chinese Customs Department "the imports into China from the United Kingdom and the rest of the British Em pire amounted in 1896 to nearly 274 mil "lions sterling, of which more than half, or 15 millions, were from Hongkong." The reply went on to give information as to the Customs duties in China, French Indo- China, and Siberia. Sir HOWARD VINCENT'S question apparently suggested the desirabi- lity of compiling more detailed information, and the result is now given in the Journal. One table gives the value of the imports of merchandise only into the various Chinese treaty ports from the United Kingdom and other parts of the British Empire and the total imports from all countries in the year 1896, and a second tabular statement shows "the relative importance of the traile "of the United Kingdom and other parts
or even greater under a gold standard. And some of our alleged prosperity is less 'An official communication to the Ceylon substantial than might be desired. As papers states that the Governor of that children are fascinated by tinsel, so Hong- colony had received a telegram from the kong investors are dazzled by the ac- Secretary of State to the effect that there was cumulation of dollars without thinking one vacancy allowed on the Indian Currency very much of what they are worth. Take Commission for the Eastern colonies, and
as an example three, of our most represen- that Sir ALFRED DENT had been selected tative public concerns. The Hongkong as their representative. Coylon had applied and Shanghai Bank was established in to have a representative of its own; hence 1865, when exchange was 43. 6d. to the the occasion for the official communication, dollar, making the shares of $125 each the substance of which is of vital interest worth £28 2s. 6d., the number of to Hongkong and the Straits, since it shows shares being 40,000. In 1883 20,000 new that their interests are to be taken note of shares were issued at £40 payable at by the Commission. The Singapore Cham-
the rate of exchange of the day ber of Commerce has by a small majority for even at that early period the Bank, pronounced in favour of the adoption of supposed to be a silver institution, found a gold standard, but from paragraphs which it more convenient to state the value of its have appeared in the papers in London and
new shares in sterling. In 1890 there was Singapore we gather that it is considered it another issue of 20,000 new shares, the rate would be more advisable to have the pro-
on this occasion being £42 10s. Thus the posed change considered as a separate ques-average cost of the shares to the share- tion rather than in connection with that holders, taking the premium and rate of
of the British Empire with the British of the Indian currency. The Hongkong exchange into account, has been a fraction
Possession of Hongkong," bat in this case Chamber has pronounced emphatically
over £35. They are at the time of writing bullion and specie are included; it would against any change in our standard, but quoted at $3511, which at the current rate have been more satisfactory if they had the appointment of a representative of the of 1s. 10, d. comes to less than £34, so
been shown separately, so that we might Eastern colonies on the Indian Currency that the shareholders' property in that have had the exact value of the mer- Commission would seem to indicate the magnificent institution actually shows a de-chandise. The table is as follows:- advisability of both Singapore and Hong preciation instead of an improvement, and kong taking steps to again give formal that notwithstanding the fact that a reserve expression to their views. Sir ALPRID has been accumulated equal to eight-tenths United King DENT'S appointment may indicate only that of the capital, the reserve having only been the effect of the proposed Indian change on to a small extent paid for by the premium on the trade with the Eastern colonies is to be the new issue of shares. Then we have the considered, or it may mean that the ex- Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Co., Ceylon pediency of effecting a change in the mone-
established in 1866. In 1886 there was a tary stardard of those colonies concurrently with the proposed change in India is to re- In either case it is desir ceive attention. able that the position and views and wishes of the colonies concerned should be unmis- takeably made known.
We do not know whether the conver- sion of the Hongkong Chamber of Com- merce to the theory of a gold standard has made any progress, or even commenced, but that the conversion will be effected sooner or later we entertain no doubt. The view at present held is that the currency of this colony must be determined by that of China, a country that has not shown such ability in the management of her own affairs as to render her altogether a desirable exemplar and guide in the affairs of other states. The Chamber of Commerce seems to be making. the same mistake with respect to China in commercial matters that the British Govern ment for so long made with respect to the same country in matters of international politics, and if they go on long enough they may receive a similar rude awakening. In matters of trade Hongkong should lead rather than follow China, and in the choice of a monetary standard should throw in its lot with the British Empire instead of hanging on to the tattered skirts of the celestials. Sooner or later, too, China will herself adopt a change of standard, and if Hongkong waits until then she may have to pay pretty dearly for the delay. It would pay us better to effect the conversion of the standard at the rate of 1s. 104. than to wait until it has fallen to a shilling.
Nine-tenths of the foreign trade of China and of this colony is already virtually con- ducted on a gold basis, the prices in silver being fixed according to the rate of ex- change, and from that point of view it would be more convenient to have the transactions stated in terms of gold t› begin with. It is urged that the colony has greatly prospered under the silver standard, which is true, but it does not follow that its prosperity would not have been as great
|
34
Into and from
dom India
Straits Settle-
ments
Muuritius Now South
Wales
Queensland Cape of Good
Hope Dominion Canada
new issue of shares at a premium and the average cost to the shareholders Victoria of the whole stock has been say £28. The sterling equivalent of the present dollar quotation is over £41, which shows a considerable enhancement in value, but nothing like that which the enormous additions that have been made to the Company's property out of earn- ings during the thirty-two years of its existence would seem to justify. Next we have the China Sugar Refining Co., formed in 1878, when exchange was just a trifle below 4s. New shares were issued at par in 1883, when exchange was 3s. 74d., again in 1887, when exchange was 33. 21, and again in 1894, when exchange was 2s., this time at a premium of 25 per cent. The average original cost of the shares in sterling has been a little over £16, and the sterling equivalent of the current quotation is a little under that amount, so that the investor's capital shows a slight depreciation, notwithstanding that large extensions and improvements have been paid for out of earnings and that the prospects of the Company are good. A currency that yields results like the foregoing does not appear to be worth making any great sacrifices to retain.
of
Imports from Hongkong.
Exports to Hongkong. 1895. 1896. 1895. 1896,
£
£
£
£ 1,221,737 1,023,680 3,358,213 2,634,360 1,147,228 1,133,947 4,750,842 5,121,702
1,890,125 2,260,992 1,131,557 1,204,277 75,718 47,934 13,294 9,950 13,686 9,007 30,817 34,270
181,529
115,155
75,860 114,7 t
117,738
108,573
141,976 185,801 52,774 52,303 30,647
54,835
10,914 19,906
696
769 1,211 3,029 3,137 From this it appears that the total imports into Hongkong from all parts of the Empire amounted in value in 1896, at the time of shipment, to £9,299,435. We should think the amount ought to be larger, the figures for Canada being obviously in- accurate, as they represent a smaller value than that imported on any one voyage by the "Empress " liners. However, taking the sum of £9,299,435 as approximately correct, some idea, though rather a vague one, of the value of the whole trade of the port may be derived from a comparison of these figures with those given in the Har- bour Master's report, where the quantities are stated in tons, but no values are given. In 1896 the imports from all parts of the Brit- ish Empire aggregated 504,672 tons, which quantity, according to the Board of Trade Returns, represented a value, including specie and bullion, of £9,299,435. In the same year the imports from foreign countries amounted to 2,788,931 tous. If the value of the cargo from foreign countries were as much per ton as that from the British Empire it would amount in the aggregate to over £50,000,000, giving a grand total, including British trade, of sny £60,000,000. When the question of collecting returns But the foreign trade, which includes that of the imports and exports of Hong-with countries close at hand, should pro- kong was under consideration a sug- gestion was made by Governor DES Vaux that the desired information might possibly be obtained from the Customs re- turus of the various countries and places with which the colony has trading connec- tions. This has been done for us by the Board of Trade in so far as our connections with the British Empire are concerued, and the return is published in the Board of Trade Journal for April. In the introduc- tion a reply given by Mr. RITCHIE in the
THE TRADE OF THE COLONY AND ITS VALUE.
དད་ད་ད་ད་དང་ས་ལ་ས་མ་མ་ད་ད་བ་ད་ད་ང་ནང་
bably be taken at a considerably lower valuation per ton than British trade, as it includes articles which could not pay for freight over long distances, such, for in- stance, as Japan coal. The calculation is also obscured by the inclusion of bullien and specie in the Board of Trade table. Making all allowances, however, the local estimate of £60,000,000 ns the value of the annual trade of the port is obviously much nearer the mark than the absurd figures given in the last edition of