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April 20, 1903.]
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
CORRESPONDENCE.
THOUGHTS ON THE CURRENCY QUESTION.
Hongkong, 8th April, SIR-I have been waiting in expectation of seeing an abler pen than mine furnish a reply to Mr. Gershom Stewart's long letter which appeared in the Daily Press of the 28th ult., but a no reply has been forthcoming, I beg leave to offer a few remarks on the subject.
the confirmatory meeting when it was resolved to wind the Company up. If any gentleman has any questions to ask I shall be pleased to answer them. (A pause.)....... There ́ being no questions. I beg to propose that the bainuce of the 25,000 fully paid-up shares of the new Company to be allotted to the shareholders of TO THE EDITOR OF THE “DAILY PRESS.” the China Borneo Co., Limited (in liquidation), being fractional shares of such 25,000 shares, amounting in all to shares of the face value of $11,508, be dealt with as follows:-That such shares be disposed of by sale (but not below their face valne) in such manner as the liquidators shall think it, and that the net proceeds of sale of such shares be disposed of as follows:-(α) The sum of $3,000 to be handed to the liquidators as their remuneration for the winding-up of the Company und to be divided amongst them in such manner as they shall decide. (b) The sum of $1,000 be handed to Mr. J. T M. Wheeley for services rendered in London in connection with the transfer of the new Company, and in connection with the acquisition by the new Company of the properties and business in British North Borneo of the Borneo Hardwood Company, Limited. (c) The sum of 81,00 be handed to Mr. W. G. Darby for similar services rendered in Fritish North Borneo. (d) The balance derived from such sale as aforesaid to be distributed pro rate amongst the share- holders of the Company who appeared on the register of shareholders on the 14th day of January, 1903. ~ ~
Mr. HA&T BUCK-I beg to second. This was carried unan mously.
The CHAIRMAN--I beg to propose that the account submitted to this meeting and the ex- planations of the liquidators showing the manner in which the winding-up has been conducted and the property of the Company disposed of be received and adopted.
Mr. WiCKHAM-I beg to second. The motion was carried unanimously, The CHAIRMAN-I beg to propose that the books, accounts and documents of the Company and of the liquidatore thereof be handed over to the general manager of the new Company to be dealt with by him as he shall see fit.
Mr. HART BUCK-I beg to second. This was carried unanimously, “ The CHAIRMAN-That terminates the business, gentlemen.
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Mr. Stewart's letter contains scarcely anything that has not already been dealt with by those. who take the opposite view. He starts with the assumption that "we all agree that low ex- change is disagreeable to the foreigner- —an idea which I would point out is entirely erroneous, What in fact is disagreeable to the foreigner, no less than to the Chinaman, is not the low exchange, if only it is kept steady, but the violently fluctuating exchange, however high it may run; and the disadvantages accruing from an unstable exchange have already been fully discussed in the Daily Press and need not be touched upon again.
The chief reason of the present low exchange, Mr. Stewart goes on to tell ns, is China's demand of gold to meet her liabilities. This is no new revelation to us; it is a question of supply and demand. But does the question of China's indemnity form the last chapter in the history of the continually widening chasm between the two metals, or is it only an incident?
Mr. Stewart suggests concerted action to get China adopt a gold currency, It won'd no doubt be a grand thing if it could be accomplished. But a question which has failed to find ananimity amongst an intelligent community in a small colony like this. is hardly likely to be better received by a people whose existence is bound up with the worst traditions of Oriental misgovernments, and behind whom stand the whole latent force of popular superstition and anreasoning con- servatisin,
in time of sickness, the lawyer in time of strife, the undertaker in time
of epidemics, the grain-cornering merchant in time of famine, etc. In a question like the present, one cannot say that the redress asked by the community will be beneficial to all. greatest good for the greatest number" is the great desideratum, and we are confident that the Commission of Inquiry, unbiassed as it will be, will arrive at a result satisfactory to 'the majority.
"The
That we all feel the existence of a disease in our monetary system, there is no denying. The consumptive dollar is merely wasting away. But while there is entire agreement as to the existence of the disease, a divergence of THE "SIBERIA AT HOME, opinion prevai's as to whether or not it is possible or advisable to eradicate it. Some The Pacific Mail Steamship Co.'s new liner say its eradication would be fatal, for trade Siberia was thrown open for public inspection would leave us. Others say its eradication will on the 16th inst., and many hundreds of restore vigour and health; in other words, ex- Hongkong residen s took the opportunity of pansion of trade. At this juncture, a diagnosis viewing the magnificent leviathan. Between of the disease becomes necessary, and a move- two and five o'clock launches ran at short inter-
ment in the right direction was set afoot vale from Blake Pier. Ou board, the visitors to appoint a Commission to hold an enquiry were treated with the utmost hospitality and on the subject. The removal of evil. can- Captain Tremaine Smith and his officers were
not prove beneficial to all members of a assiduous in their attention upon them. For community, whatever be the social question, the new ship one can have nothing but admira-as witness the druggist making money tion. As one nears her in a launch, the first thing remarkable is her enormous bulk and the height at which she stands out of the water. Once on board the visitor finds much to attract his attention. The fine promenade aud hurricane decks, the luxurious cabins and state-rooms, and the general excellence and modernity of the appointments from keel to truck claim i farn the interested inspection of everyo who views the vessel. As is already pretty well known, the Siberia is a sister ship of the Korea. Her tonnage is, Mr. Stewart's criticism of the pounds, shill- 11,184 tons in all. Her speed is said to beings, and pence suggestion of Mr. Osborne was about two knots more than the Korea's, and, quite unnecessary, as the la'ter did not include although it would be difficult to make the this question in his resolution nor did he mean Korea's people admit that soft impeachment, it to force it on the mind of the public. is a matter of fact that certain minor deficiencies preferred to leave it to the final decision of the in arrangement which the Korea evinced after Commission. But as Mr. Stewart seems to find launching have been rectified in the later vessel great difficulty in selving the problem of the put ont from the Newport News Shipbuilding conversion of our monetary system into a gold Yard. In the course of the afternoon music standard, venture to suggest a scheme for was dispensed by the band of the 33rd Burmas. consideration. (Zee below.) It is worthy of note that during the day the Siberia was flying at the main a flag-the Gompany's flag-said to be the largest ever displayed in Hongkong Harbour and measuring 35 feet in length. The U.8. flag, the British flag, the American Jack and the customary burges were also fit evidence. The Siberia sailed on Saturday (est.
He
When Mr. Stewart advises us to invest our savings in gold, or remit half in gold and keep half in silver, and so hedge against a big loss owing to falling exchange, it is scarcely possible to believe that Mr. Stewart bas seriously con sidered its significance. One would suppose that an expansionist of Mr. Stewart's type would be the last to advocate the removal of
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stment
and low
capital from our business centre for in foreign gold countries. The with to trade, expand and incre we are now asked to withdraw mediate control and invest limited return in the shape of 1 interest. And all this for what? - Rather than introduce reform in our monetary system and remove the last vestige of obstruction to trade, we are recommended, to divert our resources to otter unproductive channels, or in the last resort go through the process of hedging.... But will hedging" improve matters? To me it seems like saying to a man: “Rather than seek a safe boat, put a life-belt round your waist and hedge yourself against stormy weather
Again, Mr. Stewart believes that with a gold standard in Hongkong, our outports might draw their supplies from Shanghai instead. He must be alluding here to foreign imported goods, and that being so I would point out that the cost of these being in gold, fluctuates: in silver according to the rate of exchange, and there- fore makes no difference in value that will invite competition between the two por's.
With regard to the very alarming picture drawn by Mr. Stewart of the change in the rela tive position of the Binks and the general public, which in his opinion would follow the adoption of a gold standard, one would think that the end would surely ome and Hongkong would dwindle back to its former state of insigni- ficanes as a resort for fishermen, or at best be but a stronghold of imperial defence. If we were the first and only country to initiate a gold currency the difficulties depicted by Mr. Stewart would doubtless form obstructions to our progress. In every movement there are pessimists who by natural disposition or through other auses cannot be made to see the bright. side of things. The question at issue must be weighed and considered in all its bearings and should not be dismissed because of some ap- parent disadvantages. If the result of the Com- . mission be found to side with the change in our monetary system because of preponderating advantages, we must necessarily abide by their final decision and think no more of the minor disadvantages. There is no such a thing in the world at least not to our knowledge as absolute good. We must all be guided by the principle of the "grantest good for the greatest number." Other countries have made the change and succeeded, and why should we prove an exception?
Finally, if Mr. Stewart admits that if China goes gold we shall enjoy immunity from all those objectionable consequences which would follow our adoption of gold, we would still like to know what difference it would make in our relative position with the Banks in the matter of converting our account from silver to gold, whether we go gold singly or jointly with China ?—Yours, etc.,
J. R. MICHAEL -
· SCHEME.
1. The Government to call in British dollars, clean ones only, not chopped or tampered with, within the space of, say, six or twelve months; to pay for same either in new gold dollar notes to be issued by the Government temporarily, or Bank demand rate on London,
2. These dollars to be marked or chopped by the Government and offered to the Chinese at a little above silver value, as Chins will always require some dollars to trade with, whether Mexican, Spanish, or even yen."
3. What remains, to be melted and used for new token dollars.
4. A slight loss will result to the Govern- ment which will be greatly compensated by the large profit from the coinage of the new dollar.
5. The Government to mint a new silver dollar to be nominated, say, a 2a. dollar, but to...- contain silver to the extent of 18. 4d. only, and other alloy to bring the weight to 418 grains
-the weight of the present dollar.
6 The mintage of such dollars to be limited to, say, 5 millions in silver, to be minted in ins alments of 5 millions as they may be required.
7. That notes be ordered to be issued by local Bank or Banks, fo the extent of 15 millions. representing such 23. dollars, which is considered sufficient to replace the silver notes.
8. The difference in coining the new dollars, which contain Is. 4d., and would be sold for and