28
G. FINDLAY ANDREW
Having agreed the matter of weight and accepted the rate of exchange, the next settlement had to be agreement on count and grading. Cash was usually strung in strings of five hundred. But the count was never full for the law of custom allowed the shop to deduct up to three cash per hundred to pay for the labour of counting, grading and stringing. Thus a nominal hundred worked out at 97—even less with a little sharp practice. Then in many districts there was a differentiation of "large" and "small" cash. In such case further bartering was necessary to agree the ratio of "large" and "small" in each hundred. Personally I would agree that the charge of three cash per hundred for counting, grading and stringing cash could be well justified. I do not remember seeing even a Scot count his cash after an exchange transaction. The labour involved is well illustrated in a Chinese story of a wealthy man and his prodigal son. The father was so incensed by the gambling debts incurred by his wayward son that, in a moment of extreme exasperation he disowned him. In accordance with well-established Chinese custom, the friends of the family rallied around and set to work to persuade the father to rescind his ruling. Finally, yielding for face sake, the father called for his steward to bring out 100,000 cash, the amount of the last gambling debt. It was winter time and the money was taken to the arbour in the garden and there the strings were cut and the cash poured into one pile on the floor. The son was then ordered to count and string the cash and discharge his debt therewith. You can imagine the state of the young man—physically and mentally—when at long last the task was completed!
Finally when the long exchange transaction was completed, the purchaser was faced with the physical task of moving his purchase. The approximate weight was one lb. per hundred cash. Thus the exchange of one Mexican dollar (at the time equal to one U.S. dollar) at the ruling rate of 1,500 cash per dollar, faced the purchaser with the problem of having to move fifteen lbs, deadweight. When the traveller was on horse-back (as we so often were) this became a problem of considerable magnitude. Applied to present days this would mean that a traveller changing five dollars into cash before boarding a plane would find himself saddled with 75 lbs. of luggage—some ten lbs. in excess of the luggage allowance on an international flight. Yet in those days a single brass cash had its purchasing power.
28
G. FINDLAY ANDREW
Having agreed the matter of weight and accepted the rate of exchange, the next settlement had to be agreement on count and grading. Cash was usually strung in strings of five hundred. But the count was never full for the law of custom allowed the shop to deduct up to three cash per hundred to pay for the labour of counting, grading and stringing. Thus a nominal hundred worked out at 97-even less with a little sharp practice. Then in many districts there was a differentiation of "large" and "small" cash. In such case further bartering was necessary to agree the ratio of "large" and "small" in each hundred. Personally I would agree that the charge of three cash per hundred for counting, grading and stringing cash could be well justified. I do not remember seeing even a Scot count his cash after an exchange transaction. The labour involved is well illustrated in a Chinese story of a wealthy man and his prodigal son. The father was so incensed by the gambling debts incurred by his wayward son that, in a moment of extreme exasperation he disowned him. In accordance with well established Chinese custom, the friends of the family rallied around and set to work to persuade the father to rescind his ruling. Finally, yielding for face sake, the father called for his steward to bring out 100,000 cash, the amount of the last gambling debt. It was winter time and the money was taken to the arbour in the garden and there the strings were cut and the cash poured into one pile on the floor. The son was then ordered to count and string the cash and discharge his debt therewith. You can imagine the state of the young man-- physically and mentally-when at long last the task was completed!
Finally when the long exchange transaction was completed. the purchaser was faced with the physical task of moving his purchase. The approximate weight was one lb. per hundred cash. Thus the exchange of one Mexican dollar (at the time equal to one U.S. dollar) at the ruling rate of 1,500 cash per dollar, faced the purchaser with the problem of having to move fifteen lbs, deadweight. When the traveller was on horse-back (as we so often were) this became a problem of considerable magnitude. Applied to present days this would mean that a traveller changing five dollars into cash before boarding a plane would find himself saddled with 75 lbs. of luggage-some ten lbs. in excess of the luggage allowance on an international flight. Yet in those days a single brass cash had its purchasing power.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.