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relationship with Chen - they "did not see eye to eye... [they] thrashed out their differences round the Council table which... they thumped."
To arrange the finance of the new Government, Sun decided to reorganize the province's currency. The new policy was a total abolition of the existing currency and the introduction of a brand new currency under a new government bank. Originally, the new bank was to have had a reserve of $10,000,000, but it turned out that the Canton government could only put up 30% of the original amount. As a government bank, it had the right to issue new currency, to control the treasury and the salt gabelle in Guangdong. The crucial thing it lacked, as shall be seen, was credit worthiness. The merchant's prediction proved correct. In response, the chambers of Commerce wrote a joint letter to Sun, stating that "to cancel the existing currency (issued by the Bank of China in Canton) was equivalent to an act of sentencing them to the death penalty." Ending the letter, the chambers warned the government that "if the creditability of the Government was shattered [by this incident], the new notes issued by the Provincial Bank of Guangdong may suffer too." The brand new currency issued by the new government bank, amounting to $1,500,000, depreciated sharply once it began circulation.
It was in March 1921 that Chen Jiongming secretly approached "the leading Chinese merchants in Hong Kong," requesting them to form into an advisory council for the Guangdong Government, which was responsible for giving advice on the "administration of the province in relation to civil and financial matters."
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Coinciding with Chen's move, it was Liu Zhubo who submitted a confidential report to the Governor of Hong Kong on a scheme to finance a new government in Canton - "the object of the proposed organization was to finance Chen Ch'iung-ming (Chen Jiongming) and enable him to sever [his] connection with Sun Yat-sen." According to Liu Zhubo's proposal, this new Canton government was to be modelled "after the form of government of Hong Kong" under the supervision of the Cantonese merchants. In Liu's words:
The Political ship of Canton - officiated, manned and navigated as it now is - is bound to strike rock... what the Chinese merchants in Hong Kong and Canton should do, and do at once, is to prepare and
213
relationship with Chen - they "did not see eye to eye.. [they] thrashed out their differences round the Council table which... they thumped."
To arrange the finance of the new Government, Sun decided to re- organize the province's currency The new policy was a total abolition of the existing currency and the introduction of a brand new currency under a new government bank. Originally, the new bank was to have had a reserve of $ 10,000,000, but it turned out that the Canton government could only put up 30% of the original amount. As a government bank, it had the right to issue new currency, to control the treasury and the salt gabelle in Guangdong. The crucial thing it lacked, as shall be seen, was credit worthiness. The merchant's prediction proved correct. In response, the chambers of Commerce wrote a joint letter to Sun, stating that "to cancel the existing currency (issued by the Bank of China in Canton) was equivalent to an act of sentencing them to the death penalty.” Ending the letter, the chambers wamed the government that "if the creditability of the Government was shattered [by this incident], the new notes issued by the Provincial Bank of Guangdong may suffer too" The brand new currency issued by the new government bank, amounting to $ 1,500,000, depreciated sharply once it began circulation
It was in March 1921 that Chen Jiongming secretly approached "the leading Chinese merchants in Hong Kong," requesting them to form into an advisory council for the Guangdong Government, which was responsible for giving advice on the "administration of the province in relation to civil and finanical matters
**
Coinciding with Chen's move, it was Liu Zhubo who submitted a confidential report to the Governor of Hong Kong on a scheme to finance a new government in Canton - "the object of the proposed organization was to finance Chen Ch'iung-ming (Chen Jiongming) and enable him to sever [his] connection with Sun Yat-sen". According to Liu Zhubo's proposal, this new Canton government was to be modelled “after the form of government of Hong Kong" under the supervision of the Cantonese merchants In Liu's words'
The Political ship of Canton - officiated, manned and navigated as it now is is bound to strike rock.. what the Chinese merchants in Hong Kong and Canton should do, and do at once, is to prepare and
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