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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
almost a perfect plain until within a few miles of the river, when low hills are met with, which could be easily uegotiated. Such a line would greatly facilitate traffic and would be a very promising investment for capital. Supposing it to be constructed Hongkong would still remain the head quar. ters of the traffic, for ocean going steamers could not conveniently go to Pakhoi, and would therefore continue to bring the cargo on to Hongkong for transhipment to coast- ing steamers. There is every reason, there- fore, why Hongkong should look favourably on the project.
ARE COMPRADORE'S ORDERS BILLS OF EXCHANGE.
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高品
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嘻
[June 6, 1895.
"that the West River is not a river like the carried by porters, always a slow and expen-fortunate, from a general and public point, Yangstsze. It is not navigable for steamers sive means of conducting traffic. Ifa railway of view, that the question of custom was "above Wuchow-fu, in the extreme east of were established there can be little doubt not more fully argued. A compradore's "Kwangai. Between Wuchow and the next that it would at once prove an immense order, according to our view, is an in- strument sui generis, depending for nego- "place of importance, Hsunchow-fu, the success, for railways running along a well- "river is full of rocks-ridges running out established land traffic route never fail to pay, tiability on universal usage entitled to be "from either bank and overlapping--and the and even where there is water communication recognised as part of the law merchant. “channel crossing and recrossing the rivers they command a substantial share of the There are in effect only two parties to the "between these is too narrow for manœuvr- traffic. From Pakhoi to Nanning no en-instrument, the drawer and the payee, the "ing in a swift current. Junks reach Wu-gineering difficulties would be met with in drawee being only a servant of the drawer, "chow in eight days from Canton and Hsun- | laying a line of railway, for the country is and not infrequently there are in actual
chow in fourteen days. We may be quite
fact only two persons, many people now sure that whatever change may take place in
acting as their own compradores. In the case decided the other day, the Judge held “the course of the Nanning trade, the dis- tricts now served by Wuchow and Hsun-
that "if the drawee were a fellow em- “chow will continue to trade with Canton."
ployee of the drawer, the drawee would Mr. CARL, at present Commissioner at
be another' person within the definition "of a bill of exchange; if the drawee were Mengtsu, but who was formerly stationed at
a servant of the drawer, the two would Lungchow, in his report on the trade of the last named station for 1889, discussing the
practically constitute the same person and "the holder might then treat the instrument probability of Western Kwangsi drawing its
at his option as either a bill of exchange or supplies through Tonkin when the railway to Langson should be completed, wrote:-
a promissory note." It was formerly almost "One, however, must remember that the
the universal custom, and is still the "West River, with its numerous feeders
custom in many firms, that the employes were permitted to draw on the com- "branching out in every direction, is the "natural trade route for nearly all the
pradore, that is, a servant of the firm may be allowed to make use of the "Kwangai province, and if the Chinese Go- "vernment ever decides to abolish lekin
compradore as his private cashier, but 'stations, no railway in Tonkin could pos
Soon after the introduction of stamp duties when he gives an order "compradore pay "it sibly compete with the river route in the in Hongkong, in 1866, the question was
means that the compradore is to pay, not as "matter of cheapness. If such a thing raised whether compradore's orders were
the compradore of the firm, but as the "should be done all the big towns along the subject to duty. The then. Collector of cashier of the person giving the order. "river would draw their supplies from, and Stamp Revenue, the late Mr. MITCHELL, What may now be regarded as a privilege
ship their produce to, Canton. The river is decided they were not, on the ground that a
was formerly a necessity, for in the state of easily navigated as far as Wuchow-fu; compradore's order was really an order the currency in the old days, when the Banks "from there on to Nanning there are rapids, drawn by a man on himself and did not
would have nothing to do with small ac- "somewhat dangerous too, but these are come within any of the articles of the Or- counts, when there were no one-dollar notes "time after time passed by the native boats |dinance. This ruling remained practically in circulation, when the silver dollar was even more open to suspicion than it is now. without accident. The only thing neces- unchallenged until the other day, when a sary is care and to have good boat-gear case was brought in the Summary Jurisdic-and when broken silver had to serve the "that will not break or give way at a try- tion of the Supreme Court in which the purpose of the present subsidiary coinage, it
ing moment. Between Nanning and this
same question was raised. The Acting would have been difficult for a person to act as bis own cashier; employés of firms were place (Lungehow) there is only one bad Puisne Judge, taking a different view from rapid, just this side of Taiping-fu. A that hitherto held by the Stamp Office, consequently allowed to make use of the ser- "boat of over 200 piculs carrying capacity decided that a compradore's order is a bill vices of the firm's compradore, and ordinary "can be engaged to go from Canton to of exchange and requires to be stamped as
payments were usually made by compradore's Tungehow for $100, which makes the such. The point is one of some importance order, whether the sum amounted to hun- freight less than 50 cents per picul. The and we should be glad to see it appealed to dreds of dollars or only to teu cents for chair "only reason native merchants do not use the Full Court, for the judgment of His hire. With the increase of banking facili "this route now is on account of the Honour Mr. SERCOMBE SMITH does not a pradore's orders have been to some extent ties and a sufficient subsidiary coinage, com- numerous lekin stations and heavy lekin pear to us quite conclusive.
'What," His charges along the way. Between Can-Honour asked, is the nature of this com-supplanted by cheques and payments in cash, ton and Wuchow there are no less..
pradore's order? Is it an instrument with- "than ten lekin stations where boats in the definitions of a bill of exchange, "bave to stop, between
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Wuchow and " Nanning there are six, and between
Nanning and Lungchow there is one, only "for down-bound boats." The number of lekin stations between Canton and Wuchow is strong evidence of the value of the trade up to the latter point and, therefore, of the advantages that would accrue from the open- ing of the river to steam navigation, even if the through traffic to western Kwangsi and Yunnan should still follow the Pakhoi route. Wuchow is itself an important distributing centre and is a goal well worth aiming at, independently of what may lie beyond. The Nanning trade would possibly be best served by a railway from Pakhoi, even if the lekin exactions on the river were removed. Some seven or eight years ago the idea of a railway from Pakhoi to Nanning was rumoured to have attained something approaching the dis- tinctness of a scheme, and it was discussed in the Consular report for 1889 by Mr. E. L. B. ALLEN, then Acting Consul. Pakuoi is, in a straight line, only some seventy-five miles distant from the nearest point of the West River, and about a hundred miles from Nanning. Nevertheless the land carriage of goods from Pakhoi over the comparatively sbort space that divides it from the West River is said to cost more than their further carriage for some three hundred miles or so of waterway as far as Po-se. The goods are
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promissory note, or cheque, or is it an in- "strument sui generis, depending for negotia- bility on universal usage entitled to be recognised as part of the law merchant He gave sufficient reasons for holding that it was not a cheque, but his reasons for holding that it was not a promissory note were less convincing. If it were necessary to place it in one of the categories we should be inclined to regard it rather as a promissory note than a bill of exchange. The Judge's reasons for holding the note in question not to be a promissory note are set out as follows:-To a promissory note there are only two parties, the maker and the payee. "In this compradore's order there are three "parties, viz., the drawer, the drawee, and "the payee.
As there was no evidence in "this case to show that the drawer and the "drawee were practically the same person, I must look to the face of the document itself, which distinctly discloses the pre- "sence of three parties. On this ground, "then, the instrument in question is not,
but the old custom still exists, and as long as it does so it is undesirable that there should be. doubt as to the validity of a compra-
any dore's order. Such an order, it seems to us, is neither a bill of exchange nor a promissory note, but answers more correctly to the en- "which might be dorsement "cashier pay
written across an account presented for pay- ment to a firm in London and which would entitle the collector to go to the cashier's desk There could be no
and receive the money. question either of a promissory note or a bill of exchange in such a transaction as that, and in Hongkong, when a shroff presents a bill for payment and receives an order for the amount on the compradore, it seems equally absurd to consider the order a bill of exchange. If a chair coole finds himself the possessor of a document in the following form, "† Com- pradore pay 10 cents chair account,” is be to be called upon to decide whether he will treat it as a bill of exchange or promissory note and to see that it is duly stamped? In the case decided in court the other day the amount involved was a substantial one, but the principle of the compradore's order is the same whether the amount for which it is in my opinion, a promissory note.' Without evidence the Judge of course could given be large or small: it is simply an order not decide that the drawer and drawee were given by a man on his own cashier, and, therefore, on himself. It seems, too, that one and the same person, and on the case as
there was a moral defence to the action, but laid before him he could perhaps have ar.
was not on that defence, but on the rived at no other conclusion than that the t compradore's order in question in the case technical defence of failure to stamp the was in fact a bill of exchange; but it is un-document, that the defendant succeeded. If
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