To the Editor of the Sir,—It is much to be regretted that the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce should propose to invite the interference of the Chinese Government in matters of trade—a Government the most perfidious, and'the most ignorant of, and indifferent to, the welfare of its subjects, known to the civilised world.
In this matter of a Mint, there was not the slightest occasion to invoke its inter ference, sinico all the advantages derived from the establishment of a Mint could be secured with facility without it—if the adhesion could be obtained of the native bankers to the plan I formerly suggested as the method, at once simple and obvious, for attaining the de: Without their adhesion the advantages are not at all likely to be attained.
The advantags we derive fom a Mint would be to hi money coined i gives a definition of coined money as a fgubstauce of which the dimension and "weight were firat determined, and which, at Inst, in order to be relieved from "the trouble of continual measuring, was marked -with a particular stamp, the "of its value.
amp has of course to be given by some recognized authority, and that authority lias been usually the Goverument of country. There is no absolute necessity that the Government of country should be the recognized authority to give that stamp. But peoples are usually willing to trust their rulers, and in this matter they have had ample cause to en verted into coin of the realm, and, in England, numerous mints were' established. Increased facili of communication tended to restrict them to a few important and the exigencies of royal furgera ended with concentrating the issues of one place. A similar loped in other European cou East, the right of coinage was a mark of sovereignty, and ry blood-stained usurper hastened to his image and superscription upon more or less debased pieces of metallic yy. In Muhummadan countries the ion of the Sicca, or Mint, was the obvious sign of sovereignty.
cult to say whether or not in former times the Chinese had any coin except copper cash. As no examples are extant, we may presume they had Ancient coins are valuable guides to but in Chinn they do not appear to exist. Copper cash has been most xteusively degraded, as you have recently formed your readers, We know how thoroughly discredited the inconvertible paper currency of China Lec turies ago. Some few instances have occurred in our own times of attempts to lish Government paper, and they tously. The shrewd untile classes of China certain to regard with ineradicable suspicion any attempt to foist a currency upon them by their corrupt rulers, who faro even capable of endeavouring to pass off upon an English Minister spurious murderers of English Consular officials.
the Chamber of Commerce memorial as already gone to the Peking Government, much harm will have been done." Although there Manda will immediately recognize the {util of trying to pass their coi their own people, they will Mint question until some English diplomatist is ready to regard its cone substantial equivalent for the condonement of the murder of a Consular exploring party in Thibe In the meantime, if the Chamber of Commerce wished to set about providing the community of Shanghai with a handy currency, they have only to arrange h the native banks to accept pieces of half s tael, one tael, or any other number of taels, duly stamped by the ud teated by a foreign asnayor, Shanghai Sycee. The Chinese Government at present, I believe, claims.no seignorage or monopoly of coinage; every holder of silver in China, at any rate in Shanghai, possesgos the right to -have his bullion coined into pieces of any dimension and weight he pleases, and stamped at the Kung-koo upon payment of! al charge. There is no place in the world where I necessity exists for the establishment Government Mint, or where its establish ment would be likely te make "confusion worse confounded."
The merchants and bankers of Shanghai will probably find King Stork worse than King Log. Instead of calling upon Hercules to get their cart-wheel out of the rut, they should put their shoulders to the wheel.
Nor is the task a very difficult one. Coining by contract is the method proved by the highest authorit Shell an. Herschel, success Masters of the Tower Mint, recommended it, and it was partially adopted there as also by the United States Government, and firely by the French Mint. Although endorse the; maxim of " King who said, think any charge for mintage on the part Put not your trust in Princes." Itis a of a Government wrong in principle, yet.a curious edincidence that Royal tampering charge sufficient -to cover the cost would ith -national currencies went out of be allowable enough in Shanghai. The fashion about the period of the reign of contract aystem of coinage (making bullion
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.