21st Oct. No surer sign of the inecoherency of the Government of China could be found than is now shown in the large number of Mints that. are being built in parts of the Empire. Instead lishing one large Mint which would issue currency usable in all parts of the provinees, we have the present speetucle of each province putting forth coins in competition with others. Canton has its mint which is said to he one of the largest plants in the world, the tientsin Arsenal has put out a currency of its own, Nanking hag almost completed the buildings for its new mint, Ngankin building one, Hangchow is doing wise, Wuchang has had its mint in operation for several years, Szzchuan, it is rumoured, is soon to commence work, Shantung is falling into line, and so is Shansi. These will give us at least ten different kinds of dollars in the market, each seeking to oust the of! The design of these dollars is different and their weights are not uniform, not to mention: that the quality of silver used varies widely. 'I'he result will bet confusion worse confounded. Though the Canton and Wuchang dollars have been in circulation for several years, and Viceroy Chang Chih-tang has been transferred from Canton to Wauchang and then to Nanking, thus having an opportunity to use his influence in all of these seven provinces for the circulation of the dollars issued under his patronage. Up to the present they remain a dead weight upon the market. Merchants prefer to.use the Mexican dollar which has a specific and recognised value. It is probable that they will continue to do so until the central government at Peking is able to control the Viceroys and Governors of the various provinces enough to cause them to act in concert for the good of their country, and not allow them to keep up " destructive rivalry, A national dollar issued in many different places, but with a fixed weight of uniform silver would soon become current both in foreign and native trade, and would displace the inconvenient and unreliable method of using sycee taels. 'I'he tael weight of an ounce of silver differs in almost every city, and the new dollars seem about to rival it in capriciousness.
Tt now seems to be practically certain that Russia will have her'l'rans-Siberian railway finished within two years, he recent completion of the first iustalment of the loan for the Shanghai-Nanking Road promises an early commencement of this work for which surveys have already been made. Tientsin and Peking are now connected by rail and the earnings from this new line are said to exceed the most san-grime hopes of the promotors, Governor Hu's appointment as Director-General of Railways north of the Yellow River will make a strong competition between himself and H, E. Sheng as to who can succeed first. With all these activities going on about us it really seems that China is certain tp have railways, We cannot but regard the appointment of Governor Hu as a good one, for his previous position well him to secure the confidence metropolitan officials, and this is solutely necessary for success, It will also serve to stimulate H.E. Sheng, the weight of whose many appointments seemd to be crushing out all his reputed energy. An alert rival will do much to bring Sheng to decisive action, instead of the useless parleying which has seemed to characterise him for the last eighteen months, When Shanghai is connected with Nanking, it would only be a short time before the road would be pushed on to Hankow. From Hankow to Peking the road must be completed surely within tone or five years. By that time the ans-Siberian road will be joined to the Chinese lines, and as a joint result Shanghai will be connected with Barope by a line.of railway. The advantage of this in quick transit of mails and of important goods will be very great to Shanghai. Of course it is not expected that the railways can compete with ships in cheapness of transport of general goods, but each line will be able to handle its own special kind of freight. The net result ought to be a large increase of profit both to shipping interests and to general commerce, while the new indus= try itself would also come in for handsome returns on investments. 'I'he old demand for goods that can be shipped the leisurely way of the sea will not shrink, but a new demand for goods which need the faster shipment by railways will spring up. Improved methods of communication with Europe will mean more trade for Shanghai and an improvement of general conditions, although it may work hardships ina few unimportant instances. 'I'he outcome will be general profit.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.