Peking, Dec. 15.
Mavshal Tuan Chi-jui is said to paying the closest attention to the so-called Gold Frane question, and two solutions are mentioned as offering the likeliest way out of the! aiffealty. One is that Japan should fact as mediator, and the. other is that the ease be referred to arbitrather at Geneva or the Hagu seems likely that from the politi cal viewpoint one or other of these methods will have to be taken. Pub-
Tie opinion in China has been arouse ed more keenly over the eontrovers; with' renee than' over any ther issue in recent times. 'The' articulate have developed an atte tude of mind over the affair which at this time, when the Tuan administration is just feeling its way, it would not be advisable to disturb by any- direct complaisance with the Srench demands. It is true. that Parliament, the most, Yoeal clement]
opposition, need not now be considered, but the people throughout, the country, with or without ads-reason, have come to a dete conclusion that it would dis trous for China to acquiesce in fold settlement, and certain sections would certainly harass any Cabinet that attempted "such a" solution, Some Chinese go, so far as to that it would mark the beginning of the end of the Tuan administration, The French Contention The French contention that the debt was to be resumed in gold franes has already been recognized by Huang Fu ina communication to the French Minister when he was the Foreign Office. At that time it was agreed that the wording of the: protocol of 1901 admitted only of. one meaning, that the debt was a debt, in gold. 'The protocol clearly' specified that the indemnity con stituted "gold debt ealeutated at the rae of ther Hutkuan {net to the old currency eric! country, as indicated below." hointerpratatfon agreed upon in 1006, about which the Chinese Are now ribbling, cgnin mace te clear that the let wat' not n taol debt, but a gold abt, and Tocogniaed that Ti," 480.000,0 conatated debt due to each" af'the Powers, China Fhuat "payin gold the amount! Which Wahown in Article Vi of. the "final ratorol ae the equivalent "of T have talked to many Chinese on this knotty problem, and their arguments may be summed up as follows:
"By the exchange of notes in 1905 between China and the individual signatory Powers of the 1901 Protocol, France-chose to be paid her share of the Boxer indemnity in telegraphic transfers. When China buys telegraphic transfers on Paris the market, there is only one kid of franc to be obtained, which is now }worth less than 10 cents, There is no duch thing as a gold franc to be obtained in any market, Both par-[ties agreed to make the payments in
7 7 francs, in telegraphic transfers, sll frane which not be bought tale graphic transfers. Up to 1905, China paid in silver taels, When the Powers thought they lost money in this way, and in that year specified three alternatives: telegraphic. transfers, gold bills, or silver according to the price of silver on the London market. These methods of pay-_ ment were applied retroactively, and China was made to pay 8,000,000) protocol taels in 1905 to make' up for the difference between what she' had paid up to that year and what she should have paid according to the new alternative. 'This shows: that the amount to be paid was determined by the method of payment. In fact, China had always paid' amounts which varied according to the market rates of telegraphic! transfers, and not according to the: price of gold in the actual gold frane coins. It is unfair to demand of China to pay in telegraphic transfers when the rates are unfavourable to her and then change to another basis when they become favourable. If gold frane coins!
sant by the protocol, id fineness of the coins of ies should have been specified in the protocol also, But nothing like that was done. Nor did the exchange of notes in 1905 specify the amounts to be paid to each country as independent from the telegraphic transfers. The protocol mentioned the word gold, but it means the gold standard of the wers in contra-distinction to standard of China. The was mentioned as often Article VI prescribed the payment of 8.5 franes por tael in the gold eurvency of each country, The me terpretation then deals with methods of payment:—
"China will make these culated on. the basis fixed old bills, oF lis, the ehviee of The 1905 Agreement These extracts show that if China pays in gold eurroney, the amount must be in accordance with the fixed yates of exchange in the protocol, while if she pays in silver, the amount would be in accordance with the prevailing price of silver on the London market, However, in response to Prince Ching's request to the Powers to name the alternative from of payment they required, France elected to be paid by. tele: graphic transfer. China paid in silver up to 1905, and at that time, in accordance with the definite inter pretation, had to pay the Powers a Jump sum of eight million taels to make up for losses incurred in. the years 1902 to 1905 by payment Silver of a gold debt. The 1905 agreement, by the way, was reached at the instance of the protocol Powers. The crux of the question then ist" What is meant by a gold debt? 'A court of arbitration should find no difficulty in these post-war days of depreciated currencies in finding Precedents, if not between nations, then between individuals, France and the protocol Powers (for they are all behind France in her claim) base their arguments on the protocol itself, whereas the Chinese stand concerns itself - mainly with the 1905 agreement.
A $15,000,000 Temptation If China accepts France's claim, the Cabinet will fall heir to about! $15,000,000, the approximate amount lof the French share between December 1922 and December 1924, which was stated sometime ago France would be prepared to waive if the Chinese Government abandoned its} attitude. Not only that, but the Customs conference would be hasten-_ ed, and China could look forward t3 the increase in her import tariff rate of another 24 per cent. with Jan extra 23 por cent. in the case of Jeertain luxuries. But when these advantages are mentioned to the Chinese, they are still inflexible {their opposition, saying that ieseenee in France's contention would set up a precedent which] }would have to be conceded to Belgium, Ttaly, and Spain, and might have far-reaching consequences lyeers to come. Moreover, they say that in this year of grace China can insist upon a hearing for her point! lof view, which is a question of prin-Jeiple that in 1905 she could not have upheld.
The Bait of Likin The hope of a 73 por cent, tant is again offset by the hope of the full 128 per cent promised under the [Washington agreements in exchange for the abolition of likin. This {the day when many obnoxious things are being broken down, from Super-_ ftuchunships to. superftuoas clerk. ships, and there is a body of opinion in the capital which is urging a drastic effort to uproot the most obnoxious evil of all in the develop-Jment of trade and commerce. They may be quite possible to Jabolish likin at this time, and in its stead to institute certain consumption taxes,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.