Peking, March 7.
By order of the President:—
Restricrion or Paper Currency-
In reference to a memorial from Li Shi-hao, Minister of Finance and concurrently Director-General of the Currency Bureau, and Chou Tsu-chi, President of the Currency Bureau, requesting the imposition of some restriction upon the official banks in the provinces in respect of their increasing issue of currency notes, and submitting plans for the exchange of old and new currency notes, etc.
The issuance of currency notes is a special privilege enjoyed government banks; and Regulations for the Contro) of Currency Notes, framed by the Ministry of Finance. have long been promulgated and enforced, which should impose sufficient limitations. Nevertheless, the official banks in the provinces have recently issued such notes at will, often under the plea that their circulation is necessary (to meet market conditions). While their. designs and denominations are bewilderingly promiscuous, the funds supposed to be kept in reserve can hardly be verified, thus causing stagnancy to the money market, the control and manipulation of which by unscrupulous merchants is thereby facilitated, to the detriment of the public. As a remedy is urgently desired, let the Ministry act in conjunction with the Currency Bureau in carefully devising some method to restrict and safeguard such issues, and ordering all to obey same by a circular. They are also to exhort the official superintendents of these banks to exercise strict supervision. In future, no provincial official banks shall be permitted to issue currency notes without authority. Those already issued must, in accordance with the Regulations for the Control of Currency Notes, be gradually redeemed in instalments within certain periods to be definitely fixed. No more notes must be issued, in order to remove abuses and improve our currency system.
". The above Mandate was telegraphed specially to the "Sinwanpao" in advance.—Ed.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.