Mar. 8.
Tue loan for the erection of a mint at Shanghai concluded between the Chinese Government and a group of Chinese bankers will be a bitter disappointment to all who have interested themselves in what might have been a project of the highest value to China's trade and finances. The terms of the agreement sent down by Reuter during the week-end (the loan itself had already been reported by our Peking correspondent last Thursday) are not too easy to understand. But one thing is perfectly clear, namely, that the foreign supervision, which was the great point in the original scheme and which would have made the mint an_ effective instrument for the reform of Chinese currency, has been carefully excluded. Put in the simplest terms, it appears that the Chinese banks will provide $2,325,000 for the purchase land, erection of mint and provision of machinery. Against this the Government will issue Trea~ sury notes for $2,500,000, the bankers receiving seven per cent.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.