To the Editor of the "Norra-Curna Datty News."
S1r,—I beg to ask for space in your columns in order to lay before the public and the authorities concerned in Shanghai a scheme which has occurred to me for dealing with the debased copper coin question.
Until' these present coins are finally driven from Shanghai, there will undoubtedly be, as emphasized by the Chinese press, a certain amount of hardship endured by the very poor who find themselves left with the coins on their hands. The remedy, as I see it, is this: Let the Tramway Company or some public body such as the 8S. M. C., buy back these coins through numerous agencies in Shanghai at a rate below the intrinsic value of the copper itself. These coins could be melted down, and_thereafter could, T am sure, be disposed of at a profit as metal.
The unfortunate poor who are stuck with these coins would be only too pleased to dispose of them slight loss, rather than not get rid of them at all; trouble and altercations and perhaps worse would be avoided; the debased coins would disappear altogether and the body who takes the initiative would probably make a fortune.
If I were not so tied, I would have a shot myself. Instant action is necessary.
I am, ete, Shanghai, May 11.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.