Peking, Apr. 22.
'Those persons in Peking who are' concerned with the inwardness of things woke up this morning with dazed head. They had been trying to solve the problem put out three o'clock the previous day by the Waichiaopu called the Gold Frane Settlement. It might have been a new version of the differen: tial calculus, judging from its effects, First, there is the "conun-'When is a retrocession not 'a retrocession? Your readers will probably have answered that by this Hime, for it arises out of the gen-oval aspect of the settlement, Proceeding to the details, there is the aerobatic way in which the gyratimg frane is pegged and unpegged. Finally, there is a tortuous path to pursue through securities on loans and bonds and more bonds, along which one picks up for a minute a triace of "retrocession for eduei tional and cultural purposes" (which tone had lost track of), and then comes up against the stone wall of the assets out of which the redemption of the original loan is to be effected, Then one begins again with the conundrum.
Te has often been declared, even by financiers and lawyers, that the gold frane case constituted one of the most ticklish financial and legal problems that have cropped up in post-war years. So perhaps, one should not grumble that the solution should be as involved as the controversy itself, that it should keep one in the maze. It can only be hoped thut before many weeks one may get to the heart of several subsidiary matters mentioned in the document, and with the help of first suspicion re-write the whole thing.
Chinese Papers' Doubts, deen said that the Eng-Vish translation is og fault. My information is that this is not the se, that the French and the Chin-exe {exts ave just as puzzling, that, in fact, the translator is to be highly complimented on his work. The authors of the document were of courte purposely vague and roundabout, That was their business, and they succeeded, for to-day the Chinese papers are silent; they ate pre~ sumably overwhelmed by the skilful formula which has woven itself veround the kernel of a settlement on a gold basis. When a "leal the first draft, not much different from the final copy, appeared in the Chinese prea, the "Ching Pao" "en tertained doubts" which it asked the Minister of Finance to answer "and give us satisfaction." Other news Tapers expressed "themselves frankly puzzled. They boggled at the phrase after the statement that resumption of.the Boxer service was to be on the basis of telegraphic transfer which runs which together with the surplus fund created from the transfer" should be con verted into U. 8. currency. (The new phrase is "together with the eventual exchange profit which mi cut have resulted from this mode of payment"). Li Shih-hao Htained these doubting news pay men a couple of days after the ing of the agreement, and according to. the "North-China Standard, suid "future payments will be made by telegraphic transfer in accord ance with the protocol of 1905, and. that, as this has been strongly resisted by the French in the past, the concession represents a decided victory for the Provisional Government." Why protest so much? is) all that need be added.
The Banque Industrielle But all parties are to be congratu ulated on the formula they have adopted, for no one will cavil at of the Providing as it does some knotty problems, both international and banking, for the future. seems though redemption of the repartition bonds—to be issued as security for the loan to the Banque Industrielle—is. provided for, the nature of the funds earmarked for redemption. would lead one to. sup pose thu the Chinese Government to be entrenched in the affairs the Banque, and will carry the burden of responsibility for keeping that institution alive and well. That Precisely what the French meant them to do. They emphasize their magnanimity by allowing the Chinese to supervise the books of the Another peculiar circumstance is that the new service extends two years beyond the original period, 1947 instead of 1945, which there: fore means that China has not received a present of the payments Detween 1922 and 1924, but merely'
postponement of payment for two The "words, words, words" of the document gave a wrong first impression, which must now be corrected.
As for its effect on public opin: fon, an accomplished fact goes. a long way in China, particularly ing thay this has' been accompli cal ever since the 12th. Now that we have a recess from conferences and parliaments, the militarists ex-of press the public opinion which the Government has to respect, and apparently they have been promised the immediate proceeds of the set~ tlement. It is only in the division of these proceeds that we might hear some rumblings. Otherwise, the settlement is generally not ex-posied to affect the condition of this favourably or other-promises is still a long way ahead, farther than the tether of the Government, perhaps:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.