For some months past, silver has been very tight? in this city, the main reason being the great export Jo? opium, people of all classes using: all their ready cash to buy and send lor take out of the province to those nearer the coast. Gradually the ion charged for ready silver has been rising and one has now to pay ten per cent, on money sent to Shanghat for silver received here. JAnd there does' not appear to. be larly prospect of an early improve: ment in the situation. One result, Jot cause, is that whereas "Yuan Shihckal dollars of the third year Jot the Republic were those mostly in use on the street, now any and all kinds of dollars are in use. with the natural consequence that. there is always a lot of disputing as to the quality of the silver.
The new Bank of Kueichow is now open and operating, but T under-that not many merchants Uasiness with it, perhaps on account of its being a Government institution, Ts. it not remarkable that. everything connected with jovernment seems to have a post reputation The depreciation in silver (I suppose it is natural, under the cirfeumstances, that the Chinese, hero any" rate, speak the heavy. taxes and other impositions also adversely affect trade, One of the largest and wealthier opium firms, which has built itself new head office has on its sign board the words "Inland. Banker fin English, do not know just what is meant but think that perhaps i indicates that banking, within the province is carried on. Tt is striking how rich some oft opium merchants become; they seem able to touch all branches of business and profit each time, quiet and seem favourable for a good rice and maize harvest. If. these hopes are. verified, the people generally will be able to get slong fairly well" say ally well because with the cruel oppression lof the yamen people in the various Ihsien districts and of the higher and Hower district headmen und hsiens, the country folks have a thard life of it even at. the best of times, I have said before, but it will bear repeating, that. if com-finnnists wore to start their propaganda among the farmer classes Jot Kueichow, there is every reason to believe that they would make headway. And the only way to anticipate this danger is for the Government to make genuine, determined and persistent efforts to put a stop to the shameful bleeding' of the poor, especially in the country districts. "Teannot, course, speak for al] parts of Kuo! Jchow, bug from my own observation good, many parts, [should imagine that: these abysses obtain leveryyghere. And even in the cities Hehe yamen. underlings squeeze al can from anyone who even in Wertently. has to do with the fyamnen; T mean in such a case (recent ud wall: known to myself)
amublers. take possession of people's wases and carry on their /cambling, in spite of all the owners say against it. "After these men were exceptionably rowdy, the oclcupier of the premises eoniplained to the police, with the result. that few of the gamblers were lightly idealt_and the complainant had to pay money to the police runners! {for what they' call" straw sandal ces," i.e. charge for attending to their police duties, You, will notice that T use the word yamen's T'do it deliberately it_only to indicate that although ly the word is discarded indicative of Manchu abuses, since those. abuses still exist, it is but right that the word should be used.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.