'A Reader's Suggestion To the Editor of the "Nontu-Cumwa Day News"
Si—You are to be congratulated on your leader article on the all important subject of debased copper coins. It is most opportune.
Having travelled extensively © in the interior it is not difficult imagine the sad plight of the agra-lan population, due to disturbed conditions, aggravated to a very Targe extent by the debased copper coin situation, Urgent practical help is needed, and T would stress the necessity of fan united front by all public bodies interested in the future welfare and progress of China, especially the Chinese Chambers of Commerce, Bankers' Associations, Provinical_and Trade Guilds, Kuo Min Tang, ete, ete.
I feel sure that wherever the Na. national Government's orders are' obeyed they will be aided to the very fullest extent by every available newspaper and periodical pub-Ushed in Chinese and other an-
We have recently seen the "New Life" "movement launched—funds Collected for Lepers and Consumptive Hospitals—Child Welfare Asso-
Lotteries for roads, ete—but so far We have not seen any organization which has given a thought to alle. viate the urgent immediate need of by making a concerted bilize copper exchange.
ihave all other matters at the moment, will stand out in the minds of the masses asa job well done by the "Government, if taken up and carried through fo a successful con-
Wake up China—bury once and for all the Mei Vu Fa Tze habit and show the world you can launch 'a real practical scheme which will Ut the masses from out of the morass in which they are hopelessly drifting.
Two ideas occur to me for consi-@oration:—
An arbitrary rate of nationally minted coppers to the Na tional silver dollar must be fixe (b) An arbitrary rate for local:
ly minted copper must be fixsd. to the National dollar redemption purposes by cle ly detined localities taking average rate for a reasonably recent period and giving 18 exchange the fixed rate, as er (a) of new nationally minted coppers, phis the difference in an emergency National Government's copper note, For example:—Suppose a rate is fixed at 200 national coppers to equal one dollar national currency. Suppose the rate of Kiangsu locally minted copper coins! averages, over a given time, 'a rate of 300 coppers per one dollar national currency, then it is necessary to fix a rate of 300 Kiangsu" locally minted. coppers, plus one emergency National " Government copper Rote for 100 coppers, such' National Government' copper notes to be issued in 25, 50 and 100 copper denominations.
To enable the local authorities to enforce the National Government's Taw, it will be necessary' to. re-introduce the law making the minting coins by parties other than" the National Government a "capital offence", in others words "death by realize that in these suggestions many holes can be picked, such "as security for the Government copper notes, and in this connection Tam even going so far as to say it will be preferable to have Government coper notes without any security, than to have the terrific volume of debased worthless coins on the market, with its corollary of daily falling exchange and lower purchasing power. In other words if there is a profit to be made by issuing valueless or firredeemable tokens, it should be made by the Government in an effort to ameliorate the conditions under which the masses are. suffering, but I believe it is possible for Notes to be issued anda sum set] aside which would redeem same over, say the next twenty years.
Tt'is unnecessary to go into further details here, but it is not a difficult matter "to work out a satisfactory solution, and I feel that the foreign powers concerned in control~ ing the Settlements and Concessions. will give their full support to. any jeme which will stabilize a stand-national copper coin rate. "New Lave."
Shanghai, May 1.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.