Mr. Kann also gave an interesting] description of the development of bank-note in China, and said the Chinese actually were the first people in the world to use bank notes. He showed a picture of the atiiest known bank-note, produced about 650 A.D. One of the early bank-notes had an inscription "to culate for ever" printed upon it, and the penalty for" counterfeiting' the earlier bank-notes was very often nothing short of decapitation. _'The first forged bank-note was produced in 1068, after which laws were passed attempting to ensure the prevention of such a practice. In 1413, paper! money was prohibited in Chi for 400 years no nolos were in cit culation, In 1904, bank-notes were first issued in Manchuria, where they were well received. They later depreciate ed in value, however, owing to the fact that they were over-issued. Engraved upon them were a number of quotations from Confucius. Mr. Kann described these notes among the most honest ever issued, as they never promised the money would be redeemed. He expressed the opinion that one of the reasons why there was so much brigandage In Manchuria was because of the debasement of the currency. He also referred to a special type of bank-note which was burned at] Chinese funerals, and showed ple- earliest tines tp to the present, morning. to exchange greetings with Pong sucht Vieo-Minister of ge d'Affaires, and Mr. 1. Ishii,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.