The Chinese Government for som time, as is well-known, has been withdrawing silver as legal tender and substituting paper in its place. Amoy and the surrounding districts have recently been flooded with false notes. The forged notes, principally 20-cent ones, were an imitation of those issued by the Fukien Provincial Bank and futile efforts were made to trace the source of their manufacture.
Merchants recently refused to accept any of this bank's 20-cent notes. The Bank has been trying to withdraw them and issue 20-cent variety.
Last week information was given to the police that a Formosan, Sung Swan-min, of Taitung Read had begun a business under the name of the Hing Buch Ca. and that above the shop was an extensive factory for the manufacture of bank notes.
The police asked the telephone company to close the Taltung Road for a short time to all telephone messages, while 130 armed men surrounded the buildings, stopped all trafic and raided this particular house. In the third storey two men were arrested and in the fifth storey 'a quantity of chemical ink and une printed paper were found.
The strange appearance of one of 2 certain wall attracted the attention of the police. A large bed and a number of boxes were moved and abele was found which gave entrance to the adjoining house rented by another business called the Tai Sing} Ca. Here another man' was arrested. Many packages of uncut notes for both twenty and Aifty cents were found in this room with an electrically driven printing press and wooden printing blocks. The glass roof of an adjoining house had a quantity of tea leaves drying on it. A policeman pushed these aside, opened the window and descended. He found another complete printing, plant with glass tracjeg boards, print-' ing ink and many' notes, both finished jand unfinished. There were also many $5 notes of Canton.
The Fukien Provincial Bank expects to receive twenty cases of new notes to replace those at present in circulation. These it is said, will be dificult to imitate.
Chungking, June 18.
The social life of the port was given an extra impetus by the visit this week of H.MCS. Bee with Admiral Crabbe on board. The Admiral was feled and feasted at, the Club and then the ladies of the port tuned out in all their summer finery to a reception fon board his ship. Unfortunately before the cricket match between the Bee and port could be held the Bee was suddenly required down river, and the Consuls feast to the Chinese ofclals was held without the guest of Large quantities of subsidiary coins are appearing on the market from the supplies imported by the Central Bank, The relative value of the new copper cent and the old 200 cash piece seems rather dificult to guage and the cash shops are seizing the opportunity to spread rumours regarding coppers so that the exchange fluctuates rapidly from day to day, giving from 8 to 15 per cent, profit to.the manipulators, It is to be hoped that the Central Bank will soon end this abuse by making the old cash system illegal.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.