Show PRECIOUS M metal metals S IN CHINA power of fiver has H not do dined but bat gold has bu appreciated prepared for the american by col E IL jefferds an american engineer now in shanghai gold in the tor for of money is never seen in china neither are gold ingola ingots in use in trade but bui are used tor for hoarding only hoarded gold is generally found in only two forms one is in ill ingots ingols shaped like a boat about 36 inches long 08 inches wide and weighing oz troy weight the other is in the form of gold leaf measuring about eight inches square and weighing abou thirty grammes the reila relative tivo value of gold to silver was in the beginning ot of the ming dynasty A D 1375 one to four under the emperor wan LI 1594 of the same dynasty one to seven at the end of the ming dynasty 1635 one to ten under tho emperor kung hsi hat 1622 of the present dynasty one to twelve under the emperor klen kien lung hing 1737 one to twenty in the middle of the reign of toak boak wang ng 1840 one to eighteen at the beginning of the reign of hun fung 1850 one to fourteen in 1882 1982 one to sixteen to eighteen and at present one to thirty gold not being used in china as money but as a commodity its only value is tor for hoarding boarding and ornamental purposes thus the people can readily comprehend that gold has advanced nearly one ona hundred per cent since 1882 one ounce of silver will buy just as much rice corn cotton silk or other commodity except gold as ever it would but gold ts Is too high for all but the very richest riches people to indulge in ili precisely the same conditions as far as values are concerned prevail in the united Sta staten teis only our people have been bulldozed into the belief that all values except gold have gone down down while the th value of gold remains stationary mr PL E bredon commissioner ot of customs in the decennial reports of the custom house bouse Shang hl says it would be imps impassible sible in the space at my mx disposal to discuss the influences which tell on the movements and value of the precious metals in china even if writing with only the trade of a single port before mo me I 1 am in a position which quan qualifies fles me to do so I 1 can only say that in the general opinion a of silver buys as much produce as it did when it had a sterling value this I 1 believe I 1 Is s a fair general statement an intelligent native says that as regards prices a man who has an income of one hundred a year can now buy a greater quantity of useful articles than he could with the same money ten years ago the american I 1 |