FINANCIAL i;i:vu:\v 



is<?. 



much con ! .i|n. and at I ho rlose -f the 



indication- "f her .! eta!i'ii wit h 



..med that tin- M eupatlon by 



' Chinese tcrni.'M VM in 



pursuance of Ihr pr-.MMons of a w-r.-i l"-' 



I ween Uuuia and (hum, made during tin- MJMHII.T 



'*". after i In- treat* -f Shimonoseki hai 

 m.Niiti.d. at ihr demand *>f i. many, and 



Framv. which m-i:: UIJN -lied .Injuni 



i iing peninsula 



portion* of the Clmie^ mainland. r<i.i\ni<j in re- 

 turn .1 furl hor indemm;\. < me of th. terms of this 

 secret trva i i" be tho acouNition b\ 



.lop's* in ( hincse Manchuria, together with 



;;ht tO OOOUpy M ' ' . I ! -Hilled I. i be 



;r. Btosenuenl to th. - \- -utMii of this 



-in ni.h-il China in the iie-.-tiation of a 



with which to pay tin- fir>t installment of tho 



Itjdemnilv to .lapan. Kussia did n<>t immcdialVly 



.id van tap> of this troaty. preferring to await 



orapletion of the Timns-Siberian Kailway. hut 



turned that during tin- visits of the Km: 

 \Vilh.-lin and -f President Fauro t<. St. I' 



uniiHT f l s '.7. an understanding 

 was r .rarding the coin-so which (iermany 



and Franco should pursue t<> a'-ouire their share 

 of tl. MS (.f the secret Jrcaty. That the 



-h (i.-veniin. nt was informed of tho b 



* treaty appears probable from the fact that 

 post. .ken for the protection of British 



-Is until the l\ m h:id removed the 



F.nu'li-h con-ill .L'eiH-ral. Then Ktiirlatid prt. 

 and at tho same time sought to |.iv\,u' China from 

 ap|Miintin^a Kns>ian controller of the customs after 



\pinitioii of the term of Sir Robert Hart. At 

 tho end <>f tho year it was report od that Viceroy Li- 

 Hunp-Chanx' DM IM-OTJ recalled to power at IVkin 

 and that theCi rnment \\asactively mak- 



I for defense. The indications then 

 soomod to |K)int to the eventual partition of the 

 frroaior portion of northern China between Ku-sia. 

 (iennany. and Kraiiee ; and also that Russia wonhl, 

 by negotiating another loan for China, secure con- 

 trol of tl;. Miles to the exclusion of 



Knirland. while (iermany and France would obtain 

 important commercial as well as territorial advan- 

 tage*. Hut early in January. INflH. it was semi- 

 officially announced that China had declined the 



issia for a loan and that the IJriti>h ' 

 ornment would guarantee a Chinese loan of I'H',.- 

 000.000. Concurrently it was stated that the polit- 

 iiiation in the far Kast was more harmonious. 

 It was also announc(>d that (Jermany had obtaineil 

 from China a loa*e of Kiao-Chu Bay and the >ur- 



ling territory for fiftv years. 

 In March the Japanese Parliament passed a meas- 

 ure providing ' -tandard and the wispen- 

 cninago of >il\er. Tin- wi-iu'ht .f 

 the gold yen was reduced one half, leaving the -jlver 

 inrhanged. and thu- the ratio of 1 to 32 was 

 established. This action of the (', \ernment was 

 -ason assigned forth. -fall in the market price of 

 silver in Ix.nd..n t .,->,:_ , H .|,ce per oun.-e in March. 

 ranhajsj "f -ilver for tlie Kast wore limited there- 

 aftor.and the plague and famine in India so gn-atly 

 ansettlofl the 1. that coiantry that India 

 uld not | M . Mil. 1. anil I tin- 

 sale of these bills was temjK.rarily su-p ended, and 

 it was not reraraed until I.-. . i:,. " The MI-{MHMOII 

 caoseil a further fall in the price of bar silver in 



i'i| pome |- r ounce. nnl it did not 

 until Sopt. 21. when, partly influenced by the issue 

 of a rupee loan by the India Council ano! partly by 

 : to regarding the inten- 

 tions of the KndMi (J-'vernment with resp. 

 silver in tho Hank of Kn eland, there was a re< 

 to 27k pence. This was followed by a decline to 



r. but early in 



< K-tober the |>! j.ence. and the 



iiiennent on u.-t. 1C, that the Knirlish (ioM-rn- 

 meiit would not entertain any pmpo.sition f a \oring 

 bim.-talli-m appeared to have no inUiiencc upon the 

 ver fluctuated between 'J^ and 

 25} pence per ounce, and the price at the el< 

 the \ear was 2f |KMU-C. The new currency i 

 Japan went in; ' I. 1. and in the follow in- 



the applications for gold m exchange for sif 



. ..nls ;,! 

 ! the oiiMaiidm:; liank circiila! ion. and 



applicatioi 



f..r -ilver yen amounted t..ab.i. 



currency plan of the empire \\a- th. .irded 



. 



The most important domestic- r \ent \\a 

 sage of the Iini;le\ tariff b'll i I in me* 



liately upon the inauguration of President 

 Kinh-y the Commit i- i Mean- of the 



Hou-e b<-u'an to formulate the' new bill ] 



ntation at the n. The i 



ure was passed by the ll<.u-e May :!. and it v. 

 once reported to the Senate. The l-'inan-e Com- 

 mittee of that body pnxeeded to amend it in sev- 

 eral important particulars, and rnn-ideralion ,f 

 the bill bewail in OJH n Imt it was 



not passed until Jun. '.'I. I'.ndin^ it- c.nsidera- 

 tioii imports of raw and mannfact n- 

 very of wool alone amounting in Man-h 



to :.! fid in April t B8 pound*, 



and the excess of i 111 p ( ,rt s , \ e r e \ p< 'i'l s .(' all articles 

 for April was s I, for May s I . .|s.;.s;i. ,! 



for June $11,960,967. The following month 

 showed an f $17,420,630 j-xp'-rt- o\er im- 



. and in August thee\r. .f e\poi(s was $40,- 

 r88, the movement in the last-named month 

 being largely due to the Knropean demand for 

 breadstiifTs in con-coucuce of the short f": 

 supplies. The expert movement . 

 tinned large in September and in ' \\hile 



imports w< re small, and rta in 



the first-named month was $ O'J.l '.,'.',. ~t K. and in Oc- 

 tober it was $( 



Another event was t he appointment by President 

 McKinley of Senator Wolcott, of Colorado, 

 Charlex .1. Paine, of Ma a-husei ts. a i- 

 'nson, of Illinois, commi- 



Kurojiean nations for the promotion of an inter- 

 national agreement for bimetallism, the appointment 

 being made under authority of an act of the last 

 ('n^ress which became a law March :{. The com- 

 missioners entered upon their duties during the 

 summer and held several conferences \\iih th. 

 resetttatives of fori ii:ii governments, but it w.i 

 until near the . Member that their mis-ion 



seemed t o be bearing the least fruit. Then [| 

 announced that, for political reason-, the Knglish 

 "iiment had proposed to the governors of the 

 Hank of Kngland that one fifth of the reserve of 

 the bank be hold in silver and that the bank in- 



the le^ai tender of silver coins from i"j 

 It was a No reported that a plan for the reopcn- 



! the Indian mints to the ' -ilver 



\\a- In oootemplation. These propositions elicited 



- fr..m the principal lunik. 

 London, and on Oct. \t\ it \v* unofTicially Bl 

 that the (fovernrnent had definitely <lecided not to 

 recommend any change in the Batik of Kn- 

 holdings of silver and not to reopen the Indian 

 mints. The official correspondence, published on 



-<],, sed the fact that on July 'Ji 

 United States commissioners proposed to the 

 li-h (Jovernment the opening of the Indian mints 

 to the free coinage of silver; the repeal of the order 

 making th- pi the legal tender in India: the 



placing of one fifth of the bullion in the issue de- 



