Page:Korea (1904).djvu/153

Rh

Road and other Repairs 35,000

Repairs in Country 10,000

Arrest of Robbers 500

Relief Work 5,000

Burial of Destitute 300

Miscellaneous. 480

Police at Mines, &c. 1,840

Shrinkage 3,120

56,240

1,015,000

Steps have been taken from time to time by the Foreign Representatives to improve the finances of the country. Upon one occasion seven reforms were recommended, and the report subsequently presented to his Majesty. In the course of an inquiry it transpired that, in addition to nickels which were minted by the Government, there were more than twenty-five separate and distinct brands of nickels then circulating in Korea. Until recent years the counterfeiting of Korean currency has not been remunerative. The old time cash was of such small value, and the combined cost of the metal and work together so nearly equalled the face value of the true token, that the risk was not commensurate with the profit. A single nickel of the present currency, however, is equivalent to twenty-five of the old coinage, and as the net cost of their manufacture is less than a cent and a half a-piece, it will be seen that there is some incentive to the production of false money. The number of counterfeit nickels is rapidly increasing, and permits to coin were at one time freely issued by the Government to private individuals. Nickel is openly imported through the Customs; spurious coins in large quantities are brought by almost every steamer from Japan and smuggled into the country. The Government care only for the profit which they derive from their illegitimate transaction, and, ignoring the permanent injury which they