The licensed pawnshops are called Tang Po Tien and Chi Tien. The “Yah” pawnshop corresponds to our “fence” shop, to which thieves bring their plunder. The regular pawnshops are an embryo trust company. They loan on land, crops, jewels, rent, bills receivable, possessions, houses. They change money and sell notes of credit. The pawnshops of Mukden and the north loan on crops, such as beans, millet, etc. The visible grain, and not a warehouse receipt, is the security, and therefore the pawnshops of the north have yards and sheds in connection with the plant. The towering square pawnshops of Kwangtung province in the south are higher than in the other provinces, showing that capital circulates more among the active Cantonese merchants. The Chinese of America are mainly Cantonese, or Kwangtungese; that is, if they are not of the provincial capital, they are from the province. Trained carrier pigeons are still used by the Shansi Bankers’ Guilds in carrying secret code messages stating the exchange prices of silver. This is quicker than the post, and more secret than the telegraph. Regarding salaries that will be paid in China’s reconstruction, the following may give some indication. The salary of advisers to the privy council has been $90 per month in a nation of 400,000,000, compared to the salary of an American attorney-general of $1,500 a month. It is often said that the Chinese are absolutely honest, but when an exception occurs it is as startling as a bolt from a clear sky. As an aftermath of the rubber speculation at Shanghai, the taotai, Tsai Nai Huong, absconded in August, 1911, owing several million dollars to the government, which sum had been loaned him to assist the local banks. Some of their proverbs hung up as texts in their guild houses are: “Don’t wait till you are thirsty to dig your well.” “Don’t wait for the battle before you sharpen your sword.” “The higher up, the deeper down when the tumble comes.” “Fish and fools are the same; neither sees the string on every bait.” “The fish is measured by your bait.” “He who buys luxuries soon sells his necessities.” “A debtor never remembers as long as a creditor.” “Conscience grows heavier as store weights grow secretly lighter.” “Hot broth and a time loan both require deliberation.” “If you are rich and live in a desert, it’s never too far for your poor relatives to come.” “If you have money, even your enemy will slave for you.” “There’s such a thing as drawing the line somewhere; I don’t lend my umbrella in the dog-days.” “Some men’s faces are as good as a credit slip.” It will be perceived that they had a Franklin in China!