CHINA.

West Coast Times, Issue 308, 18 September 1866, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHINA.

We (" Argus") have received three days' later news from Hong Kong. The following is from .the "Mercury" of the 3rd July :—: —

EFFECT OF THE 'MASTERMAN'S

BANK FAILTJEE.

The arrival of the Agamemnon, on Friday evening last will long be remembered in Hong Kong, not because she is the first of a new line of steamors destined to work an important change in the mode ■of our intercourse with Europe, but because of the news she brought with her from Singapore, and the effect that news has produced in banking circles, and on, the community in general.

The suspension of payment by the Agra and Masterman's Bank fell like a thunderbolt on the majority of its constituents. 'Some few, warned by the depreciation in the bank's shares in the home market, as reported on the arrival of the French mail of the 19th May, had taken certain precautionary measures, and so saved themselves from loss, but so great was the confidence in the perfect solvency of the bank that these few cautious souls were looked on by their friends as over timid, as too distrustful and too easily frightened, and were laughed at for their pains. The laugh is on their side now. The loss falls heavily on the scorners. The immediate result of the suspension was a panic ambng the Chinese and among the smaller European and Parsee traders, and a rush on all the banks, except perhaps the Oriental, for dollars in exchange for notes. The crowd round the doors of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China, half filled the street ; two policemen had to be stationed at the door to regulate the admission into the bank, and the demand for change continued up to a very late hour. As far as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank was concerned, and the Chartered Mercantile, after the first few hours in the morning, during which there was a^little excitement, everything quieted down, and both those establishments might safely have shut their doors at the usual hour for closing on Saturdays. With a thorough appreciation, however, of the importance- of the crisis, and of the absolute necessity of calming the public mind, all' the banks were kept open by their managers till the latest possible hour, and with the best effect. We congratulate these gentlemen on the wisdom of their decision, and on the results.