Incidentals
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
Emergency Fund 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
