Mr. Hou Un-yuen, one of the leading financial authorities in China, is a native of Chekiang Prrovince, where he was born in 1884. He joined the Nanyang College, Shanghai, educated in the old school, and won his first degree in Chinese Classics 1897; from which he was graduated with high honors. He went to England in 1905; and in the following year, he entered the University of London. After completing a course in political economy, in the School of Economics and Politcal Science of that University, he did some research work on the subject of currency and banking. While in Enland, he made contributions to the Economic Journal and to other papers. He won the Jevons Memorial Research Scholarship: which is indeed a rare distinction. He was a fellow of the University College, London, as well as a fellow of several royal societies in England. After leaving the University, he worked in the Union of London and Smith's Bank for nearly two years; working from the head office down to the country branches. For a time he served under His Excellency Wang Ta-hsieh, Chinese Constitutional Commissioner to London; and he studied then the methods of English local government in matters pertaining to finance, education, police-protection, sanitation, prisons, poor laws, etc. He was a government delegate to the Currency Conference that met in London in 1911. Mr .Hsu has held many responsible positions in Peking, such as: Chief of the Department of Public Loans of the Ministry of Finance, Director of the Bureau of Audit, Special Commissioner of Currency Reform, Director of the Bureau of Public Credit, which is comprised of the department of Currency and Banking and Public Loans and the Treasury of the Ministry of Finance; Member of the Financial Commission appointed by the President; Deputy Director-General of the Bureau of Currency of which His Excellency Liang Chi-chao was Director-General. He was appointed Deputy Auditor-General of the Board of Audit, in May 1914; which post he held until 1917. During that time he was, on several occasions, appointed to act for the Director-General of Audit. In June 1916, Mr. Hsu was appointed, concurrently, as Governor of the Bank of China, in which, at that time, a moratorium had been declared. While he was with this bank he tried his best to bring about the resumption of specie payment: and finally succeeded in doing so for the branches in Shantung, Shensi, Kwangtung, Tientsin and Kalgan. At the Peking branch, on account of an exceptionally heavy and continuous run, he adopted a system, known as the "Silver Exchange Standard.” By means of this system he was able to maintain the price of the notes at approximately 98 per cent of their face value until he left the institution, in May 1917. In the summer of 1919, Mr. Hsu took a brief trip to America to study after-war financial conditions. In January 1920, he founded the Chinese Bank of Commerrce, capitalized at $10,000,000. The bank has its Executive Office in Shanghai; and maintains branches in Tientsin, Peking, Tsinan, Shanghai, Harbin and Shihkiachwang. Mr. Hsu is now Councellor of the Cabinet at Peking. He has traveled a good deal in Europe, in America, and in Japan, as well as in the interior of China. Among the many decorations which he has been awarded are: the first Class Tashou Paokuang Chiaho, the Class Wenfu, the First Class Tashou Chiaho, and the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur. He was a Shao-Ching during President Yuan Shih-kai's regime. Mr. Hsu is fond of nature, and spends his time of recreation principally in reading, walking and hill-climbing With his excellent past record and his strong character, Mr. Hou will no doubt do some great good for the benefit of his country in the near future.
