As for the system itself I never understood it, neither can I do so now:
they have a code in connection with it, which I have not the slightest
doubt that they understand, but no foreigner can hope to do so. One rule
runs into, and against, another as in a most complicated grammar, or as
in Chinese pronunciation, wherein I am told that the slightest change in
accentuation or tone of voice alters the meaning of a whole sentence.
Whatever is incoherent in my description must be referred to the fact of
my never having attained to a full comprehension of the subject.
So far, however, as I could collect anything certain, I gathered that
they have two distinct currencies, each under the control of its own
banks and mercantile codes. One of these (the one with the Musical
Banks) was supposed to be _the_ system, and to give out the currency in
which all monetary transactions should be carried on; and as far as I
could see, all who wished to be considered respectable, kept a larger or
smaller balance at these banks. On the other hand, if there is one thing
of which I am more sure than another, it is that the amount so kept had
no direct commercial value in the outside world; I am sure that the
managers and cashiers of the Musical Banks were not paid in their own
currency.
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