Biography in English

Chang Chia-ao (1888-), banker, economist, and government official, was known as Chang Kia-ngau. In his long association with the Bank of China he contributed greatly to the development of modern practices in private banking. After 1935 he served the National Government in such capacities as minister of railways and minister of communications. A native of Paoshan hsien in Kiangsu province, Chang Kia-ngau was the younger brother of Carsun Chang (Chang Chia-sen, q.v.). He received his early education in the traditional Chinese classics from private tutors, including several distinguished scholars of the district. In 1901, he and his brother were admitted to the Institute of Modern Languages at Shanghai, where he studied French. In 1905 Chang Kia-ngau went to Peking, where* he studied for several months at the Higher Industrial School. He then went to Japan, where he enrolled at Keio University in Tokyo to study finance and economics. His brother studied at Waseda University. Devoted to his studies, he did not become involved in the anti- Manchu political activities which absorbed the attention of most of the Chinese students then in Japan.

After his graduation from Keio in 1909, Chang Kia-ngau returned to China. He served the Ch'ing government, in the newly established Board of Posts and Communications, the equivalent of the modern ministry of communications. As one of his duties, he edited the board's official gazette. Like his superior, Sheng Hsuan-huai (q.v.), the president of the board, Chang was concerned with the controversial issue of the nationalization of the railroads in 1911. When the Wuchang revolt broke out in October 1911, Chang Kia-ngau left the Peking government and returned to the south. Early in 1912 he worked in Chekiang as secretary to Chu Jui, the provincial governor. In April 1913, when the Parliament was opened at Peking, Chang was appointed chief secretary to the Senate. He soon relinquished that post, however, and began in 1913 his long and distinguished service with the Bank of China. His first post was as assistant manager of the Shanghai branch. He worked under the branch manager, Sung Han-chang (q.v.).

Chang first gained national prominence in May 1916 through his resistance to the order issued by Yuan Shih-k'ai to the Bank of China and the Bank of Communications, both semigovernmental banks with power of issue, to suspend the redemption of their notes. At that time the collapse of Yuan's regime was imminent. In the disturbed situation, there was a run on the two banks, which caused the suspension order. The Shanghai branch of the bank, however, was in a somewhat unusual position because it was located in the International Settlement. Its management had been based on sound banking principles, and it had built up a good public reputation. Chang thought that at such a juncture, the suspension of note redemption by the bank would destroy the reputation that he and his colleagues had worked assiduously to build. He decided to disregard the order from Peking and, instead, provided increased facilities for people presenting notes for redemption. This action brought immediate reprisal from Peking. An order for Chang's arrest was issued; an application was made to the foreign authorities controlling the settlement in Shanghai for his extradition. There was a great furor against Peking's action, as enlightened public opinion supported Chang's courageous action.

After the death of Yuan, Chang Kia-ngau's act of insubordination further enhanced his prestige and influence in the bank. In 1917 Chang was promoted to assistant general manager of the Bank of China and, accordingly, was transferred to the head office in Peking. In 1929 he was promoted to general manager and remained in that position until 1935. Before leaving Shanghai late in 1917, he had founded the Bankers Weekly, a magazine which began publication on 29 May 1917. Later, that publication was issued under the sponsorship of the Shanghai Bankers Association and was a most useful reference volume on Chinese banking and economic problems. It continued publication until 3 March 1950, nearly a year after the Chinese Communists had occupied Shanghai.

Chang Kia-ngau made substantial contributions to the organization of Chinese banking as a whole and to the general elevation of China's public finances. After the end of the First World War and in the early 1920's, his ability as a financier came to be recognized by the Chinese government and by international banking circles. In 1922 he was appointed to the national financial consultative commission, and in the following year he was named to the commission for the reorganization of national finances. The banking consortium which floated loans to China had ceased to operate during the war, and Japan had become the sole purveyor of loans to China. After the war, attempts to organize a new consortium by the major foreign powers failed because of China's growing distrust of Japan and mutual distrust among the powers themselves. In 1920 Thomas W. Lamont, partner of J. P. Morgan and Company of New York visited China and participated in the discussions with Chinese bankers, including Chang Kia-ngau, regarding foreign loans. It soon became evident that, because of the political disorganization of China, no foreign capital would be made available. It was then that a consensus was reached regarding the need to form a Chinese banking group to undertake the financing of government and industrial needs.

In his book, China's Struggle for Railroad Development (1943), Chang Kia-ngau recalled that "the Chinese banking group made a first experiment in railroad financing in 1922 by underwriting an issue of CNS6 million equipment bonds. In 1924 the group helped to finance the Lunghai Railway with the issue of a CNS10 million silver loan. These efforts to participate in railroad financing required no small degree of courage, and the results were accomplished in the absence of foreign cooperation at a time when China's own resources were limited. But we had at last come to realize that we had to depend more on ourselves." For the first time in the history of China's public finance, Chinese banks participated in national reconstruction by pooling their resources. The public thought that the Chinese banks had attained maturity and were as sound as foreign banks, which hitherto had dominated China's financial market. This new prestige helped to clear the path for the country's economic modernization during the decade from 1927 through 1937, in which financing by native banking institutions played a significant role. Following Chang Kia-ngau's promotion to the post of general manager, great advances were made by the Bank of China in the period from 1928 through 1935. From his study of banking methods, Chang knew that the lack of a sound accounting system greatly hampered the operation of Chinese banks. Accordingly, Western banking experts were invited from England to serve as advisers, and S. Y. Liu (Liu Kung-yun), a London-trained economic expert, was assigned to set up a completely modernized accounting system. Under Chang's management, steps were taken to improve the personnel of the bank by employing foreigntrained Chinese students of economics and banking and assigning them to responsible positions.

Also, the Bank of China was developing its facilities for the handling of foreign exchange and international banking. Foreign agents and correspondents were appointed, and branches were opened in overseas Chinese communities. Later, during the Sino-Japanese war, the Bank was able to discharge its duties as the bank of foreign exchange under wartime conditions. The Bank of China was also the first bank in China to maintain a full-fledged economic research department. Its research publications were accepted as being authoritative by economists and bankers. Chang Kia-ngau's active association with the Bank of China was interrupted in 1935, when the National Government, with the prominent financier H. H. K'ung as the new finance minister, decided on the reorganization of both the Bank of China and the Bank of Communications, particularly in their relationship to the Central Bank of China. The capital of the Bank of China was increased from CNS20 million to CN$40 million, with an increase in the ratio of government-owned shares. The bank, whose official character then became more pronounced, was to play an auxiliary role to the Central Bank of China. T. V. Soong (q.v.) became the head, displacing Chang Kia-ngau. The Bank of China then ceased to function as an independent institution, a position which Chang had diligently worked to create and strengthen over a period of two decades.

Chang proceeded, however, to build himself a new career. Chiang Kai-shek appointed him minister of railways in his new "cabinet of talents." Chang was also a member of the unofficial but influential Political Science Group of scholars and administrators. Chang Kia-ngau's appointment as minister of railways was designed not only to provide him with a new post after his devoted service to the Bank of China but also to take advantage of his interest in railway development, an interest shown in his younger days when he had served the Board of Posts and Communications under the Ch'ing government. While with the Bank of China, he had shown a keen interest in railroad financing—especially for construction on the Chekiang-Kiangsi Railway (1929) and on the Canton-Hankow Railway (1933). With the growing tension in Sino-Japanese relations and the threat of war, the need for new railroad construction became increasingly urgent, and Chang Kia-ngau was thought to be a suitable man to take charge.

Following a government review of national defense requirements, it was decided that a new railway should be developed to run from east to west crossing the Canton-Hankow railway. In January 1936 the ministry of railways issued bonds to the value of CN$27 million in order to finance the construction of the Chekiang- Kiangsi railway from Nanchang to Pinghsiang, there connecting with the Pinghsiang-Chuchow section. One month later, new railway bonds of CNS120 million were issued by the ministry to finance the construction of a line from Chuchow farther west to Kweiyang, to form the Hunan-Kweichow railway. Chang Kia-ngau conducted negotiations with German interests for supplies to be used in the Chekiang- Kiangsi and Hunan-Kweichow railways and with French interests for the construction of the Chungking-Chengtu railway in Szechwan. In the 18 months between his assumption of office in December 1935 and the outbreak of the Sino- Japanese war in the summer of 1937, Chang Kia-ngau succeeded in establishing foreign confidence in the Chinese railways, with the result that Chinese railway bonds rose in value. He was also successful in inducing Chinese banks to subscribe to railway construction bonds in the amount of CNS74.5 million.

After the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war, the ministry of railways became part of the ministry of communications, and Chang Kia-ngau was named to head that ministry. During the next four years, he administered China's wartime communications and transport with outstanding efficiency in spite of difficulties imposed by enemy blockade and the loss of China's seaboard provinces. A remarkable achievement was the completion of the Hunan- Kweichow Railway, undertaken while a major war was raging. The 224 miles of this strategic railway were built in one year. Plans were made for extending the railroad to French Indo- China, but the Japanese threat to the province of Kwangsi in November 1939 rendered that impossible.

In 1942 Chang Kia-ngau resigned for reasons of health; he was succeeded by Tseng Yang-fu. Chang went to the United States on a government mission to study economic construction. His book, China's Strugglefor Railroad Development, was published in English in the United States in 1943. In his foreword, dated at Chungking in January 1943, Chang stated that he was still subject to official constraints when he wrote the manuscript and sent it off to America. The book reviews in detail the history of railroads and railroad financing in China, as well as appraising the prospects for postwar railroad development. It analyzes the significant possibilities of railroad development and may also have been designed to bring these potentialities to the attention of the financial world abroad.

When the war ended in 1945, Chang Kia-ngau returned to China. Even before his arrival there, the National Government had named him chairman of the Northeast (Manchuria) Economic Commission. In that position, he was charged with the massive task of restoring economic stability to that region after 14 years of enemy occupation. This situation had been complicated by the entry of the Chinese Communists into the area and by the obstacles created by the Soviet military forces which had moved into the area a few days before the Japanese surrender. Chang Kia-ngau, who was also chairman of the board of the Chinese Changchun Railway, recognized the immense difficulties of his mission. He and Chiang Ching-kuo (q.v.), the Nationalist foreign-affairs commissioner for the Northeast, had many frustrating sessions attempting to negotiate with the Soviet authorities. The Russians, however, did little to facilitate the efforts of the National Government's representatives in extending their control over the whole of Manchuria.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Communists had assigned Lin Piao (q.v.) and an experienced group of military and political men to Manchuria to mobilize armed resistance against the Nationalists. By the time that international pressure finally led to the withdrawal of the Russian military forces, the Chinese Communists had under the Soviet aegis established themselves at strategic points. Chang Kia-ngau, who was determined to make the best of an overwhelmingly difficult job, began some reconstruction work in the area south of Changchun. During the early stage after the Japanese surrender, he made some progress. Railway mileage in operation increased, as did telecommunications lines, and coal and electric power output. And a significant number of factories resumed production.

The military and political situation in the Northeast deteriorated rapidly, however, and affected economic conditions. The heavy burden of military expenses forced the Nationalist authorities to resort to a new note issue. A special Manchurian currency was placed in circulation, and the issue soon reached astronomical figures as the territory under effective Nationalist control shrank. By late 1946, the United States had abandoned its attempt to mediate in the conflict between the Nationalists and the Communists in China, and the civil war had flared into the open. As emphasis shifted from economic salvage to military action in Manchuria, Chang Kia-ngau could do no more. In March 1947 the National Government recalled him and appointed him governor of the Central Bank of China. He held that post for about a year until May 1948, when a new government was formed at Nanking with Wong Wen-hao (q.v.) as premier.

When the Communist military forces overran the mainland, Chang Kia-ngau went abroad. He spent three years as a professor in Australia, lecturing on the economic problems of the Far East. In 1953 Chang moved to the United States, where he taught for a time at Loyola University in Los Angeles. In 1958 his book entitled The Inflationary Spiral: The Experience in China, 1939-1950 was published. After his retirement he continued to live in California. In addition to his published writings, Chang Kia-ngau has also left an important human legacy in the group of Chinese economists, most of them now living in the United States, who began their careers in the economic research department of the Bank of China when Chang served as its general manager.

Biography in Chinese

张嘉璈 字:公权

张嘉璈(1888——),银行家,经济学家,政府官员。他和中国银行有长 期联系,在私人银行的近代化经营方面作出很大贡献。1935年后,他在国民政 府中曾任铁道部长、交通部长。

张嘉璈,江苏宝山人,张嘉森之弟。幼年受塾师的教育,其中有几个是县 里闻名的塾师。1901年,他兄弟两人在上海进了广方言馆学习法文。1905年去 北京,在高等工业学校上了几个月学。以后去日本进东京庆应大学学财经,他 的哥哥进早稻田大学。他潜心读书,未曾卷入引起当时极大部分中国留日学生 注意的反满政治活动。

1909年张嘉璈在庆应大学毕业后回国,在清政府所设立的相当于近代交通 部的邮传部任职。他的工作之一是编该部的官报。他像他的上司邮传部大臣盛 宣怀一样,关心1911年铁路国营的纷争。

1911年10月武昌起义,张嘉璈离京回南方。1912年初任浙江都督朱瑞的秘 书。1913年4月召集国会,张任参议院秘书长,不久离职,从此他长期为中国 银行出色地工作。最初,他是上海支行协理,在支行经理宋汉章手下工作。

1916年5月,张嘉璈初次获得全国声望,他抗拒了袁世凯对有发行货币权 的中国银行、交通银行这两个半官方银行停止兑现的命令。那时袁政府的崩溃 即在眼前。在这个混乱的时候,两行发生挤兑的局面,因而出现了停兑的命 令。上海支行因位于公共租界,地位特殊,其营业有巩固的基础,信誉又很 好,如停止本行货币兑现,将会损坏他的同事辛苦建立起来的信誉,因此他决 定置北京命令于不顾,并且设法方便兑现。这一行动立刻引起北京的回击,袁 世凯下令逮捕张嘉璈,并备文要求上海租界外人当局引渡。公正舆论支持张嘉 璈的勇敢行动,强烈反对北京的作法。

袁世凯死后,张嘉璈的坚毅行动更提高了他在银行界的声誉和影响,1917 年提升为总行协理,到北京总行工作,1929年升为总经理,直到1935年。张嘉 璈在1917年底离上海前,5月29日创办了《银行周刊》,这份刊物后来由上海 银行协会主办,是一份研究中国银行经济很有用的杂志。该杂志在共产党进据 上海后一直出版到1950年3月3日。

张嘉璈在普遍提高整个中国的银行界组织和中国公共财政方面作出了很大 的贡献。第一次世界大战以后,二十年代早期,他在财经工作方面的才能为中 国政府和国际银行界所公认。1922年,被任命为全国财政协商委员会委员,第 二年为全国财政改革委员会委员。第一次世界大战期间,银行团借款中断,日 本成了唯一供应借款的国家。战后,由于中国对日本的不信任和各列强间的猜 疑,大国组织新银行团的计划失败。1920年纽约摩根公司的股东拉蒙特访问中 国,与中国银行家商讨外国贷款,其中包括张嘉璈。但是因中国政治混乱,任何 外国资本都无法筹集。最后一致同意需要建立一个中国银行集团来应付政府的 财政需要和工业需要。

张嘉璈在《中国铁路发展史》(1943年出版)一书中回顾:“中国银行集 团1922年第一次签订发行六百万元铁路财政公债,1924年又向陇海路发放一千 万元现银借款。投入铁路财政的经营工作需要有些勇气,因为要在国内资金有限而又无外国的合作的情况下完成这项事业。但我们终于深信,我们必须更多 地依靠自己的力量。”

中国银行界用自己的财源参与全国建设事业,这在中国公用财政史上是第 一次。舆论界认为中国的银行界已老练成熟,达到象迄今为止控制中国金融市 场的外国银行一样殷实可靠的程度。这种新的声誉,为1927年到1937年这十年 间国家经济现代化发展扫清了道路,这一期间,本国银行机构在筹措资金方面 起了重要作用。

自张嘉璈任总经理后,从1928年到1935年间中国银行有很大发展。张嘉璈 在对银行业务的考察中认为,缺乏健全的会计制度是银行业务运行的极大阻 碍,因此,他从英国聘请了西方的银行专家作顾问,并由在伦敦训练过的经济 专家刘攻芸创建一套完全近代化的会计制度,并改组银行属员,聘用受过西方 训练的谙悉经济、银行业务的中国留学生担任要职。

中国银行还为处理外汇和国际银行事务扩展业务,指定国外代理和客户, 在海外华侨地区设立支行。中日战争期间,中国银行担负了战时国外划汇业 务。中国银行又是中国第一个设立完备的经济研究部的银行,其研究出版物被 经济学家和银行家认为具有权威性。

张嘉璈和中国银行的联系在1935年曾一度中断,当时国民政府新任闻名的 财政家孔祥熙为财政部长,决定改组中国银行和交通银行,着重改变这两个银 行与中央银行的关系。中国银行的资本由二千万元增为四千万元,政府的股份 亦相应增加。于是这个银行的官方色彩更加明显,具有辅助中央银行的作用。 宋子文取代张嘉璈而成了中国银行首脑。中国银行在业务上作为一个独立机构 的作用中止了,这种地位是张嘉璈二十多年来辛苦经营建立起来的。

张嘉璈又向另一个新的事业迈步。蒋介石在他的“人才内阁”里任命张嘉 璈为铁道部长。张嘉璈是非官方的但有影响的政学系的一员。任命张嘉璈为铁 道部长的用意,不仅由于他在中国银行忠诚工作之后给他安排一个新职位,而 且也是发挥他对发展铁路的兴趣,这是他青年时代在清政府邮传部任职时曾表 露过的,他在中国银行时又对铁路投资非常热心——特别在1929年修建浙赣路 和1933年修建粤汉路中。日益紧张的中日关系和战争的危机,迫切需要修建新线路。因此,张嘉璈被认是担负这个职务的合适人选。

从政府的国防需要着想,于是决定修建一条由东向西越过粤汉路的新铁 路。1936年1月,铁道部发行二千七百万元的公债,修建浙赣路南昌到萍乡这 一段,与萍乡株州段相衔接。一个月后,铁道部又发行一亿二千万元新铁路公 债,修建由株州向西到贵阳的湘黔路。张嘉璈主持和德国有关方面谈判,要求 供应修建浙赣、湘黔两路的设备,又与法国有关方面谈判,供应修建四川的成 渝路的设备。从1935年12月张嘉璈就任到1937年夏中日战争爆发这十八个月中 间,张嘉璈又为中国铁路界获得了外国的信任,因此铁路公债涨价,他又成功 地促使中国银行界助销铁路建设公债,总数达七千四百五十万元。

中日战争爆发后,铁道部并入交通部,张嘉璈任交通部长。此后四年中, 在敌人的封锁和沿海省份沦陷的情况下,张嘉璈不顾艰难,主持战时交通运输 卓有成效。他最出色的成就是在激烈战争中建成了湘黔铁路,这条有战略意义 的二百二十四公里铁路一年内即告建成。原来还计划将这条铁路扩建到法属印 度支那,由于1939年11月日军袭击广西,这个计划未能实行。

1942年,张嘉璈以健康为由辞职,由曾养甫继任交通部长。张随即由政府 派往美国考察经济建设。他的《中国铁路发展史》1943年用英文在美国出版。 他于1943年1月在重庆写成的前言中说到,他虽然把书稿寄往美国,但仍受官 方制约。这本书详细回顾了中国的铁路和铁路财政的历史,又瞻望战后发展铁 路的前景,这本书分析了铁路发展的重要条件,意在指出这方面的潜力,借以 引起国外财政金融界的注意。

1945年战争结束,张嘉璈回国,在此之前,国民政府已任命他为东北经济 委员会主席。在这个职位上,要使被敌人占领十四年的地区的经济获得稳定, 他要做大量工作。由于共产党人进入了这一地区,又由于苏军在日军投降前几 天开进这一地区所形成的阻挠,情况复杂化了。张嘉璈是长春铁路局主席,深 感其使命的艰难。他和东北外事委员蒋经国多次同苏方谈判失败。俄国人对国 民政府代表加强其在全东北的控制的努力,丝毫不给以方便。

当时,共产党指定林彪和其他富有经验的军政人员进入东北,组织对国民 党军队的武力抵抗。国际的压力最后促使苏军撤走,但是中国共产党人已在苏联的庇护下建立起战略据点。张嘉璈决定对这个异常艰难的工作尽力而为,开 始在长春以南地区进行一些恢复工作。日本投降初期,张的工作有一些进展, 铁路通车里程和电讯线路以及煤产量和发电量都有所增加,相当多的工厂复 工。

东北的政治军事形势迅速恶化,因而也影响了经济形势。国民政府当局由 于军费的沉重负担而改革币制,发行一种特别的东北币,随着国民党统治地区 的缩小,这种纸币发行的数量达到惊人的数字。1946年后半年,美国放弃调停 国共冲突,内战公开化了。东北工作的重心已经从经济复苏工作转移到军事行 动,张嘉璈无能为力了。1947年3月国民政府召回张嘉璈,任命他为中央银行 总裁,他任职约一年,到1948年5月南京政府改组,翁文灏任行政院长为止。

在共产党军队控制大陆时,张嘉璈出国,在澳大利亚当了三年教授,讲授 远东的经济问题。1953年迁往美国,在洛杉矶罗耶拉大学教书,1958年出版了 《通货膨涨的螺旋形膨涨:1939―1950年中国的经验》一书。他退休后仍在 加利福尼亚居住。张嘉璈除著述外,还培养了一批中国经济学家,他们是过去 张嘉璈当中国银行总经理时在该行经济研究部起家的,其中大部分人现在美国。

All rights reserved@ENP-China