It is I believe estimated that $8,000,000 li 10,000,000 are required for the currency of the Colony alone, and the benefit to all parties, Shroffs and Compradores, of payments by tale in new dollars in place of the present system of payment by weight, would I think ensure the gradual displacement, for local transactions, of the present currency in favor of the new dollar.
That alone would create a heavy call on the Mints. The alleged disinclination of the Chinese in the Colony for the new dollar may, I am of opinion, be fairly ascribed almost exclusively to the Shroffs and Compradores, whose fraudulent gain (invariably complained of) in the handling of bullion by weight would, by the system of tale, be put to an end.
Unfortunately, however, the machinery of the Mint proved incapable of coining except in very trifling daily amounts; and the loss or stoppage of funds would have been serious inconvenience to the depositors. The supply were almost entirely withdrawn and a great opportunity was lost of initiating the new coinage.
Mr Rennie's Memorandum, which I saw in Hongkong, embodies, I think, all the arguments of the Colonial Treasurer. His calculations, however, are based on so exceptional a state of things, and are so limited to the value of silver in India...