your predecessor in January 1876 issued a proclamation,
Ordinance No. 6 of 1867 legalizing both the Trade Dollar and the Yen Dollar, but it does not appear that any special communication on this subject to the Secretary of State was addressed as ought clearly to have been done.
In reference to the Secretary of State, I should wish to know under what circumstances the proclamation was issued, and what effect it has had on the general circulation of the Colony.
5. At the same time I should be glad to have some information regarding the step of such importance; and I take this opportunity to inform you that the Governor of the Straits Settlements should not exercise the power conferred by the Ordinance in question without previous report on the general working of the currency laws of the Colony.
The points on which more particularly information is desirable are the extent and proportion of dollars in circulation, and whether different from those mentioned in the Ordinance.