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point of view there is absurdity in supposing that England cannot compete with America and Mexico in the manufacture of Coinage for her own possessions.
4. The Experience of Her Majesty's Government with regard to the Mint Established in 1866 in this Colony was such that it would, we fear, be hopeless to Endeavour to induce a repetition of the Experiment at the present time. We are however strongly of opinion that this failure of that institution was too readily admitted. That with Experience, careful management and Economical working the Colony would have benefitted by its continuance and further that neighbouring Colonies as well as the port of China would have shared in it. Hong Kong was paying for a capital. To theorize upon such a subject is however useless but we would express our opinion with warmth that the introduction of a British dollar into the English Colonies in this part of the world and eventually into China generally would probably lead to the re-establishment of the Hongkong Mint, the central position of the Island, the cheapness of skilled labour, and the fact that it is a British possession rendering Hongkong eminently suitable for such an Institution.
5. For the present however all we would ask is that Her Majesty's Government will coin in England for this Colony.