230
* Dvs 4016 K He 20017418. 4.
Only a few months ago, in your despatch No.150 of 21st July last, you reported that a resolution had been unanimously passed at a Special Meeting of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce in favour of the legalization of the Japanese Yen, and in your despatch No.181 of 5th September last you forwarded reports tending to show that the Yen was beginning to be accepted in Southern China almost as freely as the Mexican Dollar. I enquired by telegraph on the 27th of October last, when I might expect the report of the Committee appointed by the Chamber of Commerce to consider the question of coining a British Dollar for Hong Kong, and you replied by telegraph on the 31st of October that the idea of a British Dollar was abandoned.
5.
These rapid variations of opinion incline me to doubt whether the question has received the careful consideration which it deserves, and to hesitate before giving my assent to an experiment such as that of the British dollar, the drawbacks of which are not costly to consider.