Enclosure
Sir,
231
Nagasaki, Japan.
July 7. 1897.
I have the honor to acknowledge, through His Excellency the Governor of Hong Kong, the reply to the letter which I had the honor to address You respecting the rate at which I receive my pension.
That answer is to the effect that you cannot depart from the general rule that, when an officer entitled to a pension is residing in a country, the currency of which is based on a silver standard as in Japan, he shall only be entitled to receive his pension at the current rate of exchange. As the Diet of Japan has passed a law which establishes a gold basis as the standard of currency, which I am informed is to take effect from the first of October next, I beg respectfully to address you again on the subject, as the referral of my application
The Right Honorable
Joseph Chamberlain M. P.
Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies
London