42.
·
Sir,
Hong Kong, 23rd March 1903.
567
576
In response to the request of His Excellency the Governor
I have pleasure in briefly stating my views upon the question
of establishing the currency of the Colony, upon a Gold basis.
It will be admitted by all that the prosperity of Hongkong
is dependent, not upon the comparatively unimportant volume of
business within itself, but upon a continuance of what I may term
its outside trade connections, more especially those with China,
and that being so the question to be considered is- Will a
change in the financial system of the Colony without a similar
arrangement in China be beneficial to such trade or otherwise?
I cannot imagine any grounds upon which to base the expectation
that this "outside trade" would be in the slightest degree
facilitated by the introduction of a Gold Standard. It then
remains to consider whether it would be injuriously affected.
My own belief is that it would be, but I recognize that upon
this point there is room for much argument which would be un-
likely I think to convince either one side or the other, while
to practically test it would obviously be an extremely danger-
ous experiment.
Holding these views I should advocate noninterference with
the existing currency.
I am,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
vicus
Sir John Keane, Bart.
Private Secretary to
His Excellency Sir Henry A. Blake, K.C.M.G.
&c. &c. &c.