26
X
but it hasn't
ras.
present we are temporarily embarrassed by the
multitude of Advisers.
I believe the General
Division is still supposed to have some
responsibility for currency matters, and we of
course take advantage of Sir J.Campbell's advice,
but the Crown Agents and the Treasury both expect
to be consulted also, and occasionally we have
brought the India Office in, The embarrassment
which may result was well exemplified in the
case of Mauritius.
I have read most of this Hong Kong
correspondence, but it is a long time since I
had seen it, and I should like to study it
further. At present, I am still unrepentant of
my belief that the only real solution is the
adoption of a sterling exchange basis for Hong
Kong currency. I certainly have not made up my
mind finally on the subject, and should not dream
of doing so without more evidence and more thought,
but I cannot see any real force in the only
namely,
arguments in favour of the status quo -
The
that we are bound to follow China, and that China
still likes silver. So far as I can make out,
China gets away from silver whenever she can, and
even uses our Straits notes as currency because
they represent not silver but sterling.
"system" which has hitherto existed in Hong Kong has been a miserable compromise, which tried to
escape the trouble of fluctuations in the price
of silver by creating a fictitious standard of
exchange in the Hong Kong bank-note, which
represented nothing at all. Now the premium on
notes has been eliminated, Hong Kong is down to
a silver standard and she is getting flooded with silver dollars, as I ventured to suggest she