the existing conditions, a double exchange between
gold and silver i is involved in respect of the trade
two non-Chinese countries, which is at
chinari
between
least as important as the interchange trade. As
regards the trade between China and the rest of the
world, which apparently forms the greater part of
the transit trade, an exchange between gold and
silver is involved any way and it does not seem to
matter whether Hong Kong is on a silver or a gold
basis for this purpose. The fence has got to be
climbed somewhere and it is immaterial whether it
is climbed this side of Hong Kong or the other.
The general conclusion is that from the point of
view of facilitating trade, it would be to Hong
Kong's advantage rather than disadvantage to change
over to a gold standard.
I am perfectly aware that the above figures,
based on one month's trade only, and on which I have
assumed that the whole of Hong Kong's trade is
transit trade, are nothing like exact, but I think
the general conclusion is reliable, as the general
direction of trade in the most important single
items, e.g., sugar, rice ana cotton piecegoods, is
not likely to vary from month to month, and is
quite obvious from a short examination of the
detailed returns. I would suggest, however, that
it would be very valuable if a more thorough
examination of the direction of trade were made
when
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