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It was,
time opinion in Hong Kong was beginning to be disturbed,
and the Governor reported that there was a fair body of
opinion in favour of some depreciation of the Hong Kong
dollar to bring it closer to Shanghai. The Currency
Committee again reviewed the position, and recommended in
principle in favour of a depreciation of the Hong Kong
dollar by the imposition of an export tax.
however, proposed that an expert should be sent out to
assist the Hong Kong Government, and partly owing to
technical considerations connected with the supply of
alternative coins and notes it was decided to defer action
until the arrival of the expert. At this stage the position
and the action contemplated were reported to the Cabinet in
a Memorandum by the Secretary of State (C.P.125 (35)). (The
Cabinet took note of this Memorandum at a meeting on the
26th June). The expert arrived in Hong Kong about the end
of June, and reported in July that he found local opinion
no longer in favour of immediate action, and that he
considered it preferable to wait until some emergency
occurred which would afford a reasonable excuse for action.
His view was accepted. By that time the rise in the price
of silver had ceased and to some extent Hong Kong was getting
accustomed to the new conditions, while on the other hand
there was reason to suppose that the Chinese Government
would be forced before long to adopt a more permanent policy
in relation to its own currency which would necessarily
influence Hong Kong action.
Meanwhile Sir Frederick Leith Ross had been sent
out to China to discuss the whole situation with the
Chinese Government. Shortly after his arrival, in October,
1935,
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