PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-----
mumimmim TILTIC.O. 882
9-
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
54
the 19th August,* enclosing draft of an Ordinance further to amend the Currency Note Ordinance, 1899.
2. This draft appears to be generally in accordance with the suggestions contained in my despatches, No. 423, of the 17th December, No. 30, of the 29th January, and No. 124, of the 20th May, but on further consideration I have come to the conclusion that the most convenient form of amending Section 7B (2) of the principal Ordinance will be to add the following words, viz., "Provided that the whole of the profit on such minting shall be carried to a separate Gold Reserve Fund, and not form part of the Note Guarantee Fund"; and that the second proposed amendment is not required.
3. The use of the words "Coinage Department" in my despatches, No. 30, of the 29th January, and No. 124, of the 20th May last, was perhaps misleading. I had not intended to suggest the creation of an entirely new department, but merely that the operations of the Currency Commissioners in connection with the new coinage should be carefully distinguished from their operations in connection with the note currency; and when I said that the Note Issue Department should not hold gold, but should pass it on to the Coinage Department in exchange for dollars, I ought rather to have said that the gold was not to be held as an Asset of the Note Guarantee Fund (Section 7 (2) of Ordinance 4 of 1899), except as representing an equivalent number of Straits dollars at the rate of exchange referred to in Section 7B (1) of the Currency Note Ordinance.
4. The important point to secure is that the profit obtained by converting gold into Straits dollars should not form part of the Note Guarantee Fund, but should be transferred to a separate Gold Reserve Fund, the formation of which is essential in order to maintain a gold standard. This object will be secured by the amend- ment suggested in paragraph 2 above.
5. It will, I apprehend, be unnecessary to keep a stock of Straits dollars to be issued to the public in exchange for gold, other than the stock of dollars in the bands of the Currency Commissioners (ie., the coin portion of the Note Guarantee Fund), since the Commissioners are empowered by Ordinance 4 of 1904 to issue notes in exchange for gold, and the holders of these notes can immediately demand silver dollars in exchange for them under Section 4 (3) of Ordinance 4 of 1809.
6. When the Commissioners hold in their Reserve a considerable quantity of gold, steps can be taken when necessary to use part of the gold in purchasing silver to be minted into dollars, and Section 2 of Ordinance 13 of 1903, when read with the last three lines of Section 3 of Ordinance 4 of 1904, provides all that is necessary for such minting.
42563
(No. 373.) SIR,
No. 73.
I have, &c.,
ALFRED LYTTELTON.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 17th December, 1904.)
[Copy to Treasury, 29th December, 1904. L.F.]
Government House, Singapore, 19th November, 1904. WITH reference to Sir F. A. Swettenham's despatch, No. 431, of the 7th October, 1903, § I have the honour to forward, for your information, copies of an Order in Council temporarily exempting British North Borneo, Labuan, and Sarawak from the operation of the Order in Council of the 2nd October, 1903, which prohibited the importation into the Colony of the British and Mexican dollars.
2. This Order has been issued in consequence of representations made by the Singapore Chamber of Commerce that a continuance of the prohibition would probably result in a diversion of the trade of North Borneo to Hong Kong. It is considered sufficient at present to continue the exemption until the Chinese New Year, by which time it is thought that the countries affected should be able to get rid
any of the old dollars which are not needed there.
of
I have, &c.,
JOHN ANDERSON.
• No. 71.
↑ Nos. 57, 58 and 62.
‡ Nos. 58 and 62.
§ No. 45.
55
Enclosure in No. 73.
The following Notification is, by command of His Excellency the Governor, published for general information.
FRED. G. PENNEY,
Acting Colonial Secretary.
No. 1235.-ORDER by His Excellency the Governor in Council under "The Coin Import and Export Ordinance 1903."
Whereas by an Order in Council made on the 2nd day of October, 1903, the importation into the Colony of the Coins known as the British Trade Dollar and the Mexican Dollar were prohibited from and after the 3rd day of October, 1903.
And whereas by Section 3 (4) of the said Ordinance power is reserved to the Governor in Council by Order to exempt any Country or State from the operation of such an Order as that hereinbefore recited :
Now I, Sir John Anderson, Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Straits Settlements, by virtue of the powera vested in me by the said Ordinance, with the advice of the Executive Council, do hereby exempt from the operation of the said Order of the 2nd day of October, 1903, the Countries or States of British North Borneo, Labuan, and Sarawak from the date of this Order until the 4th day of February, 1905.
Council Chamber,
4723
Singapore, 4th November, 1904.
No. 74.
E. L. BROCKMAN,
Clerk of Councils.
THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 13th February, 1905.) [Answered by L.F. transmitting copies of Nos. 75, 76, and 77.] (No. 27.) SIR,
Government House, Singapore, 19th January, 1905. WITH reference to my despatch, No. 140. of the 4th May last,* I have the honour to inform you that of the sum of $547,484.99, which was the net amount of the depreciation of the securities of the Commissioners of Currency at the last annual audit, $400,000 has been already made good from revenue. The delay in paying in the whole deficiency is due to the decrease of the cash balances caused by the reduced rent now paid by the opium and spirit farmers here.
2. Since the date of the last annual audit the net deficiencies in the value of the securities have been as follows:-
1st April, 1904
1st May, 1804
1st June, 1904
1st July, 1904
1st August, 1904
1st September, 1904
1st October, 1904
1st November, 1904
1st December, 1904
1st January, 1005
$502,740.30
538,411.15
522,619.50
697,974.87
644,581.61
599,285.57
568,805.09
644,701.96
675,997.21
711,116.59
The large increase in the amount is due, naturally, to the rise in exchange with England and India which depreciates the dollar value of the investments, and should exchange rise hereafter to any considerable degree, the liability of the revenue to make good the deficiency might be very large. At present every penny by which exchange rises means a further deficiency of well over 200,000.
• No. 63.