PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
TLC.O. 882
9
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
142
GENTLEMEN,
2012
No. 271.
COLONIAL OFFICE to CROWN AGENTS.
[Answered by No. 273.]
Downing Street, 31 October, 1908. I AM directed by the Earl of Crewe to acknowledge the receipt of letter
your of the 1st September, in which you submitted, at his Lordship's request, certain observations upon a confidential despatch from the Governor of the Straits Settle- ments with regard to the Gold Reserve of the Currency Commissioners and the arrangements for making remittances to and from London on account of the Govern- ments of the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States.
2 Lord Crewe agreed in the views expressed in your letter, and addressed I am also to enclose, to the Governor the despatch of which a copy is enclosed. for any observations that you may have to offer, the accompanying copy of a tele- gram which has been received from Sir J. Anderson with regard to the price at which the old silver currency should be sold.
40214
SIR.
No. 272.
I am, &c.,
R. L. ANTROBUS.
CROWN AGENTS to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received 3 November, 1908.)
[Copy to flovernors of the Straits Settlements and Hong Kong, 6 November, 1908.
Confidential. L.F.]
Whitehall Gardens, London, S. W., 2 November, 1908.
Straits and Hong Kong,
REFERRING to our letters of the 1st June last (Hong Kong), and the 1st September last (Straits).§ I have the honour to enclose a copy of a letter which we have received from our bullion brokers. Messrs. Pixley and Abell, on the subject of the position of the silver market.
2. The information contained in it may be useful to the Governments of the Straits Settlements and Hong Kong.
GENTLEMEN,
Enclosure in No. 272.
I have, &c..
E. E BLAKE.
Messrs. PIXLEY AND ÁBELL to CROWN AGENTS.
27, Old Broad Street, E.C., 29 October, 1908. KNOWING that the position of the silver market is of interest to you, we trust that the following remarks may be of service to you.
India sold During the earlier part of the week quotations moved but slightly. freely for forward delivery, but China absorbed all these offerings. To-day, how- ever, China has turned round, and has sold largely, and the price has fallen to 23 7/161. for spot and 233d. for forward, with business since done at 1/16d. under these rates.
The true position of the market is obscured by the large speculative trans actions which have taken place in India and London on Indian account. Lack of knowledge as to how these accounts will be dealt with makes the future uncertain, but apart from all speculation the fact remains that the great consuming markets of Asia are all overloaded with silver for which there is no offtake, and we cannot but regard the position as unsatisfactory.
Bombay at the next settlement, on the 15th prox., will have some £1,750,000 surplus stock in silver, and it is quite possible that some of this may be reshipped
‡ No. 270.
§ 20045 not printed, and No. 268.
• No. 268.
↑ No. 269.
203
to London when money becomes dearer in India, as is usual during the later months of the year.
The banks in Shanghai hold over £2,000,000 in Sycee, and this amount is increasing. A third of this sum is ample for an ordinary busy season there, of which there is no sign at present.
Besides this, the China banks have bought large sums for forward delivery, probably little less than the amount sold by India, and all this will be resold here as China exchanges weaken and the banks are able to adjust their position in China
We are, &c.,
42243
SIR.
No. 273.
PIXLEY AND ABELL
CROWN AGENTS to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received November 18, 1908.)
[Answered by L.F. transmitting copy of No. 274.]
Whitehall Gardens, London, S.W., 17th November, 1908.
Straits Settlements.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 31st October, No. 39142/1908,* and to state that we are quite unable to offer any explanation of the price of 27 pence given in the telegram from the Governor of the Straits Settlements of the 26th October,† as the price, presumably per ounce, at which the Colonial Government desires to sell $7,000,000 of the old silver currency now in the Colony. This price is 2d. per ounce above the price, 25d., at which in July last (see confidential despatch of the 8th of July) the Colonial Government apparently contemplated that it could afford to sell, and we are not aware of any circumstances to explain the change of opinion.
We
2. We have ascertained that the charges for bringing the dollars to London and for disposing of them would amount to somewhat under d. an ounce. have, however, been unable to ascertain what the freight and insurance from Singapore to Calcutta would amount to, but as the voyage is so much less than the voyage to London it may be assumed that the cost would be somewhat less.
3. At the time we wrote our letter of the 1st September§ the price of silver here was about 234d. per ounce, but on the 7th of September it rose temporarily to 24d., and again on the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd September to 24, 24, 24, 24, 24, 24%, 24, 24, for immediate shipment to India to meet speculative purposes. It is possible, therefore, that if the Colonial Government had been willing to sell at 24d. per ounce it could have disposed of some of its holding Since that time the price has for direct shipment from Singapore to Calcutta. dropped away considerably, having on two occasions been as low as 22. and yesterday the price was 23. and there appears to be no immediate prospect of any substantial improvement in the price.
I have, &c.,
42243
No. 274.
E. E. BLAKE.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR.
L.F.]. [Copy to Crown Agents, December 3, 1908.
[Answered by No. 279.]
(Confidential.)
SIR,
Downing Street, 3 December, 1908. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your telegram of the 26th Octobert with regard to the price at which the old Straits Settlements dollars should be sold.
• No. 271.
↑ No. 270.
‡ No. 262.
§ No. 268.
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* C1