at 2
IS
The difference of 41, viz. £28,116 13s 4. should be credited to the Loan Account, and the dent of the Commissioners should be reduced by that amount. £125 10 5d should be carried to credit of the Gold Standard Reserve established under Section 16 of the Currency Note Ordinance, 1899, Amendment Ordinance, 1908.
opy of which has been furnished to you.
The Crown Agents for the Colonies,
R.
Whitehall Gardens,
London, S.M
I have, &c..
ARTHUR YOUNG, Colonial Secretary, Straits Settlements.
Enclosure 3 in No. 28.
The CROWN AGENTS to the COLONIAL SECRETARY, Straits Settlements.
Whitehall Gardens, S.W., 11th November, 1909.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 14th October, No Docks 5413 09, and to inform you that we have made the necessary entries in our accounts to carry out your wishes with regard to the $241,000 paid by the Currency Commissioners to the Tanjong Pagar Dock Board.
2 With regard to the sum of £135 10s. 5d. to be carried to the credit of the Gold Standard Reserve, we understand from the last paragraph of your letter of the 24th March last, No C. Agents 8111. 1909, that adjustments between revenue and The Gold Standard Reserve Fund are made in the Colony, and it is not desired that We have therefore carried the we should keep any account here for the fund. amount of £125 10s. 5d. to the credit of the General Account.
3 If it is thought desirable, we shall, of course, be prepared to open an account here for the Gold Standard Reserve, but, except for the purpose of any investments which it may be decided to make here, it would doubtless be best for the account of the fund itself to be kept in the Colony.
I have, &c.,
R. L. ANTROBUS.
GENTLEMEN,
19
Enclosure in No. 29
The CEF CASHIER, Bank of England, to CROWN AGENTS.
Bank of England, E.C., 1st December, 1909.
I HAVE to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, A/143 B. Straits, of the 29th ultimo, enquiring whether the Bank are prepared to undertake on your behalf the custody of gold which is to be set aside and held in London as a reserve against notes issued in Singapore by the Government of the Straits Settlements.
You are doubtless aware that the Bank already undertake a similar duty on behalf of the Secretary of State for India in connection with the currency note issue of the Indian Government, and the Bank receive for their services remunera- tion calculated at the rate of per cent. per annum upon the total gold held. This at times reaches very large figures, and in consideration of that fact the charge was reduced a short time ago from a higher scale which had previously been in
force.
In the case of the Straits Settlements issue, although it is improbable, for the present at any rate, that the total gold held will amount to very large sums, the number of transactions that will take place, and the work thereby involved, will not necessarily be correspondingly diminished, but under all the circumstances the Bank are prepared to act for you upon the reduced terms which have been conceded to the Indian Government, and I shall be glad to learn whether you are agreeable to It is assumed that specific instructions will be an arrangement on this basis. furnished to the Bank on each occasion when gold is to be added to, or withdrawn from, the Reserve.
Meanwhile, the sum of £45,000 in gold has to-day been charged to your account and set aside, for the Straits Settlements note reserve as requested.
I should feel obliged if you would be good enough to arrange for the Bank to be supplied with a copy of any Ordinance or other published papers dealing with the subject of the Straits Settlements note issue.
I am, &c.,
J. G. NAIRNE,
Chief Cashier.
38893
No. 30.
39451
FIR.
No. 29.
CROWN AGENTS to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received 6 December, 1909.)
[Copy to tinvernor, 16 December, 1909. Confidential. L.F.}
[Answered by No. 31.]
Whitehall Gardens, London, S. W., 4th December, 1909. REFERRING to your letters of the 20th November, No. 37431/1909, and the 20th November, No. 37619,* I have the honour to inform you that we have made arrangements with the Bank of England to hold half of the Gold Reserve Fund of the Straits Settlements note issue in gold to our order, and I enclose a copy of a letter which we have received from the Chief Cashier of the Bank on the subject.
2. The charge which the Bank propose to make for keeping the gold, amount- ing to a per cent. per annum, must, we conclude. in the circumstances be agreed to; the only alternative being to keep the gold ourselves, which is, of course, out of the question. If the Secretary of State approves of our agreeing to the charge, we conclude that you will inform the Colonial Government accordingly.
3. We should be glad if we could be provided with copies of the ordinances and any other published papers dealing with the Straits Settlements note issue, for transmission to the Bank, in compliance with the request which the Chief Cashier makes in the last paragraph of his letter.
I have, &c.,
R. L. ANTROBUS.
COLONIAL OFFICE to CROWN AGENTS.
[Copy to Governor, December 7, 1909, Confidential, and to Treasury, December 16, 1909. L.F. See No. 32.]
GENTLEMEN,
Downing Street, 7 December, 1909.
I AM directed by the Earl of Crewe to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 27th ult.,* regarding Straits Settlements currency.
As to the payment of 241,000 dollars by the Currency Commissioners to the Tanjong Pagar Dock Board, it appears necessary (in view of the otherwise unsecured extension of the note issue involved by this payment) that the transaction should be That account should show on shown in your account of the note issue gold reserve. the liability side the amount of notes issued, viz., 241,000 dollars, and on the credit side the corresponding amount of gold at 2s. 4d., which must be paid to the note issue gold reserve either now, or as soon as possible, from the Gold Standard Reserve. am to explain that the debt of the Currency Commissioners, which is now being paid off, lies against the Gold Standard Reserve, and not against the Note Issue Reserve.
With reference to the last paragraph of the letter which you addressed to the Colonial Secretary of the Straits Settlements of the 11th of November, I am to refer to the letter from this Office of the 20th of November,t and to say that, in Lord Crewe's opinion, it will be necessary for you to keep a separate account of the Gold Standard Reserve, showing all the transactions on that account which take place through you, although the complete account of the reserve will have to be drawn up in the Colony. Your account will be that of the Gold Standard Reserve in London.
I am, &c.,
H. BERTRAM COX.
• No. 25 and 26.
• No. 28.
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↑ No. 25,
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