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CO882 & CO885 Colonial Office Confidential Prints 理藩院機密印刊 All

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on behalf of the Commissioners by the Crown Agents for the Colonies in London or by the Commissioners at Singapore at a rate of exchange to be notified by an Order of the Governor in Council to be issued with the previous approval of the Secretary of State.

(2) The gold so received shall form part of the Note Guarantee Fund and shall be subject to investment by the Commissioners in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance or shall be used by them for the purchase of silver to be minted into Straits Settlements dollars in accordance with such instructions as may be issued by the Secretary of State. Passed this 18th day of March, 1904.

E. G. BROADRICK,

Acting Clerk of Councils.

Enclosure 2 in No. 61. REPORT on an Ordinance to further amend "The Currency Note Ordinance, 1899." 1. This Ordinance was passed in accordance with suggestions received from the Secretary of State.

2. Section 2, which repeals and re-enacts in an altered form Sub-sections 3 and 4 of Section 7a of the principal Ordinance (added by Ordinance No. XIII. of 1903), provides that the cost of reminting the silver coinage shall be made good from the General Revenue of the Colony and not from the profits of the note issue as originally provided; it being important that the accounts of the note issue should be kept entirely separate from those of the reminting.

3. Section 3 inserts in the principal Ordinance a new Section 76 enabling the Currency Commissioners to issue notes at Singapore against gold received by the Crown Agents for the Colonies or by the Commissioners themselves, the gold so received forming part of the Note Guarantee Fund.

4. This section is intended to give the Government the means of preventing an inconvenient rise in the current rate of exchange before the time arrives for fixing the value of the Straits dollar.

I am of opinion that this Ordinance may properly receive the Royal Assent.

W. R. COLLYER,

Attorney-General's Chambers, Singapore,

14579

26th March, 1904.

Attorney-General, Straits Settlements.

No. 62.

18886

SIR,

(No. 140.)

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No. 63.

THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 28th May, 1904.)

Government House, Singapore, 4th May, 1904. WITH reference to paragraph 3 of your despatch, No. 12, of the 14th January last, in which you requested to be furnished with a copy of the annual audited account of the Currency Commissioners, I have now the honour to enclose the docu- ment in question.

2. The total depreciation at the time of the audit was $896,461.25 less the value of the securities in the Depreciation Fund and the sum of 862,721.81, which had been remitted for investment on depreciation account, making a net total of $677,860.49; but there has since been a fall in the sterling value of the dollar, which reduces the gross depreciation to $708,417.01 against which the present value of the securities in the Depreciation Fund, $98,230.41, and the remittance of $62,721.61 must be set off.

3. The total amount, therefore, to be paid into the Currency Commissioners' vault is $547,404.99. A first instalment of $200,000 has already been paid in, and this amount, together with the balance, will be sent to Bombay in due course for re-coinage into Štraits dollars.

Enclosure in No. 63.

I have, &c.,

JOHN ANDERSON.

No. 274.-STATEMENT of the Account of the Commissioners of Currency for the Month ended February 29th, 1904.

Circulation.

Whole amount of currency notes in circulation on February 29th,

1904

Average amount of currency notes in circulation during the month

ended February 29th, 1904

Coin Portion of the Note Guarantee Fund.

Amount on February 29th, 1904 Silver taken out to be reminted Average amount during the month ended February 29th, 1904

Total Reserve.

$17,002,400.00

16,896,076.21

$5,856,379.85

4,674,949.00 10,558,915.05

In Silver.

In Securities.

THE SECRETARY OF STATE to THE GOVERNOR. [Copy to Treasury, 25th May, 1904. L.F.] [See No. 82.]

(No. 124.) SIR,

Downing Street, 20th May, 1904. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Taylor's despatch, No. 98, of the 30th of March, and to inform you that His Majesty will not be advised to exercise his power of disallowance with regard to Ordinance No. IV. of 1904 of the Legislature of the Straits Settlements, entitled "An Ordinance to further amend The Currency Note Ordinance, 1899,'” a transcript of which accom- panied the despatch.

I would, however, point out that the new Section 76 (2) requires gold received under the Ordinance to be either invested or used in the purchase of silver, whereas it will probably be desirable that the gold received in Singapore should be passed on to the Coinage Department (see paragraph 4 of my despatch, No. 30, of the 29th of January) in exchange for dollars, and there be held as part of the gold reserve to be established hereafter.

It would also be desirable to add a provision with regard to the gold that may be received by the Crown Agents in London, as in paragraph 4 of my despatch, No. 423, of the 17th of December.

I suggest that the Ordinance should be amended in accordance with the above remarks when a convenient opportunity occurs.

hare, &c.,

ALFRED LYTTELTON.

By silver in the vault

Silver taken out to be reminted ...

By investments made by the Crown Agents according to the

annered Statement (a).

By remittance to the Orown Agents for investment

By investments made in Indian Government Paper according

to the sunezed Statements (5), (c), (d), and ().

By remittance to the Comptroller and Auditor-General,

Calcutta, for investment.

Singapore,

1st March, 1904.

5,855,879.85 4,874,949.00

10,780,826.85

Total

C. W. 9. KYNNERSLEY,

FRID. G. PENNEY,

C. J. SAUNDERS,

4,567,988.36

NI. 1,704,287.79

NO.

6,272,161.15

817,001,490.00

Commissioners of Currency.

The depreciation in value of the securities bought with coin from the invest- ment portion of the Note Guarantee Fund was on the 94th March, 1004, $708,417.01.

• 1109: not printed.

• No. 61.

† No. 58.

‡ No. 57.

11104

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Puforance --

TILICO. 882

9

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDOMS

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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The value on the same date of the securities in the Depreciation Fund was $98,230.41 and the amount awaiting investment in the same fund $62,721-61.

Examined and found correct,

20th April, 1904.

E. C. HILL,

Auditor-General, Straits Settlements.

VALUE OF SECURITIES CALCULATED At the latest knoWN MARKET

RATES OF JANUARY, 1904.

Nominal

Market

Cost.

Value of Stock.

Description.

Prices of January. 1904.

Brokerage.

Net Price.

Net Value of Stook.

Net Valus in

Dollar.

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