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41128

122

No. 170.

COLONIAL OFFICE to CROWN AGENTS. [Copy to Treasury. November 23, 1906. L.FJ [Answered by No. 172.]

(Confidential.)

GENTLEMEN,

Downing Street, 10th November, 1906. I AM directed by the Earl of Elgin to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 5th instant, and to inform you that, the recent rise in the value of silver having carried the bullion value of the Straits Settlements dollar above the fixed rate of s. 4d., it is necessary to take steps at once for the recoinage of the existing An Order in Council was Straits Settlements dollars into dollars of less fineness. passed by His Majesty on the 22ǹd ultimo, authorizing the reduction of the fineness of the dollar from .900 to .800.

A copy of a telegramt from the Governor is enclosed showing the quantity of dollars requiring recoinage. The Indian Mints being unable to help in this matter, it is necessary to have recourse to the Royal Mint, and to the Mint at Birmingham. As will be seen from the correspondence‡ enclosed unofficial negotiations with the Mints have already taken place, the result of which have been telegraphed to the Governor. The Lords Commissioners of the Treasury are now being asked officially to authorise the Royal Mint to proceed in the matter with assistance of the Birming- ham Mint.

It will be seen from the later telegrams of which copies are enclosed that, having regard to the continued rise in silver, the Governor considers the margin of Lord Elgin safety provided by the reduction of fineness to .800 not to be sufficient. is consulting the Treasury as to whether further alterations should be made in the currency, and the decision will be communicated to you as soon as possible.

In view of the possibility of the Colony being denuded of the dollars in circula- tion, it is of the greatest importance to accelerate the supply of the one-dollar notes referred to in the letter from this Office of the 7th of March. Lord Elgin under- stands that you have since received from the Colony a requisition for three million more of these notes. I am to ask for a report on the present position of the matter, and on the extent to which the supply can be accelerated. It will be seen from his telegram of the 5th instant that the Governor wishes the supply of notes of other denominations postponed in favour of one-dollar notes if this will accelerate their delivery.

I am, &c.,

C. P. LUCAS.

123

Parliament in 1903), which recommendations were adopted with the practically unanimous approval of the Colony. The Governor strongly advised the Secretary of State not to abandon the fixed rate of exchange, on the ground that otherwise business would be dislocated and trade hampered. The Governor stated that he had discussed the matter unofficially with all the leading bankers and merchants in the place, and that they were in entire accord with him that the sooner gold was made legal tender, and that action supplemented by preparing to replace the dollar with one of less fineness, the better it would be in the interests of the community. I may add that from a telegram* just received the Secretary of State learns that the Legislative Council have unanimously adopted a motion urging a greater margin of safety for the dollar than the reduction in fineness to .800 provides. The laying of the Order in Council on the table is a question for the Lord President, to whose attention the matter will be brought. The Secretary of State considers that it is impossible to direct the Governor to suspend action urgently required under an Order designed to meet a critical condition of affairs.until the House has had an opportunity for discussion."

42224

SIB,

No. 172.

CROWN AGENTS to COLONIAL OFFICE. (Received 16th November, 1906.)

[Copy to Governor, No. 304, and to Treasury, 23rd November, 1906. L.F.] [Answered by No. 175.]

Whitehall Gardens, London, S.W., 15th November, 1906.

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 10th instant, No. 41128/06,† and, with reference to the $1 notes, to state, for the informa- tion of the Secretary of State, that 100,000 have already been shipped, at least 50,000 will be shipped on the 22nd, and thereafter 100,000 a week until the end of January, provided that the $5 notes (100,000 of which remain to be printed) are allowed to be suspended. At the end of January some fresh machinery will have been set up, which should allow of a considerable increase in the supply.

2. I have to request that we may be informed how long the completion of the $5 notes may be deferred. The manufacture of the $10 notes is not affected by the supply of $1 notes as the two values are numbered on machines of different sizes.

I have, &c.,

P. EZECHIEL,

For Crown Agents.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TILLC.O. 882

ساللسان.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

41117

No. 171.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

12th November, 1906. SIR DAVID BRYNMOR-JONES (Swansea District) asked the Under-Secretary for the Colonies whether the Secretary for the Colonies would direct the Governor of the Straits Settlements to postpone the date of the operation of the Order in Council of October 22,** authorising a reduction in the fineness of the dollar, until this House had an opportunity of discussing the expediency of the Order in Council; whether he would lay a copy of the said Order in Council on the Table of the House; whether the consequences of the recent rise in the value of silver could have been guarded against by an alteration in the rate of exchange without debasement of the currency; and what were the grounds upon which the Governor of the Straits Settlements based the advice given by him upon this matter to the Secretary of State.

MR. CHURCHILL, in reply, said: "I will reply to the honourable and learned member's questions in a rather different order. Unless the fineness of the Straits Settlements dollar were reduced, the only way in which the consequences of the recent rise in silver could be guarded against would be by withdrawing the fixed rate of exchange. This rate has been fixed as the result of the recommendations of the Straite Settlements Currency Committee (whose report†† was laid before

↑ No. 159.

• No. 167.

Private correspondence, not printed, on 39039 and 40807, and No. 165.

17602: not printed. No. 166. • Enclosure in No. 161.

Nos. 166 and 168.

tt [Cd. 1556].

42914

No. 173.

THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE. (Received 7.50 a.m., 21st November, 1906.) TELEGRAM.

(Paraphrase.)

Referring to my confidential despatch of November 15th and to my telegram of November 8th,‡ the Manila Manager of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank writes to the Manager here that experts in the United States of America recommend weight of 370 grains and fineness of 700 for the new peso, and that higher levels for silver may be looked for in future.-ANDERSON.

43000

SIR,

No. 174.

TREASURY to COLONIAL OFFICE. (Received 22nd November, 1906.)

[Answered by No. 180.]

Treasury Chambers, 21st November, 1908.

THE Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury have had before them

• No. 168.

31104

↑ No. 170.

Nos. 188 and 168.