CO129-129 - Sir MacDonnell - 1868 [1-3] — Page 8

unemployed for the last few months with the exception of a coinage of $50,000 in subsidiary commage, which I had induced the Manager of the Chartered Mercantile Bank to take at

Yper

a discount of 7 per cent, leaving the Colony

profit of 3 per cent.

a clear

over a

of a similar nominal amount in

coinage

dollars, as the latter contains only 10 per cent alloy whilst the Subsidiary

#coins contain 20.

M. I believe that the Chartered Mercantile Bank has not made by the transaction because the difficulty

of getting rid of the subsidiary coinage fis such that the lop & interest

Capital sunk in the coinage has rendered

on

the

C

the speration rather a

loving

one.

12. I would respectfully therefore invite Your fraces consideration

once more

to

the extraordinary position in which the

Maint

is

now

placed. Ito forced idlene

fo

and proved uselesnes as yet for almost

every purpose which its promoters had

in view, render its maintenance at the

aw

act

of very

expense of the bolony questionable policy. I would also remind Your Grace that although I hansmitted to Her Majestips Government on the 13t of December 1866 "the report of the Commision appointed to inquire into the prospects of the Mint and also the opinions of the various Bankers predicting it's failure, whilst I have from time to

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