CO129-186 - Public Offices & Others - 1879 — Page 149

146

terms of

the

official proclamation

If the

the East.

,

I

26th of November 1878, substituting it for the

trade dollar, are not quite conclusive on this

point; but it is certain that the internal

circulation

of

the country consist almost entirely

of paper money and subsidiary token coins,

- both greatly depreciated, and that dollars

currency.

do not form any appreciable part of the

I understand, indeed, that but

very few dollars are coined at the Japanese Mint except from silver brought in by Chines

and other traders wishing to make payment-

in Japan at the season of the silk crop.

It would appear, therefore that (

hardly be looked

Japanese dollars con

As

upoor in supplementing the commercial

likely to afford much assistanc

may

add that, while the operations.

of the Japan coinage have undoubtedly been

carried on with scrupulous regard to thee

accuracy of the coins, and there is no reason to

apprehend that the management of the Mint will fail in this respect; the excessive isour of

subsidiary coins, presumably for the sake of the

profit accruing on their manufacture, and the unsatisfactory condition of the currency mentioned)

above, point to a considerable want of prudence on the part of the Japanese Government,

do not conduce to confidence in the wisdom of

their future arrangements

and

In these circumstances I would submit.

that the adoption of American and Japanese

part of

Trade. dollars as

currency of

the

the

currency of Hong Kong

Though