CO129-301 - Governor Sir Blake - 1900 [9-12] — Page 377

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38. It is laid down that the Administra-

tions of the Countries of the Union, which have not the franc

rates

for their monetary unit, levy their according to certain equi-

valents laid down in a table.

39. For France the international rate is

25 centimes, for Germany 20 pfennings, for HongKong 10 cents,

40. At Shanghai the British Post Office

uses HongKong Stamps and so the 10 cent rate is maintainedd

there.

41.The Convention lays down that in case

of an important modification in the value of the money of any

administration the country must come to an understanding with

the Swiss Postal Administration in order to modify the equi-

valents, and all other offices of the Union are to be notified

through the Medium of the International Bureau.

42.

On the 12th.September I purchased

at the French Post Office, Shanghai, 13 stapps of 25 centimes

each for one clean Mexican dollar, representing a total value

of 3 franes 25 centimes.

43. On that date exchange quotations were

as follows;- On demand on France 1 tael equalled francs 5.57) and 74. 22 taels equalled 100 clean Mexican dollars. There- fore I clean Mexican dollar equalled 2 francs 65 centimes and so on the 1 dollar's worth of stamps sold me the French Post Office lost 0.60 centimes,or, in other words,with a fraction

of