CO129-313 - Governor Sir Blake - 1902 [10-12] — Page 154

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153

D.

should not be able to borrow locally at 5% or by and bye even

better it is quite an uncommon quantity as to whether or not

the Chinese in Canton would invest in such a silver loan but

when I put that question to the Honourable the Senior unoffi-

cial Member of Council, himself a Chinaman, he expressed the

belief that they would do so.

It has been stated that to issue a Silver Loan

instead of a Gold one would be gambling on the fall in exchange

in the one

E

but the same remark equally applies to a Gold loan case you are "ganoling" if such it can be called on the fact that exchange will not go down and in the other case that it

may go down so that that remark may not be heeded.

I

Again as I understand His Excellency's speech be

only proposed to borrow a small amount of $500,000 or so just

F

now

-

· well, isn't £50,000 rather a small amount to float on the London market, won't it tend to diminish our credit in the central money market of the world only to ask for £50,000!

If you borrow in Silver you know that you are paying if you oorcow in Gold you do not know what you will

have to pay in the future.

exactly

-

It is true that money is not too plentiful in the Colony just now but there must be maoy small investors and trust accounts by whom a local Government loan would be appre- ciated and as I said before that factor of Chinese Investors

from Canton is an unknown quantity.

I am aware that some people say it would be a good thing to bring outside money into the Colony but they forget that it has year by year to leave the Colony again in the

shape