CO129-316 - Governor Sir Blake - 1903 [1-4] — Page 553

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statements cover the whole ground from a business point of

view, and a glance at the Gold value of shares ten years ago

and now shows that the Gold value of capital then invested has

increased very considerably even with the depreciated dollar.

But there is another aspect of the question that requires

very grave consideration even before a Commission be decided

upon, for the appointment of a Commission would at once

further affect Exchange. Can this Colony afford to pay the

cost of conversion ? Assuming a Gold reserve with Paper Cur-

rency and token Silver Coins, is the paper to be inconvertible ?

If not, Gold selling sometimes at a premium, our reserve will

be amanded for conversion into Gold leaf, of which there is

enormous consumption in China and must be replaced, while

of the large token coin there will probably be a perennial

supply of counterfeit from China that we can only exclude by

the establishment of a rigid Customs Service and the

to tal change in the character of the port which has grown

and thriven upon its freedom from restrictions. While if the

Silver rises beyond the token value of the coins then the

Silver Currency will be at once converted into bullion.

These are questions that can be answered in London as well as

in Hongkong and require to be very carefully considered

before any step is taken that will disturb present conditions.

Whether Hongkong turns to the East or to the West it is

evident that she will have to meet Exchange fluctuations

on one side or the other. At present the double calculation is

made by the Merchant or Commission Arent in Hongkong. If we

seek to transfer that trouble to the Chinese Importer and

Exporter

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