553
3.
A
Here Mr. Osborne is a little inconsistent;
he talke or coolies as being willing to accept
er the payment as at present, in the local coin
coin of China which in another part of his
remarks he says are to be entirely dome away
with. Judging from our knowledge of native
! methods, were the coolies paid in pennies as Mr.
Osborne wishes, they would be heavily "squeezed”
by the native exchange shops when remitting money to China, which would result in a continual
demand for an increase in wages.
As regards the question of raw materials
for local manufactures (such as hemp, sugar and
limestone), it is probable that the question of a
gold standard will have little, if any, effect
upon these industries beyond possibly some
additional clerical labour in connection with
accounts but after all these form a sma 1 part
of the trade of Hongkong.
Mr. Osborne passes lightly over the very
important question of Chinese purchasing: go od s
in the Colony if we are to work with a gold currency. Because Hongkong holds a central posi- -tion geographically the trade must, he says,
centre here, but he makes no attempt to show how
the import trade on its way to China is to be dealt with, which he admits "is by far the most
"important section" of our trade.
It may be urged that the introduction of
a gold standard høre, may do away with risk of a
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