CO129-374 - Public Offices & Others - 1910 — Page 29

All letters to be addressed to

'HE CHIEF MANAGER"

ILEGRAPHIC ADDRESS, IRADISE LONDON

137648/39

7226407/09

C O

2121

Reco

Ree 21 JAN 10,

THE MERCANTILE BANK OF INDIA LIMITED.

40. Thrend needle Street,

London'

21st January, 1910.

The Under Secretary of State for the Colonies,

Colonial Office,

Downing Street S.W.

sir,

I have to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 13th

inst. inviting attention to the communication addressed to

me by your department dated 8th November to which was

attached a draft of the proposed Ordinance for providing

27

the Colony of Hong Kong with a Government Note Issue.

I have hitherto deferred conveying to you the views of

my Directors on the proposal as we are not yet in possession

of our Kong Kong Manager's opinion, not only on the proposal

itself, but also as to its bearing upon this Bank's

application for the privilege of Note Issue which has for

some time past been under the consideration of the Colonial

Office and the Government of Hong Kong.

My Directors are of opinion that the Government proposal

as embodied in the draft ordinance if carried out cannot but

prove of great benefit to the community of Hong Kong,

especially the commercial and trading portion of it, and

also to the general interests of the Colony. It would at

once put an end to the injurious effects which have developed

out of the monopoly of note issue hitherto confined to two

private Banking Corporations, a monopoly which in its

present restricted form has proved totally inadequate to

the needs of the Colony and has, as I informed you in the

correspondence submitted to you on 4th May last, resulted

110-120/09.

in