CO129-381 - Governor Sir Lugard - 1911 [11-12] — Page 33

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"in any British Colony, and unless a very considerable "period for the redemption of the coin in circulation 30 "were agreed upon I would not support it myself. On this

"crucial point the Hon.member in the brief outline he

"gave was silent. If he had in his mind that the period

"should be so short a one as to prevent the influx of

"stocks from Canton, that would involve an act of repu-

"diation so large that I do not think any of us would

"consider it justifiable. If, on the other hand, he

"contemplated a considerable period during which the

"holders of existing stocks should be able to redeem

"the coin they had say, a period of some six months

"the liability which this Colony would incur would

"undoubtedly be a very large one and its extent wholly

"unknown. I concur too with what the proposer of the

"resolution said regarding the inadvisability of establish-

"ing any new form of coinage at the present moment until

"we know what the coinage of China is likely to be.

"Finally, and I think this is perhaps the most important

"point of all, the issue of a new coinage, and the

"repudiation of the old would, I fear, strike a very

"serious and grave blow at the financial stability

"integrity of this Colony in the eyes of China". (Applause

4.

From these extracts from speeches

made by Un-officials of the Legislative Council, and

which I think fairly represent the public opinion of

the Colony you will see that any scheme involving

the declaration that Hongkong subsidiary coins were

no longer legal tender and that their importation and

circulation was contrary to law would be unpopular ta

in the Colony, and unless a period of some six months

for the exchange of such coins were allowed I should

no doubt be reminded by the Un-Official members when the necessary legislation was introduced that I had

myself