CO129-394 - Governor Sir May & Public Offices - 1912 [12] — Page 151

CONFIDENTIAL.

Sir,

C.0.

2217

RECO

149

(FG 20 JAN 13

GOVERNMENT HOUSE.

HONGKONG. 27th. December, 1912.

42370731

7.12004868 Treas. 2369% 8.

Volaz

2869708.

2.

Referring to the fifth paragraph of my Con- -fidential Despatch of the 31st. October last, I have the honour to invite your attention to Sir F. Lugard's and Lord Crewe's Con- -fidential Despatches of the 6th. March and the 6th. July, 1908, relative to the prohibition in this Colony of the circulation of bank notes other than those belonging to authorised banks of issue.

The Lords Commissioners of the Treasury in their letter of the 30th. June, 1908, a copy of which was forward- -ed by Lord Crewe, suggested that on general grounds it was in- -probable that notes of the description of those issued by the Chinese Government at Canton could compete successfully with the authorised issues, and they were accordingly disposed to doubt the need for any special measures of repression. They added, however, that, if the Governor remained of a different opinion, they would be glad to be furnished with fuller information as to the extent of the circulation of the unauthorised notes and as to the means by which they were supposed to be kept in circulation in defiance of normal usage.

3.

I have in my Despatch referred to above and in

364 my Confidential Despatch of the 4th. October dealt generally with

the subject of the note issue of the Canton Government and their attempts to renabilitate it, and I have informed you of the special efforts made by them to push the circulation of the notes THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

in

&c..

LEWIS HARCOURT, M.P.,

&c.,

&c...