CO129-442 - Governor Sir May - 1917 [4-6] — Page 340

じ

CONFIDENTIAL

C.O

34096

Pro 6 JUL

7

GOVERNMENT HOUSE.

HONGKONG. 21st.

May, 1917.

Gw

Sir.

22875

та

338

1

Referring to Mr. Severn's Confidential despatch

of the 28th. June, 1912, I have the honour to report that the

supply of 81 notes, the authorised issue of which was in that

year increased from $226,000 to $350,000, has again fallen

short of the demand.

2. *

In the first place it is doubtful whether the

increase issue of 1912 did in fact meet the demand of that time;

and since that time the population and the wealth of the Colony have rapidly increased. A further reason for the increased

demand is to be found in the bringing of subsidiary coin to par

with the bank note, with the consequent readier circulation of

the note; and yet another cause lies in the disappearance of the once popular and widely circulated 1 note of the Banco Nacional Ultramarino, which, as foreshadowed in the penultimate

paragraph of Mr. Sever's despatch, was finally excluded from the Colony by Ordinance No. 13 of 1913.

onclosures

17o4.

3.

I enclose copies of correspondence with the

Chief Manager, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation and

the Chamber of Commerce on the subject. I concur in Mr.

Stabb's suggestion that the existing limit should be doubled

and I am confident that the safety of the issue will in no way

be jeopardised thereby, for the reasons given at length by Mr. Severn in respect of the smaller issue, which reasons, in my

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

WALTER LONG, M. P.,

&c..

opinion

I