CO129-529-2 Currency- note issue 31-1-1931 - 31-1-1931 — Page 45

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THE CHARTERED BANK OF INDIA, AUSTRALIA & CHINA,

38, Bishopsgate,

London, E.C.2.

6th July, 1931.

The Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury,

My Lords,

Whitehall, S.W.1.

Under the Bank's supplemental Charter dated

15th April, 1922, power was given to increase its Note

Circulation up to a total value equivalent to $30,000,000

Hongkong currency.

Up to the present this amount has sufficed to

meet our requirements, but as your Lordships are well aware,

the collapse in the price of Silver has had the effect that

the demand for Notes is steadily increasing and, although

we have so far kept within our limit, our Hongkong Manager

now considers that the present conditions being what they

are, the margin we have in hand is dangerously small.

The amount of the Notes outstanding on the 30th

ultimo for Hongkong and North China was $26,967,000, which

leaves us with a margin of only some $3,000,000 to fall

back on, which we consider inadequate to meet an ordinary

demand on this Bank for Notes, let alone any extraordinary

one.

We therefore make application to your Lordships

to be allowed to increase our Note Issue to the equivalent

of Hongkong $50,000,000 on the same conditions as regards

security as is provided for in our Charter.

We presume that in the ordinary course the proper

method of dealing with this would be to amend the provision

relating to the Note Issue contained in the draft Charter

which is at present under your Lordships' consideration.

We