§ MR. BASSsaid, he begged to call the attention of the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the want of a sufficient supply of silver coin, from which, notwithstanding the efforts made by the Mint authorities, trade and commerce were suffering very severely. He begged to ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he could give any hope that that inconvenience would be remedied?
§ The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERsaid, the demand for gold was so pressing, that there was no chance of their being able to apply the Mint to the production of silver coinage. 500,000 sovereigns per week were now being turned out—that was to say, about twice as much as was supposed to be the regular work of the Mint, and means were being taken to increase that supply in order to meet the demand for sovereigns, of the diminution of which there was no immediate prospect. With respect to silver, something, he hoped, had been done to mitigate the demand. During January 92,000l. of silver coinage was struck, which was a very considerable amount, and the Government was not given to suppose that the want was now extreme; but at all events more would be done to meet that want as soon as the demand for gold would allow.
MR. HUMEsaid, he wished to know whether anything had been determined on with respect to the establishment of a Mint in Australia, which would relieve the Mint here from the pressure upon it, and also meet the growing demands of the Colony?
§ The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERsaid, that subject had been under the anxious consideration of the Government for some time. There were several questions of great importance connected with it, but he hoped he might say that they were all decided, and it only remained 1224 now to put into a formal shape the views of the Government on the subject.