§ MR. BARNETTasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether any silver is at present being coined at the Mint, and, whether he is aware of complaints of the great inconvenience caused by the scarcity of silver coin both for circulation in this Country and in the West Indian Colonies?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER, in reply, said, there was no coinage of silver going on at the Mint at the present moment. There had been considerable inconvenience experienced in this country for want of silver, owing to the great increase in the demand for it during the latter part of last year. That was attributable, of course, to many concurrent causes; one, at which everybody must rejoice, being the great increase of prosperity. Another cause, which was also a subject of rejoicing, was the more general payment of wages weekly. At present, the demand had been overtaken. He found that while during the year 1867, the coin which the Bank of England received from the Mint was only £87,000, the actual sum received back from the public was £175,000 over and above the sum issued. In 1868, the sum received from the Mint was £175,000; in 1869, only £30,000; in 1870, £188,000; and in 1871 it, reached £566,000, while the sum received back from the public was £650,000. The demand had thus been completely satisfied for the present, and he was not without expectation that it would not be renewed. With respect to the West Indian Colonies, a new rule had been made, in accordance with which they were enabled to apply to the Mint directly when they wanted coinage, and not through the Bank of England. They had made such an application, and it would be immediately attended to, now that the difficulty of coining for the home market had been surmounted.
§ COLONEL TOMLINEasked the First Lord of the Treasury, If he would state to the House what amount of Silver Coin does the Crown by its prerogative allow to the people of Great Britain and Ireland; whether any rate of wages, and if any, what rate of wages per week for the manufacturing and agricultural population is taken as a basis of the calculation upon which the allowance is considered sufficient; and, by what means does he become acquainted with the varying quantity of Silver Coin in Great Britain and Ireland?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERsaid, that as the Question was of a somewhat technical nature, he had been requested by his right hon. Friend to answer it. It seemed to be founded on the supposition that there was some particular amount of coin which the 1325 Government allowed as sufficient for the circulation of the country, and which could be ascertained. The Government, however, had no means of ascertaining the amount of silver coin which was in circulation. He might liken it to a river, the number of tons of water in which one could not know, although he might know when it overflowed its banks or became dry. So it was with the coinage. The amount in circulation was not known, although it was sufficiently known when the supply fell short of the demand, or there was a glut. If the demand went beyond the supply, more silver was coined; if there was a glut, the Mint held their hand until the extra silver coinage was absorbed. There was, he might add, no such calculation made as that referred to in the second Question. The amount of silver coin in circulation would depend much more on whether wages were paid in that coin or in gold, than on the rate of wages. No such quantity as that mentioned in the third Question was present to the minds of the Treasury. The way in which they became acquainted with the demand for silver coin was through the representatives of the Bank of England, who gained their information from the country bankers, who were furnished with the knowledge which they have on the subject from the demands of the employers of labour.