§ MR. BARNETTasked Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether, in view of the continued inconvenience arising from a scarcity of Silver Coin and Half-sovereigns, he contemplates any plan to increase the power of coining at the Royal Mint, or to supplement it from any other source?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERProbably, Sir, the hon. Gentleman is aware that we issue silver coin through the Bank of England. On the 2nd of this month we received an application from the Bank for a further issue of silver coin, but accompanying that intimation was a demand for a further supply of gold coin. There is, of course, a good deal of difficulty in carrying on two different coinages at once in the same establishment. This is, however, what we are now doing, and hope to be able to do till we have overtaken the demand. The pressure on the Mint has of late been something enormous. The 605 Bank has issued £16,000,000 of gold during the last 12 months, in excess of the amount received from the public, which is about three times as much as is usually required, and in the same way the £860,000 of silver issued was three times more than the quantity usually required within the same period. No doubt there are ways by which we might put ourselves in a position to overtake any demand which may be made on us. One of these is by the erection of new machinery. The machinery we have at present is antiquated, and it would cost us about £40,000 to put us on a level with the best Mints. I did hope to be able to do what was required in this direction without any expense falling upon the public by disposing of the present site and purchasing one which is at the same time cheaper and more suitable. That proposal the House refused to accede to; but I am reluctant to incur this expense until I am certain that the House will not entertain the proposal. There is another matter which is also worth considering. We are at this moment sending large quantities of gold out of this country for the purpose of being melted down and being coined for other nations. The fact is that our gold is so well assayed that it saves a good deal of trouble to those who desire to use it for this purpose, because it can be melted down and used at once. The remedy for this would, of course, be to charge some mintage on gold, and so make it not worth people's while to export it. For the inconvenience complained of by the hon. Gentleman I have no remedy to suggest, but a little patience and to go on as we are.