§ MR. WOOTTON ISAACSON (Tower Hamlets, Stepney)I beg to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps, if any, the Government propose to take to prevent a further fall in the value of the rupee, in view of the serious losses to the Indian Government, amount- 658 ing, at the present price of the rupee, to something like £9,000,000 to £10,000,000 sterling per annum, producing a very serious reduction in the value of the salaries of Civil servants and the pay of officers and soldiers of the British Army, more particularly where they have to remit to their families resident in England; and whether it is not possible, by charging a seigniorage on all silver shipped to India or by a temporary shutting down of Indian mints, to gradually raise the value of the rupee?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Mr. GEORGE RUSSELL,) North Beds.The whole question is under reference to a Committee presided over by the Lord Chancellor, which, it is hoped, will before long submit a Report to the Secretary of State for India.
§ MR. WOOTTON ISAACSONI do not know whether the hon. Member can tell me what is in the mind of the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer—whether he has any idea of increasing the standard of the rupee, thereby solving the difficulty we all desire to see solved?
§ MR. G. RUSSELLI believe this question has not yet come before the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It is still under the consideration of the Currency Committee.