§ MR. HOGAN (Tipperary, Mid)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury what are the practical difficulties, that must be surmounted by the Colonial authorities to the satisfaction of the Treasury before permision can be given to coin silver in the Australian branches of the Royal Mint; is he aware that the Melbourne Mint is ready to erect the necessary machinery as soon as the Treasury sanction is received; and whether he can state the amount of estimated Imperial revenue that will be lost by granting this concession?
§ MR. HANBURYIt would not be possible to explain, in reply to a Question, the practical difficulties which beset this subject. I may mention that they are mainly connected with providing adequate safeguards against the dangers of over-issue as well as withdrawing worn coins; and the Treasury await the submission of united proposals from the Governments of the Australian Colonies on the various points to which the attention of the Colonial Office has been drawn. The readiness of the Melbourne Mint, to which reference is made, is necessarily premature, as that establishment is a branch of the Imperial Mint. The loss to Imperial revenue which the grant of the concession to the Australasian Colonies alone would involve cannot be estimated with accuracy, but it cannot, at present prices of silver, be put at less than £20,000 a year.