§ ME. EVELYN CECIL (Aston Manor)On behalf of the hon. Member for Hythe, I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the silver dollar, the unlimited legal tender currency of the Straits, has been recently debased by the Straits Government, so that it is now eight-tenths instead of nine-tenths fine silver; whether there is any precedent within the British Empire for such a tampering with the currency; and whether the Government will protect the holders of its dollar notes issued on the old system from payment 1234 and redemption in the degraded currency issued by them.
§ MR. RUNCIMANAs I have previously stated, an Order in Council has been passed by His Majesty providing for the reduction in fineness of the Straits Settlements dollar from .900 to .800. This measure was taken to preserve the fixed rate of exchange with gold, in accordance with the general wishes of the local community. The Governor has since recommended, as a result of the representations of the Singapore Chamber of Commerce and the unanimous vote of the Legislative Council, that further steps should be taken to secure the fixed rate in the direction of reducing the weight of the dollar, and the matter is now under consideration. If the weight is reduced it will be possible to retain the fineness of .900. As regards Government notes, they have all been issued either against dollars of a lower value than 2s. 4d. or, since the rate was fixed, against gold or dollars worth 2s. 4d. They will be paid either in gold or with dollars worth 2s. 4d., i.e., with dollars worth in any case as much as those against which they were issued, and for the most part worth far more.