The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-17 00:00:00

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THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 17, 1868.

JOHN GOSNELL and CO.'S CHERRY
E
TOOTH PASTE is greatly superior to any tooth
powder; gives the tooth a pearl whiteness, protects the
enamel from decay, and imparts a pleasant fragrance to
the breath. Price ls. 6d.—Red Bull Wharf, 03, Upper
Thames-street, London.

TORN BURGESS AND SON'S Original and
Cr Superior ESSENCE of ANCHOVIES, also MANFIELD'S
PATENT PICKLES, are perfectly pure and uncoloured. To be
had of all dealers and wholesale of JOHN BURGESS AND
SON, 107, Strand (corner of Savoy-steps), London.

NEW SOUTH WALES GOVERNMENT
LOAN.
FOR £1,000,000 IN FIVE PER CENT. DEBENTURES.
Authorised by the. Colonial Parliament under the Act 31st
Victoria, No. 11, for the CompleCion of Railways already
sanctioned and secured upon the Consolidated Revenues
of the Colony.

Messrs. N. 11. Rothschild and Sons and the Bank of
Now South \Yaks, as agents for the New South Wales
Government, have* been instructed to negotiate the said
loan of £1,000,000.
The Loan will be issued in Debentures of £l,OOO, £5OO,
and £lOO each, bearin; interest at 5 per cent., to com-
mence from the Ist January, 1869, and the coupons of the
said Loan are payable on the Ist January and Ist July in
each ear, at the office of the banking agents in London.
The said Loan will be redeemed by a sinking fund of 2
per cent. by annual drawings at par, the first drawing to
take place in December, 1872, at the office of the banking
agents in London, and will be conducted in the manner set
forth in the Debentures.
The interest on the cancelled Bonds will also be em-
ployed in the purchase of the Debentures. -
Copies of the Act, with the Debentures and Coupons, can
be seen at the Bank of New South Wales. • •
Tenders in' the form annexed will be raceived at the
office of the Bank of New South Wales, No. 64, Old
Broad-street, on Tuesday, the 20th day of October instant,
till One o'clock, where au hen they will be, opened in
the presence of the agent of the Government, and of
those who have sent offers ;for the said Debentures.

The Debentures will be allotted to the' highest bidders,
provided the prices offered are not below the minimum
price fixed, which will be placed on the table in a sealed
envelope previous to the opening of the tenders, but it
will only be opened if the whole amount has not been
tendered for at and above the minimum.

Tenders at a price including a fraction of a shilling other
than sixpence will not be preferentially accepted, and
should the equivalent Tenders exceed the amount of the
debentures to bq allotted, a pro rata distribqtion will be
made.

Payment of-the Debentures will be required as fol-
lows: _

£5 per cent. on application.
„ 4th January, 1869.
£lO „ Ist February, ~
£lO „ Ist March, „
and the balance lst April, 71
Payment in full can be made on any :of the days the
instalments become due, under discount at the Bank of
England rate for the time being.
Allotments will be represented by scrip to bearer, which
will be exchanged for the Debentures when the instal-
ments are paid.
Forms of tender can bo obtained at Messrs. N. M.
Rothschild and Sons and the Bank of New South Wales:
London, 12th October, 1868.
FORM OP FENDER.
To Messrs N. M. Rothschild
,a,nl Sons and the Bank of

New South Wales, London.
Gentlemen,— hereby tender for £ Deben-
tures of the Now South Wales Government, according to
the annexed notice of the 12th instant, on which
enclose the required deposit of and undertake
to pay for every £lOO in Debentures, and to ac-
cept the same or any less amount that may be alloted to
and to pay the balance in conformity with the
terms of the said notice.
Name
Address
Date

October, 1868.

Puler
STAMPED 5J

IN TERN A 7 lON A L COINAGE.

(FP.OM A CORRESPONDENT.)

IT is to be regretted that the Report of the Royal
Commission on International Coinage should be con-
signed, like so many of its predecessors, to the
limbo of abortive reforms. Hopeless as the subject
might appear a few years ago, in these days of free
trade and national intercourse it deserved serious
consideration. Neither as a means of promoting
good relations between different countries, nor as a
soci.d convience, is the adoption' of a uniform
system of coinage to be despised. To -1144mmence
such a change. would be of very material advantage.
The numerous and minute differences of value at
present existing not only impede the trade of one
people with another, bat in some cases wholly frus-
trate it. If these differences were regular, so that
the money of one nation might readily find exact
equivalents in the coinage of another, this diffi-
culty would be less ; but when the kustria,n
florin is equal to about is. 101 d. English,
and when the est' oate in French coin falls
short of the English so`' Il -ign by about twopence, it
is impossible that dealings requiring such minute
calculations can be quite satisfactory. In the largest
houses the comparison of invoices, price-lists, &c.,
involves much trouble and loss of time. In the case
of small traders it is well ascertained that the compli-
cations of exchanges and the difficulty of remitting
'mall sums altogether deter them, in many instances,
from engaging in foreign commerce. The competi-
tion of foreign industry has now become so close that
every impediMent on our side ought to be removed.
To counterbalance these advantages great difficulties
present themselves. It is quite impossible to carry
out any scheme of uniform coinage which would not
involve changes causing much „.1, trouble and
loss throughout Ole country. present
currency could not remain in circulatiow if the
international coins were of greater or les.s value than
the sovereign and its subordinates. Thus recoinage
would become necessary ; the value of the pound,
the basis of our monetary transactions past and
present, would be altered ; all taxes, tolls, and other
fixed rates must be readjusted, and in most cases
could not be readjusted exactly; and all accounts,
small and great, would have to be calculated again
in the terms of the new money. To these difficulties
add the perplexity arising from a variety of modes of
settlement, and it will be conceded that the Com-
mission has not left the question in abeyance without
some reason.

The Commission was, in fact, merely a supplement
to the International Conference held at Paris last
year, and was in great measure restricted by the
conclusions then adopted. The Paris Conference
determined that the easiest mode of securing
a uniform currency would be to take gold
coins only as the basis. It was therefore
recommended that all gold coins hereafter struck in
the countries represented at the Conference should
be of the value of five francs, or a multiple of that
sum. Such details as the proportion of fine gold,
the cost of coining, and arrangements for securing
purity were to be regulated equally amongst all the
parties to the agreement. These coins of five, ten,
and fifteen francs, and upwards, would become legal
tender in all the countries accepting them. Such a
system has much in its favour. By assimilating only
gold coins the difficulties of a change would be
reduced, whilst most of the requirements of com-
merce and other intercourse between nations would
be satisfied. The discrepancies of English pence,
French centimes, and American cents would remain,
but the perplexity arising from small sums would
be comparatively trifling. By a convention signed
in December, 1665, France, Italy, Belgium,
and Switzerland adopted a uniform cur-
rency, on the basis of the French system, so that
the international coin of five francs and its multiples
would necessitate no change whatever in these
States. Austria, also, has formally engaged to reject
her old coinage for that of the Convention of 1865
a stirring example from the most conservative of
countries. Sweden will partially do the same. The
United States is seriously considering the matter.
In England the change would be accompanied
by all the difficulties just alluded to. The nearest
equivalent to the sovereign is five times five francs,
but this sum falls short of twenty shillings by very
nearly twopence. As the sovereign could not be
allowed to circulate for less than its. value, re-coinage
would be indispensable. Our currency, is, however,
becoming so-- worn and deteriorated that this step
would soon be necessary in any case ; but in the
ordinary course the re-coinage would be gradual. The
readjustment of accounts would also be required; on
the day that the new currency superseded the old,
the nominal amount of all debts, including the great
national burden, and of all mortgages and obliga-
tions, would be increased by nearly twopence in the
pound. Salaries and wages would also require
similar correction. In the ordinary transactions of
life, especially when small sums were affected, the
trouble and annoyance would be greater. The tenant
who paid a rent of £lOO in the old coinage
would be long before he saw the justice of paying
£lOO Ns. Bd. in the new. And as the rate of com-
pensation would be one halfpenny for every five
shillings, it would be practically impossible to make
allowance in the case of sums under that amount ; so
that tolls, quit-rents, and other small payments
would remain a source of dispute. On the other
hand, it may be urged that such changes have been
made before; that in commercial houses, and
in all cases where large sums are involved,
the difficulty is but temporary, and the
adjustment once for all ; and that in the lower ranks
of life even ignorance and prejudice would wear out.
The trouble would be forgotten in a brief space, but
the benefit of the new state of things would be
permanent.

The Commissioners, however, have not supported
the Paris Conference. Their report justly argues
that, as the uniform gold coinage would leave the
small coins unaltered, the measure would be only
partial, and might have to be followed up by
another disturbing change. Nothing less than the
complete assimilation of the currencies of different
countries can fully realise the objects sought. The
Commissioners have no doubt that a uniform system
of coins, as well as a uniform system of weights and
measures, would be of great advantage. They are
also inclined to think that the franc is not the best
basis that could be selected ; the English sovereign
presents many advantages as the general monetary unit•
Here we are at issue with the Commissioners. They
do not, indeed, express any decisive opinion in favour
of the sovereign ; but it is not difficult to strike the
balance of evidence. The arguments on behalf of
the English coin are undeniably powerful. It is a
large unit, and therefore well adapted to these days
of extensive transactions. Whilst the franc prevails
throughout a great part of Europe, the sovereign is
much more widely known-in other-parts of the world.
It is current in Portugal, Brazil, and Egypt, as well as in
the vast British colonies. As the director of the Ameri-
can Mint says, " the pound is everywhere familiar;
it regulates the exchange of the world." It is very
questionable whether a change in the value of the
sovereign would not be attended by greater commer-
cial disturbance than would be caused by an
alteration of the currencies based on the franc.
But take the other side of the question.
An international coinage founded on the franc is to
a great extent an accomplished fact. Whilst we
have been talking and preparing one of those admi-
rable bluebooks which so often do duty for Acts of
Parliament, the continental nations have been up
and doing. They have in no wise stinted the