, 1869-03-19

1867 been invested with authority to place,
when and in so far as the circumstances render
it necessary, the enactment in 5 4 of the Ordin-
ance of 23rd July 1859, extending to the Dan
ish Westindia Islands the Law of 4th June
1856 concerning the coinage of small coin, out
of force entirely or partially for a time, under
due observance of certain cautionary measures
recommended by the Ministry of Finances,
should the Government find it necessary to
establish a discount on American coin received
in the public Chests. lin these Islands He had,
however, hitherto found no necessity to make
: use of the authority so given, but he had CON
fined himselfto merely inStructing all Officials
collecting public revenue to be strict in OBJ
serving that no larger sum in silver coin than
the amount of IS prescribed in s 4 cfr, 3 of
the aforesaid Ordinance be received in one pay
ment, but the American silver half dollar pieces
may until further be received to an amount up
to so dollars. In consequence of a memorial
from a number Of merchants and traders in
this Island, the Government had had under
consideration, whether the influx of silver coin
into the Island could and should be prevented
by positive enactmentS: but the Government
had come 10 the conclusion, that there is at
present no real necessity to take steps in that
respect, and be intended therefore until further
to c0nfine his e~XertionS to the strict %inforce-
ment of the enactments in the Ordinance 23rd
July 1859.
The Governor then gave several calculations
regarding the matter in question, among other
points he stated, that the total amount of small
coin in the Danish Westindia islands minted
since the Ordinance of 23rd July 1859 emana-
ted was s120,363 70 cents, which exceeds the
amount of old coin withdrawn from circulation,
this being SlI2,371. % cents and that the
influx of American silver coin into the Island
has caused, that an amount of about 1927, 500 in
Danish Westindia coin besides about $4,000 in
American coin, has had to be laid aside in the
Colonial Treasury of st. Croix. For the rest
he believed that if the difference of price be-
tween gold and silver in the United States,
which in the early part of 1867 was said to
have been IL to 13 pct. but since then gone
down to 4 pct, will remain at this low rate, the
influx of American silver coin into these Islands
must soon decrease.
The End member for Frederiksted's country
district Knight) pointed out, that the present
overplus had occasioned a rise in the price of
most articles, because the traders have in that
way to cover the loss they suffer by receiving
silver coin, which they can not use when
making larger payments. He should like to
hear the opinion of other members on the ques-
tion.
The 18th Crownmember (Walker} said, that
he must agree with the views expressed by His
Excellency the Governor, not to take any steps
in this matter, which related to a busineSs-affair,
that ought to be left to itself, it would then
regulate itself in a natural manner. He corro-
borated the statement, that the difference of
discount between gold and silver in the United
Statac had Onnn dawn 70 A nGf No rico of
prices had shown itself among the merchants
here, at all events not in Frederiksted, and it
must be confined to the retailers.
j