A.—s.

SILVER COINAGE. Mr. DEAKIN : The papers for which I have sent and my analysis of the return you have been kind enough to supply, have not reached me. The general opinion with us that the profit on silver coinage is large, is borne out by the return. The net result of the operations of the Mint must be most satisfactory. Mr. ASQUITH : They vary very much from year to year. We had a very good year last year as it happens. Mr. DEAKIN : The price of silver was low. Mr. ASQUITH : The price of silver is one factor, but the demand is of a very capricious kind, particularly from West Africa. A large part of our profit is due to an abnormal demand from West Africa, where the natives like fresh bright silver and keep it. Mr. DEAKIN : Apart from that, so far as I follow this return, the profits made on Australian coinage alone look extremely well—over 40,000/. a year. Mr. ASQUITH : That is not far wrong. I will tcli you exactly how I take the profit in Australia. The average amount taking five years silver coinage applied to Australia is 76,480/. per annum. The mint profit on that, if all the coins had been made out of new bullion, would be 41,461/., but we have to deduct from that the worn silver and on the average that was withdrawn from Australia to the value of 11,706/. per annum, so that the net supply of new coins was 76,480/. minus this 11,706/., which would give you 64 774/. a year, on which the profit would be 35,115/. Then if you deduct the loss of the worn coin from that, as I think you ought fairly to do, because there is considerable loss on this worn silver—we average it at about 10 per cent, of the face value of the coin—if we take that 11,706/. which is the average annual amount withdrawn of worn coin from Australia, 10 per cent, of that is 1,170/. The net annual profit attributable to Australia 35,115/. less 1 170/ eouals 33,945/. That is the best sum I can give you. That has been worked out as fairly as it can be. That may be said to have been the average profit of the Mint during the five years from the Australian issues Mr. DEAKIN i Have you any proposition to make for future coinage? Mr. ASQUITH : Would you like to coin yourselves, because we can offer you that ? Mr. DEAKIN : That has been proposed. Mr. ASQUITH : We are quite ready to give it up and let you coin yourselves, just as Canada does. Mr. DEAKIN : Canada has a subsidiary coinage. Mr. ASQUITH : Yes, and yours would be a local coinage. Mr, DEAKTN ; Yes, distinguished in some trifling way.

Fourteenth Day. 9 May 1907.

Silver Coinage,

546