246 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [vol. ix 



several of them from any point of view, inasmuch as too many coins 

 were made unlimited legal tender by tale and the ratings were in several 

 cases inconsistent with each other. But to make the ratings accurate 

 would have required the use of awkward fractions. Thus the shilling 

 instead of being rated at is.3d. would have to be rated at is. 2|,jd., and 

 similarly with the others. 



The British Government, or at least the Treasury Board, still hoped 

 to enforce the British standard in Canada and to prevent the adoption 

 of the American system, as they were convinced that the use of a common 

 currency must of necessity lead to annexation. In consequence, tJie 

 Lords of the Treasury suggested that the regulation of Canadian cur- 

 rency should be left to the Home Government to be dealt with by Orders 

 in Council and Royal Proclamations, as in the case of the West Indies, 

 and that the ratings should be determined with reference to British 

 sterling. The Canadian Provinces strongly protested against any such 

 arrangement as quite ignoring vital local conditions. 



Before anything further was done the Union of the Provinces had 

 been effected, responsible government was introduced, and further 

 changes depended for good or evil upon the wishes of the Canadian 

 people. For one thing union involved a uniform currency throughout 

 the Canadas. When the Union Parliament opened in 1841, one of the 

 first matters brought up was the condition of the currency. The mer- 

 cantile community, especially at Montreal, strongly recommended one 

 system of currency for the whole of British North America. But, strange 

 to say, the Montreal people were now in favour of the British and not the 

 American standard. This change of heart was due to the silver famine 

 in the United States, as the result of the 16 to i law. However a more 

 popular recommendation throughout the country was that the silver 

 dollar be taken as the standard of currency and that gold be treated only 

 as bullion. Mr. Francis Hincks was the advocate of this system and he 

 was chairman of the Committee of the Legislature to consider the 

 currency question. A census of financial opinion was taken and it 

 was found that the larger number favored the dollar for practical reasons 

 though on sentimental grounds a number seem to have preferred the 

 sterling standard. 



One remarkable change of view was that of Commissary-General 

 Routh, who, while the British Government was attempting to establish 

 a uniform currency throughout the Empire, was a strong advocate of 

 the sterling standard; but now that the military question had lost its 

 influence, had given up this policy and came out as a strong advocate 

 of the American decimal system. This he did on purely practical grounds. 

 "It is," he said, "the system most familiar to the Canadian people. 



