The Report of Lord Herschell's Committee upon the silver .question
has been signed at last ; and orders or permissions based upon it, after being considered by the India Office and the Cabinet, will be forwarded to the Viceroy, who will then act with some speed. There is a wish in the House of Com- mons to discuss the resolutions taken before they are made executive ; but it is said that there is a difficulty in the way. The discussion would take time, perhaps much time, as everybody has something to say on currency; and during this time every banker, millionaire, and stook-jobber would be speculating on a great scale, probably with a view to make the resolutions inoperative. It is thought better, therefore, to act at once, and risk, as we must in any case do, the consequences of a blunder. Nothing whatever is accurately known of the plan to be adopted, except that it must involve some kind of compromise, or the Report would never have got signed. The best guess probably is that the Government is to draw a great distinction between raw silver and silver manufactured into coin,—that is, to impose a heavy seignor- age, raising the value of the rupee for internal purposes ; but it is only a guess. Our own doubt remains whether any action not covering the whole world can make any difference. If it can, why should not silver be made as valuable as gold?
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