Mr. Churchill first announced an immediate return to the Gold
Standard. The Bank of England is granted a general licence to export gold and bullion. The Government, Mr. Churchill said, regarded the moment as opportune. Great Britain had no immediate heavy commitments in America ; the exchange with America had for some time been stable, and if the opportunity were missed it might not recur soon. A return to the international Gold Standard did not mean, however, the readoption of gold coinage. Mr. Churchill, indeed, appealed to all classes to continue using notes and to make no change in the habits and practices of the past ten years. The Bill which he would introduce would provide that notes should be convertible into gold coin only at the option of the Bank of England, and that the right to tender bullion to the Mint to be coined should be confined in practice to the Bank of England. The problem of the Gold Standard is dealt with in our first leading article, and we shall say no more on the subject here.
