Mauritius.
(1810.)
" Mauritius," in the words of Mr. Lucas,* "is an instance of a country in which geography and history have, to a certain extent, run counter to each other. Geographically it belongs to Africa, but the course of its history . . . has closely connected it with Asia." Lying on the highway round the Cape to India, and ruled successively by the two European powers who have built up an Indian Empire, Mauritius necessarily formed its chief trading relations with India. With the opening up of Australia, Mauritius grew to be a great entrepot for the East and the rising Australian Colonies, and for a time the gold discoveries in Australia
threatened to make gold permanently the standard in Mauritius, but the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, whilst dealing a heavy blow at the commerce of the Colony, swept the Island back into the Indian "currency area;" and so, in spite of Imperial efforts to introduce sterling into circulation, this African island is dominated to-day, as it was dominated at the beginning of the century, by the currency system of India. The history of currency in Mauritius furnishes an instructive lesson in the futility of arbitrary, if well-meant, endeavours to substitute an alien scheme of currency for that prescribed by trade relations.
Before passing to the detailed history of the island's currency, it may be well to point out that the key to the study is the " current or colonial dollar." Identical, at the close of the 18th century, with the universal Spanish dollar of 370*9 grains fine, the ' dollar' (of 10 colonial livres) became mere money of account about 1810, sinking to the level of two sicca rupees, containing 352 grains fine. Though legally declared in 1826 to be equivalent to 4 s. in sterling coins, this " colonial dollar " continued to be valued popularly at two rupees ; but, as the sicca rupee of 176 grains fine had disappeared in 1833 to make room for the Company or Government rupee of 165 grains fine, this popular rating of the " colonial dollar" involved a further shrinkage of over 6 per cent, in its intrinsic value. .Finally, in 1876, after half-a-century's futile endeavours to introduce sterling as the local currency, the rupee was established by law as the island standard of value, and the "colonial dollar" was dispensed with as a needless complication.
The history of currency in Mauritius may thus be conveniently divided into four periods: (i.) prior to 1810; (ii. ) from 1810 to 1825; (iii.) from 1826 to 1876; and (iv.) from 1876 onwards.
(i.) Prior to 1810.
With regard to the currency of the island under French rule * it will be sufficient to state that the real metallic standard of the 18th century was the Spanish dollar; that the old paper issues were withdrawn in 1786-90 ; f that the subsequent Revolutionary paper was "retire en entier sur le pied de 2,000 francs (i.e., livres coloniales) pour une piastre en 1803, epoque de l'arrivee du General de Caen ; " and that this officer in 1810 attempted to reduce the " dollar " to the level of a five-franc piece by coining
the island dollar which bears his name. J
It is important also to bear in mind that in this French Colony accounts and calculations were invariably expressed in " livres coloniales," reckoned 10 to the dollar, and therefore' equivalent to the familiar Spanish real, or to half the French livre. A decimal system was, therefore, in existence before British occupation; but the " colonial dollar " was worth somewhat less than the Spanish dollar. On the other hand, there was a dearth of coin, resulting in part from war and the Revolution, which militated against exact ratings.
(ii.) 1810-1825.
Soon after the capture of the island the Governor issued the Notice of 6th December 1810, declaring the Spanish dollar equal to 2 sicca, or 2£ Arcot, rupees, the gold mohurs of Bombay and Bengal being rated at 7 5 and 9 "dollars" respectively.! For some two or three years this tariff, which undervalued the Spanish dollar some 6 per cent., appears to have worked well, so long as few sicca rupees were in circulation. But by 1813 the Indian coins had become so abundant that the Spanish dollar bore a premium of 3 to 4 per cent. " C'est a, cette epoque qu'il faut reporter la difference qui a commence a s'etablir entre la piastre courante
ou coloniale de dix livres et la piastre effective d'Espagne."1T The practical standard of value was now the sicca rupee, which readily conformed to the decimal system in vogue, as the equivalent of five livres coloniales. Thfi island currency was placed on a basis which met with the general approval of the inhabitants.
c
' A series of articles by M. Roussellet in Le Mouvement a Vlie Mauricefrom
5th February to 9th April 1892, deal with the old currency of the
island in interesting detail.
f See le Meglement sur le papier of 28th July 1790.
It was the paper money which depreciated the local livre of account. At
the beginning of 1777 the Spanish dollar was rated at 7| livres. In the course
of the next seven years the quotation rose to 10 livres, and sometimes as high
as 12. Before 1810 all rupees alike are stated to have passed as four livres
coloniales, or two-fifths of a Spanish dollar, a rating which undervalued even the
Arcot rupee about 11 per cent., and. consequently, rendered impossible the concurrent
circulation of the dollar and rupee. And the dearth of coin in
circulation is recorded by de Caen (Zay, p. 263).
J Gross weight 413*164 grains, fineness ten-twelfths, fine content 344*3 grains,
or a slight fraction under the fine content of the five-franc piece. This coin
had been made legal tender by General de Caen's Arrele of 8th March 1810.
The silver fo • the coinage came from the booty of the " Oviedor,'' captured in
this year. {See Ti&y, pages 261-5).
|| The issue of interest-bearing Treasury Bills on 19th April 1811 is not
important from a currency point of view.
% Letter of 21st August 1824, from the Bank at Port Louis to the Colonial
Government.
The chief deficiency in the circulatory medium was in coins subordinate to the sicca rupee, and larger than the copper sol marque (see infra). To meet this want, the Colonial Government applied to England in 1817 for a supply of small silver coin for the island, and issued temporarily small Treasury notes of the denominations of a half and a quarter dollar, and a further issue was made in these and in much higher denominations (up to $ 500) in 1818. As no coins came from England, the Colony in 1818 imported 1,600,000 pices from India at 64 to the sicca rupee ; and, to prevent their exportation from the island, each pice wyas ordered to pass as a cent (i.e., at the rate of 100 to the colonial dollar of two sicca rupees), or at a premium of some 28 per cent. But, as excessive issues of paper resulted in an agio of over 28 per cent, on specie about 1820, these overrated coins did not escape export to Bourbon and elsewhere. The renewed inconvenience of having no small change was met in a novel fashion. Special " tokens " in base silver were struck for the island at the Calcutta Mint of the denominations of 50 and 25 sous, i.e., 25 and 12£ cents of a colonial dollar, respectively, and were issued under the Notice of 19th March 1822. Their intrinsic value being under 6\d. and 3| d. each, the overrating was nearly 90 per cent. ; and naturally, therefore, these insular coins (of which 286,251 of the larger size, and 311,498 of the smaller, were struck) remained in circulation in Mauritius. Meantime, the Home Government in 1820 had directed 50,000 Spanish dollars to be bought and coined into quarters, eighths, and sixteenths of dollars for the service of the island. These fractions, which were unsuitable because they were not decimal parts of the dollar, Avere " struck with the device (of the anchor) adopted for the coin of the British Colonies," and were of dollar fineness and proportionate weight.* They are the earliest "anchor money " {see page 21). Pence and halfpence were also requested, but their coinage was not executed.f In 1821, 20,000 I. worth of silver was purchased by the Commissariat to be coined " into halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths, for the service at the Mauritius." These coins were struck in 1822 on the former plan, 10,000/. in half-dollars, 4,000 1. in quarters, 4,000 I. in eighths, and 2,000 I. in sixteenths. On 24th September 1822, the Commissariat officer wrote that " the colonial paper money in exchange for the metallic currency bears a discount of 29 per cent., and for Spanish dollars 33 per cent." And on the same date, under Treasury directions, the general officer commanding rated the coins in circulation, for issue to the troops, on the basis of a 4 s. 8 d. rate of issue for the familiai* Spanish dollar.
• Of the quarters, weighing 104 grains, 99,792 were struck.
„ eighths „ 52 ' „ 119,696
„ sixteenths ,, 1V> „ 161,536 „
t Copper fractions of the dollar were actually struck a ypar or two later
for Mauritius, the West Indies, Sierra Leone, &c, ; but the coinage was
melted down, before issue, at the end of 1825,
The chief feature of his silver ratings was the reduction of the sicca rupee from 2 s. 4rf. to 2 .s. 2\ d.,making- therefore the "colonial dollar" worth 4 s. 5f/. for issue to the troops. In 1821 a serious effort was made to purge the currency of paper, and by Proclamation of 25th June in that year, the existing issues were called in, and demonetised as from 24th December 1824. In view of the " approaching return to a metallic currency," the Governor on 10th December 1824, issued a notice rating in cents of a " current dollar of the value of two sicca rupees," the undermentioned coins in common circulation for the purposes of receipt and issue by the Colonial Government :
1825 (see page 417), the important Ordinance No. 3 was passed by the Governor in Council on 25th November 1825, introducing sterling as the denomination for public accounts, as from 1st January 1826, and declaring that " a tender and payment of four shillings British silver money or British silver and copper money shall in this colony and its dependencies be considered equivalent to and a legal tender and payment of one current dollar of the colonial money of account of Mauritius." No other coins were actually made legal tender; but the public offices were directed, until further notice, to pay and receive foreign coins at the following rates, derived partly from the Treasury Circular, and partly from the Government notice of 1824 :—
GOLD. 1
£. s. a.
Sovereign - - - 1 - -
20-franc piece - - - - - 16 -
DouWooq - - - - - 3 9 4
Bengal Mohur - - - - 1 13 4
Madras 18 9
Bombay 189
COPPER.
Sol Marque- 1- - - - - - -f
Cashe or pice - - - - - - -£
SILVER.
n »»
!> »
5-franc piece
2
1
Spanish and U. S. dollar
Sicilian dollar ...
Austrian „ ...
Decaen „
Sicca rupee -
Madras, Bombay, or Surat
rupee -----
Colonial half-dollar, &c.
£,. s. d.
- 4 -
- 1 8
- - 10
- 4 4
- 4 1
- 4 -
- 4 -
- 2 1
1 11
2 2
The most important features of the above ratings of foreign coins for concurrent circulation with sterling were (1) the undervaluation of sterling relatively toother coins; (2) the overrating of the doubloon, worth only 64 5. sterling ; (3) the over-rating of the single and double francs relatively both to sterling and to the 5-franc piece; and (4) the over-valuation of the sicca rupee. In 1826, 1827, and 1828, a total sum of 60,200/. in British silver, and of 1,000 /. in copper coins, was poured into Mauritius by the Imperial Government. And it is stated that, about 1830, dollars and rupees were imported into the island from New South Wales as a result of the prohibitive rating popularly established in that Colony in 1829-30. Consequently, in 1828, the question of the over-rated "tokens "of 1822, and copper coins (pices and marques), claimed the consideration of the Colonial Government. (i) The pices were collected and remitted to India to the number of 1,393,515. (ii) The "tokens" in the first place were called in by the Governor's Proclamation of 11th May 1831 to be "exchanged for other money according to the value at which it was formerly issued."
* It is curious that the Pagoda is never mentioned in these tables. That
it circulated, is shown by the inventory referred to on the next page, from
which it appears that, in 183!), the Pagoda "'
k, Pabeille," was rated at 4 dollars,
the Star Pagoda at TG5 dollars, and the Porto Novo Pagoda at P35 dollars.
t This coin was sent out from France under the Royal Edict of October
1738. and was issued for 2 sous. To restrain exportation, the Avis du Hoi
of December 1771 raised its currency value to 8 sous. Thus from 1771 they
passed at 663 to the dollar. Bv the Ordinance of 1825, 64 went to the
Colonial dollar, or 4s. sterling. (See Zay, pp. 77-9).
Of these coins, the equivalent of 414,616 "shilling" tokens was received, or only 27,384 less than the Avhole issue. And by Proclamation of 4th of August 1831 they were re-issued at 8 d. and 4 d. respectively; this figure representing their intrinsic value plus original expenses of mintage, freight, &c. Thus the whole token was reduced, at the expense of the Colonial Government, from the quarter to the sixth of a current dollar, and the half token in proportion, (iii) On legal grounds, the question of the marques was left over for the time. The flooding of the island with British silver, and the unrestrained issue of Bills on London by the Commissariat for such coins {see page 25), had diverted official, if not private, attention from the premium placed in 1825 upon the doubloon and the smaller silver coins of France. Very large importations of doubloons* having been made, and the Treasury having on the 19th June 1835 reduced the Army rate of issue for the doubloon to 66^., the Colonial Government passed a corresponding Ordinance on 14th January 1836, substituting a rating of 66 s. for the 1825 rating of 69 s. Ad. Private remonstrances were powerless to procure the disallowance of the local Ordinance, which, strictly speaking, repealed not a law, but a mere office regulation. Speculation was now diverted to French silver coins. By the end of 1837, as the result of large and profitable importations, francs and two-franc pieces formed about two-thirds of the coin in circulation in Mauritius ; and this led to a general refusal to accept these coins in payment at the excessive rates laid down in 1825 for their receipt and issue in the Government offices. Accordingly, the Ordinance of 14th March 1838, provided that these coins " shall be received and paid at the public offices at the rate of five one franc pieces for 4 s., and of five two-franc pieces for Ss. ; nevertheless, the said pieces cannot be received in sums of less than 4 s." After the legislation of 1836 and 1838, and after the abolition in India of the Sicca rupee in 183fi, the cheapest tender of payment was in Spanish dollars and Company rupees, correctly rated (with reference to each other) at 4s. Ad. and Is. lid. respectively. British silver and gold, being undervalued relatively both to these coins and to the doubloon, had no general circulation, being either returned, as soon as it was issued, to the Commissariat for the purchase of Bills on London, or shipped wholesale to the Cape. This unsatisfactory position of the sole coins that were strictly legal tender in Mauritius led the colony in 1839 to ask for 20,000/. in shillings and sixpences to be stamped "Mauritius," and to circulate exclusively in the island ; but the Treasury refused to sanction a local coinage.
* M. Roussellet quotes in Le Mouvement a Vile Maurice of (1th February
1892, an interesting inventory, dated 27 July 183!), of the contents of a strong
box, showing a total of 11 ,1)56 dollars all in gold. Of this 2,375 dollars was in
bullion at 20 dollars the ounce, and of the remainder over 80 per cent, was in
doubloons, some 9 per cent, being in Portuguese Johannes, and the reat
principally in French gold and Pagodas.
The dearth of small change due to the withdrawal of the marques in 1837-38 had been obviated by the importation of 9,000 /. in small British silver coins (6 d., 3 d., 1£ d.) and of 1,000 I. in pence, halfpence, and
farthings. In 1840-41, in connection with the slave indemnity, about 150,000 /. in British silver was received in the island. But even this large importation was inetfectual to detach Mauritius from the Indian currency area of which it still formed a part. Like previous consignments, the coins introduced in 1840-41 either flowed out of the island to England and the Cape, or were retained as counters for the specific purpose of buying Treasury Bills on London.
j (iv.) 1843-1876.
The remedial legislation of 1838 for the West Indies {see p. 27) was extended to Mauritius in 1843. The provisions of the Order in Council and Proclamation of 1st February of that year were embodied in the Local Ordinance No. 9 of 1843, which provided that no foreign or Indian coins would be received at the public offices or considered as a legal tender except the following, at the undermentioned rates for concurrent circulation with sterling :
—
Gold.
s.
Doubloon of Spain, Mexico, or the States of
South America - - - - - - 64 -
Mohur 29 2
20 -franc piece - - - - - - 15 10
Silver.
Dollar of Spain, Mexico, and South America 4 2
Company's rupee - - - - - -110
5-franc piece, or pieces of 1 and 2 francs to the
same amount, viz., 5 francs - - - - 3 10|
But, notwithstanding the above Imperial and Colonial enactments, the Colonial dollar of account was still regarded as consisting of two rupees, and was, therefore, worth about 3 s. 8«7. sterling for the greater part of this period. Thus the rupee held the field till about 1850 against sterling and other coins even at the popular over valuation of 2 &. British coins, bearing a premium on 4 s. of from 4 to 6 per cent, as against two rupees, were used only for the puipose of paying Colonial dues and buying Treasury Bills. By popular custom the franc was rated at 10 d., the 2-franc piece at Is. l^d., and the 5-franc piece at 4s., or 1 " dollar " of two rupees. On 17th October 1850, an important Government Committee in Mauritius recommended the rating of the rupee by law at 2 s. ; but, before action was taken, the great gold discoveries of the middle of this century revolutionised for a time the monetary conditions of the island. Gold began to flow in from Australia ; and the rising price of sugar brought gold and silver coins from England. In 1852 (see page 367) an Order in Council was passed placing a 40 s. limit in Mauritius and certain colonies on the legal tender of British silver. With abundance of sterling coins, the rupee was driven from the island, the almost exclusive medium of trade, other than the local notes, consisting of British and Australian coins.* Soon after 1860 the current of gold set outwards from the island again. By 1866 gold bore a premium of 4 to 5 per cent., and once again rupees flowed in, passing, as before, as the equivalent of a florin. The currency of Mauritius
was now in the unsound condition (1) of having two ratings for the dominant rupee (viz., Is. ]0d. legally, and 2s. by popular agreement), and (2) of violating the law by giving in practice unlimited tender to British silver.
The position became more and more strained, when soon after 1870 the gold price of silver began to fall. And now the gold liability of the Colonial Government, with regard to their notes, became so grave that a remedy was imperatively demanded. It will be necessary at this point to revert to the history of the paper money.
From 1825 until the crisis of 1847 the issue of notes was in the hands of the Mauritius and Commercial Banks. In 1847 the Mauritius Bank failed, and the Commercial Bank's paper sank into discredit. It was accordingly decided to place the issue of paper currency in the hands of the Local Government. In 1849, under Ordinance No. 9 of that year, a Government Currency Board was established, and notes for 10 and 5 rupees were issued, and made a legal tender. The sterling ratings of the rupee at 1 s. 10 d. (as in India at the same date), as opposed to the conventional rating of 2 s., was immaterial while rupees circulated to the exclusion of British silver ; but when, in 1850, the rupee began to be driven out by the shilling, inconvenience arose from the conflict between the legal and conventional ratings of the rupee notes. It was not until 1861,f however, that, under Ordinance No. 7 of that year, these notes began to be withdrawn in favour of(unsecured) sterling notes, of such denominations and in such amounts as the Governor might decide. After much correspondence, Ordinance No. 10, of 1864, was passed, providing that the Currency Commissioners might invest any sum in excess of half the amount of notes in circulation, either wholly in Imperial securities, or, to a maximum of one half of the investment, in Mauritius 6 per cent, debentures. The Commissioners were to realise when the amount of specie in their hands fell to below one-third of the circulation.
* 5-franc pieces served solely for the Madagascar trade ; and the Mexican
dollars, which were previously employed for thia purpose, were shipped at
once to the East. It may he added that by Order in Council of 16th July,
1870, the new francs and 2-franc pieces were confined to a 40 s. limit of
tender.
fin 1857 an Order in Council was passed authorising the issue of notes
by private banks; but it was never promulgated, and the Colonial Government
continued to monopolise the issue.
The legal question as to paying the notes in gold involved in 1865-9 much difficulty, as in 1867 gold was demanded for export to India at a profit of 5 to 6 per cent. But by an ingenious arrangement on the part of the Colonial Government, the bulk of the circulation was confined to 1 1, and 10 s. notes, and thus it was strictly legal to cash them exclusively in silver. The 5 /. notes payable in gold were held by the Banks, and fear of forcing on a financial crisis made them keep these notes out of circulation as an ultimate reserve. Out of this difficulty first arose the distinct demand on the part of the Colonial Government for the demonetisation of sterling and the establishment of a rupee standard, a demand which was accentuated by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, and the consequent supersession of Mauritius as an entrepot for the Cape and Australasia.
(v.) 1876 onwards.
Passing over a local Ordinance of 1875 (No. 30), which proposed to legalise the Indian Government rupee at 2 s., but was disallowed by the Imperial Government, the stage is reached at which the currency system of Mauritius was finally placed on a sound basis. The inconvenience of a sterling currency in the Mauritius began to be acutely felt now that the rupee had left the island, and that gold ceased to flow in. And. popular inconvenience had its counterpart in the alarm of the Colonial Government at the prospect of having to pay their notes in gold according to law, and to forgo the profit on their issue. By Order in Council and Proclamation* of 12th August 1876, all previous Orders in Council and Proclamations were revoked,
and the Indian rupee (with its silver subdivisions of proportionate intrinsic value, consisting of the £, \, and Jth) was established as the only legal tender of payment in Mauritius and its Dependencies. Provisionally, however, British bronze coins were made legal tender up to half a rupee at the rate of 4 cents (of a rupee) to a penny ; and power was given to coin subsidiary tokens in silver or bronze to be legal tender up to five
rupees.
It will be observed that the convenient decimal system of Mauritius was an inheritance from the days of French rule, the cent being the lineal descendant of the sou of account. The change of form in 1876 was to substitute the single rupee for the colonial dollar of (conventionally) two rupees,! and consequently to make the new cent half the value of the old. The local subsidiary coins expressed in these denominations are (1) the silver pieces of 20 and 10 cents, and (2) the bronze pieces of 1,2, and 5 cents. Of these coins, which were first struck in 1877, the following have been coined at the Royal Mint, and the Mint, Birmingham, up to 31st December 1891 :
—
Us.
Silver -
Bronze
20 cents.
• This was brought into operation in the island (as from 1st January
1877) X>y the Governor's Proclamation of 25th November lH7l>.
| The old habit of treating the rupee a* 2 s. sterling survives in the
local method of quoting the exchanges on London on the basis of a nominal
par of 100 rupees = 10 /., and adding the requisite number of rupees '' per
cent, premium."
8 rupees per head of the population. On 31 December 1891
the issue stood at Rs. 2,668,250, or about Us. 1\ per head.
At the end of 1891 the assets of the note issue were stated as
follows :
—
Rs.
" 1. Specie in hands of Commissioners " - 1,124,000
" 2. Amount disbursed for remittances up
to 31st December 1891 - 1,544,250
Total - - - Rs. 2,668,250
In conclusion, it may be stated that in 1886, when the goldprice
of silver was low, and when there was a partial demand in
Mauritius for a gold standard, a colonial committee was appointed
to report on the monetary system of Mauritius. The valuable
report of the committee, which is dated 14th September 1888,
fi.) traced the evils complained of to the price of sugar, and (ii.)
arrived at the sound conclusion that it was to the interest of the
colony to maintain the existing system, " aussi longtemps du
moins que ce systeme sera celui de l'lnde, qui est le pays auquel
notre situation geographique, nos besoins, et la nature de nos
relations commerciales, rattachent plus intimement Maurice."*
* It has been urged that the arguments which apply to Mauritius do not
apply to one of its Dependencies, the Seychelles, the trade of those islands
being mainly with gold-using countries.
(1810.)
" Mauritius," in the words of Mr. Lucas,* "is an instance of a country in which geography and history have, to a certain extent, run counter to each other. Geographically it belongs to Africa, but the course of its history . . . has closely connected it with Asia." Lying on the highway round the Cape to India, and ruled successively by the two European powers who have built up an Indian Empire, Mauritius necessarily formed its chief trading relations with India. With the opening up of Australia, Mauritius grew to be a great entrepot for the East and the rising Australian Colonies, and for a time the gold discoveries in Australia
threatened to make gold permanently the standard in Mauritius, but the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, whilst dealing a heavy blow at the commerce of the Colony, swept the Island back into the Indian "currency area;" and so, in spite of Imperial efforts to introduce sterling into circulation, this African island is dominated to-day, as it was dominated at the beginning of the century, by the currency system of India. The history of currency in Mauritius furnishes an instructive lesson in the futility of arbitrary, if well-meant, endeavours to substitute an alien scheme of currency for that prescribed by trade relations.
Before passing to the detailed history of the island's currency, it may be well to point out that the key to the study is the " current or colonial dollar." Identical, at the close of the 18th century, with the universal Spanish dollar of 370*9 grains fine, the ' dollar' (of 10 colonial livres) became mere money of account about 1810, sinking to the level of two sicca rupees, containing 352 grains fine. Though legally declared in 1826 to be equivalent to 4 s. in sterling coins, this " colonial dollar " continued to be valued popularly at two rupees ; but, as the sicca rupee of 176 grains fine had disappeared in 1833 to make room for the Company or Government rupee of 165 grains fine, this popular rating of the " colonial dollar" involved a further shrinkage of over 6 per cent, in its intrinsic value. .Finally, in 1876, after half-a-century's futile endeavours to introduce sterling as the local currency, the rupee was established by law as the island standard of value, and the "colonial dollar" was dispensed with as a needless complication.
The history of currency in Mauritius may thus be conveniently divided into four periods: (i.) prior to 1810; (ii. ) from 1810 to 1825; (iii.) from 1826 to 1876; and (iv.) from 1876 onwards.
(i.) Prior to 1810.
With regard to the currency of the island under French rule * it will be sufficient to state that the real metallic standard of the 18th century was the Spanish dollar; that the old paper issues were withdrawn in 1786-90 ; f that the subsequent Revolutionary paper was "retire en entier sur le pied de 2,000 francs (i.e., livres coloniales) pour une piastre en 1803, epoque de l'arrivee du General de Caen ; " and that this officer in 1810 attempted to reduce the " dollar " to the level of a five-franc piece by coining
the island dollar which bears his name. J
It is important also to bear in mind that in this French Colony accounts and calculations were invariably expressed in " livres coloniales," reckoned 10 to the dollar, and therefore' equivalent to the familiar Spanish real, or to half the French livre. A decimal system was, therefore, in existence before British occupation; but the " colonial dollar " was worth somewhat less than the Spanish dollar. On the other hand, there was a dearth of coin, resulting in part from war and the Revolution, which militated against exact ratings.
(ii.) 1810-1825.
Soon after the capture of the island the Governor issued the Notice of 6th December 1810, declaring the Spanish dollar equal to 2 sicca, or 2£ Arcot, rupees, the gold mohurs of Bombay and Bengal being rated at 7 5 and 9 "dollars" respectively.! For some two or three years this tariff, which undervalued the Spanish dollar some 6 per cent., appears to have worked well, so long as few sicca rupees were in circulation. But by 1813 the Indian coins had become so abundant that the Spanish dollar bore a premium of 3 to 4 per cent. " C'est a, cette epoque qu'il faut reporter la difference qui a commence a s'etablir entre la piastre courante
ou coloniale de dix livres et la piastre effective d'Espagne."1T The practical standard of value was now the sicca rupee, which readily conformed to the decimal system in vogue, as the equivalent of five livres coloniales. Thfi island currency was placed on a basis which met with the general approval of the inhabitants.
c
' A series of articles by M. Roussellet in Le Mouvement a Vlie Mauricefrom
5th February to 9th April 1892, deal with the old currency of the
island in interesting detail.
f See le Meglement sur le papier of 28th July 1790.
It was the paper money which depreciated the local livre of account. At
the beginning of 1777 the Spanish dollar was rated at 7| livres. In the course
of the next seven years the quotation rose to 10 livres, and sometimes as high
as 12. Before 1810 all rupees alike are stated to have passed as four livres
coloniales, or two-fifths of a Spanish dollar, a rating which undervalued even the
Arcot rupee about 11 per cent., and. consequently, rendered impossible the concurrent
circulation of the dollar and rupee. And the dearth of coin in
circulation is recorded by de Caen (Zay, p. 263).
J Gross weight 413*164 grains, fineness ten-twelfths, fine content 344*3 grains,
or a slight fraction under the fine content of the five-franc piece. This coin
had been made legal tender by General de Caen's Arrele of 8th March 1810.
The silver fo • the coinage came from the booty of the " Oviedor,'' captured in
this year. {See Ti&y, pages 261-5).
|| The issue of interest-bearing Treasury Bills on 19th April 1811 is not
important from a currency point of view.
% Letter of 21st August 1824, from the Bank at Port Louis to the Colonial
Government.
The chief deficiency in the circulatory medium was in coins subordinate to the sicca rupee, and larger than the copper sol marque (see infra). To meet this want, the Colonial Government applied to England in 1817 for a supply of small silver coin for the island, and issued temporarily small Treasury notes of the denominations of a half and a quarter dollar, and a further issue was made in these and in much higher denominations (up to $ 500) in 1818. As no coins came from England, the Colony in 1818 imported 1,600,000 pices from India at 64 to the sicca rupee ; and, to prevent their exportation from the island, each pice wyas ordered to pass as a cent (i.e., at the rate of 100 to the colonial dollar of two sicca rupees), or at a premium of some 28 per cent. But, as excessive issues of paper resulted in an agio of over 28 per cent, on specie about 1820, these overrated coins did not escape export to Bourbon and elsewhere. The renewed inconvenience of having no small change was met in a novel fashion. Special " tokens " in base silver were struck for the island at the Calcutta Mint of the denominations of 50 and 25 sous, i.e., 25 and 12£ cents of a colonial dollar, respectively, and were issued under the Notice of 19th March 1822. Their intrinsic value being under 6\d. and 3| d. each, the overrating was nearly 90 per cent. ; and naturally, therefore, these insular coins (of which 286,251 of the larger size, and 311,498 of the smaller, were struck) remained in circulation in Mauritius. Meantime, the Home Government in 1820 had directed 50,000 Spanish dollars to be bought and coined into quarters, eighths, and sixteenths of dollars for the service of the island. These fractions, which were unsuitable because they were not decimal parts of the dollar, Avere " struck with the device (of the anchor) adopted for the coin of the British Colonies," and were of dollar fineness and proportionate weight.* They are the earliest "anchor money " {see page 21). Pence and halfpence were also requested, but their coinage was not executed.f In 1821, 20,000 I. worth of silver was purchased by the Commissariat to be coined " into halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths, for the service at the Mauritius." These coins were struck in 1822 on the former plan, 10,000/. in half-dollars, 4,000 1. in quarters, 4,000 I. in eighths, and 2,000 I. in sixteenths. On 24th September 1822, the Commissariat officer wrote that " the colonial paper money in exchange for the metallic currency bears a discount of 29 per cent., and for Spanish dollars 33 per cent." And on the same date, under Treasury directions, the general officer commanding rated the coins in circulation, for issue to the troops, on the basis of a 4 s. 8 d. rate of issue for the familiai* Spanish dollar.
• Of the quarters, weighing 104 grains, 99,792 were struck.
„ eighths „ 52 ' „ 119,696
„ sixteenths ,, 1V> „ 161,536 „
t Copper fractions of the dollar were actually struck a ypar or two later
for Mauritius, the West Indies, Sierra Leone, &c, ; but the coinage was
melted down, before issue, at the end of 1825,
The chief feature of his silver ratings was the reduction of the sicca rupee from 2 s. 4rf. to 2 .s. 2\ d.,making- therefore the "colonial dollar" worth 4 s. 5f/. for issue to the troops. In 1821 a serious effort was made to purge the currency of paper, and by Proclamation of 25th June in that year, the existing issues were called in, and demonetised as from 24th December 1824. In view of the " approaching return to a metallic currency," the Governor on 10th December 1824, issued a notice rating in cents of a " current dollar of the value of two sicca rupees," the undermentioned coins in common circulation for the purposes of receipt and issue by the Colonial Government :
1825 (see page 417), the important Ordinance No. 3 was passed by the Governor in Council on 25th November 1825, introducing sterling as the denomination for public accounts, as from 1st January 1826, and declaring that " a tender and payment of four shillings British silver money or British silver and copper money shall in this colony and its dependencies be considered equivalent to and a legal tender and payment of one current dollar of the colonial money of account of Mauritius." No other coins were actually made legal tender; but the public offices were directed, until further notice, to pay and receive foreign coins at the following rates, derived partly from the Treasury Circular, and partly from the Government notice of 1824 :—
GOLD. 1
£. s. a.
Sovereign - - - 1 - -
20-franc piece - - - - - 16 -
DouWooq - - - - - 3 9 4
Bengal Mohur - - - - 1 13 4
Madras 18 9
Bombay 189
COPPER.
Sol Marque- 1- - - - - - -f
Cashe or pice - - - - - - -£
SILVER.
n »»
!> »
5-franc piece
2
1
Spanish and U. S. dollar
Sicilian dollar ...
Austrian „ ...
Decaen „
Sicca rupee -
Madras, Bombay, or Surat
rupee -----
Colonial half-dollar, &c.
£,. s. d.
- 4 -
- 1 8
- - 10
- 4 4
- 4 1
- 4 -
- 4 -
- 2 1
1 11
2 2
The most important features of the above ratings of foreign coins for concurrent circulation with sterling were (1) the undervaluation of sterling relatively toother coins; (2) the overrating of the doubloon, worth only 64 5. sterling ; (3) the over-rating of the single and double francs relatively both to sterling and to the 5-franc piece; and (4) the over-valuation of the sicca rupee. In 1826, 1827, and 1828, a total sum of 60,200/. in British silver, and of 1,000 /. in copper coins, was poured into Mauritius by the Imperial Government. And it is stated that, about 1830, dollars and rupees were imported into the island from New South Wales as a result of the prohibitive rating popularly established in that Colony in 1829-30. Consequently, in 1828, the question of the over-rated "tokens "of 1822, and copper coins (pices and marques), claimed the consideration of the Colonial Government. (i) The pices were collected and remitted to India to the number of 1,393,515. (ii) The "tokens" in the first place were called in by the Governor's Proclamation of 11th May 1831 to be "exchanged for other money according to the value at which it was formerly issued."
* It is curious that the Pagoda is never mentioned in these tables. That
it circulated, is shown by the inventory referred to on the next page, from
which it appears that, in 183!), the Pagoda "'
k, Pabeille," was rated at 4 dollars,
the Star Pagoda at TG5 dollars, and the Porto Novo Pagoda at P35 dollars.
t This coin was sent out from France under the Royal Edict of October
1738. and was issued for 2 sous. To restrain exportation, the Avis du Hoi
of December 1771 raised its currency value to 8 sous. Thus from 1771 they
passed at 663 to the dollar. Bv the Ordinance of 1825, 64 went to the
Colonial dollar, or 4s. sterling. (See Zay, pp. 77-9).
Of these coins, the equivalent of 414,616 "shilling" tokens was received, or only 27,384 less than the Avhole issue. And by Proclamation of 4th of August 1831 they were re-issued at 8 d. and 4 d. respectively; this figure representing their intrinsic value plus original expenses of mintage, freight, &c. Thus the whole token was reduced, at the expense of the Colonial Government, from the quarter to the sixth of a current dollar, and the half token in proportion, (iii) On legal grounds, the question of the marques was left over for the time. The flooding of the island with British silver, and the unrestrained issue of Bills on London by the Commissariat for such coins {see page 25), had diverted official, if not private, attention from the premium placed in 1825 upon the doubloon and the smaller silver coins of France. Very large importations of doubloons* having been made, and the Treasury having on the 19th June 1835 reduced the Army rate of issue for the doubloon to 66^., the Colonial Government passed a corresponding Ordinance on 14th January 1836, substituting a rating of 66 s. for the 1825 rating of 69 s. Ad. Private remonstrances were powerless to procure the disallowance of the local Ordinance, which, strictly speaking, repealed not a law, but a mere office regulation. Speculation was now diverted to French silver coins. By the end of 1837, as the result of large and profitable importations, francs and two-franc pieces formed about two-thirds of the coin in circulation in Mauritius ; and this led to a general refusal to accept these coins in payment at the excessive rates laid down in 1825 for their receipt and issue in the Government offices. Accordingly, the Ordinance of 14th March 1838, provided that these coins " shall be received and paid at the public offices at the rate of five one franc pieces for 4 s., and of five two-franc pieces for Ss. ; nevertheless, the said pieces cannot be received in sums of less than 4 s." After the legislation of 1836 and 1838, and after the abolition in India of the Sicca rupee in 183fi, the cheapest tender of payment was in Spanish dollars and Company rupees, correctly rated (with reference to each other) at 4s. Ad. and Is. lid. respectively. British silver and gold, being undervalued relatively both to these coins and to the doubloon, had no general circulation, being either returned, as soon as it was issued, to the Commissariat for the purchase of Bills on London, or shipped wholesale to the Cape. This unsatisfactory position of the sole coins that were strictly legal tender in Mauritius led the colony in 1839 to ask for 20,000/. in shillings and sixpences to be stamped "Mauritius," and to circulate exclusively in the island ; but the Treasury refused to sanction a local coinage.
* M. Roussellet quotes in Le Mouvement a Vile Maurice of (1th February
1892, an interesting inventory, dated 27 July 183!), of the contents of a strong
box, showing a total of 11 ,1)56 dollars all in gold. Of this 2,375 dollars was in
bullion at 20 dollars the ounce, and of the remainder over 80 per cent, was in
doubloons, some 9 per cent, being in Portuguese Johannes, and the reat
principally in French gold and Pagodas.
The dearth of small change due to the withdrawal of the marques in 1837-38 had been obviated by the importation of 9,000 /. in small British silver coins (6 d., 3 d., 1£ d.) and of 1,000 I. in pence, halfpence, and
farthings. In 1840-41, in connection with the slave indemnity, about 150,000 /. in British silver was received in the island. But even this large importation was inetfectual to detach Mauritius from the Indian currency area of which it still formed a part. Like previous consignments, the coins introduced in 1840-41 either flowed out of the island to England and the Cape, or were retained as counters for the specific purpose of buying Treasury Bills on London.
j (iv.) 1843-1876.
The remedial legislation of 1838 for the West Indies {see p. 27) was extended to Mauritius in 1843. The provisions of the Order in Council and Proclamation of 1st February of that year were embodied in the Local Ordinance No. 9 of 1843, which provided that no foreign or Indian coins would be received at the public offices or considered as a legal tender except the following, at the undermentioned rates for concurrent circulation with sterling :
—
Gold.
s.
Doubloon of Spain, Mexico, or the States of
South America - - - - - - 64 -
Mohur 29 2
20 -franc piece - - - - - - 15 10
Silver.
Dollar of Spain, Mexico, and South America 4 2
Company's rupee - - - - - -110
5-franc piece, or pieces of 1 and 2 francs to the
same amount, viz., 5 francs - - - - 3 10|
But, notwithstanding the above Imperial and Colonial enactments, the Colonial dollar of account was still regarded as consisting of two rupees, and was, therefore, worth about 3 s. 8«7. sterling for the greater part of this period. Thus the rupee held the field till about 1850 against sterling and other coins even at the popular over valuation of 2 &. British coins, bearing a premium on 4 s. of from 4 to 6 per cent, as against two rupees, were used only for the puipose of paying Colonial dues and buying Treasury Bills. By popular custom the franc was rated at 10 d., the 2-franc piece at Is. l^d., and the 5-franc piece at 4s., or 1 " dollar " of two rupees. On 17th October 1850, an important Government Committee in Mauritius recommended the rating of the rupee by law at 2 s. ; but, before action was taken, the great gold discoveries of the middle of this century revolutionised for a time the monetary conditions of the island. Gold began to flow in from Australia ; and the rising price of sugar brought gold and silver coins from England. In 1852 (see page 367) an Order in Council was passed placing a 40 s. limit in Mauritius and certain colonies on the legal tender of British silver. With abundance of sterling coins, the rupee was driven from the island, the almost exclusive medium of trade, other than the local notes, consisting of British and Australian coins.* Soon after 1860 the current of gold set outwards from the island again. By 1866 gold bore a premium of 4 to 5 per cent., and once again rupees flowed in, passing, as before, as the equivalent of a florin. The currency of Mauritius
was now in the unsound condition (1) of having two ratings for the dominant rupee (viz., Is. ]0d. legally, and 2s. by popular agreement), and (2) of violating the law by giving in practice unlimited tender to British silver.
The position became more and more strained, when soon after 1870 the gold price of silver began to fall. And now the gold liability of the Colonial Government, with regard to their notes, became so grave that a remedy was imperatively demanded. It will be necessary at this point to revert to the history of the paper money.
From 1825 until the crisis of 1847 the issue of notes was in the hands of the Mauritius and Commercial Banks. In 1847 the Mauritius Bank failed, and the Commercial Bank's paper sank into discredit. It was accordingly decided to place the issue of paper currency in the hands of the Local Government. In 1849, under Ordinance No. 9 of that year, a Government Currency Board was established, and notes for 10 and 5 rupees were issued, and made a legal tender. The sterling ratings of the rupee at 1 s. 10 d. (as in India at the same date), as opposed to the conventional rating of 2 s., was immaterial while rupees circulated to the exclusion of British silver ; but when, in 1850, the rupee began to be driven out by the shilling, inconvenience arose from the conflict between the legal and conventional ratings of the rupee notes. It was not until 1861,f however, that, under Ordinance No. 7 of that year, these notes began to be withdrawn in favour of(unsecured) sterling notes, of such denominations and in such amounts as the Governor might decide. After much correspondence, Ordinance No. 10, of 1864, was passed, providing that the Currency Commissioners might invest any sum in excess of half the amount of notes in circulation, either wholly in Imperial securities, or, to a maximum of one half of the investment, in Mauritius 6 per cent, debentures. The Commissioners were to realise when the amount of specie in their hands fell to below one-third of the circulation.
* 5-franc pieces served solely for the Madagascar trade ; and the Mexican
dollars, which were previously employed for thia purpose, were shipped at
once to the East. It may he added that by Order in Council of 16th July,
1870, the new francs and 2-franc pieces were confined to a 40 s. limit of
tender.
fin 1857 an Order in Council was passed authorising the issue of notes
by private banks; but it was never promulgated, and the Colonial Government
continued to monopolise the issue.
The legal question as to paying the notes in gold involved in 1865-9 much difficulty, as in 1867 gold was demanded for export to India at a profit of 5 to 6 per cent. But by an ingenious arrangement on the part of the Colonial Government, the bulk of the circulation was confined to 1 1, and 10 s. notes, and thus it was strictly legal to cash them exclusively in silver. The 5 /. notes payable in gold were held by the Banks, and fear of forcing on a financial crisis made them keep these notes out of circulation as an ultimate reserve. Out of this difficulty first arose the distinct demand on the part of the Colonial Government for the demonetisation of sterling and the establishment of a rupee standard, a demand which was accentuated by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, and the consequent supersession of Mauritius as an entrepot for the Cape and Australasia.
(v.) 1876 onwards.
Passing over a local Ordinance of 1875 (No. 30), which proposed to legalise the Indian Government rupee at 2 s., but was disallowed by the Imperial Government, the stage is reached at which the currency system of Mauritius was finally placed on a sound basis. The inconvenience of a sterling currency in the Mauritius began to be acutely felt now that the rupee had left the island, and that gold ceased to flow in. And. popular inconvenience had its counterpart in the alarm of the Colonial Government at the prospect of having to pay their notes in gold according to law, and to forgo the profit on their issue. By Order in Council and Proclamation* of 12th August 1876, all previous Orders in Council and Proclamations were revoked,
and the Indian rupee (with its silver subdivisions of proportionate intrinsic value, consisting of the £, \, and Jth) was established as the only legal tender of payment in Mauritius and its Dependencies. Provisionally, however, British bronze coins were made legal tender up to half a rupee at the rate of 4 cents (of a rupee) to a penny ; and power was given to coin subsidiary tokens in silver or bronze to be legal tender up to five
rupees.
It will be observed that the convenient decimal system of Mauritius was an inheritance from the days of French rule, the cent being the lineal descendant of the sou of account. The change of form in 1876 was to substitute the single rupee for the colonial dollar of (conventionally) two rupees,! and consequently to make the new cent half the value of the old. The local subsidiary coins expressed in these denominations are (1) the silver pieces of 20 and 10 cents, and (2) the bronze pieces of 1,2, and 5 cents. Of these coins, which were first struck in 1877, the following have been coined at the Royal Mint, and the Mint, Birmingham, up to 31st December 1891 :
—
Us.
Silver -
Bronze
20 cents.
• This was brought into operation in the island (as from 1st January
1877) X>y the Governor's Proclamation of 25th November lH7l>.
| The old habit of treating the rupee a* 2 s. sterling survives in the
local method of quoting the exchanges on London on the basis of a nominal
par of 100 rupees = 10 /., and adding the requisite number of rupees '' per
cent, premium."
8 rupees per head of the population. On 31 December 1891
the issue stood at Rs. 2,668,250, or about Us. 1\ per head.
At the end of 1891 the assets of the note issue were stated as
follows :
—
Rs.
" 1. Specie in hands of Commissioners " - 1,124,000
" 2. Amount disbursed for remittances up
to 31st December 1891 - 1,544,250
Total - - - Rs. 2,668,250
In conclusion, it may be stated that in 1886, when the goldprice
of silver was low, and when there was a partial demand in
Mauritius for a gold standard, a colonial committee was appointed
to report on the monetary system of Mauritius. The valuable
report of the committee, which is dated 14th September 1888,
fi.) traced the evils complained of to the price of sugar, and (ii.)
arrived at the sound conclusion that it was to the interest of the
colony to maintain the existing system, " aussi longtemps du
moins que ce systeme sera celui de l'lnde, qui est le pays auquel
notre situation geographique, nos besoins, et la nature de nos
relations commerciales, rattachent plus intimement Maurice."*
* It has been urged that the arguments which apply to Mauritius do not
apply to one of its Dependencies, the Seychelles, the trade of those islands
being mainly with gold-using countries.