Another point, on which the unofficial members dwelt with some insistence, was the growing burden of the military' contribution. "This contribution, which is fixed at £40,000, was in itself, considering the size of the garrison and the revenue of the colony, not unreasonable when the dollar was worth 3s. 9d. or so, but it becomes quite another story with exchange ates. 4d. It is a great pity the military contribution could not, when it was raised from £20,000, have been fixed at a sum in dollars, but there seems no like-Tihood of the War Office consenting to any arrangement of the kind now. Mr. O'Brien held out no hope, and said that an attempt of that kind had been made already and failed, Ceylon having vainly sought to get payment of its contribution accepted in rupees. That being the case, it would be fruitless to approach the home government. on the subject. Our best hope, therefore, is that exchange has nearly touched bottom, and may perhaps recover somewhat in the course of next year. He would be a bold man, however, who would attempt to predict the rate of exchange this time next year.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.