Sargeaunt to Rogers (Permanent Under-Secretary)

I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 4th
Instant, transmitting for any observations which may occur to
the Crown Agents for the Colonies copy of a Despatch from the
Governor of British Columbia, with a letter from the Auditor
General, suggesting that the Sinking Fund of British Columbia
Loans should be invested in the purchase of the Debentures of
that Colony which he states are selling below par.

In reply I have the honor to state, for the information of the
Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, that it appears to the Crown
Agents that the proposal of the Colonial Authorities might with
advantage be sanctioned, and the Debentures of British Columbia
added to the list of Colonial Government Securities in which the
Sinking Funds of that Colony may be invested.

If His Grace should approve of this recommendation the Trustees
should be authorized to purchase from time to time, subject to
the provisions of Act No 6 of 1866, the Debentures either of
Ceylon, Mauritius, New South Wales, Victoria, Cape of Good Hope
or British Columbia, to which might be added those of New Zealand.

It is desirable to vest this discretionary power in the
Trustees, because if the investments were in future to be
confined to the re-purchase of British Columbia Debentures, the
steady demand thus created would result in an increase of price
and deprive the Colony of any profit from the arrangement.

The Crown Agents see no grounds to fear that the public credit
of the Colony would suffer, even in the least degree, by the
proposed re-purchase.