594 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
not want gold ? It is said that the fact that the gold paid out by Government returned to it is evidence enough that people did not want it. But this is a fallacy. In a country like India Government dues form a large part of the people’s expenditure, and if people used that gold to meet those dues—this is what is meant by the return of gold to Government—then it is an evidence in support of the contention that people were prepared to use gold as currency. But if it is true that people do not want gold, how does it accord with the fact that Government refuses to give gold when people make a demand for it ? Does not the standing refusal imply that there is a standing demand ? There is no consistency in this mode of reasoning. The fact is, all this confused advocacy is employed to divert attention from the truth that the Government was anxious to coin rupees not because people did not want gold, but because Government was anxious to build a gold reserve out of the profits of additional coinage of rupees. That this was the underlying motive is manifest from the minute of Sir Edward Law. That the argument about people disliking gold, and so forth, and so forth, was only a cover for the true motive comes out prominently from that part of the Minute in which its author had argued that:—
“16. If it be accepted that £ 7,000,000 is the maximum
sum which, under existing conditions, can be held in
gold in the currency reserve, in addition to the 10 crores
already invested, it is evident that such assistance as can
be obtained from manipulating the reserve will fail to
provide the sum in gold which it is considered advisable
to hold in connection with the maintenance of a steady
exchange. So far no authority has ventured to name a
definite sum which should suffice for this purpose, but
there is a general consensus of opinion, in which I fully
concur, that a very considerable sum is required. The
most ready way of obtaining such a large sum is by gold
borrowings, but the opinion of the Currency Commission
was strongly hostile to such a course, and the question
therefore remains unanswered : How is the necessary
stock of gold to be obtained ?
“17. I do not presume to offer any cut-and-dried
solution of this difficult problem, but I venture to offer
certain suggestions which, if adopted, would, I believe, go