asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware of the difficulties caused to Franco-British Commerce and intercourse by the present structure of the English monetary system; and whether, with a view to assisting easy conversion of the currencies of England and France, he will examine the possibility of converting the English currency to a metric system by increasing the value of the penny to one-tenth part of a shilling?

In my view no appreciable difficulties are caused to Franco-British commerce and intercourse by the fact that our currency is not on a decimal basis, and I am unwilling, particularly at the present time, to re-open the question.