The imperial government even instituted a scheme of monetary reform while yet the revolutionary war was in progress, for a system of recoinage was drawn up and adopted in April 1868, and steps were taken to found a Government Mint. At the end of 1869 it was resolved to base the new coinage on the metric system, making silver the standard unit of value and gold subsidiary. The Hong Kong Mint was purchased outright, on the Colony ceasing to coin for itself, and many members of the British staff were engaged by the Tokio Government to supervise the operations of the establishment, which it was found expedient to set up at Osaka. It began to coin silver in November 1870. While this substantial progress was being made by the newly formed imperial government Ito Hirobumi (the present marquis) was travelling in the United States,—he then occupying the post of Vice-Minister of Finance,—and from what he saw he was induced to write home strenuously advocating the establishment by Japan of a gold standard. His memorandum is quoted at some length elsewhere, but its salient points may be briefly summarised here, because its cogency appealed to Matsukata, who made it practically the chief aim of his official life to procure the adoption of a gold standard for his country, and finally triumphed over the many and vast obstacles that lay in the path of its successful introduction. Ito Hirobumi’s memorandum referred to the opinions of economists the world over displaying a decided bent towards the choice of gold as the fittest metal for standard, and mentioned that the fact that Austria, Holland, and some other countries were still maintaining a silver standard was probably due to the difficulty met with in making a change. He urged that it would be a wise policy for Japan, in her new coinage, to profit by the teachings of modern times. He admitted the necessity of provisionally making silver the standard, but insisted that Japan should keep in view the time when gold might be adopted as the more suitable basis of her monetary system.