────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Loss on Loss Total on all Council by Total Counts for three Bills Loss by Increase on each Years. Years. being Exchange of pay Account ─────────────────────────── sold Compensation of in each In In below Allowance. British Year. Rupees. Sterling par. Troops. at 1s. 4d. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Rs. £. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 1894–95 3,74,15,000 78,02,000 37,84,000 4,90,01,000 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 1895–96 3,05,91,000 87,18,000 49,38,000 4,42,47,000 11,91,86,000 7,945,733 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 1896–97 1,66,48,000 48,95,000 44,25,000 2,59,38,000 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── In the midst of such a situation it is no wonder if the faith of the Government in the ultimate stability of the rupee had given way, for we find that in October, 1896, the Financial Member of the Council had personally come to the conclusion that it would be better in the interest of stability to substitute 15d. for 16d. as the par of exchange between the rupee and gold.³⁰⁹ But the suggestion was dropped as the rupee showed signs of reaching the gold par, which it did in January, 1898, after a period of full five years of depreciation from the established par. ³⁰⁹ Cf. Shirras, _Indian Finance and Banking_, p. 168. Between January, 1898, and January, 1917, twice did the rupee fall below its gold par. The year 1907–8 records the second occasion when the parity of the rupee under [pg 191] the exchange standard broke down. The actual rates of exchange prevailing in the market were as follows:— _TABLE XXXI_ _Rates of Exchange, London on India (From “The Times”)_