It must, however, be borne in mind that it was not the intention of the Indian Legislature to make the Indian currency as economical¹¹⁵ as was desired by the Executive Government. The Legislature was no doubt appealed to by the original author of the paper currency to turn India into a new Peru, where as much currency could be had with as little cost,¹¹⁶ but the Legislature showed a rather prudent reserve on the matter of aiding the consummation of such a [pg 59] policy. As the centres of encashment were so few, and the area included within each so large as to separate the furthest point in a circle by a distance of about 700 miles from the centre of encashment of the circle, it viewed with dread the authorizing of notes of smaller denomination which the poor could not refuse and yet could not cash.¹¹⁷ Besides the hardship involved in the want of encashability in the notes, the Legislature feared they would prove a “fugitive treasure” in the hands of the Indian peasant. Not being able to preserve them from rain and ants, he might have had to pay a heavy discount to be rid of the notes he could have been forced to accept.¹¹⁸ So opposed was the Legislature to the economizing clauses of the Paper Currency Bill as contrived to drive out metallic currency that it gave the Government an option to choose between legal-tender notes but of higher denomination and lower-denomination notes but of no legal-tender power.¹¹⁹ And as the Government chose to have legal-tender notes, the Legislature in its turn insisted on their being of higher denomination. At first it adhered to notes of Rs. 20 as the lowest denomination, though it later on yielded to bring it down to 10, which was the lowest limit it could tolerate in 1861. Not till ten years after that did the Legislature consent to the issue of Rs. 5 notes, and that, too, only when the Government had promised to give extra legal facilities for their encashment.¹²⁰ On the whole, the desire of the Indian Legislature was to make the Indian currency safer, rather than economical, and such it undoubtedly was. [pg 60] ¹¹⁵ Cf. the whole speech of the Hon. Mr. Sconce dated September 22, 1860, _S.L.C.P._, Vol. VI, p. 1143 _et seq_. ¹¹⁶ Cf. the speech of Mr. Wilson, the originator of paper currency in India, dated March 3, 1860, where he says: “In short, to abstract so much coin from the mere mechanical purpose of the circulation, supplying its place with convertible paper, would be exactly the game in effect as if suddenly, in the control of the Maidan, a rich silver mine had been discovered which produced silver at little or no cost.” _Supreme Legislative Council Proceedings_, Vol. VI, p. 250. ¹¹⁷ Cf. the speech of the Hon. Mr. Forbes, dated September 22, 1860, _ibid._, p. 1154, ¹¹⁸ Cf. the speech of the Hon. Mr. Forbes, dated July 13, 1861. _Supreme Legislative Council Proceedings_, Vol. VII, p. 768.