Dutch Blood & Florins

Dutch Queen Wilhelmina, who counts her money in florins and cents, was right royally interested to learn last week that South Africans may soon be doing the same. In the British Dominion of the Union of South Africa many a citizen is of Dutch descent. When London's pound and shilling went off the gold standard (TIME, Sept. 28), Capetown's pound and shilling stayed on. This was inconvenient. Last week South Africa's legislators were rushing through a bill to create a new Dominion currency of florins and cents.

One South African florin will be worth 11.30016 grains of pure gold and 100 cents will make a florin. But that will not be all. Patriotically last week Premier James Barry Munnik Hertzog proposed that ten florins shall make a rand. He was roundly cheered. In the Netherlands there is no rand. From South Africa's famed Rand comes every year more than half the world's new gold.

Paradoxically, gold-rich South Africa has a current budgetary deficit of almost $6.000.000. "But there is no doubt," stoutly declared Finance Minister N. C. Havenga last week, "that, despite diminishing revenues, we have ample resources to keep our currency on the gold standard."

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