London's Rejection of Lytton's 1878 Gold Standard Proposal

As silver fell vis-a-vis gold in the 1870s, to remit home charges in gold (on which "The very existence of the British Government in India depends", Lytton) became a problem, worsened by reduced capital inflow, and capital flight. So in 1878 Lytton proposed a gold standard, upvaluing, and making the rupee a token - unconventional and in parts flawed. Experts and the India Office rejected it rudely. This episode is revealed here for the first time, and examined. The historian of economic analysis will detect a likeness of Lytton's proposal with the exchange standard soon to be cobbled by London, and defended by Keynes in 1913.