The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1858-07-08
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
THURSDAY, JULY s.

THE appointment of the Hon. D.. L. Gregg as
Minister of Finance, as announced In our last IS
sue, will meet with general satisfaction. This
satisfaction will arise not so much from any ac-
knowledgei financial ability in the incumbent,
flor his qualification for that special office re-
mains to be proven,) as from the fact that the
department over which he has been called to pre-
side, and which had long suffered from want of a
head, has now it's constitutions officer appointed,
whose undivided attention can be given to it, and
to whom the people can look as the responsible
public treasurer, whose presence there must in
spire confidence and stability.
1t is a fact too well known to need the slightest
proof, that for the past two years our public
credit has been somewhat impaired, and that a
want of confidence has been shown by the pub
lie here and abroad in our financial department,
which ought always to possess the highest credit.
This circumstance, unfortunate as it has been,
has not been owing to any want OF ability In the
late acting Minister, but rather to the fact that
there has been no Minister of Finance during that
period-a misfortune which the government
could perhaps have provided against. but which
has carried along with it the result inseparable
from it. A governmental department, like every
other business, must have 4 responsible head, be-
fore the public can repose confidence in it, in
matters Of dollars and cents. However able or
worthy of confidence any subordinates or any act
ing substitute may be, matters not. The straight
forward answer of the Minister himself, his pierre
ing look and bold signature, are what the pub
lie want in dealing with him, and which will
ALWAYS carry with them Il power and confidence
that no deficiency can supply. The plan of send
-. Nf;..,..r .er from his dnty ~ has haan "A
peatedly done. and of filling his post with a sub
stitute is impolitic, and no government can do it
without suffering from it. When Mr.. Allen went
10 the United States he should have resigned, and
his post have been filled by another. We might
then have escaped from the ~blighting effects which
the opposite course has brought with it, and
which it may take years to overcome.
We hare now a Minister of Finance, and the
whole kingdom will rejoice in the announcement
As a fnancier, however. Mr.. Gregg is u stranger
TO the public. They know him only as a diplo-
matist. As such, we believe, he has given gem
eral satisfaction TO his countrymen, to his own
certainly of Il superior order, and constitute him
a valuable assistant in conducting the affairs of q
nation where diplomatic counsel is often needed
and sometimes difficult to be had. Still, legal
and forensic talents, although high CONNIE
dations, do not of themselves constitute fnan-
ability. Whether he is fully qualified to adj
the financial affairs of the nation remains
to be seen. We doubt not that he is. and trust
that he will be able to dissipate the torpor which
now possesses our national credit, and may be
able to impart to it what it should possess-the
49, o.vais in ti=L ing.iAH.