The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1873-04-19
THE PACIFIC
Commercial ANbrrtl5tr,
SATURDAY. APRiL I9.
THE

THE CURRENCY.
During the past six months, the growing
scarcity Of gold coin in general circulation here
has bean marked, until to-day the sight OF the
color" l. very rare. Silver coin is our currency,
bulky auI cumbersome, relieved only in the pay
ment Of large sums BY tire species Of paper
money known as d. certificates Of dcPosit.' The
question has been asked Of US, what las been the
cause which las driven oil the gold coin from the
country? The answer Is quite easily found.
Coin, like any other article Of merchandise, will
find It's way to the markets where its value - en-
HANGED. Thus, the silver I've franc piece Of
France, and the half dollar Of the United States
pass for more than their respective intrinsic
values in these islands, and as u natural result
those coins are brought to this, their best mar
ket, and the gold for which they are exchanged,
is sent away To pay for them. OF course, some
body is enriched by the transaction, but it Is not
the general public. Let us see what is the profit
AMI loss in the TausactiOn-the profit to the
gpeculator in coin and the loss to the community
ut large.
In a published table, prepared for the United
states Treasury Department by +. T. Elliott, a
welLknOWn statistician and banker, the intrinsic
values Of gold and silver coins Of al nations are
get forth. as ascertained 10y trial at the minis Of
the United States. By this table we find that
the silver half dollar United States coinage,
which in that country is Il legal tender in pay
mcnt Of sums not exceeding IS IN any one pay
ment, has an intrinsic gold value Of O.48i0. the
gold dollar being represented By I.OOGO. Two
silver half dollars then are worth 0.9G80, or
O.O220 less than a gold dollar: 50 that over three
per cent. profit cnures to the importer Of Ameri-
can bali dollars who gathers up our gold and
sends it out Of the country. Or rather we should
say, has enured, for there is now no more gold
here to he thus bought up. 40 it frequently be-
tween the sugar croIs,-nOt 10 say generally
happens that we have nothing placed abroad
against which to draw to pay for goods imported,
we send the coin, gold when it Is to be had. but
not having the gold as has been the case of late.
we must send silver half dOllags-our Ave franc
pieces are peculiarly ours, and viii stick to us so
long as we continue to receive them "a dollars,
though they are intrinsically worth 0.0274 les,
than the gold dollar. To remit our silver hal
dollars 10 San Francisco, costs half per cent.
freight and half per cent. insurance.
The result of this condition of the currency is
that, having no coinage Of our own, we are, be-
sides being subjected to tire annoyance of the
weight and bulk Of the circulating medium,
actually as a community paying over four per
cent. for the use Of American half dolIars.
And this condition Of tine currency il due al
most entirely to what may properly be character
lied as hasty legislation. The "Act to Regulate
the Currency passed at the last session of the
Legislative Assembly, has, with Il vengeance,
. regulated" the currency. In the shape in
which it was fret introduced in the Assembly, it
was n perfect model Of a loosely worded enact
ment, whereby, had it become a law, the paper
money system Of the United States-greenbacks
and shin plasters-would have been imported
bodily into our currency. The words Of the Pro-
posed statute were, e" the dollar, &c, United
States currency" but this trap was detected in
time by a vigilant member, and the word " coin u
substituted for " currency In the first section
Of that Act as finally passed, it is provided that
. the half dollar, or fifty cents silver coin of the
United States Of America shall he taken as the
standard and be a legal tender at the value Of a
half a dollar in all payments to be made in this
Kingdom" This statute making the American
half dollar tile standard of legal tender in al
payments, without limit as to amount, las, it i,
now seen. worked out its legitimate results, il
driving gold coin out of the country. 1t was al
attempt to regulate the currency, as unwise il
It's inception as it was bunglins in its execution
Another Legislature will probably be called upon
to amend the Act of 1872, or possibly the at
tempt may be again made to legalize the issue Q
real paper money. \ familiarity with the con
venience of " silver certificates, - and the con
tinued annoyance of a demoralized currency, may
combine to render the project less obnoxious il
the view of some, than it was conceded to be
when last urged upon the country by the Minis
try Of the late King. Thus then, through tint
influence of - silver certificates first, and mex
by the ~meddling n to Regulate the Cur
rency, - are we quietly but almost surely drifting
towards the last wretched e~xpedient Of i~ssuin:
paper money