Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1883-06-09
HtW1IyiN CoryIGE.
IN, s"sjce, Historically Considered.


The proposed addition to our present cir.
culating medium Of a million dollars in silver
coin is a grave matter. and seriously concerns
ton Of their accumulated savings. Any dis
all theinhabitantsof this Kingdom, in thcptopor-
turbance of the circulation OF currency does
not alone effect the commercial OF business
community, but every mechanic, trader and
Iahorer is more or less a sufferer. depreci.
alton Of currency means higher prices lor food,
clothing and all the nccessaries Of life.
Many years ago-in the siNtie,-thc abund.
lnce OF silver became great nuisance. Con.
sdcring the fact that $500 In silver coin weighs
about twenty eight pounds, Il can be readily
conceived how inconvcnent the settlement Of
any considerable accounts must have been.
About the year 1870, Messrs. Bishop y Co.
afforded much relief, under an arrangement
with the minister Of finance, by which the
treasury received special deposits Of silver and
| issued therefor, in convenient denominations,
certificates Of deposit payable to the order Of
| Bishop u Co., which were made current and
negotiable by their Endorsement The ne
ccssty for handcar,s and wheelbarrowG, in
transactions requiring settlement in money,
became less and less, and the amount Of Ger.
tihcates Of deposits issued increased to a con
siderable sum for those days.
The use Of portion Of the special deposit
| by the euvernment--of the proprety Of which
public opinion has not differed -oalled forth
the act Of 1874, which requires that "thC
money received in exchange for such certih
Gates shall he held as a special deposit to bt
used only for cancellation Of those certificates
The steady increase Of Chinese, with thei
habit Of sending part Of their earnings to China
together with the amount required from time tc
time for the payment Of cargoes from Hong
! In "A
year, the American gold. The replacing o
the gold in our circulating medium was Away
more or less expensive, and it soon passed on
Of circulation.
With the increase Of plantations, succeeding
the adoption Of the reciprocity treaty. cam,
larger calls for silver, and by degrees tn,
American gold withdrawn from circulation tool
the place of large proportion of the silver it
special deposit.
The receipts of silver from Tahiti, in ex
change for cattle and merchandise sent Their,
during these years, gave us an additiona
amount OF ilyefranc pieces-a COIN by weigh
and finencss, the equal OF two American hal
dollars. Very limited amounts of this coin wer
ever imported from San francisco. Mexican
dollars, which are in general use, were i'm
ported in large quantities at profit until tn
act OF 1876 was passed levying tax on i'm
American.
The custom house statistics do not convey
proper idea of the balance Of trade with tn
Pacific Coast, as our exports are given a
nearly their full value in San Francisco, Will
our import table shows only the invoice COS
before being shipped, allowing nothing 70
freight profit on consigned goods, commits
sions, insurance. etc. Besides the amour
remitted for payment of importations shoul
be added to the large and increasing amour
taken for travelling expenses by our citizen:
the income derived by individuals Twin
abroad and by foreign companies. tinancif
and insurance. Instead OF a large balance !
our favor as the custom house figures woul
lead us to believe, there is actually balanc
against us, which sooner or later may have I
be met with coin.
To carry out the cost Of the immgratio
scheme, and various works and improvement
t provided Tor by the last legislature, wi
require considerable impor,ations Of materia
y machinery, etc, which must all be paid f
abroad in gold OF its equivalent
There is apparently enough silver already
the country for the needs OF its business. FL
, portion Of the sales Of our government bono
: abroad, few hundred thousand dollars
United States GOLD coin might prove advar
tageous in the solution of our currency question
The remaining bonds when sold abroad,
) drawn for in exchange, would probably yield
small premium as an offset to the expens
attending the gold to be imported as above.
Our present condition is quite serio,
enough, and has for some time been SQUIRE
of much anxiety to our capitalists and busine
men. The contract OF a recent date providir
for the influx of $1,000, 900 in silver coli
o which cannot be used in San Francisco f
. higher than egh,y-hve cents on the dollar, Cd
i only add to the gravity Of the situation.
. AN OLD MERCHANT.