The Hawaiian gazette., 1884-06-04

conceivable business that any private per
son can do; and to loan the money OF the
bank for any of those purposes, whether
in this country OF abroad. This country,
In the event of the granting of such a
charter, would be bound hand and foot to
sustain a huge elemosynary substitution,
for the personal ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF its
projectors. Competition in all kinds of
business, could then be safely dgfodby this
so-called bank
But if the benevolent purposes of these
bankers" should fail, if their projects fo1
developing Hawaii should some day, IN
spite of their power over the money and
business of this country, become finan-
cial failure; then their bank suspends
payment. Its notes held all over the land
are not paid. If the bankers should then
do the honest thing, and keep nothing
back from their creditors, that would be
no compensation for the running Of the
country. It would be likely however, that
holders of the dishonored bank notes could
rely, for their security, only on the Gov
eminent bonds deposited in place of a
specie basis. Let us consider what that
security would then be worth. Those
bonds can be sold only at par, and the
Minister who sells them "shall receive in
payment of such bonds when sold, the cir
e,tlatiHg notes Of The corporation at par, or other
lawful money of the Kingdom, and out Of
the surplus money arising from such sale or
sales, he shall redeem the circulating notes
still outstandingr
Last year the Ministry professed its
inability in time of prosperity to sell its
bonds for gold. at par, If the proceeds of
bond sales, in case of a suspension by the
bank, shall be solely bank notes, it would
practically be an irredeemable paper cur
rency That would be the certain result
| if the bonds could not be sold for q. S.
gold at par.
This is no security 1t is not the o. s.
bank law, under which Immediately
upon the bonds of any national bank being
declared forfeited on default of payment
of any of its notes, "the Comptroller (oi
the U. S. currency shall give notice to
the holders of the circulating notes to pre-
sent them for payment at tie Treasury Of III,
United States and the same shall be paid inlqir-
fu, money Of The United States" Section
1929 of us. General Statutes.)
There is large margin In the descrip
ton of the kind of money in which the
notes of the bank profess to be payable
The Charter provides for the sale of the
| securities if the bank shall fail to pay it,
notes in lawful money; also, that ''the law
full money mentioned in this Act shall b.
taken and held to be the gold and silver
gold and silver coin OF the United States
If the bank may pay in gold or silver
there is no doubt which it would be, wheI
silver coin Tin half dollars) can be bough
for 79i cents to the dollar. But as til,
same Act in its provision for sale of til,
bond securities, requires the Minister t.
receive the notes of the bank Tor other law
full money of the Kingdom" there is al
open question whether the notes them
selves are not made as "lawful money a
the coin.
i However, as there is no specie required
to be kept on hand by the bank-and in
financial crisis it would be not impossible
that there would be no coin there to NEE
run upon the bank-it is of little conse
quence whether the notes purport to b
payable in gold, silver, or paper. By tn
the q. S. bank law, every bank note i
payable in U. S. gold; and if the BAN
fails to pay the gold on demand, the note i
payable in gold. withot deldg, by the Z
S. Treasury.
If the gentlemen who are calling upol
this Government for such preposterou
j franchise, think that this country is eithe
dolt or coward in such matters, the.
will surely find their mistake
From those who make such insolent de
mands, there is no justice or reason to b
expected. There can be no amendmen
which will make bank charter safe, ez
cept an amendment that, mo one shall b
compelled to receive their bank notes, il
payment Of debt"