The Hawaiian gazette., 1884-12-31

the Minister IS directed 90 carry cut the pre-
Visions IL tie saue manner as IS provided IN
Section ) forbid or permit the substitution Of
United States gold coin for Hawaiian silver.
have The honor 20 De
Ycrr cbedisus servant,
P8UL NEUNlASN,
Attorney Genera.
Honolulu, Dec 10th, lssf.
JUUIcIARI DEFAErNESr,
HoSoLrLr Dec. Ilth, ISL.
T. HIS E1-elieucy PaUL NEUNANS, Attorney
General
SIn:-The Justices OF tire Supreme Court
had tie homer yesterday o. receive tr0m you 4
communication wherein oar opinion Is asked
On question arising upon the "Acs 70 regu-
lz,e the Currency" passed by tie Legislature
oflssi.
Assuming tEas the request emlnates from
his Majessy's Cabinet, we proceed 70 answer
tbe fourth Section Of the Act is in cuuiics with
Section FIVE, or - you have stated It, "Does
tie lass sentence IN Section g., wherein the
Minister Is directed TO carry cut the provisions
IN the same manner az L provided IN Section
;, forbid OF permit the Substitution Of United
States geld coin fJ- H8TaiI1n silver
In order g understand and properly solve
tie question presented, the nature Of the money
iu circulation In this kingdom al the time the
Act vas passed must be understood
l. consisted fsilver coins Of Mexico, France,
the United States ard Of many other nations,
a. well as Of . large amount Of Hawaiian sill
yer coin rece1tly Introduced.
Looking Il the Ac: as a whole, the design
Of the law IS apparent. It was 10 make
United States gold the circulating medium Of
this country.
Section presrribes tia. United States gold
coin shall be the standard and legal tender for
the payment Of all debts in this kingdom.
Section allows the silver coin Of the United
States and Of the Hawaiian Kingdom to lie
legal tender for any amount not exceeding ten
d5Liars in any che payment
By Section az 0dse- gold and silver coins
are receivable a. tie Government Treasury in
payusn. Of Government dues, duties and taxes
AZ rate not exceeding their bullion value and
could be disposed Of At q discount by persons
boiling them and having dues to pay TO the
Government.
The next FIVE Sections Of the Act provide for
two methods b which the silver IN circulation
was to be reduced 10 volume and replaced with
United States gold.
In the first place, by force Of the first part
this Act, that <, from and after The 18th day
Of July, before the Ist Of December, the time
when the Act IN other respects went into effect,
the Minister Of Finance was required to eI-
charge, during sixty days after notice to this
purpcrt, silver Coins Of all naticna!itiss except
Ing those Of the United States and Of Hawaii,
fer Hawaiian coin, dollar Tor dollar If the
entire public Lad ayailsd itself Of this prUyis-
ICu, 1t Is apparent that al the heterogeneous
silver n circulation would have flowed into
the Treasury and no silver coins remained ID
circulation bat those Of the United States and Of
Hawaii. This action was required 70 be taken
Immediately o. the passage Of the act.
Tie last part Of Section requires the Min
IstsC q Finance 70 arrange for the sale Of the
heterogeneous silver thus received and all sill
yer coins then II the Treasury, except Hawaii
an coins, and the delivery Ct their proceeds
into the Treasury--1ld coins Of the United
States
Section makes further provision to enable
| persons whose tenders for the purchase Of the
silver coins mentioned n Section ) were ac-
| cepted, to deposit Government Bonds a. secu-
rity for the delivery Of the gold proceeds Of
| tie sale. Section : euac.s shat the loss Incl
dent to the conversion Of silver into gold sha Il
he borne BY the Treasury.
Now Section I, although appearing IN the
| Act earlier than Sections and 6, would be-
| come operative after tic act Of calling in the
/ heterogeneous silver had been accomplished
and might uaIHrall! have come later in the Act
| than Sections ) and 6. But We presume It
was placed thus carly in the Act as It has a
! permanent force and effect. It reads as fol-
| lows:
@Whenever It shall appear, that there Is
such an excess Of silver coins IN circulation az
disturbs the equilibrium between gold and
silver Coins under the provisions Of this Act,
the Minister Of Finance, n order u restore
such equilibrium, shall replace sufficient silver
coin from any silver coin which may be in the
Treasury, as Government realization or on de-
posit on account q any silver certificates, with
| s0ld coins Of the United States IN the sane
uauler as hereafter provided IN Sections ), 6
! and Of this Act"
To state It more fully. Whenever Chat Is,
a. any tine in the f1ture) It shall appear that
there Il such an excess Of silver coin II circG-
laiIou, Chat Is, IN general circulation In the
| community az disturbs the equilibrium be-
tween gold and silver coins under the uruvis-
ions Of this Act, Chat IL, whenever there Is
more silver in circulation than viii suffice for
| the payment Of debts Of ten dollars OF less in
! amouut,) the Minister Of Finance Il reqdired
% replace silver coin II TIE Treasury sufficient
II amount 70 restore the equilibrium whether
this silver coin lays IN the Treasury as the
general funds Of the Government OF Is there On
! deposit 70 meet silver ceTtifcatcsl with gold
coins Ct the United States. Tie Act also SAYS
that the method IN efiectiu- this Is 10 be that
prescribed in Sections 5, 6 and Of the Act.
That is 70 say, the Miz.ster Of Finance must
arrange throEgh advertisement for tenders for
- ~ l-F - ell L.
than $4,000 each. Il Is to be noticed that
Section coufsrs power to replace silver
coina with gold coins, which IS to be invoked
az any tine IN the future, and as often a. the
Contingency Ct aredundency Of silver in circu-
lation shall arse
Il Is also plain that By tho Terms Of this Sec
tcn the nature or nationality Of the silver
coin which must he replaced with Eold Is %.
specified.
The Section speaks Of 1t as ANY silver
coin, alsD as ''coin On deposit on account Of
any silver certificates" AID Hawaiian silver
coins are not excepted froul the operation oil
the authority 10 convert In reason there
could be no distinction made. the evil 70 be
remedied being an e1cesz Of silver coin.
In order 70 avoid IL this Section a repetition
Of the manner in which this replacing Of silver
With gold : 10 he done, the Act says briefly
That the Minister shall coriuct this replace
meni in the sane manner a Hereinafter pro
vlded IN Sections ;, 3 and Of this Act" Ba
az We have above suggested, this requires
merely thai the 7RO,iHs gpsr1zidi shall he the
sane as that puzsued m replacing the silvei
required 70 be replaced By Section 5, and does
noi reqHirs that the subject matter q. c. tho
silver eoIns) upon which this method Of ex-
change i 70 be puzued shall be identical witL
that mentioned in Section S.
We ind no cociradIction IN these Sections
and are Ct the opinion that Section 4 Of the
act permits the Minister Of Finance to sahsti-
tuie United States gold coin for Hawaiian sil-
yer coin, and requires him 70 do 90 whenever
the contingency Of an ezcess Of silver shall
arse,
In examining the statute for the purpose O!
ansW eriug the question submitted By His Ma
Iesty's Government, we have observed pcs
sIble danger ia the conversion q Hawaiian