The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 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 or abroad. This country,
in the event of the granting OF such
charter, would be bound hand and foot to
sustain a huge elemosynary 6nstitution,
for the personal aggrandizement of its
projectors Competition in all kinds of
business, could then be safely dcfofby this
socalled bank
But if the benevolent purposes OF these
bankers" should fail, if their projects foI
developing" Hawaii should some day, il
spite of their power over the money and
i business Of this country, become tinan
cial failure: then their bank suspends
payment Its notes held all over the land
are not paid. II 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. 1t 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
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
culatiHg notes Of the corporation af par, or otLer
lawful money OF the Kingdom, and out Of
the surplus money arising from such sale or
salss. he shall redeem the circulating notes
still outstanding"
Last year the Ministry professed its
inability in time of prosperity to sell its
bonds for gold. at par. II the proceeds of
l,r~sl l,a
bank. shall be solely Ja,,k notes, it would
practically be an irTedeemable paper cur
rency. That would be the certain result
if the bonds could not be sold for [. 5.
gold at par.
This is no security 1t is not the L. 5.
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 (of
the Z. S. currency shall give notice to
the holders of the circulating notes 70 pro
se,,t them fer payment at he Treasury cf he
United States and tie SAND shall be paid ~ iaIr-
fu, mgRey Of The United States.r Section
5229 of us. General Statutes.)
There is a large margin in the descrip-
tion 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 its
notes in lawful money; also, that ''the law
full money mentioned in this Act shall be
taken and held to be the gold and silver
coin Of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the
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, when
silver coin lin half dollars can be bought
| for 79l cents to the dollar. But rs the
same Act in its provision for sale of the
bond securities, requires the Minister to
receive the notes Of the bank ''Or othcr law
full money of the Kingdom there Is an
open question whether the notes them
selves are not made as ''lawful money as
the coin.
However, as there is no specie required
| to be kept on hand by the bank-and in a
financial crisis it would be not impossible
that there would be no coin there to meet
a run upon the bank-it Is Of little cOnse-
quence whether the notes purport to be
payable in gold, silver, or paper. By the
the T. S. bank law, every bank note is
payable in U. S. gold; and if the bank
fails to pay the gold on demand, the note Is
payable in gold, nitl0m dcldg, by the L.
/ ,. treasury.
If the gentlemen who are calling upon
this Government for such preposterous
franchise, think that this country Is either
a dolt or a coward in such matters, they
will surely find their mistake,
From those who make such insolent de
mands, there is no justice or reason to be
expected There can be no amendment
which will make a bank charter safe, ex-
cept an amendment that, mo one shall be
compelled to receive their bank notes, in
payment Of debt