Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1896-03-26
TIE FOUR-ACT LOAN BILL.

EDITOR BULLETIN: The Loan
Bill Tin four acts) lately present
ed to the Legislature, by the Min
lister Of Finance, and which we
are given to understand by those
gentlemen was prepared by emf
nent legal talent of London,
should receive the earnest atten-
ton, not only of our representa-
tives, but also IT the community
generally. For should the Loan
Bill, as prese ted, become law,
il would open up the way for
more chances of loss to the Gov
eminent and general financial
"pilikias" than ever happened
under the much abused "Gibson"
administration.
1t was evidently the object of
the eminent legal gentlemen who
prepared the Bill to befog our
Legislators as much as possible,
not only by having the acts them
selves conflict with each other;
but also the sections in the acts
not agreeing rs to who is to have
the power in deciding on the terms
under which the Bonds are to be
sold. There are also some in
nocent looking sections which
need careful attention. Take for
instance Section 6, Act IS: "The
said Bonds, or the proceeds there
of, shall be exclusively devoted to
the redemption or conversion of
existing bonds issued by the Gov
eminent of the Hawaiian Islands
and outstanding, and the neccssa-
ry expenses incurred i'll effecting
such conversion"
What does necessary EXPENSE
mean in this case? When the
so-called British loan was passed,
the gentlemen who manipulated
the enterprise thought that G15,-
600 for newspaper influence was a
necessary expense, and the then
Minister Of Finance thought so
too. A similar item on a larger
scale might crop up on the
present loan.
Section 7 of the same Act al
lows that official to play a lone
hand and grant what discount he
likes, regardless of any Executive
Council. But Section 8 is the
caulker. Some slight reference
TO the Executive Council is made
in this Section; but as a rule the
Minister of Finance can do "as he
sees fit" as to payment of COM
missions, selection of agents, pur-
chasers, or most anything else,
and we are of the opinion that
this Section with good Banking
House back of it, might prove
rather profitable to the manipula-
tors; in fact, this might be termed
the daisy" Section of this four
act piece
Now after wadlng through the
powers of the Minister of Finance
in Act Is, we are presented with
Act 10, in which the power of the
Minister of Finance is limited to
peddling our credit around the
world at Is per cent. discount.
We must confess ignorance as to
the reasons why the eminent Bri-
fish jurist, who framed the Acts,
presented us with SO many of
them to cover one loan, and why
one Act should give the Minister
of Finance almost unlimited
powers and the next Act take
them away. Which is going to
stick ? There is evidently "Nig-
ger in the fence somewhere"
The detailed statement showing
the annual reduction of interest
which will take place by the adop-
ton of this new scheme, is also
not as innocent as it looks. On
the Is per cent. discount and 4
per cent. basis, the annual inter-
est to be paid would be $4,000
less than at present, but the bonds
are increased about half million
thereby, which would no.
Al ~. y came.
elesent, most of the bonds
are held in this country, the in
terest is paid here and spent in
the country, with no cost of ex-
change for renting it abroad
at least | per cent. = which fact
the Minister of Finance has omit.
ted to mention. And our advice