Untitled

Auckland Times, Volume 2, Issue 58, 20 February 1844, Page 2

We have wrought the Editor of the Svvtherii Cross into a perfect fever, the paroxysms of which are evidently at their greatest.height in his last; number,— His disease having now arrived at the crisis, we aha! I look for a natural collapse : \ n his ravine, we have come in for our ihare <4 that abase which is diagnostic of such a temperament under such treatment; but we can easily forgive aa animosity which cannot fake a more effective form, than the wilfully disingenuous, and ihe hopelessly imbecile, ciimax of his tirade, of l a «x W rek Mr. r-hortland having sailed ms the Ban* galore, -and consequently became indifferent to the abuse of our cctempor&rv, he must have,, we suppose, a new target upon which to vent the malice of his nature. We are indifferent to ffis personalities—they do not weaken the effect of oav arguments upon public topics, and it is our practice no less than our duty R> meddle with no other, We are *riad to find oar cotemporary so angry, for it shews that our remarks have hud their desired effect. We do not think {fiat the next of Soanie’s whaling captains that conies here will be refused by the Bank die trifling accommodation he may require for the refreshment of his crew, upon (he security of his cargo, in addition tu bis owners name. We have ventured to blame the Bank directors for an act so injudicious towards the interest?; of tha place, and, besides that, so inimical to the reputation of ihe establishment they represent. Their violent and abusive defender, who proses, v.sgve ad nauseam, about tree, trade, justifies the proceeding by setting forth the captain’s purchases bom the Bangalore as an offence to be punished ; as it in these days, when free trade is so highly esii mated, Captain Ft-darb, as well as every body else, has not the right to purchase his stores at ’be Host R?a?k«f. ■ l (is next t I . that the bill was offered to the Bank without any indorsation. The security of five tons of oil, it any in this ease was requited, might perhaps have made any indorsation unnecessary ; but the fad As •hat- the Manager of ihe Bank himself requested that she bill should bear only the name oi the captain in demand unosv Lis eiu doyers I The reason that the hill was refused was, that it did not come through a channel ac ceptable to the system of patronage adopted at the Bank . The uigensous correspondent of the Cross, Tie writes under the signature 51 M/’ is of course acceptable to the gentleman he addresses by reason of his adoption of the personal style of argument which the latter indulges in. Is it not contemptible always to attempt to drag personal feelings into an argument, which lias no interest but what is derived from public motives, and is it not doubly contemptible to do so,when,the party assailing, has not the courage to come flora behind the screen of anonymous atdbush ? “ M ” says there arc two faishoods in out statement ; the; first, by implication, is that the Bank had charged 20 per cent. If this is a lie it is MV’ own creating. We never said that ihe Bank discounted the biil-r-or that it they did that they had charged 20 per cent : of course they did not—-could not—dared not, have made such a charge. We knew as well as “ M ’ by whom the bill was discounted, but we made no allusion or no reproach towards that gentleman : h«s was a privaie transaction : we referred only trt the circumsiance of such a course becoming necessary, by reason of the indifference of the Bank of this place to the com• meieiai credit oi Auckland. The amount actually received for the bid,from the best authority, is given below ; and ahhough twenty per cent was not directly charged, the result of the transaction has lelt. ihe matter pretty much in that position and so much for “ M’s” second charge of falsehood, •* The Clique ” may do their woist we rely upon the strength of our own integrity ; we deal wiih public matters for the public good —we do not care for ike interested abuse of the Editor of , the Cross , “ M’s” mode of accounting (or tne higher rate of discount rs on« of

Che most amusin'! pieces ot ingenious usury we ever came across. We consign st to everlasting fame by copying it into the columns of the Times, with the single remark that, according to s ‘M’s wise and witty theory—the larger the degree of security given, the heavier should be the rate of charge for • cconunodation. i' wii!, however, make a slight statement to show that the Bills have b-en discounted at apparently a high rate, bat in reality at a lower sate than even Government or Commissariat Bills are n«*v selling at- Premising shat even the 3rest Mf. S »AMF.s, as well as the. Petty Pizxbbo, si tunes do not pay their Bills, as the petty Bank perhaps can testify : The ora >nnt of Bills discounted wss ........ 4E250 0. 0 Discounted at 17| p. ct. .43 15 0 206 5 0 And security given on five tons Sperm Oil, valued at 250/. to make this seemity available in case the Great Mr. SoAMK* should not accept tho Bill, it has to be insured. Say 3 percent iesaranca Mi ys; 1 ,. 7 io f> Policy dotv, 5 pet cent. 012 C Comaitniou for Effecting Insur&uoe, 1 percent. 2 10 0 10 12 6 Supposing the Sill eventually uof paid— Commission on selling the Oil, 5 per cent on 250 L . 12 10 0 Docs Dues, Cooperage,Whaifage, Brokerage, and other Charges, 2| per cent............ 650 28 7 6 | Now,'if‘.ve take 291. 7* 6d. from the amount received for discount 431* iSs-Od., there will remain ? H 7s. 6d., the bona fide discount being le-s than 6 pet cent, when Government, Cosunm-arint, .Mission, aod the Bishop 5 * Bills, are at this moment st from 5 to 6 per c-ent discount. Bloco writing the above, vve havoascertain ed that 'the final settlement of this transaction has been effected, at the rate of seventeen-and'U-half per cent,.—certain charges having been spared m cos.seqiionce <f the stir which lias been .uade in the matter.