To the Editor of the New Zealand Spectator.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume I, Issue 39, 5 July 1845, Page 3

To the Editor of the New Zealand Spectator.

Sir, — The result df the meeting held on Wednesday last at the Biitannia Tavern, for the purpose of taking into consideration the present difficulty in the negociation of Government debentures, seems to have created much unnecessary alarm in the community, and from conversation with various holders of debentures, lam under the impression that if a reasonable plan could be . shewn for facilitating their negociation amongst ourselves, it would be acted upon generally. , The great drawback in the circulation of these deben"tures seems to be the difficulty of converting the large amounts (£l and £5) intt> small change, for the purposes of our every day transa«tions, the issue of such amounts bearing a large proportion to the amount at present in circulation. Various plans have been' proposed' for the issuing of small amounts, but the general impression seems to be, that a large issue of small private debentui es, without control, will be a much greater evil than we are at present labouring under. I am indebted 1 to a friend for a suggestion which, if carried into effect, will remove all these difficulties. Let a debenture bank, or bank of deposit, be formed, consisting of a manager', under the supervision of three directors, who shall be empowered to receive deposits of Gov.debents., giving in exchange printed debentures, to be signed by the depositor, and counter-signed by the manager, in such amount as may be required to the value of the deposit, and redeemable on demand in Government debentures.- This plan can be carried into effect ,*t a small cost, and will operate iv many ways t& the safety of the community. It will operate as a check upon, any extraordinary issue by the Governor, -who no doubt calculates upon his debentures being held by so many persons, as to render it improbable that they can all be presented for payment at any ond period 1 ; but knowirig that they are held by one establishment, it will no doubt restrain him in his issue. It will operate as a check to forgery ,- against which we have at present no safeguard. In course of business, all the debentures in circulation in this settlement will pass through the bank, and if correct returns of the numbers and amounts are forwarded to* the Colonial Treasurer at Auckland by ever conveyance, he will have an opportunity of detecting all such forgeries, if any. If this plan will have the effect of controlling the issue and' detecting forgeries, and at the same time give us something to represent our small coin, of which, God knows> we have little enough, I am then of opinion that we will have surmounted one of our greatest difficulties,, viz. the negociation. But it will be asked — 'How can this be carried into effect, and at what cost ? ! As regards the cost, the interest upon the amount in circulation will be sufficient to pay for the management of' such a bank, and the party seeking to avail himself of this arrangement would of course be required to pay the -expense of such printed debentures a3 he would require. To enable this plan to be carried into effect we must be harmonious, and have confidence in each other. There can be - no risk attached to' the currency of these' private debentures, as for every shilling issued there would be an equivalent in Government debentures in the hands of the bank, specially retained for their redemption ;< the counter signature of the manager will be a guarantee to that effect. The circulation of the coin here is but trifling in amount, and* is not sufficient for our local trade, it gradually finds its way into the Union Bank. "We must have something to replace. our coin, and how can this be remedied but by the issue of debentures of small amount, bearing in mind that the Government debentures are being gradually consolidated in large amounts ; so that, in fact, if one coin passes from us and- we have nothing to replace or represent it, business will be completely at a stand still. One other point has been suggested': " How can we pay for our supplies from the other colonies ?" This appears to me to be the greatest difficulty, and one with which I am not prepared to grapple —s but I would venture to suggest that our export trade must pay for them ; it is true at the present time our exports are but small, but the very fact of our straitened circumstances will compel us to find some other article of export. We have oil and bone, why cannot we have lard, flax, and timber which can be produced at a comparatively small cost ? f Necessity is the mother of invention, and our peculiar necessities will compel us to produce. It is utter madness to attempt to depreciate the value of Government debentures by resolutions de-_ daring a want of confidence ; they are a necessary evil, an 3 we must make the best of it ; they are issued and legalized by act of Council, and so long as the Governor requires them he will issue them. The amount- in circulation in this settlement canjiot, at the end. of the-year, be very large. The expenditure for Government pur- "1 a . nnn n n poses is supposed to be J **> uuu - a <* , v For miHtia „ 6,000 0* 0 0 0 The probable return to the Government "") by payment of Customs, Licences, I * QOO Q 0 Fees, and pther sources, must be at j ' least „ J, So that, in fact, at the expiration- of the "1 . nftf) ~ 0 year we- can only have-in circulation J *iMU i/r U And if the militia are disbanded during that period our circulation will be. sq, much less. Surely no. alarm can or ought to be created as to an over issue, and if it is borne in mind that without debentures we have no circulating medium, it is the duty of every colonist to deprecate any attempt to depreciate their value. Should the foregoing plan be received favourably, a prospectus will be issued forthwith and carried into effect immediately. I am, Mr. Editor, &c, Senbx. N. B. — I may call the attention of the public to the fact of New Zealand pine be in demand in Sydney for beef tierces. I am informed the price of white pine plank there is 16s. per lOftfeet.