Nuhou, Volume I, Number 23, 13 May 1873 — Five Per Cent. [ARTICLE]

Five Per Cent.

Suppose you, planteraand otber producers,' get .what monej you neeel at tbe rate ofj flye per cent. simple mteredtj would jou feel anj ■ regrets on aceount of the <3amage done in eueh aj case to our time-honored twelye per eent ? Wouid 1 you feel anj pressing need of a reclprocitj treaty * with an indiflerent rieighbox', wto will not heefl = 3?ou unjess you approach with a big manuahi in | your hand, if jou had all the capital jou needed; on easy terms ? Would you be ioeing your eleep, ] Btinting youreelf, and dinning into the eare of' your family tbe evfirlasting wail of economy as! you do or ought to do now, if you got wbat eaeh ! you needed at less ihau one half of one per eeni? ! Would you djr«ftlge and toil and moil on planta-! tion ahd ranch, aQ»you do now fbr the hard- | driving bloody Moloeh of Twclve-per-cent, if you ! had eo gentle a maeter as F!ve-pēr-cent? Oh no>'! you w6uld do none of theee things, and we know ! that ybur cager, clamorous reply to us will be! the in|juirywl)ere, oh, where is that blessed five pei: cent/ to bc found? It is to be found-in the British Colonies in this oeean, where even a lower rate ōf interest ean be i obtained. We are certain that our GoYernment' could borrow all the capltal needed for the more! efficient development of the material interests of ! this archipelago from the capitalists of New Zea-1 land. They would lenel our Gqvernment wifch ite ' good credit, and with the ample security whieh j we couid oifer, one, two or three million of doI-! lars at three per cent. simple interest, and thcn ■ the Goverument could advance it to the planters ! at tlie rate of five per cent. This is a possible,' this is a feaeible, thing. We have talked with ; scores of New Zealand gentlemen, representatives; of the wealth and intelligence of their country, \ who have all espressed the most lively interest in ! the esta,hlishmenfc cloger oomn\ereial relations | between our and their archipelago. | If wehad any intelligence or activity at the; I head of the Government, tlie measure of a loan J jwith our rich, cnterprismg/flourishing Soutli; Polynēsian neighbdr wou!d be promptly takeu ! into consideration and acted upon. There ought! to be no difficulty in persuading our native legis-' lators to acquiesce in a foreign loan negotiated in ' eueh a qua*ter and on such tcrms/ The kanaka ! j would have no iear of poliiieal absorptiorf by the , Maori, and when he was assured of the iuerease ] of wages that would foliow sueh au acquisition | of capital $ he would enthusiastieally a>nsent to | its negotiation, I Tfais suggcstion wili not sound pleasantly to| those who are in the ring of twelve per eent. 1 But let them howl, We are on tkc. war path against the public enemy, and we wiil not rcst | we have graced our huiee with his sealp.' Wc inscribe on our staudard: ' 1 Keeiproeity with our Oeeanie «eighbors; subsidy oi steaiuship eomiminieatiobs with tliem; a ioan of' we or more millions at thnv or (our per cent t> and ea«h accommodātiobs for our produeers at 1 five per cent.-" ;

Activitv it> ixported bj rcceut arm-.] als from thc windward t A gentlcman on boarJ 1 ihe Princc distlnetly ob|crvei thc %bt froui ilie 1 ■ firc6 of thc £uinnut >vheu rumimg aloii£ thc eoa*l ,uf Ilawaii on Fndny last|, Thc etatcr of Kilauea ! j rcportcd quitc act'|vt\ liW thinl we mu^t' $cnd our Shcplicrd to (I t bni\\ of Mokuaweoweo and have him get up a . biilhafit dcscripticu fv?r ' tīic J