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196

THE EXAMINER.

pounds specie paid into the Currency Office, Notes to double the amount will be delivered to the Treasury. Half of these Notes (represented by the specie lying in the currency Office)

half to be immediately applied to the discharge of the

remaining 11,317 9 24 of Warrants, until the whole be

cancelled.

This process would be very gradual, and being carried on under the watchful superintendance of the proper authorities might be checked or even hastened, as might appear desirable; and when completed, the account would appear as follows :

Looking at the last statement, we find the bonds standing at 9,145/. 5s. 43d., and cash 5,436 11s. Oid., to produce the amount of specie necessary to proceed with the measure the sum of 263/. 8s. 11]d. has been receiv- ed in part payment of the bonds, and they will now pre- sent the under statement :

to be employed by the Treasurer! Lieutenant Governor simply carrying out Lord Gre Je . ° . ‘ in the ordinary service of the Government ; the other! instructions, of refusing to issue any more? So

| short proposition suggested by a Country the House of Assembly. | Would not the Warrants be safely got rid of by

the honorable gentleman's proposition to which I al I venture to add these further queries :

the Acts by which merchants

or leave them to the Bonding Warehouse, choice of either, in which there could be no inconveni-

in the way of loan, to promote the funding as many Treasury Warrants as the holders may feel inclined to receive 6 per cent. upon, and so to create stock or mar-

Member of

In ascertaining the sum each member would have to pay, suppose as above, the total amount is 300,000/.—

the | the loss sustained 500/., any one being insured in 600I. y’s| would have to pay 20s. only to such loss. For as 300,- far OOOL. is to 500/. so is 600. to 20s.—or three shillings and lude. fourvence per cent. It would plainly appear from this

‘that the loss mustat any one time be very severe to

run over such a long space of time, and either abridge

that time—sufficient prospective notice being given, so| that they might be prepared for the change, say 1849—| Treasurer (gratuitously). Secretary to receive a stipu- or to the lated sum from each member annually, and the Survey-

Jst—Would it not be necessary in that cese to repeal amount to two per cent., and that the general fund must ’ bonds are now suffered to/ accumulate to an extensive sum, ultimately for any

urgent relief purpose. The working portion of the Society would be the

ors a certain small sum each. And lastly, 2 Committee

ence or hardship; but it would be necessary that there | of at least thirteen persons (gratuitous) to decide losses should be Warehouses elsewhere than in Charlottetown? and other matters relative to the Society—whose deci- 2ndly—Whether it might not answer every purpose, sion should be final, leaving no appeal.

That immediately after the decision of the Committee on any loss, the Insurers should be called on for their respective proportions by the Secretary, and each per-

Notes in issue, 11,500 0 0 Bonds, 8881 16 4 ec oT : : : Lig

; After ioe, 2263418 5 Cash, — 5750 0 oF ketable securities. And we might anticipate that the son furnished by him with printed Policies, setting forth a a pias 5 11,317 9 24| time would shortly arrive when the Treasury would be! the sums Insured and proportions to pay by each mem- i | ‘T5949 8 7 57 |able to issue convertible paper, say 4,0001. per annum ber, for general information.

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“L34,134 18° 5 Leaving the amount of 8,185/. 12s. 10d. to be sus- tained in its full credit by the resources of the Colony, and the prudent economy of the Government, and as well as by the additional circumstance that it will be the only paper receivable at the Public Offices; and I think that with a revenue of nearly 20,000/. this may be con- sidered as no unsafe proportion to venture upon.

In a former part of this paper I have dwelt upon the difficulty of obtaining a correct measure of the circula- tion required. By making the issues very gradual we shall have taken the best means for arriving at this knowledge, for whenever the circulation is full, the Notes will return to the Currency Office for specie, and directly this takes place, the double issue of Notes should be stopped, and the remaining Warrants would have to be funded in a future Session or otherwise as

for three years, in lieu of that now in circulation, an end which must not be lost sight of; but it may be doubted whether the most prudent way of proceeding will not be to absorb the Warrants first of all.

| The Revenue being about 20,000, supposing the re-en- ‘acting of a Land Tax, and the expenditure not necessa- rily exceeding 15,000/., this can soon be effected; and I beg particularly to be understood as having in my former remarks of last week, had in view only how Lord Grey’s proposition can be carried out to the letter, my present purpose is rather to exhibit how we may preserve the spirit of his instructions in a modified and, perhaps, more safe form, but yet to effect the same ends, but with greater certainty, as well as less risk.

I am, Sir, your obedient Servant, AGRICOLA.

MUTUAL INSURANCE AGAINST FIRE.

might be, But ifno continued return of Notes for specie

is experienced, the double issue might proceed until all Mr. Eprror;

the Warrants were cancelled, after which Notes should) AS many persons have desired me to give them in only be issued in exchange for the same amount as the| Print my ideas of a Mutual Insurance Society against) coin brought in. 'Fire, I take the liberty to ask you to give insertion in At the conclusion of these operations (if in the work-| Your invaluable paper to the same. ing they come out as I have contemplated) there will be| The utility of such a scheme of Insurance is obvious: in the Currency Office specie, rather exceeding 17,0001.;) First, in a great saving—for when it is brought to recol- one half of which, at least, it might be necessary to keep Jection that (by Divine preservation) no material Fire there, the remaining part should be deposited in the has happened in our town during the last four years, Bank of British North America for interest; andI should|and notwithstanding this, the Insurance Societies have think that an arrangement might be made with that Bank ‘doubled the premium on the Insurance, because, forsooth,

for facilitating payments throughout these Provinces. ‘they have suffered in other towns not so cautiously laid

‘The advantages of this plan, supposing it to be adopt-|°U% or so promptly attended to in cases of Fire as this town.

ed, are manifold. In the first place, we shall be dis-,

charged (by this legitimate method of cancelling a. Secondly, because the benefit of keeping the money

portion of the Warrants)of an annual payment of interest” the island would he grest, and

amounting to 6791. Is. Weshatl havea sum deposited Thirdly it would bee powarful binding link in the

at interest varying, probably, between 5,000. and 10,-; Community, and afresh stimulus to preserve and pro-

000/., which, taking the interest at 3 per cent. upon the| tect |

lowest sum, would be 150/., making a total of 7291. Is.) | ~~ =e eee should be = : nd con- ; \sist of real owners or the representatives ef real owners,

The expense of conducting the Currency Office would and that no Wager omer, should be allowed—each

have to be deducted ; but this expense would, probably, ||. ; ; fall far short of the above amount. ‘Insurer paying a proportion of his own loss, in case

ithereof, as well as any other.

I consider, therefore, that by these changes, there’ policies granted every three months—not less. would be established a sound system of Currency, that; ‘That in order to guard against a severe loss or general! Gay wouts ‘be protective of considerable saving to conflagration, each Insurer should pay at entrance into - poste. and that commercial payments would be the Society, as a general fund, five shillings per cent. on greatly facilitated by the accommodation which the Cur-| his sum Insured, which general fund should be kept at

pers A ae a. ? nals ucted to afford * times by ‘Interest, and nothing taken therefrom unless in cage of ee the Bank of British North such severe loss, or the loss at any time exceeding two America, if the negociations with that Institution should per cent. No other deposit whatever required

” ey S; | The Townshould be divided into four Wards, to each

ili chi bale a | Ward two Assessors or Surveyors should be appointed.

a Servant, _ |The value of the property and nature of the risk to be

CHARLES HENSLEY. |determined by them, which would form the ground work of the Policy.

January, 1848.

THE CURRENCY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE EXAMINER.

‘Treble, and in rates, as 1, 14, 2, that is as 100, 150, and '200, so that if the total amount Insured be £200,000, the Sin; diversity of risks would probably cause the sum to di-

I am not about to inflict on you another long letter, vide by to be £300,000. Then suppose for example but as the public, and particularly the Representatives sake, any one Insured in 600l. at double risk—he pays of the People, ought to have all the light thrown on the equal to 900/. and yet receives only 6001., in case of loss coming discussion regarding the Currency, which can and in treble risk 1,200L, and only receives his 6001. in

— ne _ he risks should be defined as Single, Double ‘i

he given, I must request your printing the following case of loss,

Such then are the brief outlines of a prospectus, and which, if carried into effect would, in my opinion, bea general benefit to the community. Should it meet their approval, and they are desirous of carrying it into effect, I tender them my best services and assistance; and as soon as twenty persons signify the same to me, by leav- ing their names at my office, I will call a meeting. In the mean time, I shall be glad to receive any useful hints from any persons relative to its furtherance for good; and at the meeting I will draw up a code of rules or bye-laws for its-establishment and their consent.

JAMES N. HARRIS.

Charlottetown, Jan. 21, 1848.

The Editors of the various papers in town are respect- fully solicited to insert the above.

ROR WYCAPH REN.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 1848.

eran on anebecmneanaaens

THE ENSUING SESSION.

On Tuesday week, as everybody knows that cares to.

know, the Parliament of this Colony will meet for what

is commonly called “the Dispatch of Business.” If we- take a prospective glance at the several matters of im-

portance which will claim the attention of our public men, we cannot be long in coming to the conclusion, that an unusual degree of “ dispatch” will be required if

the whole amount of “ business” be to be performed.

The first great trial of strength will be made on the

question of Messrs. Coles and Warburton’s right to seats .

in the Assembly. We cannot well understand how.s question can at all be raised upon the right. Had the Law Officers of the Crown never uttered an opinion upon the subject—an opinion which declared the non-exis- tence of a law to compel those gentlemen to vacate their seats in the Assembly on their acceptance of seats in the Executive Council, the practice of the Mother Coun- try in such cases ought ‘o be sufficient to decide the matter, independently of the fact of Messrs. Pope, Pal- mer and J. S. McDonald having, on a former occasion, take seats in the Executive without going through the ordeal of a new Election. If Messrs. Coles and War- burton have no right to sit for their respective Districts, Messrs. Pope, Palmer and McDonald must be considered as having played the part of usurpers. No new enact- ment has found its way to the Statute Book since the time of their appointment; and yet, we have been re- peatedly told, that a simple Resolution of the House—a resolution concocted in all the bitterness of party feeling, and setting forth the most absurd and unconstitutional propositions—a resolution which does in fact declare a lie, viz: that it is necessary to carry out Responsible Government, and is in conformity with the practice of England, that a Member of the House on being called to the Executive Council is bound to relinquish his re- presentative trust—that this resolution is to become the means of driving the new Councillors from their seats in the Assembly. We cannot, however, be surprised at any thing the party opposed to Messrs. Coles and War- burton may do, or attempt todo. The usages of Par- liament and the principles of the Constitution are very fine things to talk about—they offer splendid induce-

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