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His Excellency may deem it necessary for deciding on the above petition. A reply will be communicated in any form required. In anticipation of this, I may briefly allude to the objects of the Bank, its resources, and the nature of its constituency, on which it is presumed the favorable reception of this request depends.
The Bank has been formed under the above title with a subscribed Capital of $5,000,000 in 20,000 Shares, of which $2,500,000 will be paid up within the next three months and before any Banking business is actually commenced. These Shares have been taken up exclusively by people in Hongkong, China, Japan, or in a few cases by others who, though not resident in these countries, are yet intimately connected with the trade. Nearly every firm and individual trading in Hongkong, China, or Japan are thus interested, and the bona fide nature of the undertaking may therefore be assumed.
With regard to the business proposed to be carried on, I would observe that notwithstanding the extensive foreign trade with China and Japan, this is the first Bank locally started or in which the majority of our Merchants are interested. This fact, and the extensive native support indicated by the Share List, directly shows the support which this Bank must obtain. But the chief inducement which the promoters had in view was to supply...
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