388
Jouver.
at
any
rate
willie t
the
express sanction of the Secretary of State. There can be no doubt that the Sovereign power has the right to issue
CL
lo
regulate the issue of note, for the payment of money as part
the circulating medium in the Colonies
A right is
I entertain
and
that such legal right, but serious doubts as to whether in the present case there is any injury or threatened injury.
C
The issue of Bank notes in England has been regulated by a series of acts from 1694 to 1844, in which year an act known as "The Bank Charter act" was passed, which now regulates the whole note issue in England.
The only authority to do so is to be found in their Articles of Association. The Companies Acts authorize issue under certain conditions but no authority is conferred by those acts to issue Bank notes.
In the Colonies Banks of issue are regulated by local laws or by Charter from the Crown.
There is however statutory law in the Colony prohibiting the issue of notes by a Bank registered in England and of this circumstance the National Bank has apparently taken advantage.
It is manifest from the despatch quoted, and from the Royal Instructions and the Colonial Office Circular printed in the Colonial Office list, that the issue of Bank notes without the special sanction of the Secretary of State is not within the Bank's power.
07