The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1857-03-12
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser,
THURSDAY, MARCH II.

The leading article of last weeks Polynesi0n
calls for a few remarks in reply. 1t is very easy
for the editor of that paper to say, when any state
ments are made in the Commercial not suited to his
ideas, that it is a reinstatement of facts, > etc. And
he can even affect to believe and undertake to show,
that the government press not only pays its way, but
is q source of profit to the government. Now there
is not o man in the kingdom, not even the editor
himself, who really believes q word of this, but the
general impression is, and it is q correct one, that
the government press is a great sink, which carries
off q considerable share of the receipts of the king
dom; that it is not and never can be conducted with
profit to the government. The publisher of this pa
per is perfectly familiar with the whole matter, and
those who have had most to do with it know that it
is one of the most expensive machines - operated
on by the government. And not'only is it expensive
but it is unjust, making q monopoly of the printing
business to the injury Of one of the most useful
trades carried on in any kingdom. What would the
public think and say, if the government should at
tempt to set up q large importing house for every
thing needed from abroad, and furnish goods below
cost at the public expense, to all in their employ,
from retail stores set up in every part of the king
dom? 1t would be virtually a monopoly of trade
and an injustice to all merchants and traders in the
kingdom. Yet this is what it is doing in the print
ing business-attempting to monopolize it to the in
jury of its most industrious artizans. 1t may derive
a little benefit from it, and SO it might from gov
eminent importing and retail stores.
The Polynesian attempts to prove that the gov
ernment press is a paying concern, and goes back to
the year 1913 to rake up the records of nine or ten
years since. We had nothing to say about those
years, when onerous stamps (since happily repealed)
were imposed, which the Office took the benefit OF,
when numerous and interminable reports, with their
correspondence, enclosures and appendices even to the
999th folio, sprung up like mushrooms from the
portfolio of the Foreign Office, which, so far as they
were paid for from the treasury, gave to the press
the appearance of a selfsupporting establishment
though in fact it was far from such. To understand
the manner in which the machine pays for itself, it
should be remembered that each department t of the
government is bound to pay the government press
for all the printing executed for it. These sums vary
from $4,000 to $4,000 or more each year. The pub
LEGATION of the laws, legislative reports, and other doc
uments in the Polynesian newspaper cannot proper
ly, and never have made a demand for compensation
The following statements will show that the press
does not pay its way:
The expenses of the government press for 1854, as
shown by the Report of the Director, were S~11,271.56
Add interest on the stock and materials, ($60OO) 1900
Add value of rent of building, 1,0OO.OO
Total cost for 1854, S12,991. Sc
The receipts from all other sources than payments
from the government departments, were about 10000
---
Leaving the actual loss to the government for 1854,
about s5,491. st
During the following year 1S551 the work ut the
office appears to have fallen off considerably. From
the report of the present Director, we find that the
Cash expended during the year 1855 was s9,e37.oe
Add interest of stock and materials, (s60oo) 72o.o(
Add rent of building, 1,cooO(
Total expenses, 1856, s11. 357. Ol
The report of the Director does not show what
cash was received from the government and whar
from other sources, but if the figures were shown
there can be no question that the loss arising from
the establishment to the government in 1856, wa.
not less than $1,000. In regard to the rental of thu