The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1858-08-05

OF the government agents should be paid by revenue
derived from a public domain, or from the profits o.
q business carried on ty the State, yet, as 1t can hold
property and get gains only in trust for the comma-
nifty, Withholding. is equivalent to paying over with
one hand and taking back with the other.
No arguments are needed on this great question
of national polity with those who are at all fa'
miliar with the science of government. The thing
is TO bring it before our chiefs, who are the great
landed proprietors, in such a light as to convince
them of it's absolute necessity. This measures. il
introduced, can only be done in as mild a form as
possible. to serve primarily more as an experiment
than as a financial measure. The dread which
the chiefs now have of it. and which has been
created and fostered by ill-advised councillors,
would in time wear off, when its operation be-
comes developed.
Inquisitive people will ask. why fifty thousand
dollars worth of desirable wharf property cannot
be made available in providing ways and means
for the government. IF it can be sold TO advan-
tage, however slowly it may be, why not sell it
and increase the value of the adjoining property?
We all know that the favorite policy of at least
one Minister has been, not to sell them, but to
hold fast to them and it is broadly limited on
change that they will serve as a nice mortgage Sc
curity for some keen East India operators, when
every other mode of raising revenue has been
tested or defeated, and a huge loan resorted to.
The truth IS, we are far behind the age in our
selfconceited Ministerial policy. We have had
the notion held upand folios of arguments brought
forward and printed to prove that our high liquor
tariff is contrary to the enlightened sentiment of
older nations. and ought to be lowered to three
ffths it rate. But in this year of grace, 1858,
xo 80 - D-:.:eL NT:.,-su- n:-~o,l: 5000 ~ -
fore the House of Commons, and before the Eng
lish nation, espouse the opposite theory, and
in his famous speech, presenting the finance
budget, advocate an increase of the Irish liquor
duty, contending that it is a Legitimate subject
for heavy taxation, and that a heavy duty on
it produces not only increased revenue but checks
illicit consumption, and the Chancellor's argu-
ments were supported by an overwhelming ma
jority.
"There are moralists Of a very comprehensive de-
scription, - says the London illustrated .Nslnss "whO4
would tell you that no duty could he too exhorb'tant
on such an article as spirits; but even the most mod
crate thinkers on social questions would be inclined
to admit that they are n legitimate subject of taxa
ton; while, if it be really the fact, as stated by lr.
Disraeli, that the imposition of Q heavy duty on spir-
its produces the abnormal result of advantage to the
revenue, increased consumption, and diminution of
Illicit distilla;ion. why, the case is complete, and so
is the supply of the deficiency"
Let our new Minister of Finance be bold and
firm. All acknowledge that the task on which
he has entered-tha Of restoring the finances to
a healthy state-is an extremely arduous one.
But the people look to him with hope, as the main
reliance in relieving the snip of state from the
perils which surround her course. The main
thing is to be firm and unyielding. The Minis
ter of Foreign Relations may, and doubtless will,
~interpose Obstacles TO thwart the carrying out of
any other policy than that which has charac-
terized the Foreign Office reports of the past ten
years. But the only alternative is to reject these
old fogy counsels altogether. and, if need be, bear
alone the burthen of plotting the ship out from
the shoals and quicksands in which that policy
has placed her.