The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1858-09-16

81 -.......... 1891
1t is fair to presume that the importation of
spirits under the reduced duty will not greatly
exceed the above figures, which may serve as a
reliable basis TO estimate the receipts therefrom.
The amount of revenue that will be derivablc
from wines, it is thought, will not vary much
from that at present received and for our esti-
mates VIC will assume it to be tho same. The
revenue under the new treaty will then be as fol-
lows
Say Y s eco gals sPis;:s ss: & o. , ;:: S.;:.sss. S sSS
Showing a falling off in the revenue, under the
action of the treaty, Of nearly S34 900 from the
receipts of 1857. This is the sum that the Ha-
waiian government may be supposed to pay an
nually for the privilege of having this treaty
with France?
This loss, however, must he made up in some
way. 1t will not do to let the receipts of the ex-
chequer he diminished to that extent, or minis
tiers will go a begging for their salaries, and our
favorite war department scheme would be blown
to the top Of Mauna Loa. But how is this loss
of S34 600, more or less, to be made up?
Why, our sapient Ministry propose to raise
it by increased duties on whalemen's stores
and the necessaries of life consumed by natives
and foreigners. Here is a happy illustration of
the wisdom that controls our Ministerial Coun-
ellis. They propose to take this tax from the
shoulders of a class made up principally of sailors
and transient travellers, who expect to pay it,
and do it without grumbling, and impose it on
the industrial classes of the kingdom. Public
opinion here and everywhere supports Disraeli,
the English Chancellor of the Exchequer. when
he asserts that ardent spirits are a legitimate sub
ject Of heavy taxation with every government.
In making so great a sacrifice as the loss of
about one-tenth of our annual revenue, to satisfy
the treaty, it would be fair to suppose that some
compensation might have been offered on the part
of a great and magnanimous nation, or some
equivalent demanded by our plenipotentiary.
But we look in vain to find even the most triAing
concession in return. No. The demand is made
by France on no tenable ground, although
the assigned reason is the very equivocal one of
protecting her mmerce And who knows but
that, at the end of another ten years she may de-
mand in like terms and for q like reason that no
duty shall be imposed on brandy, and that if we
are blessed with such an imbecile Ministry
(Which God forbid) even that bold. but equally
just, demand may be yielded. We suppose that
then, and not till then, in the eyes of our
-1iuhctciSS tiIc HAWAIIAN udtlOQ VIII nave dCCdlucQ
" to the topmost round of positive independ-
ence 2"
And who is to receive the benefit of this
great loss of 1874 900? Is the French nation ?
Does any one believe that the importations of
brandy from France will be go increased as to
benefit French subjects in one iota? Who then
will il benefit? The retail liquor dealers perhaps?
No, indeed, if, as we arc told, the inevitable re-
suit of the reduction of duty will be to reduce the
retail price per glass to half its present rate,
within twelve months after the treaty goes into
effect. The profit to dealers will then be less
than at present, causing increased inducement to
adulteration and smuggling, while the tempta-
ton held out to natives to obtain spirits will be
vastly increased.
But we are told by Ministers that this govern
ment has obtained a fair compensation for all its
concessions in the liberty which France has most
generously granted to us to raise or lower ad
k5itum our duties on the Injuries and necessaries
of life. A man must have a very softened brain
who allows that to be poised rs an equiralent, for
the loss of S34, 900 per annum Such reasoning
belongs to the barbaric councils of the middle
ages and to the obsolete notions of our present
Ministry, but not to this enlightened nineteenth
Our Ministry, not content with subjecting
a weak government of limited means, striving in
vain to gain its Independence and to advance in
the arts and customs of civilization, to so heavy a
loss. have allowed the treaty to forbid the gov
eminent, in the fifth section of the 10th article,
to impose any additional expense or charge on
liquors, which is supposed to refer to the custom
Of placing a guard on ships having spirits or for
eign goods on board, which for many years has
been a complaint on the part of the French.
This. however. is a right which every nation