The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-04-11
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
SATURDAY. APRIL II.
The Liquor on Hawaii

The Liquor Trade on uwa
Nh EDrroE You speak Of . . lack Of efficiency
or cooperation in s~eeonding the Government efforts
to suppress Illicit distiIlation and rurn-seIling among
the natives % Hawaii" What are these Govern
ncnt eforts2 Changing An officer now and then for
= worse one-that's about the c=libre. AMI il Is
usually done with spite. and not with vision What
gOod Is efectelg None at all Most Of the Magi-
trates and Deputy Sherifs that I am acquainted with
"eo-0perzte the other way, and knO~ the ROPES
You ~eoulin'5 iHish = days travel more SUCCESSFULLY
than BY putting up at soHIe " haBohsnO's hOuse,
where. after evening prayers, you may get warned
M in the safest and most respectable company, TO
your hear' : content, aud I'll your aask IN the morn
ing. Who dreams that $500 n year viii purify =
native pp 70 justice standard. And how many in
thee &. outer districts can You find worth more, OF
rs much. The whole thing wants reforming, but
there l. no dealing with men whose seiEe0nseit and
blind prsjaiiez viii never let them learn anything.
The " Government efforts" may rank with Mr..
Partingt0B's attempt TO sweep hack the Atlantic
Ocean with her broom and pattsns. and about as old
womanish. The country Is full Of d~is;iIIeries (such
as they are.) and viii remain 80. They might be
got ri q. but the way 20 10 it-being wise. patriotic,
economical and jas;-wOud not Of course be sane-
toned at our beelOuied bureaus. LegaIize the bust
= On ~ on tlALI1lAols - might DC tuIEt best,
requiring boBls. SC, and iupcsing restrictions
which 10 WOaIl be impoiitic and ruinous To break
through. A. long as liquo. Is used here land that
VIII be As long as ducks sEim.) and legally imported,
50 long IL would Be just A. safe and more satisfactory
90 make H here. To talk Of such n course assisting
AMI abettinz~ intemperSnce i shallow nonsense. The
work wouLi be in rysponsiblc hands. working unIer
= strict excise, and there Is no reason why liquor
sFOuId not be ~ safe in WelI-regulatel distiIleries as
IN the HouolHi1 Cust0m House. The distllcrs wouIi
look out Sr the unlicensed fellows more efectnAlly
than SheriEs and police have ever done, and a. re-
gAris the District justices, they should never be the
ferrets u the law IOurs, SC, HAWAII
We give the above letter space in our columns.
not - much from any especial merit which il
may have in itself a. for IL furnishing n text for
remark on the subject broacbed. We are viii
ling, too, to allow the remarkable powers Of logic
and rhetoric displayed by the writer to have their
full effect.
IL Is 10 be hoped that the coming Legislature
will waste no time on attempts To mend the laws
on the distiIlation or sale of spirituous liquors.
The statutes, as they stand. are sufficiently ex-
plicit, and suited to the wants Of the country.
What is wanted is simply a determination to
enforce them ON the part OF those in authority.
With respect 10 the licensing Of distillatiOn. it is
limited 10 the district Of Honolulu, and has here
proved q pecuniary faiIure-the liquor manufac-
tured not being in demand. and having been aetu-
ally, rs we are told, shipped from the country to
Victoria. 20 the utter discontinue Of the argu-
ment Of home production for home consumption.
The free manufacture Of the liquor known
among the natives a. . okOleEaO - is no doub, n
paying business. Some Of it is what might be
termed very respectable whisky, but the greater
portion = vile. poisonous stuff. But whatever
the quality OF the article produced, the exteiling
Of licenses to other districts ON the Islands would
have the most deleterious effects. 1t would give
would be to remove the present restrictions on
the sale of the liquor produced. The country is
better or without the liquor, any way. and any
legislation which prevents its free obtainal is
beneficial to the people. IL is one advantage Of
a centralized Government that there is the power
to control matters OF this sort, provided there IS
only the inclination on the part Of the authorities.
Hence the excuse that the laws are unsustained
by public opinion. has hot the weight il would
have in the city Of New York. which is 30 often
addGeed a. an example by the opponents of
of Republican Governments. The late successful
effort, on the Part of tie Government, to suppress
distillatiOn on North Hawaii il n commentary in
the first place on the inefEcicncy which preceled il.
IL shows that men can De found who will be
faithful, If the Government will only look for
them in the right direction, and that vigorous
measures viii Dc Conducive to the morals and in
du-irial prosperity Of the country. From the
district IN which we believe seven stills were SUD
pressed. We hear that 81 decided change has taken
place. and that natives are now ready to 90 10
work for wages ut slme honest employment.
Previously there Wa ~ much money t. bs~easily
obtained By distillation, and selling to various
parties, that many gained their livelihood in this
vay-while Others who Obtained n living by other
methods were to0 much given to dissipation to be
nc any steady work. and the result was 4 most
ruinOus state OF things IL was the general CON-
piaint that no wOrkmen could be obtained, a.
though there were n plenty Of ablc-boiied men.
Our correspondent woIld recommend the HceIs-
ing OF distilhtion ~ n remedy. rs we have said
before, the safcst way for the country Is to set
faithful men at work TO enforce the already ex-
i-ting hws- No respectability ought tn be given
t. n business that i already working ruin to the
people BY a letter from Kauai we know Of 4
district there = where four still are in full blast
ih ~ tiICuib VI ei-u1 mHerf III SPITE TO- OF tie
fact that three d1zen eases Of miserable gin were
sold weekly in The same neighborIOod. 1t seems
probable that this Is only a specimen Of what is
el-cwhere true.
The question Of limiting drunkenness by sup
pressing distillation is simply one of power, not
Of justice With respect to the continuance Of
the restriction On the sale Of liquor to Hawaiians,
hope no fal-e friend Of the race will endeayor
b remove it. One argument used in support Of
such n measure j. that IL i derosatory 20 the