The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-02-15

We dcftpt III OF IcJcct Il I. Is IL our lnscrest 10
adopt it with it's faults, or throw up the whole
matter with the advantages it gives, and leave
tho. possession Of these strongholds still an open
question?
V-Suppose the treaty be ratified, it is peril
nent to inquire into its probable effects Its OPP
ponents assert, with truth, that it will probably
cause n large influx of people, capital and in
dustry into the Islands. Whose people, capital
and industry will these be- Your Committee
cannot suppose they will be TO any important
extent other than American. The spirit of enter
prise in our people are their close proximity will
induce American citizens promptly TO move on to
the fields of commercial profit on the Islands
which the treaty opens Other nationaliues
move more slowly, and more distant, and will
nave less faith in the pernanence of the union
between the Islands and the main-will, in fact,
be behind-hand in occupying the ground. The
treaty practically will give a monopoly of the IN
creased commerce and agriculture of the Islands
To American citizens. Its operation will be that
by degrees. the native Chiefs will sell their lands
to the newcomers, and the real property of the
Islands pass by purchase. p~iece-meal. into Amer
icnns hands; 80 that, in all probability, at the
expiration of this treaty ii will be difficult To say
whether the people will be Americans IN Hawaii,
or Hawaiians in America.
Immediately, the mere presence of so many
Americans in the Islands would cause a hostile
power to pause before attempting to make them
4 naval rendezvous, while the treaty itself will
confer upon this Government almost the right
u ltlcA - ~ cNiOhe ~ a. ~ AOANC
such occupation, should it at any time be at
tempted.
But ultimately. at the expiration of the treaty,
what will probably be its effects? Its sole pres
ent objection is, that it will cause such an in
creased production of raw staples to be admitted
duty free into the United States as to create a
loss 10 our revenue. Such increased production
pre-necessitates increased population, capital and
skill. With their present people the Islands can
yield nothing beyond their present product.
" -.u-onol &. Lol.N,~ H.. A.
increased population will be our own citizens.
1t is not unlikely that from twenty to thirty
thousand Americans will be found busy on the
Islands, digging, planting, building, trading,
fishing, thriving themselves and causing thrift in
the country. Already eight tenths of the skilled
industry Of the Capital Of these Islands belong to
Americans, and of the twenty-six plantations
producing over one hundred tons of sugar yearly,
twenty are now in American hands. Of one
hundred and four commercial firms in the Islands
(Which includes all of note) ninety are either
wholly or partly American. The material inter-
ests, the fortunes, the daily bread, the aecumu-
lated savings of this pushing, working, intelligent
crowd will, at the expiration of the treaty, he
absolutely dependent on Its continuance. To
deprive them, then, of reciprocity, will be to turn
their property from a benefit to n burden, their
profits to losses, their industry to waste, them
selves to bankrupts.
Let these seven years of profit and prosperity
pass, during which the native population will
have shrunk, at its past ratio of retrogression,
from $4,000 TO 10000, and the American popula-
ton have advanced to 20, 900 or 80, 900, owing
amongst them most of the land, capital, energy
and skill of the Islands, and then let the United
States present the alternative Of abrogation of the
treaty and ruin in one hand, or peaceful annexa-
ton in the other. Ii is not difficult to say what
the result would be. The then Hawaiian people
will probably speculate which of the two modes
NapOlcOnienes will the most easily express their
views-the coup d'etat or the plebiscitum unless,
indeed, the natural gravitation of the smaller to
the larger body have not previously solved the
question.
Your committee cannot but consider that the
inevitable sequence will be the incorporation of
the Islands into the American Republic. in order
To secure in perpetuity, the profits and property
created by reciprocity.
O-Let US next consider the probable profit
and loss to this coast and the rest of the United
States, in n pecuniary sense, resulting from this
treaty.
81 far as this coast is concerned, it is impossi-
bic 10 find any item ofloss which will accrue TO II
or It's Territories. The Reciprocity Treaty admits
into the Sandwich Islands. free of duty, our lum-
Der, our manufactures of almost every kind, our
food croIs-in fact, everything that we can,
proftably to ourselves, export. Its effect is To
make Us their bankers, their manufacturers, their
carriers, and, generally, their agents; and these,
not only for the present population and its bust
ness, but for the prospective increase under the
treaty. For instance, suppose n sugar plantation
should be started at the Islands. Nearly two
thirds of the total investment will be for ma
chinery, buildings, fences, agricultural implements
and supplies of brcadstuffs and clothing. These
will come from here almost wholly, The loss to
the United States revenue is only in n very small
mcasure-perhaps one fifth of the whole-borne
by us. So far as we ON this coast are concerned,
we can but modestly concur, happy that our
position here enables us TO catch without cost Ga
effort the lions share of the benefits of i measure
of national policy.
The profit and loss to the United States is an
entirely different question, and no doubt 1t has
been, and will be, well counted by the Cabinet
and the Senate. Immediately the treaty looks
one-sided enough. The Hawaiians abolish duties
on American products which last year yielded to
them some S64 900, while our Government admits
duty free Hawaiian raw staples on which last year
il collected about Sl45.G 600.
The possible revenue which may, during the
treaty, result To the United States, depends upon
three circumstances, namely:
lst-Upon the area of land in the Islands
which may be brought INTO cultivation during the
treaty.
2d-Upon the number of people and the
amount of capital which ma" move on TO the Isl
ands to work those lands, and
3d-Upon the continuance OF the present war
tariff of the United States
Sugar is the raw product from which the most
gain To the Islands and loss to our Government Is
Before the American war, raw SUI
gar paid to the United States a duty of twenty
four per cent, which, upon low grades amounted
to about three quarters of n cent per pound. The
same sugar now pays three cents per pound, n tax
which, on some refining sugars, amounts to over
one hundred per cent. on their export value, and
on the whole will average over eighty per cent.
The continuance of this enormous duty is regard
cd by the sugar trade of the United States as an
upon it of an unequal and onerous
portion of the national burden, and strenuous eff
forts are being made to reduce it. Coffee even,
as n war tax, only pays a duty of five cents n
pound, or about ~forty-fve per cent of its export
value, while refining sugars which are manulac-
tured in the United States before consumption,
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