The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1869-08-28
Correspondence Of p. c. Adyertiser.l
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Mr.. EDITOR Governments, in these days OF
moral and political enlightenment, are supposed to
be instituted and conducted . for the greatest good
Of the greatest number" To support government
and to enable it to provide that '' great good, -
taxes are imposed. direct and indirect, and the
question az to which of these two modes is preferable
for the purpose Of raising the required revenue, is
one that has been much discussed by political econo-
mists, in Europe and America. Two parties have
ARISEN Free Traders" and "Protectionists,"-
and by turns, the policy Of each has been tested by
years of experiment. The conclusion which has been
at length very generally arrived at by those who
have observed closely and thought deeply on the
subject, may be summed up in n few words, copied
from q late American publication
Free trade, in its unlimited sense,-such free
trade as is preached by the most vociferous of its
advocates,-means dependence upon foreign sources
for everything that can be produced abroad cheaper
than il can be made at home. IL means death to
the manufacturing and mechanical interests
Of the country, and the conversion Of the enterprising
mechanics, who now add so much to the industrial
wealth Of the nation, into agriculturists. All cannot
be successful farmers or merchants, and any policy
which tends to confne the abilities Of men to any
one channel, however broad that channel may be, is
n bad policy.
Protection, on the contrary, does not imply pro-
hibition, as its opponents, many of them, unfairly
claim. IL means only the proper adjustment of tariffs
90 that we can compete with foreign producers in all
those industries which may, with moderate encour-
agement, thrive here, and for which we possess equal
natural advantages with foreign competitors. 1t
means protection to labor against forced competition
with the cheap labor Of other countries. 1t means
opportunity for those whose natural genius leads
them into other fields Of industry than agriculture,
to develop that genius and thus add to the mental
wealth Of the country as well as to its material
resources
We hear q great deal about the distinction be-
- s--.G .-I -,S4S. III -
though these were and ought to be considered sep
arately we do not believe in this distinction. We
hold that the best revenue tariff will be the one that
protects the industries Of n commonwealth-the
sources from which all revenue must come, notwith-
standing the sophistry by which it is attempted to
disguise this important and fundamental truth.
"No more fatal error has ever found adherents in
the political history Of our country than the doctrine
of free trade--when mankind become one nation,
one brotherhood when all produce equally, not
alone for self but for the good OF the whole when
ignorance, ami greed, and lust Of power no longer
exist ; when the millennium has come, free trade will
be the thing. Meanwhile we seem to live in an
epoch some thousands Of years too early for that
blissful
The views set forth in the foregoing paragraphs,
though addressed to the people Of the United States,
are no less applicable to our case in this small king
dom Of Hawaii. The great and most important
question with us, is not simply how shall We raise
sufficient revenue to meet the necessities of govern
ment, but-how shall We apportion the burden 50
that it shall be least felt by the poorer classes? Not,
surely, by direct taxation-the most obnoxious form
of raising q revenue, because the most palpable to
the appreciation Of the tax payer. Then it follows
that we must resort to the indirect mode,-impost
duties. Not, however, as now, by an indlscriminate
tariff of 50 much per cent. nd raiorem upon all
goods, wares and merchandise,-wit a few import
ant exceptions in the matter Of luxuries. which are
very properly taxed high, and some Of the products
Of agriculture. in the sale of which no imported
article can be brought into competition.
What We need is a thorough and discriminating
revision of the tariff. by which protection may be
substantially afforded to our home industries Our
government processes, and through its organ, the
Gazette, constantly reminds us, that its sworn policy
is to do all in its power to encourage and assist this
nstion-yet in the transition state between civiliza-
ton and barbarism-in all that shall tend to raise
them In the social scale In order that they may be