The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1870-12-03
THE PACIFIC
Commercial AObertiser,
SATURDAY. DECEMBER 8

Ocean Steam
The value of the productions of any district in
crease or decrease in rapid proportion as that
district is near to or remote from Il market. y
fat OK on a pasture close to Honolulu is worth
more than the same animal at Kahuka, whilst
on Hawaii it would be worth still less. The same
rule holds good with a keg Of sugar or a barrel of
molasses-it is worth more the nearer it is to a
market. Nor is it alone the excess in the cost of
transport from the longer distance which reduces
the value of produce. No one will 90 two miles
to get what can be found one mile off. Again,
all trade between two countries is in the nature
Of barter that is, either directly or Indirectly
the productions of one country muSt in the long
run be exchanged for the productions of another.
Therefore if, say sugar be exchanged for iron, the
nearer market has a double advantage over the
more distant,-it saves in the transport of what it
sends away and of what it gets in return. By
reducing the distance of any large mart, or what
is in effect the same, by quickening and cheaper
ing the means of communication with it, we raise
the price of what we have to dispose of, and at
the same time lessen the cost of what we get in
return-or, we receive more in return for the
same quantity exported that is, we raise the
f~-NN VI ~ ANAASO " - AOoDAS ~
What railways have accomplished in this way
on continents, ocean steam navigation must effect
for our islands. The importance of bringing this
group of islands into close relations by steam yes
sells with the continents on each side of us, has
we think been as yet hardly realized. 1t will be
in effect as though the borders of the Pacific
Ocean were closing in upon US. This effect we
venture to predict will prove the more remarka-
bic, for the simple reason that our group is one
of the most remotely situated countries (worthy
the nancy on the surface of the earth from the
rest of mankind. An immense ocean is now
bridged over for us in two main directions but
in one direction we have as yet hardly had time
to know our neighbors, or how much mutually
beneficial trade we can do with them notwith-
standing which, however, the practical result has
so far, we think, exceeded the most sanguine ex-
pectations. If the navigation of the ocean by
steam be hailed as a grand boon to continents, it
must be almost the breath of life to large fertile
islands in the midst of the greatest ocean in the
world.
On such a view of our position, we venture to
think that all the information we can place be-
fore our readers on the subject of ocean steam
ships will be acceptable to them.
In the San Francisco Weekly Bulletin of Sep
TENDER 10th we find an article (from a CORES
of the BuAetin) headed, I" Something
about Ocean Steamships the object of which is
to show that in ocean navigation 50 the screw is
supplanting the PADDLE" and that a wooden
paddle-wheel steamer sails the ocean at a hopeless
disadvantage compared with an iron screw
steamer. We extract from il lie following com
parison between e FIRST class screw and a first
cla5s ra.dc steamer
TIE SCREW STEAMER 'ELEE."
Following is the detail, taken frOm the engineers
Of her run from Southampton T. AspinSaIl in
Sisy and june Last, communicated by a passenger: