The Hawaiian gazette., 1870-03-30

Regarding the economy of offering
subsidy to a foreign company to run the
route, there may be an honest difference
of opinion; but we are of the opinion
that any one who examines the subject
with the figures before. him, and with
responsibility upon him to make an eco
nomical use of the revenues of the country,
will not differ in his conclusions from
those already arrived at by His Majesty's
Government. In examining the question,
one should do it faithfully, and with the
view Of coming to an honest conclusion,
and not with the desire of finding some
| fault with other mems work Certain it
is, that the Government have offered the
subsidy authorized by the Legislature in
every quarter where it was likely to be
accepted by responsible parties, and the
answer has been unfavorable The last
answer from the n. P. T. Company, after
much deliberation, was, that they were
unwilling to run their ships where one
terminus was not within the United States
Twenty thousand dollars subsidy a year,
would expend in two years $4,000, and
we would have nothing left for it, ex-
cept the benefit derived from the work;
and there would be the constant uncer-
tainty as to whether the Legislature would
renew, in their biennial grants, the allow
ance made. 1t will be observed, in
examining the law authorizing the sub
sidy, that no time is stated for which the
contract may be made, unless, indeed, it
should be taken to be perpetual which
could hardly be possible. But, again, by
reyerting to the accounts of the RiIdueq,
we find that the gross earnings of the
ship in the year 1864 were S96,645, whilst
her gross expenditures were sS6,l47.
Among those gross expenditures are rep
resented:
Insurance. ~. - 49,. s3.2l6ls
interest. ...-.................. 559.SS
Repairs and alterations of Machinery. 2.50l.00
Repairs on vessel. .........,.-..... 2,253.OO
Inasmuch as the machinery and vessel
will start as good as new, this time, the
large items for repairs on the same can
not appear again, whilst Interest and In
surance are not items which Governments
take into consideration in such matters
Thus it viii appear, that, provided the
ship does as well as in 1864, she VIII act
ually pay the expenses of running, and,
at the end of two years, the work will
have been done as fully as it would under
the contract which the Legislature author
lied, and the ship will still remain the
property of the public, as valuable as she
viii be the day she first goes on the route,
less the usual wear and tear. Favorable
offers have been made to the Government
to supply coal; indeed, at less than two
thirds what was paid during the last year
of her running, when the vessel earned
S38, 433 90, and disbursed S44, 1853 but
the expense incurred for repairs to ma
chinery and vessel was S3,972.o5, and
commissions and insurance, $2,66l, and
fuel, 81 1864, ON which, as we have said
above, the Government will make saving
of over s., 900.
The cost of scaling the old boilers,
which had to be placed in the hands of
machinists to be done, and which is in
cluded in the disbursements above given,
was 81 ,4o4 This work can be done by
the crew, and the new boilers will be con-
structed with special reference to this
difficulty. ,........ ....-