The Hawaiian gazette., 1870-04-06

not better ourselves by any great i'm
provements Of communication and cheap
ming of transportation, as small towns do
! upon the continents, By railroads, in order
to give our people the advantage of going
to the goods, or to the manufacturer, but
we must depend upon making the goods
come to us cheaply. Our consumers must
buy at home, must get their work done
at home, in order, by concentration of
business, and by placing profits in home
hands, to finally bring about prices that
shall correspond to the lowest limit posi-
BILE to our commercial situation and cir
cumstances.
We occasionally hear persons say, eve
can get such and such goods fifty or more
per cent cheaper in Liverpool than we can
in Honolulu; that we are obliged to pay
excessive prices for almost everything
here as compared with other parts of the
world" Many seize opportunities, either
through friends going abroad or other
wise, to send small orders, and almost
everybody, at one time or another, have
an itching to import on their own account,
calculating, though not always proftably,
to gain some advantage thereby. The
small bundle importations by our packets
from the Coast, illustrates this point some
what, and shows how willing we are to
pay profits to dealers abroad. If we
want piece of machinery, or mechanical
work of any kind, we are quite apt to
send away for it, saying, it cannot be
done SO well here, or, it is so much cheap
er to have it done abroad that we cannot
afford to have it done here. 1t is fallacy
that things got abroad are much better
than those procured at home, it is par
ticularly so in regard to mechanical work,
AS Honolulu mechanics have no occasion
to fear comparison, with the mechanics of
other countries, in the merit of the work
turned out of their hands,
1t is unavoidable that prices of goods
and of labor should be higher here than
in England, or the United States, and we
should be willing to accept that fact to
reasonable extent. We ought to buy of
and employ one another, even to the ex-
tent of doing it at dearer rate than
would be necessary if we were a numer-
Gus people, and had an immense trade and
large home competition in business In
this way we shall most surely build up
home industries and create home employ
ment, and every ones business prosperity
will conduce to that of his fellow citizen
and neighbor's
But, while we thus point out what is
expedient in the way of self sacrifice to
the consumer, as viewed from public
stand point, he viii buy at home only
when the seller makes it evident that his
profits, or the price of his labor, is re-
duced to the lowest reasonable margin. 1t
is to the interest of all classes to work into
each other hands, but this will only be
done when what we get at home is either
at the same price as the same can be
brought here from abroad, or at most, is
but slightly in advance of such price.
Individuals will refuse, through self in
terest, to allow much personal loss for the
sake of the public welfare, and seller and
purchaser must therefore combine in order
to keep our trade in home hands
Give and let live " is a maxim that we
would do well to practice in all our bust
ness transactions.