The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1871-03-25
The New Government Building.

The building which has been erected by the
Government on the site of the old " Polynesian +"
Office, is at length completed and in part occupied.
The new building is a handsome structure, a
credit to the architect and builder, and a fine
ornament to the city. Built of the best materials
and in the most faithful manner, it is calculated
to stand for an indefinite period, proof against
the gnawing tooth of time, or the wars of the
elements-everything in fact, except the uncer-
tain commissions of mother earth, or the new
necessities for improvement which may be evolved
in the coming years.
The new building has so far been commonly
known as the " New Post Office, - and in the law
appropriating the funds for it's erection, it is 80
termed. But this is a misnomer. 1t would be
just about as appropriate to designate the Court
House building as the "Marshal's OHice,' or
the {" Office of the Police Magistrate" and the
Government House, "The Home Office, as to
call this new structure the Post Office, seeing
that just one quarter of the building is occupied
for the purposes of the postal service of the
country. A far more correct name would be the
Government printing house, inasmuch as the
whole upper half of the building and a portion
of the first story is to be devoted to the uses of
the Ministerial printing establishment. In fact,
the design from the beginning was plainly enough
to build a Government printing house, and the
Post Office was used as a convenient horse on
which to saddle the large expenditure of public
funds necessary to carry out the unpopular pro-
ject. No one believes for a moment, that had
the Ministry in the first place plainly and undis-
guisedly asked the Legislature of 1868 for an
appropriation Of fifteen or twenty thousand dol
lars for building a new printing Office, they would
have got it. They were too shrewd for that.
So the project of building a new Post Office,
which was a popular one because the necessity
was apparent, was held out to the Legislature,
and the money was voted for that object cheerfully.
They were sufficiently modest too, in their re-
quests, asking for only nine thousand dollars in
the outset, well knowing that twice that sum
would be required in the end. And when that
was expended, they again came forward in 1870,
with the request for an additional tride of five
thousand, to complete the now Post Ofice.''
and of course got it. Was it not cleverly engi-
neered |? The Government printing house was
there all the while, but the guileless representa-
tives of the people couldn't see it. And when
the Legislative Assembly for 1872 comes together
to deliberate for the good of the. nation, in addi-
ton to the fourteen thousand dollars already
expended they will of course be asked for a bill
of indemnity for probably four thousand more,
making in all the sum of eighteen thousand dol
lars, thus ~skillfully drawn out of the public
money to build a handsome cage for that Minis
terial toy, the Government newspaper, under the
agreeable disguise of a Post Office. Let us see
how this Government press account will stand
when presented to the next Legislature.
Cost OF View Building. 1900
For Directors Salary, pay Of printers,p purchase new
material incidentals, and interest, for two years.. $4,000
Making the snug sum 1890
We may add here that the foregoing estimate
of the cost to the country does not include the
loss to the revenue in the shape of Custom House
duties, and taxes RENTED.
Over fifty thousand dollars, to be balanced by
twelve to fifteen thousand dollars worth of annual
subscriptions to the Gazette, advertisements, Job
work and-neuO appropriations of the peoples
money. A cheap plaything-is it not?-the Gov
eminent press. elfr