The Hawaiian gazette., 1871-04-12
Smuggling.

this community imagine that large bust
ness in smuggling is carried on at this
port; but 1t Is not so evident that they
have any grounds upon which to base
their charge We, not having any eonnec-
ton with the class, if class there be, that
makes a business Of detrauding His Ma
jesty's revenue, can not speak by the
book. and can not, therefore, make our
denial as positive As the charge. We
may, however, suggest that 1t would be
becoming persons cognisant Of illicit traffic
to right the wrong by saying word to
the Collector General, who is ever ready
to protect the rights of all importers.
ANY person who viii take the trouble to
examine the Inward Manifest" of any
or al Of our packets, viii be satisfied
that the numerous packages procured by
the Captains, Pursers or Stewards, are
entered according to law; and we believe
that as shrewd business men as they are
confessed TO be, would not run the
risk Of detection in smuggling opera
ton, under our very moderate tariff:
That some persons who furnish hats
and the more expensive lines Of dry
goods, or packages Of coued beef or
other groceries, too commonly on the Man
ifests Of the packets in quantities to
warrant the Supposilion that the goods
are intended to fill orders for consumers
may have reason to complain, we viii not
dispute. We have always held that as a
rule, persons who derive their income from
these Islands, should expend it here; or,
in other words, :. live and let live" should
be our motto.
The shortening Of lines of communion
ton always tends to derange markets;
rates Of profit under the old order Of
things are found to be impossible under
the new. Our neighbors in San Francisco
are suffering under the arrangement
caused by the completion Of the railroad
which spans the Continent Of North Amer
lea. They can no longer realize fortune
upon every commercial transaction. Trade
slackened with them, and what little was
transacted was found to be with the
agents Of the aggressive, shrewd and en-
terprising merchants Of Chicago and New
York. The merchants Of San Francisco.
upon waking on the morning after the
Pacific Railroad was completed, found
that thereafter, if they did any business
at all, they must do it without demanding
from their customers a percentage of
profits unreasonably large; they found
that they must do business as people
did in other centres of trade; that in
fact, they had no monopoly such as
they had before enjoyed, and that they
must compete, even handed, with the
great commercial centres Of the Con
tinent-To continue: The agents of the
New York and Chicago merchants, with
samples in hand, were enabled to take
orders and place the goods on a specified .
day, and at a rate that seemed to threaten
the ruin of the commission houses Of San /
Francisco. Merchants grumbIed, but this .
did not effect a cure of the evil; they
found that they must transact business in
a manner that would justify a smaller
profit.
We believe that the shortening of COM
munication between this port and the
ceutres of our supply has had much to do
with the stagnatioa now existing in bust
ness circles here. Our citizens visiting
san Francisco have been surprised at the
comparative cost of articles consumed by
families. and when the obliging officers of
the packets offer, for small commission,
TO place any article they may desire, it is
not strange that so many little orders 90
forward
Again: After scanning a list Of goods
supplied BY the steward Of one of our
packets, we arc satisfied that most of the
articles are not to be procured here, and
if they could be, only at rates that would
seem to justify ordering them from abroad
Parties dissatisfied with the business trans
acted By officers Of the packets, instead of
accusing them of q crime would, perhaps,
find s. more ready cure Tor the evil they
complain of by importing the lines Of
goods demanded, and by fixing rate of
profit to be reached by men Of moderate
means.
Fuiis.