The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1872-10-26
THE PACIFIC
Commercial A0brrtlser.
o %.
The Situation.

into an examination Of his resources, with the
object OF ascertaining just how he is situated,
what nc can and ought to undertake and what
forbear, and what his prospects are for success or
the opposite. The present moment, ION the
! ground that delays are dangerously is n fitting
time for ourselves, as a community, to in like
manner undergo a determination in a compre-
hensiye way 10 take account Of stock, as it were
calling things By their right names, and lodging
no truth, however unpalateable. And just here
we arc aware we shall be met with the objections
Of those whose hyorite but mistaken policy it
would be to conceal, even from ourselves if that
were possible. any unlayorablc symptoms that
may exist. But we believe that 4 plain state
ment Of a case is the initial step towards a cure.
The fact then IS undeniable and apparent to
all who have resided on these Islands for any
length Of time, that the country to-day, so far as
material prosperity goes, is in a less favorable
condition. than at any previous period in its
history Honolulu, the chief city Of the King
dom, and the nucleus of nine and capital,
since the days we might almost say when it
ceased to be n mere fishing village, never showed
less of business activity than to-day, nor indeed
ever possessed so little real basis for business
activity True, our streets are lined with stores,
but the majority of our retailers will honestly
tell you that they are not making expenses in
their business, and that they are holding on,
Micawber like, in the hope of a turn for the
better. The fact is, that our people have not the.
money to spend, and from whence is the business
change for the better to come D From whale
ships, which were once our chief support, and
which undoubtedly created the beginnings of
what we have had Of prosperity 1--WE can in the
future expect but little assistance 1t is perhaps
too much to say that we drove them away from
our shores, but we certainly omitted no oppOr-
tunity to profit by them while they stayed with
US, and some went so far as TO profess q satiated
indifference when they intimated an intention of
leaving. Somehow, the owners at home have got
an ingrained idea that their ships in former years
left too much money in Honolulu for the health
awSffss BY UNPLEASANT Contrast that the semi-annual
presence of the fleet caused the free circulation
of coin amongst all classes, yet we are quite as
sure that all the money made out of the whalers
did not remain here to enrich us, but that the
major part of it has left our shores for other
climes, in the possession Of its fortunate recipi-
ents. Thus much as to the whalers, in passing;
and any great expectations of future prosperous
times for Honolulu through their visits. cannot
reasonably be entertained.
but our other, and l~atterly our only resource,
il also falling of. From various causes the sum
total, in value. of our exports for the year will
show n decrease Of not far from S400, 0OO-a very
large and alarming figure for us, and on the wrong
side. The by no means surprising fact was made
known just before the sailing of the last steamer,
that DO exchange was to be had on San Francisco,
because we had no funds placed abroad against
which 20 draw. This state Of things will not of
course last any longer than the time that must
eIapse. before produce can be sent forward, but
its occurrence at all is an uncomfortable symp-
tom. 1t shows indeed, how almost absolutely
dependent We are on the good or ill success of
the planters, for the influence of n drought is
felt eventually in Honolulu, if anything, more
severely than on Maui, where it occurs. And SO
also whenever there is a diminished production
from any other cause, or n fall in the California
market-the effect is speedily seen and felt. And
the reasons for this are palpable enough. Homo
lulu produces nothing itself, and is but the store
house, the eatrepOt, for the planters, whence
they procure their supplies and where they ship
their produce to a foreign market sustaining in
this respect, much the same relation to the plan
tatiOns that it formerly bore to the whalers, with
the difference however, that the relation is vastly
more intimate with the former than it could have
been with the latter. And as with the metro
polls, so with the country ut large-all interests
are more or less identified with or affected by the
one paramount producing industry, that of sugar
growing. 1t is useless to attempt to overlook
this fact, and it is worse than useless-it is mis-
chievous-to undervalue it. We say mischiey-
Gus, inasmuch as a failure on our part to recog-
nizc the gravity of the situation, will and must
render us incompetent to grapple with the diff
culties that stand in the way of our progress, or
to intelligcntly and heartily seek for and apply
the means for overcoming those difficulties.
We find ourselves then to-day, as q nation,
possessed of one only available resource, the pro-
ductiOn Of sugar, and that on the decrease.
There are, undoubtedly, many other articles of
commercial value that can and will one day be
produced here and swell largely our list of ex-
ports. But the one thing we have learned to do
well, (after the expenditure of a great deal Of
time and money! is to make sugar. The object
in view now, is how to accomplish the produc-
tiOn Of a great deal more sugar than we do at
present, and If possible, at a reduced cost. And
the conclusion forced upon us amounts TO the
alternative Of either speedily increasing our
means of production, or of idly folding our
hands and drifting into national beggary. We
have the natural advantages of soil, climate and
geographical position, to make ours a great pro-
ducing country. Capital with which to develop
these natural sources of wealth Is at our call,
whenever we shall prove by our actions that we
know how to use it to advantage. Our primary
needs are labor and population. Will not a
united, an honest and a systematic effort procure
us both?
~ The barkentine Victor, from Puget Sound