The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1873-08-23

To Tie Editor Of The Pacific Commercial Advertiser:
SIR.-In your comments on my letter published in
your issue of Goth ult, in which L called attention TO
some of the many obstacles and impediments which
stand in the way of the Treaty of Reciprocity on the
basis of the cession of Pearl Harbor, you discredit
my allegation that its ratification by our Legislature
is generally considered very predetermined, and you
say that on the contrary the experience of the past
indicates the confident belief that a majority Of
intelligent Hawaiian Representatives, when the sub
ject has been fairly and t~ruthfully placed before
them, will heartily approve of it. Perhaps you will
kindly indicate whereabouts any experience of the
past, - where the soul stirring project of the aliena-
ton of Hawaiian territory was involved, is to be
found in the history of the kingdom, for l confess
my researches have failed to furnish any. If none
such exist, as l believe to be the case, / say that no
analogy can be adduced from any other matter
heretofore submitted to q Hawaiian Legislature, and
your forid anticipations will prove nc more than the
baseless fabric of a vision, only calculated to mislead.
Indeed 1 apprehend that late events--and c~onspicu-
ously amongst these the meeting at Kaumakapili
Church-where a large native audience unanimously
applauded Judge Kapena's anti cession views, as
well as numbers Of similar demonstrations all over the
group, do most clearly indicate a deep rooted and
AbBNAlJ 6BAN0NAAS o'NA~NpA ~ oS NN~~ =
while so far as 1 can learn no counter demonstration
in its favor has any where occurred among the native
population. The confident belief which these
facts suggest to me is that these " intelligent Hawai-
ian Representatives :" whom you expect TO support
and carry the treaty, will in all probability be COM
PEELED by these hostile constituencies to give pledges
to oppose and defeat it in the Legislature. l very
much doubt whether you are to-day as confident in
the opinion you then expressed as when you penned
your c~ritique; and it is perfectly manifest that the
zeal of your party in Honolulu, which was then at
white heat, has latterly cooled down to a very mod
crate temperature.
You also somewhat Dramatically assert that l am
in error in alleging that the treaty must be submit
ted to both Houses of the Unltet States Legislature,
and you aver that it has only b obtain the ap proval
of one. On this subject | have been kindly furnished
with the following, which was published in the
PACIFIC COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER of 18th March,
1868 "Telegraphic Feb. 26-Allison offered n res
olution declaring as the sense of the House of Repre-
sentatives, that the right to regulate the duties of
importations belongs to the Legislative power of
Congress and it is beyond the power of the Presi-
dent and the Senate, as the treaty making powers to
authorize importations of the manufactures or pro-
ducts of foreign countries, except at such rates as
the tariff may prescribe"
1.-THE resolution was adopted without discussion.
The resolution is aimed particularly at the treaty
with the Sandwich Islands,"
The following editorial remarks appeared in the
PACIFIC COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER of the same date
sFThe resolution introduced into the lower House by
MIR. Allison has no special importance or weight. IL
simply r~eiterates what was before understood-that
no treaty made by the Senate can change the reve-
nue. without the concurrence of the House Of Repre-
sentatives.' 1t is gratifying to me to have my
views so fully sustained by such an authority, and /
leave the PACIFIC COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER to recon-
Gle this little dilemma as best it may.
Again you palpably misquote my language when
you say that l asserted that in case of difficulty in
making title to ceded lands, 1t 1CiH be necessary to
convene q special meeting Of the Legislature. A
Olopna or NM latter will chow that / said n M a in
volve such q necessity.
L did not feel sufficiently aggrieved by your crit
ique to induce me to notice it at the time, nor would
l do so even now, did l not desire to comment on an
other topic. | have seen no reason to recant or
modify any of the views | have expressed. and | still
consider that the advocates Of the treaty are engaged
in a wild goose chase after an impracticable chimera
wasting on it time and energy which if well di-
rected might lead to valuable practical results.
Other projects for promoting national prosperity, and
relieving the present depressed condition Of our great
sugar interest, have been suggested, the most FEAST
Bile of which seems to be the conversion OF the mOlas-
ses, ~skimmings, and other refuse Of the sugar house,
which now go to waste, into negotiable and market
able rum, q product which 1t is generally under
stood defrays the entire expense of West India plan
tations, but which has been strictly prohibited here
at an enormous sacrifice to the country, without
any equivalent benefit of any kind, except the graft
fcation of q mistaken idea, digniied by the high
flown designation Of principle but assuredly Prin-
chile and interest never before ran so fatally foul Of
each other. 10 me IL seems u mlSdppuCaLlOu Oh inc
term to apply it to that which assumes to attain an
impracticable result, in limiting the consumption Of
s%pirituous liquors here, so long as their Gd Li6ttum
importation from abroad is permitted and ~practiced.
This restriction arbitrarily deprives the planter of
the reasonable enjoyment OF q valuable portion OF
his property guaranteed to him by the bill of rights,
without his consent and against his will, and thereby
becomes an unprincipled encroachment on his rights
under the false pretense Of principle whereas it is
neither more nor less than a foolish pandering to the
factious p~rejudces of a party, and is wholly indefen-
sible either on moral or rational grounds. The age
of mawkish sentimentality has clearly passed away,
and many Of its quandam disciples can now look at
such questions in a less factious and more practical
aspect than Of old, and can now appreciate the fact,
that no more moral depravity would attach to a cask
of Hawaiian made rum deposited in the Custom
House store than to a similar cask Of Jamaica rum
lying side by side with it which was imported from
Liverpool, while IN an economical point of view the
preference is clearly in favor Of the home made arti-
Gle, because when sold it adds to the capital of the
country by just the amount paid for it, whilst the
imported ar ticle is only an exchange for so much Of
cur cash capital as it costs laid down here.
[ understand that the manufacture Of rum from
the material referred to must be done on each plan
tation, in order to secure the genuine flavor, without
which it is not marketable, and which is impaired
by the ~skimmings and other refuse of the sugar
house which cannot be carried to Honolulu, because
they would ferment on the way and become entirely
~Valueless. Spirit made from molasses alone Is OF
little value and not in demand and would not pay.
There IS not any practlcaly dli1euIt or great expense
in securing the delivery Of every drop which leaves
the still, into containers accessible only to the Gov
ernment officer in charge, and it is only on the
assumption that such viii be secured, that L advocate
the measure. There cannot be any doubt that the self
interest of every planter to prevent the demorallza-
ton Of his people will be his most stringent oblIga-
ton to prevent a drop of it from getting circulation
among his people. Some of our planters are averse
to the project, but the great majority of them would
probably gladly adopt it if the restriction were re-
moved which | trust II NAV be in the next session Of
the Legislature.
These views are neither original nor novel, and
are submitted in this form in the hope that their
reiteration and ventilation may induce some who
now waver, to give them fair consideration which
may eventually work their reformation. y