The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1875-03-27

VIZ DISLIKE To DISPUTE with our neighbors Of
the press, and have endeavOred to avoid il as
much a. possible but when we make a statement
OF fact and they fatty contradict it, selfrespect
requires us to make our record good. In the FIRST
place, the Gazette styled the protest Of the San
Francisco sugar refners a e grossly exaggerated
stetement." We did not take issue upon this
point, but said that the protest was doubtlezs
based upon figures uttered by the publisher Of the
G0sene during some fifteen years past. Tie said
publisher, with more pugnacity than discretion)
answers this week as foIlows:
"a writer in the ADVERTISER evidently not its
editor.) attributes to rs the authorship Of the asser-
ton made by the San Francisco rehners that these
islands can produce one hundred and Fifty millions Of
pounds Of sugar. No such assertion has been made
by rs"
As a rejoinder. we quote the following extract
from the Yearly Review Of the business Of these
Islands for the year 1865. to be found in the Cow
NERcnL ADVERTISER. (Henry VI. Whitney, pub
lisher,) for February 10Th, 1866:
The area Of the group il set down at COCO square
miles. and it is thought, at . very low estimate. that
one-eighth Of it. or say 10000 acres, is adapted to
grazing and agriculture. Of this 100. coo acres ap
supposed to be suited to cane culture. and capable Of
producing 2OO.OOO,OOO pounds Of sugar when under
full cultivation"
To show that these statements have been taken
as authority, we make an extract from the report
Of the Committee Of the San Francisco Chamber
Of Commerce, when the subject Of a Reciprocity
Treaty was up for discussion in ls67-6S:
"They lthe committed have adopted in preference
the estimates given in the yearly review Of the ca
Pacify and products made up by the COMMERCIAL
ADVERTISER Of Honolulu, for 1865. compiled as they
are informed from official sources, and before this
treaty was contemplated " This compiler had
certainly no motive to understate facts. and it is pre-
sumed had access to the best sources Of information -
In the COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER (Henry NJ.
Whitney, publisber,) Of December 18th, 1867,
the following sentences will be found
"There are some statements made by the -AHG,
which need correcting. The impression that these
islands have land enough to produce cane to supply
the United States, is entirely incorrect. The whole
area Of the group is 6O6O miles, equal to say four
millions Of acres. The area Of good sugar growing
land on all the islands, is supposed to be about 1OO.-
600 acres, capable Of producing on an average 200,
OOO, 900 pounds annually. . . There are probably
FIVE hundred thousand acres Of good land here suited
to pasturuge. which may perhaps be put to some
other branches Of agriculture; but the general belle
is that it will never grow cane proftably, unless somt
mode Of irrigation is devised that is not now practi
cable"
Now if it is a grossly exaggerated statement
to aver that these islands can produce one hundred
and fifty millions pounds of sugar, how muct
more gross is the ezaggeration in saying thai
they can produce two hundred millions of pounds
The philosophical Mr.. Billings observes elm
teIlect without judgment is what ails about hal
the smart people in the world" And we thinl
so too