The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1879-12-27

FRIDAY, %, Is79.
The stormy weather that prevailed during the early
part Of the week. and the advent Of the Christmas holi
days. together with the fact that most people are prepar-
Ing Tor the annual settlement At New Years-aItogethcr
produce a combination not favorable 10 animation ia
business circles. We have 70 report, however. SIX arriv-
ais from abroad-four with lumber, one with coal, and
one with assorted merchandise. f0r details q which see
below. The invoice value o. these imports VIII foot ny
about 1900. and a. the II. steamer failed b connect.
We have no exports 70 report There were some seven
hundred tons % freight ready o. be shipped for san
Francisco by the steamer, besides banana, etc, and a
number Of passengers were booked The sugar and rice
will be forwarded b. sailing vessels. but the owners Of
bananas Will suffer loss- The steamer made her appear
ancs OF the harbor At SO on Tuesday morning, a day
behind schedule time. TIE wind was blowing fresh from
the outward, with rain, but the pilot Capt Mcintyre
succeeded IN getting on board. soon after which she went
on under full steam and disappeared beyond Diamond
Head. taking the pilot with her 10 San Francisco
SECRETARY SHERMAN AsD SUGAR DUTIEs-Therei IS a
very bitter feeling among importers in New York against
Secretary sherman, because AZ his having usuTped the
authority b make laws. which belongs properly d Con
gress alone. Tho last Congress having refused % pass
laws suitable - Mr. sherman. he has enforced, by order
from the Treasury Department the very things Congress
rejaeted- Al least. that a. precisely whathe has done re-
garding the collection u the duty on sugar The use q
the polariscope In determining the dutiAble quality 81
sugar was disapPrCved after the most careful invesugn-
ton - the Committee Of Ways and Means. because they
we're convinced that its operation would be unjust both
20 the government and the merchant. suIl. in the face
OF that disapproval. Secretary sherman has deerced it,
use BY special order. The result Is confusion and dissat-
~iafactIon. Cargoes received two months ago are not liqui-
dated yet, and the Importer cannot learn how much duty
the government will demand Of him The reason 81 this
is that II L. attempted 10 ascertain the ssecharine strength
Of All the sugar In n cargo. by testing q few samples. As
samples. even from the same package. will differ in that
respect suficiently b. change the rate Of duty. the impos-
aibiHty 81 making Al accurate assessment o. duty I'm this
way - apparent. The merchants at the mercy Of chance.
or Of the oficer who makes the test. He may BE- assessed
much more than he ought TO pay. or he may find 1t worth
his while 10 induce the officer 10 assess him for much
less than the government ought to receive. In any case,
either the government or the merchant is liable to suffer
injustice. A Fixed rate Of duty. that cannot De changed
By chance or design. h what f. demanded, and IL is the
only way in witch fraud and injustice can be prevented
Is. y. Post. Nov. Is.
our dates from san Francisco are TO December 10. We
quote; .
suosn--R Refinery prices Extra powdered. 12zc
In.c- dry DO. IKE Golden q. lie extra q. ike d,
IOLc-aU IN barrels Half bbls Ne and bXs &c more FOR
all kinds. No order a. taken for less than 40 bbls or
eauivaieut In hf bbls OF bIs- Hawaiian, bEllc, accord
ing 20 quality. During the month u November the local
rehners advanced their prices lie q n all round Thus
far this month. they have reduced them lie u All
round. 40 that they now stand Just where they did on the
Izt November. The advance was 20 check orders, and IT
was quite : success.
HI6E-China, 81 s5G4 co FOR mixed, and sGGG 80 2 100
ms for No. 1 China Hawaiian table, 6Ac to 6Ae = ID
The am says The " boom" in the sugar market has
been arrested, and a decline Of lc = n Is now announced
for refined goods, following a reaction In the New York
market. This IL not exactly in accordance with the mass
OF statistics published BY some journals purporting to
the raw material. The local refinery has a good supply
% raw sugars, ex recent arrivals