The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1879-08-16

mOotns circuit, ana, IN these timeei he'i'oN1o
" extensions" and eventually the consignment is
closed out at auction, again on time to the
trade. We suspect that sometimes a Flemish
account " is the result Of these consignments OF
goods to an already over-stocked market. The
c~onsignor Of course expects and presses for re-
mittances from the Honolulu consignee, which
be is able to make only partially and after long
delays, for the coin is not here with which TO
buy exchange, and moreover the exchange IS not
to be had were the coin in hand. Thus 1t VIII
be seen that much of the blame for importations
beyond the needs and the means OF the country
must be laid to the account of the foreign mer-
chants, who, in spite of repeated warnings from
here, have insisted upon crowding our market
with goods on consignment. If they lose, as
many will no doubt in the end, they will have
themselves to thank. a recent issue Of the ;. r.
Commercial Herald has the following pertinent
remarks on this subject:
ing forward Of late to the Sandwich Islands. consisting Of
assorted goods, wares merchandise and mAehlneTy.
form Us that they do not understand it, and that there
must ere long be q reaction, that the traffic is being over
done, and that the limited population Of the Islands can
not possibly consume all the goods now going in that dt;
Tor the nsst sir months AGGREGATED upwArds OF 500. OOO.
which shows 8 very considerable increase over any pre-
vious like period. OF course we know that much Of this
crease in the production Of Sugar. Rice. and Coffee at the
Islands within the next Two or three years LAST week
Rice imports from the Sandwich Islands during the past
and previously. Thus far the Hawaiian Reciprocity
Treaty seems 10 be working for the good OF the Islanders
as we'll rs for the people of this Coast. 1t certainly gives
US cheap Sugar and Rice.
Our Island people were always liberal con-
sumers of foreign goods in ante-reciprocity times,
but it is beyond reason to suppose that we
should, even under the stimulating effects Of the
treaty, more than double our consumption of
foreign goods in a single year. This is however
what the figures would apparently show. From
San Francisco alone we imported in value, (in-
Guiding treasure) during the six months ending
June 30, the sum of 81 ,007 Sos, being about
double the amount for the preceding six months.
This is exclusive OF the sum of 81, 724.3 80, the
invoice value of our importations from Oregon
and Washington Territory during the same Pc
riod, which were mostly lumber and salmon.
Add to these figures the approximate value of
imports this year from Eastern U. S. ports up to
June 30, of which was dutiable SIT ,093, and free
by Treaty, $3.50, 762. 90, and from Europe during
the anne period to the value of say 1926 ,000,-
and We have a sum total of imports into this
little Kingdom during the first six months of
1879 of S1,542, pa. Our exports of domestic
products for the same period amounted in value
to 81 1884, 97, so that all We can place to the
credit side is the difference between these two
sums, which only amounts to $292,253. These
figures are reliable, and will prove of value for
future reference. This sum of less than $780,
600 to our credit for six months work on a cap
ital of say eight or ten millions invested in sugar
and rice, sounds very small. And it will be
still further decreased, and in fact more than
swallowed up, when we deduct therefrom, as we
must, for freight and insurance on cargoes, pas
sage money between here and California and the
East, premiums paid on life, fire and marine in
surance, the advances paid to laborers on planta-
tions, "a great deal of which, especially in the
case of Chinese, goes abroad), and the money
we have paid to California for steamers and
schooners for our inter-island trade. Taking all
these items into account and others that might
be mentioned, it will be found that there is a
large balance against us. In view of all these
undoubted facts, there is cause for grave consider
alton, and attention to the Italian proverb-
50 Make haste slowly