The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1881-08-13
KALAKAUA.
rrrom the Ea,p.tan ea.e,.. egh June

From the Egyptian gazette 18th June.
The recent visit of the King of the Ha-
waiian Islands was an interesting event in
more ways than one.
1t was the visit of the West to the East,
of the new world to tie old King Kala-
kaua is the ruler of a country the existence
of which was unknown to the rest of the
globe only one hundred and three years
ago. In Egypt, he saw II land which four
thousand years back had already made it
self famous.
1t would be interesting to know what
were the impressions of the Western Mon
arch.
He has had an o&ortunity of seeing
monuments of an antiquity and interest
such a no other land can boast of. He has
seen the mighty Nile flowing on its feTtil-
izing course to the sea. He has gazed on
that great engineering work, the Suez
Canal, ahd he has seen the harbOT of Alex
andria with its crowd of foreign shipping.
Further than this, he has had the OppOrtu-
nifty of making himself acquainted with
the SueZ Burial Board, and of contemplating
the magnitude of the Egyptian Debt
All these things will, we may be sure,
not be lost on our late visitor, who has
shown himself to be intelligent beyond the
ordinary run of mOnarchs.
Doubtless he makes note of what he sees,
and snch institutions as appear advantage
Gus may perhaps be some day introduced
into his own dOminiOns. He may not in
deed be tempted to copy Egypt in her Pyr-
amids, in her Suez Canal, or even in her
Suez Burial Board but he may well be
tempted to try to initiate her in the matter
of Finance. The Hawaiian Islands have
already National Debt. 1t is n small one
il is true, only some miserable el00,OO0;
but with the example of Egypt before him,
King Kalakaua may soon find the means
to make il a large one. He has then only
TO institute Commission dEnquete,
European Controllers. and Commissioners
of the Debt, to repudiate nearly half the
interest, and Hawaiian securities will
stand higher than ever. We do not say
that any such project i determined on, but
its feasibility Is obvious, and this should
not be lost sight of by spectators in foreign
funds.
1t must be borne in mind that the Ha-
waiian Islanders are by no means behind
hand in the matter of civilization, nor
backward in adopting the institutions of
other countries. In some respects, notwith-
standing the lateness of their start in the
race, they are considerably ahead of Egypt.
For instance, the government i in every
sense a constitutional one, carried on
through the instrumentality of Chamber
of nOtables and representatives Slavery
is unknown, and the women enjoy the
most unbounded freedom.
Added to this, the people are but'lightIy
taxed, and, as consequence, they are
prosperous and happy. Nature has, il is
true done much for them. The islands
which form their home are justly termed
. gems of the ocean, In addition to a
delicious climate they have mountains
fourteen thousand feet high, and the largest
volcano in the world. The slopes of the
hills are covered with magnificent forest
trees The harbors are formed by Natures
architect, the coral insect, working from
unknown depths. Against the barriers
thus erected, the blue waters of the Pacific
beat with gentle violence, whilst from a
beach of glittering whiteness, groves of
cOcoanut trees wave their feathery plumes
high in the air, and gracefully bend their
slender stems TO the breathing Of the
pleasant trade-wind
The islanders, it Is true, killed and eat
England's greatest navigator, but they
have shown their willingness to atone for
their error by erecting a monument to his
memory. Fashions have changed since
then. and an outbreak of " tTichnOSisn -
amongst the missionaries i no longer re-
garded by the natives in the light of an
impending famine. Nevertheless ." uneasy
lies the head that wears a CROWN and it
is not to be expected that, even in that
pleasant land, King Kalakaua should
escape the troubles which, by "A perhaps
wise dispensatiou of Providence, seem in
separable from royalty.
Hispresent difficulty is OF "a somewhat sim
gular nature. 1t arises from q terrible
falling of in the population of his King
dom. \ monarch without subjects cannot
be said TO occupy very dignified or even
useful position; and yet this is the state to
which, unless some remedy can be devised.
Kalakaua is likely 10 be reduced.