The Hawaiian gazette., 1881-11-23

to- must be the fastening CT the deStruc-
ton which we would gladly see retarded,
even if it is vain to hope for its aversion.
That extremely out at the elbows sheet,
the San Francisco Chronicle, with failing
circulation, diminishing advertising list
and the pillows of debt slowly but surely
closing over its head, is struggling fer
existence and has hit upon an extremely
old dodge to prolong its miserable life.
Its only chance OF recovering itself is by
either getting subsidized to carry on an
unjust crusade, or by being bought off by
the party it is libelling. Anything for
senation, therefore, no matter how untrue,
how prurient, how obscene; there are gulls
enough everywhere who will believe, or
who will at all events, not take the
trouble to think and will thus have their
minds influenced the way the Chronicle
wishes. 1t was our weary and disgusting
task the other evening to wade through
file of the ChrOHieie, commencing at the IS
sue of October 23d and extending to No
vember 5th, and we were pretty thoroughly
bored before we got through. There
seem to be two lines OF attack which are
taken up somewhat connected it IS true, but
still bearing upon different points. The first
and most immediate plan is to get what it
can out of Claus Spreckels, and to this
end are given figures as to the prices of
sugar on the coast and in New York, cost
of railway carriage, ETC.; to give strength
to its attack it turned It's eyes Hawaii
wards; then came the thought of what
might bo done in the future by agitating
against the treaty: this would not bring
grist to the mill just yet, but it might at
some time, anyway it was worth trying;
so figures have been cooked up to show
the loss of revenue by remitting the SUI
word was needed however, and that was
found in "Slavery!" and following upon
that came another, immortality"
The paper INDUCES largely in headlines
of the sensational type as follows: Hell
of Hawaii, =" Disseminated Slaves, ," La
borers under pistols" 'South Sea
Slavery" "Manacles and bracoons,
. Hawaiian rum smuggling" Slaves in
Hawaiian Islands are kept In cheerful
spirits by cannon, " Planter and Peon, "
ITO sin and shame, " 4" Sharp competition
for concubines, " etc, etc, etc. 1t is al
most needless to combat the letter press
of articles which appear under such head
lines as these. What must it be but lies,
no action however innocent, no wrong
however unintentionally committed, no
remark however casually made, but it has
been twisted into deed of black-hearted
brutality or an expression OF calious IN
t-.selcAce. Pah! We are perfectly sick
when we read what the CAr0aicte writer's
imagine. What yile-minded set OF men
those writers must be when their minds
can inceat such details We can very un-
hesitatingly state that they are utterly
unfit for any decent society.
1t would be amusing, were it not sad to
notice the misplaced ingenuity, the con-
Trajectory statements, the far-fetched in
stances and the downright lies which are
brought together to make up these charges
against the Hawaiian Islands. Take for
instance the charge of " the sugar plant
ers on the Hawaiian Islands manufacture
large quantities Of a poisonous compound
which they call rula;" now as fact there
never has been any large manufacture of
rum; in 1876 the exports of this article
were 4 100 gallons, III 1879 they had sunk to
Asa gallons. Three years later, 1880, our
export of rum was $40 gallons, and during
the nine months Of the present year, end
ing September 30th it was exactly a
gallonsi These figures were as much at
the disposal OF the Chronicle writer as they
are at ours; they have been published and
are widely circulated; but what cares the
Chronicle for figures $50 much for the lie
direct, viz: the enormous manufacture of
the poisonous compound" Having al
lowed this hypothesis, the Chrouie!e next
proceeds to build a superstructure and to
accuse the Hawaiian nation as indirectly
the cause of a famine among the Indians
in Alaska. The $40 gallons, or the Il
gallons have been greedily bought up by
the Indians and they all got so drunk |
that they could not attend to their duties !
in providing food during the season and |
in consequence, after having devoured |
their dogs, they lay down and died: all
told beautifully in the Chroaicles most |
glowing style. Now it may, although the /
Chronicle does not care for facts, be inter |
esting to know that the uhiskcy and other |
liquor which was used as trade came from |
San Francisco and not from the sugar |
plantations at all; that the sugar planta
tions did not reap dollar of profit on the
transaction, and that at the present mo-
ment, in the vaults OF the Custom House |
here, is lying another consignment of this |
IuDDlSI, WHICH IO OIlC utIt Will udNt
thing to do with. Let the Chronicle, if it is
so virtuous, take a look round its own
city let it brand few Of its own
merchants as the murdereTs of its own
Indians.
For contradictory statements we cannot
cite anything better than that in one
number we are told, that the white man
suffers, because the native, who has lots of
fruit and vegetables, and is practically
well fed viii not sell except at exorbitant
figures, and then in another number that
the Kanakas themselves are dying off be-
cause Of the insrfiiciency of the food doled
out, VIZ: poi and salt fish! The passages
upon slavery, peonage and gross immoral
ity are too absurd to combat in detail,
they must defeat their own end for no one,
above the most gullible fool could pos
sibly believe the farrago Of chains, mana
cles, black holes, raw heads and bloody
bones which are danced before the eyes of
the ChroHicles readers. As for the Chronicles
figures they are of the very widest char
acter, and Yacillate from day to day, some
times the loss to the United States is
g, 500,G 600 again it is $3,500,000, and yet
again S3,SG0,000 yearly-if the black mail
is only carried on long enough
it would not surprise us to hear that the
Reciprocity Treaty is responsible for
loss equal to half the revenue of the
United States. No allusion is made by
the journal in question that the average
exports from the United States to the is
lands for the four years before the Re
,iprocity Treaty came into force, 1876,
we're valued at S6S0,16 161-that for the four
years since the treaty has been in force