The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1883-02-03

under the direction and enures to he profit
of citizens or residents of the United States.
If this be so, il may be queried whether the
gain. Or much of it, from the sugar trade, is
not, at the very least, diffused among our
W people, and so that the of
the two counties becomes analogous to that
between the States of the Union. Moreover,
it is alleged that the population of the
Islands is increasing, and that their indus
tries are growing /; hat the demand for mer-
chandise, such as we produce or sell, will
naturally grow, and that as the effect of the
treaty has been to keep up amicable rela-
tions of all kinds, the keeping of the treaty
alive will tend to secure to the United States
that increase of trade, and determine the
ultimate commercial effect of the treaty.
IF the sense of the word commercial is
as It takes only the principal trade from
the islands to the United States, to-wit:
sugar (and it is in connection with this that
there is the most complaint that has reached
this Department., it would be this: The
price of sugar is greater on the western side
of the continent than the eastern, though the
former is much more readily accessible
from the islands, and naturally receives the
bulk Of sugar imported from them, and re-
ceives it without the payment of duties, yet,
while the price is greater at the West than
at the East, the eastern merchant cannot
offer his wares to consumers at the West at
as low a rate as his Western rival. At first
sight, one is apt to say that the ability to
import free of duty has something to do with
this, for, though he at the East may
also import free of duty, his transportation
being o the Cape or over the isthmus,
nH 49,. H. 4--f. W@~.a n
does that of his Western competitors, di-
rectly over the waters of the Pacific. While
Onthat sugar which he may perhaps i'm
port and receive at it's low cost, he must pay
duty, so that it seems superficial that by as
much, or by barely as much as the duty on
by that much the Western importers
have an advantage over the Eastern. But
here 1 must state what has beenlately given
me as a fact. 1t is this To a buyer from
the United States the price of sugar in the
Island is made by adding to the value of it
there a SUM equal to what would be the
duty on it at one of our ports where
sugar is subject to our tariff taxes. If this
is so, the Western shore importer gets no adj
vantages over the Eastern one by his
freedom from duty. The duty he would
have paid to the government, he pays in
effect 20 the seller on the islands, so that
the fact that the Hawaiian sugar pays no |
duty on Importation, If this information be |
true, gives no advantage to an importer of
it over the importers of the article from
other places of product, nor to the consumer
i'm the United States. L have this informa-
ton from an accredited representative of
Hawaiian Kingdom. Another great
advantage which the Western man has is
represented to the department IN more
and exclusive terms, of the car
riage of his wares, which he has got from
railroad companies, whose lines reach
rom the Pacific shores eastwardlY. By
terms of carriage exclusively his, I
ne shuts others from competition with him
over the country west of the Missouri river, u
when he meets other dealers east of the
Missouri, he is able, to some extent, to I'M
lerbid them also. 1 do not perceive how
evasion of the treaty, as they have practical
operations among dealers in sugar, con-
to this result. The department is
not aware of any complaint of the operation
IF the treaty on the business of this country,
md it appears that the principal thing
of is the successful rivalry of
he western dealer. ;
L do not see that his success is, in any
great measure, the effect of the treaty.
Therefore, 1 am not prepared to say that it
Deneficially affects the business interests of
his country to abrogate it.
Yours Respectfully,
CHARLES t.. FoLGER, Secretary.
The Geographic report also says:
The House Foreign Affair Committee
lfter hearing the above letter read, by a
majority vote authorized Kasson of Iowa to
-eport to the House in favor of retaining
he treaty, but in q modified form.
BlOunt and Belmont dissented from the
'eport of the majority, Belmont saying that
t was the Treasury Department rather than
he treaty hat was on trial owing to its adj
mission free of duty of sugars not contem-
plated in the treaty.
A joint resolution was offered in the
House, by Kasson requesting theP President
o take steps to bring about such a change
N the treaty as would cause the character
nd grade of duty-free sugar to be determined /
percentage of absolute fineness or ~clarifi-
instead of by color-standard, not
however, to impair the spirit of reciprocity.
The Eastern sugar men say, in reference
O this resolution, that it is vague and I'M
and, lift means anything, it
means tina the treaty shall stand. They
the President would not dare to assume
lnder the wording of the Committees reso-
ution, authority to a. steps to bring
bout the ~abrogatIon of the treaty.
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