Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1884-03-22

.
Nau may win what now yon lack
Freedom from contempt. attack
orr Biicus c,ilir
! HfAE .tND OrBEBHISE
"Thcrc is nothing in business but
sclfshness the intcnsest kind OF sell
hshness. Iclcmachus gazed at Mentor
with wide-eycd wonder Then why
are you business man p asked the
youth. Because I have a wife and
babies to feed, answered the gray
beard. "Ghcn I wish the millennium
would come sighed the youth 'rhc
I business millennium will come when
there is no more business replied the
other
alt is lovely sight to see the
righteous business. man sit under The
very shadow Of Gods altar, and drop
into the contribution box some moietv
of fifty per cent profit 1t is nm instruc.
tive spectacle to witness leading bust
ness men rise on their honest legs and
lash themselves into virtuous fury at
the indirection Of their fellows. 1t is
even more instructive to- feel at ones
throat the fingers of these moral bust
ness bandits and be able honestly to
thank the Lord they are not as other
men might be Continued Mentor
Telemachus went out into the cruel
street with something like lead at his
heart. will go and see Merchanto,
he said.
Merchanto is good example of a
successful Christian merchant His
integrity and his shrewdness are alike
unquestioned If crooked dealing or
moral indirection or even obliquity of
business vision have been charged
against Merchanto, such charges have
never reached the ears of Telemachus.
But when TelemachuS went to Mer-
chanio for light he found him as de
voted as Mentor had been to the un-
christian doctrine that Christianity has
nothing to do with business. :" am a
searcher after truth. and want to know
why it is right that knot of merchants
should be able to say to our banks
| practically You shall not sell ex-
change on San Francisco at tess than
four per cent. premium, except you sell
it at a loss, said 'rclemachus. at is
right for this reason, said Merchanto :
"The knot of merchants represent
many planters whose interests must be
jealousy guarded. Sugar is falling
('has fallen certainly, and may not yet
have reached bed rocky and planta
ton profits are bound to be less this
year than last, in proportion to the
yield. Many of these plantations have
been carried on under most discourag
ing debt and difficulty. Only the most
successful of them are able to forego
any source of revenue. They need the
profit on the exchange they sell to
make good the deficiency arising from
the fall in the Cuban basis" ''ln other
words, the legitimate loss which the
plantations are now suffering must be
borne by the rest of the community 2,
queried the youth. ''Why not ?" urged
Merchanto, stoutly. ''But | thought
the plantation agents were the ones
really benefited how in that case p
81 don't see how that makes any
difference, maintained Merchanto.
alt is nothing but the conscience Of
tho mar, ,rhA how, ax,haY,rra ,f cell tl,ot
prevents them from putting it up three
per cent. every fifteen days, Exchange
is a commodity, like flour or sugar, and
is regulated by the laws OF supply and
demand. If sentimental considerations
obtain, so much the better for the com
munity. There is, however, no earthly
reason why purely business consdera-
tions should not control. Here are
few men having exchange to sell Here,
also, are large number of men needing
exchange. The latter go to the former
who are the only men in the com
munity having exchange to sell land
beg for the privilege OF buying it. Why
should the exchange merchant not put
up the cost of exchange just as the
Honolulu grain merchant put up the
price of grain, or the Cuban sugar factor
pulls down the rate on sugar p he
concluded.
"lt Is true" said Prospero, in reply
to several queries, "that, heretofore,
most of the plantation agents to
whom the plantations were generally in
debt received, by agreement, the pre-
MUM on exchange. But the agents
in this particular | speak for my own
firm have not charged the plantation
owners any premium on their personal
Exchange, or exchange on remittances
for goods purchased for plantation use
And it was always understood that. il
Exchange should sell at a discount, the
|agents would have to stand the loss.
In the present instance, the agents will
probably divide with the planters. +"
Probably1' said Telemachus, with
such an innocent rising indexion that
Prospero put his tongue in his check
and winked, eloquently. "You'd better
see Aristides, " said prospero.
| But why does NOT the bank sell
exchange against its San Francisco
~. 4 4