The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-01-27

Mr.. EDIToR:-Allow me to criticize some
of the acts of our money mussers.
1t seems to us when our law makers fas-
tened upon us our ''gold base law, mainly,
as appeared from the argument, Ito regu-
late foreign exchange they made big and
costly blunder, not only in it's direct cost,
which its friends admit to be large, but in
the annoyance and injury it is likely to do
to our business and home exchanges.
And the attempt to make home industry
that would be acceptable to the other ma
tions at its face value, and expect it to stop
with us for domestic use, when the balance
of trade was against US, was attempting an
impossibility, and more than the statesmen
of any other nation ever performed.
And when our native silver was demone-
tized, that act reduced it from 100 cents to
the dollar to its bullion value, which was
great wrong, and its evil consequences will
reach further and deal heavier blows against
our prosperity than anyone can at present
foresee. They killed the goose that laid the
golden egg; and as the owner of the goose
serenely contemplated his golden harvest
all at once by killing the goose, even so by
having
ieiousness of trade contemplated its golden
harvest of United States gold pieces jingling
in its pockets, and rafting about its coun-
ters as plentiful as silver dollars were be-
fore. Then exchange would be nothing,
foreign debts could be easily paid, the
goose hung high, and everything in trade
would be altogether lovely. Such we fancy
l. ~ of no Of f6a
Gold Law. But, alasi the goose is dead;
no more golden eggs, and now not even sill
yer. The Government can't be blamed for
this state of things, only so far as it lent as
sistance in killing the goose, In passing
the Gold Law, thus apeing England AID
Germany in having gold base only, they
fell into the same blunder as the toad, when
it tried to swell itself as big as the OK, and
of course something must burst
We have never been able to see where the
consistency of our law makers comes in
One of their committees reported great ex-
travagance and waste of public money in the
past two years by the present administra-
ton.
Now comes this accusing Legislature and
votes away of the peoples money one or two
hundred thousand dollars direct at one
sweep, professedly to introduce a gold base
into the country, so as to regulate foreign
exchange, and not one of the friends of that
measure prefessed to knoo0 whether the ex-
penditure of this vast sum would effect the
object sought or not; but ali wanted to try,
and so voted away the money upon doubt
full experiment. That was an extravaganza
worse than any, or all charged against the
Ministry-where the indirect as well as the
direct expenditure is taken into account. If
they did not know of some good effect that
must flow from this large expenditure, they
should have laid the Bill upon the table
until they could intelligently master the
subject.
The fact is. they we're laboring under too
much excitement for cool-headed work.
They should have adjourned for two months
and cooled of.
This Gold Law has taken from us most of
our silver money, which was our business
life-blood some by direct purchase, and
the balance by turning it into bullion
taking away it's money power. And as this
bullion is almost exclusively used at present
to produce the wealth of the Kingdom, the
loss in its characterization falls upon the
producers and when traders and law
makers work against production, they not
only kill the goose, but it touches the apple
of the eye-for as shrinks production, so
shrinks business. No one can deny but that
every cent expended to try this doubtful
costly gold base experiment must come out
of the industries-must be produced by the
factory, or dug from the soil. Work to help