The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-02-20
OUR FOREIGN COMMERCE.

Morning Guide puts his finger on the |
real cause of the present trouble about
the currency. Referring to a COM
munication which appeared in our
columns on Tuesday last, he says:
"The Nomad says: L would have
plenty of it (goJd) if [ had the equiva-
lent to give for it.. That's it, my
wandering prophet And you might
have added, so would Hawaii I,
however unworthy, essay to take up
your mantle and say that the ex-i
travagances of Hawaii are finding her
out. The coronation and the coinage,
and the fine houses, the fast teams,
and the trips to the coast, and all the
other items of unnecessary eXpendi-
ture are appearing in those unwelcome
words TO amount of account rem
dered.' And what is there to offset
them all ? Forty per cent. off the
price of sugar Pull together, patriots
of both sets, with all your power of
brain and muscle; give your lungs a
rest, and haul the ship of state over
the bar. If she is over-freighted with
rotton shares and semi-insolvent COM
pahies, tighten her, in Hawaips name,
and bring her into harbor."
For the sake of the soundness of his
general views, we forgive him his
repetition of the well-worn sneer at
the cost of the coronation. AS we
have pointed out long ago, the paltry
sum contributed by the exchequer of
the country to the cost of that event
was less than has many time been
voluntarily spent by towns ne bigger
than Honolulu on the entertainment
of distinguished visitors. AS to the
coinage being an extravaganza, we
are at loss we do not see the point.
We are willing to admit, however,
that in many ways the Government
-i.e., the nation-has been led away
by flush " times, as well as the in
dividuaI memLers of the community.
But a small proportion of this ex-
penditure that might judiciously have
been avoided, has occurred since the
present Ministry, or rather the present
Premier, came into power, as may
readily be shown by an analysis OF
the public expenditure during the
past six years. That, however, is not
the question. "Forty per cent. of
the price of sugar" makes the total
of public and private expenditure
within the past six years loom up
into the proportions of extravaganza,
and everybody is suffering for it more
or less. The worst of it is that "TO
amount of account rendered" What
has been spent is gone, and it is waste
of time TO grieve over it, except just
so long as to fix the lesson of the past
upon our minds. The unsettled " ac-
counts rendered are the trouble
Happily, the Government has little
of that sort of thing to contend with
But it is not so with business men
nor even with private individuals.
We are not, however, disposed tc
take gloomy view of matters. Most
of the accounts rendered." which
still hang over our heads, will be duly
paid; and as for the few others, cred
itors will have to make the best o.
them. Some figures, with which the
e Collector General of Customs ha;
been so good as to oblige us, lead us tc
take decidedly hopeful view of the
future. The eXtravagances of the
country at any given time FIND
their best index in the amount
of our imports from foreign
countries. In 1883 the declared value
of our imports exclusive of specie.
was S.. 624, 24O.O9. In 1884 they were
$4,637 ,514.22, showing a decrease OF
nearly a million, or, to be exact, Of
1886, 5.97, This is a good wholesome
showing. Our exports have to pay
for oar imports-how do they stands
In spite of the grievous fall in the
value of our great staple, the exports
of 1884 sum up to sos, 1S1.71 more
than those of 1888. The exact figures
are: Exports 1888, So, 49,, 343 .88; 1884
So, 1874, 922.63. The main reason Of
this increase lies in the fact that
whilst in 1888 we exported 57,054 tons
of sugar in 1884 the quantity was in
creased to 1927 tons. Meanwhile
what has the customs revenue beeni
With a falling off of Is per cent in
the imports great decrease in the
amount of duties collected might
have been looked for. Gloomy pre-.
dictions of great falling off in the
national revenue have indeed been
freely INDUCED in. In point of fact
the shrinkage in the customs reve.
nue. has been extremely small. This
may be readily explained. Many o.