The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-10-21

IectOr- General Of Customs for the
year ending December 81, 1894
presents interesting. and, indeed,
startling figures regarding the trade
OF these islands. 1t may be said,
generally, that no country exhibits
such general prosperity, and nearly
all countries, not excepting Great
Britain. fall below it in apparent
prosperity
The total imports OF goods amount
to $5,1OE4S1.43. while the exports
amount to $9,14O,79456, leaving
balance Of trade" in our favor OF
$4,O3G.313.13. What becomes Of
this vast, for us, balance OF trade e?
1t does not come 10 Us in coin, for
our imports of coin amounted to
only $6OS.OOO. Who gets it ? All
our machinery, provisions, dry
goods, and other articles OF con-
sumption are paid for, and there Is
this balance left over. 1t amounts
to , per cent. on SSO,OOO.OOO, or 10
per cent. on $4OCOO,OOO. Some of
it is paid out to the holdes of pri-
vate and public securities. Some of
it is invested by those to whom 1t
is credited, in foreign securities.
What becomes of it ?
1t may be claimed that this was
the national profit of the year 1894.
But a mere balance of trade is not
the exact profit. There would be
profit here if we had no trade, if we
only traded among ourselves. There
We're great profits" in Japan when
that country was barricaded against
foreign commerce.
Taking the total inhabitants OF
the islands at 100000, which is
above the correct number, it APP
pears that the imports amount to
$50 per head. If the people OF
the United States were to
import at the same rate, the value
of the imports would reach annu-
ally the sum OF $3,25O,OO0,000, |
while as n matter OF fact in 1894
they only reached $654,944,622.
If the people OF the United States
were to export at the same rate as
the Hawaiian people export, which
is $91 per head, the total foreign /
exports of the United States would |
reach $5.915,OOO,OOO. Such figures
would be startling. The actual
exports of the United States for the /.
year 1894 were valued at 1868, 2O4,- F.
937, or about $13 per head OF the
The people OF these ISL |
ands have, therefore, an apparent /.
balance of over 100000, appear
ing in the "balance of trade, which /.
Is a balance greater in proportion /.
than that which any mercantile
nation of the world has. This
must be reduced, however, by vari- |
Gus payments made to the foreign
account. but of which we can find
no official returns, important as
they are.
The par value OF the stock Of our
sugar companies Is So, 1854, go. /
This with the value of the unincor-
porated cane planting companies,
may amount to $3O,OOO,OOO. An
average dividend Of Is per cent. on
the entire amount, less the S1O,-
100000 OF stock of the Hawaiian
Commercial Company, would re-
quire $1.2OO,OOO. There still re-
mains, if these dividends were sent /
abroad a credit to the islands of
-. $4,000. Out OF this, freight,
insurance and money RENTED to
other countries must be deducted. I.
Much of the money RENTED to
China and Japan by the merchants
and Iaborers l. RENTED by drafts
on this balance, but we can find no
record OF it. Probably a sum /.
approaching half a million Is an
nualIy expended by our people in
The figures show a strong ten ]