Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-02-07

Mr.. Chairman A study of the
commerce Of any country or commun.
ity gets back, in its final phase. to
what that country or community can
produce from its natural resources
the development OF what nature has
given for civilization to make more
Of, or else question of what the peo-
pie OF a country can do. as in manu-
featuring, by their ingenuity in hand
ling and making more valuable, the
natural products Of other lands moi G
Iprofuse with raw products where al
so the populace per area is less nu-
mcrOuS.
The development in Hawaii has
been along the industrial line; the
development Of our own natural re-
sources of soil and climate although
phases of it have turned upon outside
factors, SO to speak that have come
our way. Merchandising, manufac-
turing, shipping, passenger traffic
and all Of those elements that go to
make up commerce today, really
bark back to a foundation of what
Mother Earth will or can be made TO
produce.
This deduction OF the question has
been most directly evident in the COM
mercial development Of Hawaii. Dur
ing what we might call the whaling
Period, from 1850 to 1870, but princi-
pally in the sos, our commerce was
resting largely upon an outside influ-
ence, for the reason that the whalers
used Honolulu and other island ports
as a transhipping and equipment
point, which was Of material finan-
Cial value to the, at that time, small
and struggling business community;
it is safe to say, however, that the
money that was left in Hawaii ty the
whalers eventually found itself in
vested in the industrial development
of the islands.
Under these circumstances. any
discussion of the commerce Of Hawaii
is largely one of what Hawaii has pro-
duced and is producing, as we must
have production to make commerce,
and only after actual production does
it become necessary to organize those
artificial forces necessary to pack,
transport and distribute what we pro-
duce.
SOmHVICS Dd|CS ~ IOSO
"On an occasion of this character,
1t is hardly expected of speaker that
he go into all the statistics which a
full exploitation of this subject would
call for, so | shall be as brief as pos
sible. l presume that commerce in
Hawaii may be dated back at least to
1926, as. know that at least one
commercial firm was organized or
founded in that year and exists to-
day, probably the oldest established
American firm west of the Rocky
mountains, but reliable records as to
the commerce of Hawaii are not
available prior to 1874. In that year
there we're exports from Hawaii val
ued at $4,000, but of this $4,000
was transportation of foreign goods,
so we begin with say 100000, of do
mestic produce exported in 1874. In
1S45 it doubled, being 1902, 900, while
in '46, the figure jumped to 1901 goo.
From Al to 40 it receded again to the
$200,o00 mark, reaching in 1850 (thel
year following the discovery of gold
in California; 100000.
From 1850 to 1860 exports of do
IuOoIlS plOuuSC oA6Cu 1INAA YSOV'OVN
to $500, 900, not including the whaling
products, which was the big business
of that decade. During that period
two million gallons of whale oil and
a thousand tons Of whale bone were
transhipped every year on the aver
age, and the large number Of whalers
that rendeZvoused here, together with
the clipper ships that carried away
the catch to Eastern ports of the
United States, was the live element in
the business life of those days.
From 1860 on the increase in do
nestle exports grew steadily, al
though with the waning of the whal-
ing industry during the COS, period
Of business depression occurred that
gave much emphasis to a feeling pre-
vailing that, with the going of the
whaling industry, Hawaii's CONNER
Cial destiny was doomed: perhaps 1t
was something of the same feeling
that pervades Honolulu today in con-
nection with the sugar tariff-but our
forbears of that time had no 'Ad
Club to inject optimism, nor did they
know the possibilities of industrial
in an agricultural line.
In 1860 the domestic exports were
$35O,90O. In 1870 81 400, e00.- The SUI
gar industry had begun to cut fig
ure in the statistics during this pc
Rod In 1876 came the greatest i'm
petus that Hawaii had yet experience
ed to her industrial efforts - the
treaty with the United States where
by sugar and other products went in
to the states free of duty, so that in
1880 the domestic produce exported
was valued at $4.SS9,0O0.
Made Rapid Strides
ut was about this time that our
guest of honor appeared on the scene, |
up on the Hilo coast, looking for
little ballast back to the Pacific coast, |
and he has been steady on the job
ever since. From a part load for i
250-ton schooner at the start, Captain
Matson is now packing of, or will
pack of this season, somewhere
around 100000 tons of sugar, plus
few pines and anything else that hap
pens to come along. II the present
string of ships is insufficient, Judge
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