The Hawaiian gazette., 1914-02-06
The Whaling Period.

Of what Mother Earth will or can be
made to produce. h.. 9 "
rhe Whaling Period. .
f'This deduction Of the question has
been most directly evident in the com.
mereial development Of Hawaii. Dur.
ing. what we might call the whaling
period, from 1850 to 1870, but princi.
1 pally in the 50's, our commerce was
resting largely upon an outside infiu.
! ence, for the reason that the whalers
I used Honolulu and other island ports
as a transhipping and equipment point,
which was Of material financial value
to the, at that time, small and strug-
Cling business community il is safe to
say, however, that the money that was
ually found itself invested in the in
dustrial development of the Islands.
"Under these circumstances, any dis
eussion Of the commerce of Hawaii Is
! largely one of what Hawaii has pro-
dueed and is producing, ms we must
have production to make commerce, and
only after actual production does It
J become necessary to organize those arti-
fetal forces necessary to pack, trans.
port and distribute what we produce.
+ Commenced in 1926.
con an occasion of this character, Il
is hardly expected of speaker that
he 20 into all the statistics which a
Null exploitation of this subject would
call for; so ! shall be as brief as pos
sible. ] presume that commerce in Ha.
waii may be dated back at least TO
1926, as know that at least one com.
mercial firm was organized or founded
in that year and exists today, probably
the Oldest established American firm
West Of the Rocky Mountains, but reli-
able records as to the commerce of Ha-
wall are not available prior to 1914
In that year there were exports from
Hawaii valued at 100000, but Of this
100000 was transportation of foreign
goods, SO we begin with say 100000
of domestic produce exported in 1874
In 1915 IL doubled, being $202, 900
while in '46, the figure jumped to $30l,
600. From ~ to 40 il receded again
to the 100000 mark, reaching in 1886
(the year following the discovery o.
gold in California; 100000.
From 1880 to 1860 exports Of domes
ltic produce ranged from 100000 "a
\ 100000, not including the whaling
products, which was the sbig business
of that decade. During that period two
million gallons Of whale oil and thou
sand tons Of whale bone were tranship
, ped every year on the average, and tho
large number Of whalers that rendez
voused here, together with the clipper
ships that carried away the catch Il
Eastern ports Of the United States, wai
the livest element in the business lifs
of those days.
,E Business Depression.
"From 1860 on the increase in domes
tic exports grew steadily, although with
! the waning of the whaling industry
, during the cos, a period Of business
depression occurred that gave much EN-
!, phasis to feeling prevailing, that, will
the going Of the whaling industry, Ha
wall Is commercial destiny was doomed
: perhaps itiwas something Of the sam,
: feeling that pervades Honolulu today
J in connection with the sugar tariff
! but our forbears of that time had nc
: 'Ad Club TO inject optimism, nor dit
: they know the possibilities Of industrial
: development in an agricultural line.
i Annexation Boom.
elm 1860 the domestic exports wer'
$350,000. In 1870 81 ,40S 900. The suga
industry had begun to cut figure il
the statistics during this period. ii
/ 1876 came the greatest impetus that Ha
, waii had yet experieneed to her indus
trial efforts-the treaty with the Uni
ted States whereby sugar and othel
products went into the States free o.
duty, SO that in 1880 the domestic pro
duce exported was valued at "a, SS9, 900
Captain Matson's Debut, Il.
at was about this time that ouI
guest of honor appeared on the scene
I up on the Hilo coast, looking for 1
little ballast back to the Pacific Coast
/ and he has been steady on the job eve
since. From a part load for o 250-toI
T schooner at the start, Captain Matsor
Is now packing OFF, or will pack off Thu
season, somewhere around 100000 tom
of sugar, plus few pines and anything
, else that happens to come along. i
the present string Of ships is Insult
! eient, ] judge from established preee
J dents, that there are other valleys oil
: Oahu that are worthy of having thei
} names painted on a ships stern, as wei
: as Manoa, and there are other names
that can be made to terminate in ia.
A Ten-fold Increase.
"In the year 1880 there were 81 40:
tons of sugar produced in Hawaii; il
1888, the year that came here, it reach
ed $1,000 tons, and in the thirty year.
J that have interviewed, IL has Increased
} to l9l2) 500 900 tons--the 's3 produe
J tion having increased ten times Thi,
J recalls an incident Of the 0's, when a
, intervals the Reciprocity Treaty seem
ed in danger, as it had run out ant
was subject to termination at any tim,
: that congress saw fit to say the word
! and there were interests that were mi
mical to Hawaii; Louisiana was no
! wild with joy over Hawaii 3 prosperity
and the refinery interests of that da,
were inclined to be favorable to tn,
= idea that Hawaii should get on withou
: treaty benefits. The incident | refe
! to was this, And while / recall it my
. self my old friend and preceptor Pete
: tmshmaD Jones mentioned il the othe
) day when informed him was gettinl
: up some data for this occasion. IL wa
desired to be known by people in tn
5 States what the possibilities in Hawai-
a - 4. "A