Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Volume II, Number 184, 1 May 1891 — PEARL HARBOR AND TREATY. [ARTICLE]

PEARL HARBOR AND TREATY.

We elip the following from the R F. Chromrlc of the 21st inst: "The native paper of Honolulu Ka Leo oka Laiii i, is Flightly mixed 011 the eubject of Pearl harbor. It assumes that the United Ktate* ha« appropriated $700,000 for the purpose of putting it into i»hape, >vhereas the proposition failed to i-oinniend itself to Congress» so far as we are able to learn. Gur liawaiian t<>nteniporary ih alpo niiptaken in if« ■ at=sumption that the islands may prolitablv negotiate a ditferential treaty vvith Canada. Of course, such a treaty iuiirht be inade, but if it were the islands would have to abandon all hope of an American market, for under the suspeneive clause of the MeKinley bill the old rate of duty could be esacted if iiawaii cut up didos." »

When the above was penued we were under the impression that the vote of $700,000 proposed for Harbor was safe. We are not so sure about not being able to negotiate a treaty with Canada, whieh might be advantageous to us. In the face of the fact that our sugar has Buflrered a decline in price of 1 about 35 per cent. wiUiin a month, we are brought to a position īn whieh we shall have to look our treaty relations squarely in theface T,he strong probability that Cuba will be among the numb-er of states whose sugar will be ori the free list, and above all the bounty paid the American grower, must plaee the Hawaiian shipper at a positive and permanent disadvantage. Our 96 test sugar is quoted at 3|c. in San Francisco, while the grower of California beet sugar will be ahead of us in the matter of the 2c bounty, ard plus the freight and other charges. We are clearlv in a position never contemplated by the authors of the Treaty. The following is a quotation from the Sydney līerald of March 23rd: <Sugar.—The positionof sugar is unal* k-red. The velume of business reported is not large. Whites may be quoted from £23 to £25; yellow £19 to £21; ration«. £16. Tke ('olonial Sugar Companv ? s quotationsare unaltered. Gur No. 1 sugar would rank in quality witn that quoted at £21, whieh would be fully equal to sc. a pound, and the l-|c. whieh the Syd-1 ney market would yield over that i of Snn Francisco. would more than I pay the Australia light duty and increased freight, whilst the duty collected o?i the goods free by treaty from the United States for the last year would at 10 per cent. yield $820,000 to the Hawaiian Treasury, and it don't look such a bad k 'dido" after all.