CURRENT TOPICS.

Hastings Standard, Issue 375, 17 July 1897, Page 2

CURRENT TOPICS.

Hawaii, the Paradise of the Pacific, is apparently to be the scene of another revolution. Ten years ago the Queen of Hawaii was not the least known of the Royal guests tlint flocked to Loudon to celebrate the Jubilee. To-day Queen Emma is living at Honolulu as a private lady on a pension, whilst her daughter, then the heiress apparent to an island throne, is finishing her education in one of the suburbs of London. The Queen was, and is, adored by the Islanders, for she understands their joyous way of life. But in 1594, the Yankees with the aid of the Japs, deposed the Queen, and sot up a Republic, with Mr Sanford B. Hale as President. The chief actors in the revolution were money-making American missionaries, and there was really no justification for it. It was a -"Jameson Raid " without as much excuse as could be raised for Dr Jameson's incursion. A gi.an'ck at the trade figures of Hawaii supplies the motive for the Yankee usurpation. Thus the combined value of the imports and exports last v<ar amounted to £4,667,708 —the largest ever recorded in the history of the country, being £1.751,895 in excess of the trade of the previous year. Of this sum .£1,477,(587, equal to '£lß per head of the population, stands for imports, to which the 1 mted States contributed the large proportion of 76*27 per cent or .£1,126,992, Great Britain occupying second position with jeior,,r,B4. " The fact of the United States having been able to secure the lion's share of the import trade into Hawaii." sa.vs Consul-General Hawes, " may unquestionable be/-.attributed to the effects of the Reciprocity Treaty in force between those two countries, and under the terms of which nearly all kinds of American manufactures and products are allowed into Hawaii free of duty, whereas most articles entered at the Customs-house here, from other countries are subject to an ad roloretH duty of 10 per cent." Tiik same tale is told with respect to the exports from Hawaii. The total for 1596 came to £8,200.016 —an increase of £1,452,224 as compared with 189.1, and equivalent to more than £29 per head of population. Of this the United States took £B, 188,04."). or 99-64 per cent, of all the exports. It will thus be seen that the United States Government, which is perpetually reading the other Powers lessons in deportment, had a very practical inducement to connive at the deposition of Queen Emma. Tiik National Budget of Hawaii is quite satisfactory, for it shows that while the revenue is expanding the expenditure is contracting. The receipts of the Government for 1896 amounted to £407.409, as against £358,971 in 1895, and the expenditure to £892.789 as compared with £414,879 the previous year. The national debt lias increased by £28,774 in the last twelve months, but it is still only £800,169, in 0 per cent, bonds. An unsuccessful attempt was made during the year to convert these bonds into 4 per cents., which clearly proves that the creditors at any rate have no faith in the stability of the Government. The islands appear to teem with possibilities of money-making, the sugar, banana, coffee, and rice trades being capable of considerable development. Tx some respects Hawaii is up-to-cla-te. Honolulu is lighted by electricity, and the importation of bicycles is increasing. There are two local private banks in Honolulu, and a branch of the Yokohama Specie Bank —a Japanese concern. The rate of interest on bank overdrafts ranges from 8 to 10 per cent., and money is lent on real estate mortgage at from 7 to 12 per cent. What would not colonial bankers do to obtain such thumping high rates Skilled white labor is handsomely remunerated. Thus engineers and sugarboilers get from £25 to £BS a month, blacksmiths and carpenters from ,£lO to £2O a month, and book-keepers from ,£2O to £3O a month, house and firewood being provided in every case. It is a melancholy fact that the pure-bred Hawaiians are declining in numbers, and last year they decreased by 8417. Out of a total population of 109,020 there are only 81,019 pure Hawaiians ; while there are' 8086 Americans, 2250 British. 15,191 Portugese, 24,407 .Japanese, and 21,616 Chinese. It will thus be seen that the almond-eyed population is large enough to be extremely inconvenient to the whites, but the number of Japanese in the islands gives Japan a tolerable excuse for assuming a firm attitude on the question of immigration. When usurpers quarrel with those who help them to power there is invariably trouble, and it will therefore not be surprising if the present situation culminates in war between the Yankees and the Japanese, in which case it is notunlikely that Queen Emma will be restored to her throne.