It is a universally accepted aphorism in appellate jurisprudence that a discretion vested in a trial court and exercised by it will not be disturbed unless it affirmatively appears that there has been a plain abuse of such discretion. Harbrecht v. Harrison, 38 Haw. 206; McMillan v. Peters, 30 Haw. 148. Admittedly, the determination of the existence of clear abuse is a matter which is not free from difficulty and each case in which abuse is claimed must be adjudged according to its own peculiar circumstances. Generally, to constitute an abuse it must appear that the court clearly exceeded the bounds of reason or disregarded rules or principles of law or practice to the substantial detriment of a party litigant.

The exercise of that discretion will not be disturbed on review unless the lower court has acted arbitrarily without the employment of its conscientious judgment, exceeded the bound of reason in view of all the circumstances, or ignored rules or principles of law or practice as to result in substantial injustice. (See Bishop v. Pacific Navigation Co., 7 Haw. 276; Wilson v. Liliuokalani, 13 Haw. 466; McMillan v. Peters, 30 Haw. 148.) The attorney for the respondent contends that there was a plain abuse of discretion in that the lower court ignored and failed to apply the well-recognized doctrine of forum non conveniens.