The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1859-03-03

the whaling reports from these islands had
reached New Bedford, showing, as we antcl-
pated, that there would be a serious loss on the
seasons work. In the New Bedford Whalemen $
List for Jan. Is. we find the following remarks (;
TUE wu.,x FsuxaY-Irs Losszs-The whale fishery may
he Tkened to a Iottefy-so some it brings wealth, wnne = =
FROM Information We have received from one of our most reha-
Bile merchants, it is estimated that the neet OF , rna's o snp1 - Of - 4
sum varying but little from one million Of dollars. Inc : = y
Ssst the sn in the price Of oil, the extravagance OF fitting, ana
the bad management Of masters In the renuns a. a. shspe Islands
are growing in wealth at the expense of New Bedford capitalists,
and yet this evil continues year ar a ades y ysmsa !. ia,r"ducedMsome-
thing that win cheek the leakage or further prosecution OIL y
tsrs annear to have no scruples in the amount Of their drafts,
aud draw readily and with the potency Of mlnon saru at least,
one of the causes of their il-suacess, and it $ Z D. nopen ~ hn
a more rigid economy will hereafter be P nasSs a,e u" Iarr II en- en-
trusted the wealth and future progress OF New Bedford
We are somewhat surprised to find that q paper
with the reputation of the Shipping Last, should
become the medium for the publication OF such
unjust statements as are contained in the above
extract. That the losses to New Bedford ship
owners will be considerable, no one doubts but
that thew will amount to one million OF dollars
on the fifty ships, Cor $4,000 on each shipo
bound home from these islands, no one will be-
lieve. That the loss refers principally to vessels
from the North Pacific we infer from the remarks
accompanying the assertion.
The statement Sc that the merchants at these
islands are growing in wealth at the expense OF
New Bedford capitalists, " is entirely gratultous
and unfounded in fact. During the ten years
that we have resided here, we are not aware OF
a single merchant who has retired with a compe-
tency, and with perhaps the exception OF one
who has been in business eight or nine years,
there are none of the eight or nine engaged IN
ship chandlery at the various ports, who could
retire and be independent. On the contrary,
there are several instances of merchants having
become involved and forced to retire from want
of business. To those who are i'm any wise ac-
ouainted with the facts, the remarks OF the
Shipping last will be considered as extremely
unjust to our merchants.
Not less unjust is the statement that many
of our shipmasters appear to have no scruples in
the amount of their drafts and draw readily and
with the potency of millionaires." The studied
economy ~practiced by shipmasters at this port
the past season, was proverbial, and we doubt
whether it would have been possible for them to
have been more so, even under the eyes of the
shipowners themselves. That there are individ-
ual exceptions to this statement we will not deny.
Do shipowners, however, suppose that their YES
sells can be refitted here for less than at New
Bedford? Such would seem to be their expecta-
ton if the n. B. papers are the criterion.
That there would be some fault-inding mani
tested on the part of ship owners at home, we
anticipated in our remarks of Dec. %, already
referred to. 1t was natural to expect it after SO
disastrous a season. And it was to meet this
very outburst of dissatisfaction that we took early
occasion in that issue of our paper to correct
any such erroneous impressions as might arise
abroad. and stated that there lad been noticed
ga change for the better in the efforts of captains
to reduce the expenses of their ships, while in
port" And though some captains here took
offense at the freedom of our remarks, which
were intended only to correct impressions that
we had been assured might be created at home,
| they will now see that our remarks appeared at
the proper time and must have a good result.
The best refutation of the statements of the n.
B.. Shipping List will be found in the accounts of
ships recruiting at these islands during the last
fall. The increased competition which has arisen
in the ship chandlery business, the reputation of
the ship chambers themselves, and the increased
economy on the part of masters, have all conspired
to reduce the expenses of whaleships r%efitting here.
The prices of all kinds of recruits during the fall
have been reasonable. averaging not over twenty
five per cent. advance on New Bedford prices,
and are as low as at any port in this ocean.
But the great trouble lies with the ship owners
themselves, in the extravagant scale on which
they have fitted out vessels and in the large
bonuses in some instances paid to shipmasters.
For the past few years, ships have been fitted out
from home rorts at an expense frequentlyo of $780,
600 and sometimes as high as $4,000 for one
vessel. This scale was based on the large profits
of the years 1904. In the paragraph quoted
above from our paper of Dec. 90, we adverted to
this, and stated that ship owners must come down
in their views, and practice a little more economy,
or the business must be given up.
In conclusion, we trust that the ship owners of
n. Bedford will be able to discover the real "causes
of their ill-success,'' and not seek to charge
on our island merchants that which facts do not
warrant. Most cordially do we join with the
Shipping Last in hoping .'that a more rigid
economy will hereafter be practiced, not only by
ship owners themselves, but also by those in
whose hands are largely entrusted the wealth and
future progress of New Bedford" Our ship
chambers are all men of integrity, whose reputa-
ton is above dollars and cents, and who are and
have been ready to cooperate with ship owners
in all their efforts to carry on the whale-6shery
with economy.
Judge Hoffman vs.. the Bark "Ynnkee."
The last mail from San Francisco brings US
T,dna Hoffman, oninion in. the suit of Martin