The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1860-11-01

present. No wonder the number increases thar1eav'
the islands in the fall, intending not to visit them il
the spring, getting their recruits elsewhere; or ifthey
do touch in the spring, merely to get letters
In speaking Of the increased changes At the Islands,
| allude more particularly to the smaller ports Al
Hilo, which port / visited SIX times on my last voyage,
the pilotage was then SO each way; now it is the
same as at Honolulu. Then, there is another petty
charge. \ law having been made ~obligiug masters
to make oath to having deposited all foreign letters
and to pay - for the privilege Of making the oath
Indeed, We are very kindly told that the law was not
intended to apply to whalers, but to prevent specu-
lators from taking advantage Of a rise in the
price Of sugar, etc by Withholding letters or some
thing Of that kind. But the law had been drafted so
stupidity, it did apply to whalers, no matter where
they might come from, be it Arctic, Ochotsk or from
q cruise on the line. But the cream OF the joke Is,
after having paid this little extortion once to wind
ward, TO have it TO pay again at h0Loa, as l., and
doubtless others, have done. A ship that drops anchor
at koloa now, wanting a little wood, &c, must pay
the boarding master So, clearance 81, fee for this
letter business 81, and if he lands anything TO trade
for chickens, pigs, or potatoes, II for permit, making
50 in all. The boarding master may or may not
come on board, the fee is the same, and the captain
must take all the responsibility of a%nchoring his
ship, as the boarding master does not know the main
top sail from the main-royal truck, and don't pre-
tend to-. Besides all this, he must be taken of and
back IN the ships boat, as he has none. These petty
charges have all grown up within a short time, as l
anchored, there in the spring of 1859, paying only
clearance 81, landing nothing, of course.
In touching at Kawaihae there is a boarding fee of
So, and 81 for clearance, and 81 for permit if any
thing is landed. Ships making Hilo their first port
from the North generally touch at Kawaihae for po-
tatoes. also at Honolulu for letters, and Koloa for
wood. paying port charges at all these places if any
business is done. In touching at Honolulu for letters
if one of the crew steps out and can't be found, per-
haps the master decides to take a native in his place.
One is soon procured, he takes him to the Harbor
Master, pays his advance, pays 81 for native ship
ping articles, a fee Of so cents for shipping, another
fee Of 80 cents for bond. He also pays the govern
ment tax of -, and if not posted thinks he is all
right. But some one tells him it is claimed, that he
is not legally shipped unless on the ships articles.
Off he goes to the Consul's Office. He is asked, have
you cleared at the Custom House !: He answers, no,
some article that could not be procured to wind Iva
have been in the habit of doing so on former voyages.
is told that now he will be liable to a heavy fire
by so doing. Away he HES to the Custom House,
pays - for buoys, 81 for clearance and 81 for fees;
comes back, his native is shipped. He pays deposit
Ind delivery of papers, shipping fee, shipping articles
clearance, and is ready to leave with his letters,
f he has been fortunate enough TO find some. If of
IN excitable temperament and in the bad habit of
Ising explosives not to be mentioned to ears polite, he
will, during his chase from pillar to post, have used
Up his whole stock, and going off to his ship can
moralize on the magnanimity of the Sandwich
sland government in RENTING the duties on any
FOODS he may land to the amount of $500, Ga bonus
f 500 and wonder they had not raised the duties
nd fees in years past, when the company of SO many
vhalers was inflicted upon them, and whaling was a
aging business. Should his sympathy he excited for
hem lest they come to poverty, one reflection may
onsOle him, many of the ships going homeward will
lot be fitted again, many that are will be fitted for
he Indian Ocean, as it costs less to sail a ship in
direction, and of the few that are fitted for the
'orth Pacific, some will not visit the islands as fire.
uently as has been the custom.
This train Of rejection may last until he reaches
lOloa, a bad place to lay off and on at, stands in and
his anchor and commences getting off wood, a
w cords of which he needs, innocently supposing, if
e has not been there for a year, that he has but 81
pay for a clearance. The boarding officer comes
own, finds he only wants wood, and does not intend
land anything, tells him there is So to pay. About
lis time the aforementioned explosives come into full
lay again as that official can most solemnly testify.
erhaps, however, as was the case last fall when 1
as there, the master comes on shore and finds the
e. increased if he anchors, gets into his boat and
,es off, and what he might have bought is lost to the
interest of the islands, and some other
,rt benefited where the rage for fees is more in accor-
with the times. koloa is the only accessible
,rt now open TO whalers on Kauai, the other being
the windward side and seldom or never visited.
1rmerly they were permitted to trade at Waimea or
" place they saw fit, but recently these privileges
I'VE been annulled through fear, as | was told at
oloa, that liquor might be Struggled on shore.*
lat may or may not be the reason. wonder it had
yer been thought of in years past. The fact that
ships contemplated getting their recruits wholly
that island might possibly have something TO do
tn it.
While at Koloa last fall a ship hove too off Hama !
pc, eight miles to leeward of koloa, and sent in a
1t. The Collector mounted his horse and set off,
ring he might be permitted to trade, although L
ured him that l might bear watching as well as {
stranger. His reply was, that his orders were :
p%erative to drive off any one attempting to trade g.,
other than the ports of entry, and report them that :
y might be fined, and it was intended to make an Y
ample of the first one as a warning to others. =
re ships permitted to anchor at Waimea, a very /
might get their wood and water at Koloa, and =
n anchor at the former place, as some intended =
ng last year, but were prevented. J.
n your article on the new tariff, which l make the .
I Of this communication, you say that the ruling 8
nciple upon which every good government should -
is for the greatest good Of the greatest Il
nber. Not being a political economist, | am not Il
able of Judging. but think you are right. Per- al
IS, this is the plan acted on, the greatest number W
ng az Honolulu, therefore, the kauaians should T.
d up their stock to Honolulu, the freight will not =
il all up in every case, there may be n small sur II
: loft IN in vest in goods 70 nav a Freight back. W
proving the greatest good to somebody, not :
nauaians, however. As for those foreign devils,
the Chinese would call them, the whalers, who eli
,oyerish the islands. increase their fees, and let Of
= ,r;y;la,a. 10 obr;J,ad vo, will soon succeed in a
is
ing them away. Respectfully yours, wi
- A SHIPMAsTER.
NoTE.-It is but proper to add, that the law in both these
has, / am Informed since arriving in port, been repealed az
the oath Is not now required for letters. while the port Of ~