The Hawaiian gazette., 1870-02-23

nspate having arisen lrom abscnec of sufficient au.
thoS4tysn thS part ef those Who sold the vessel h
was determined 10 refer then 10 arbitration. An
sretratien Was sceoranxly sgrcea On and sAnctiens
ci Ny thc C0nrt. Bat ey whom Mas tho agreement
IL refer asSentcd toy by an agent who had no an-
;Aortty to submit the QueSltcns between his prncl
was lest sasi considerable expense Incurred which
the sligAics, enquiry ss 20 the powers of tho agent
would have AVOIDED. Nor i this AT, The vice In
the cr gteal prccccdiu<S seem 10 have run through
the whole case, and cropped up a, every tnrn aud
Nay net iwrroeaSly stu crop up az any faturc step
The or<saal salt Mas converted Into an arbitration.
sAlr-owaer Was sacd personslly. aud although he
did not plead that he Was only an sgcns, portion
of toe decision Was foanaed on the iAet that how,
ever liable his principal might be- hs, The agent,
PERSONALLY decidedly was nots and this third act Ia
this dusas oC litigation fcll dead npon the stage.
Another matter On which shoald wish to touch
has rcfefene0 20 What Is called the C0ston of the
Per. OF the CHs,am q The Irsas, Mors than
led on 10 decide my attention has been called 30
these so-s,ylcd customs, have never been able
scsiy to understand what Is really meant BY these
terms, bat witnesses have eecn sailed and havn
ecen tvoured With their VIEWS 81 the subject
reed hardly say that tAev have been generally con
trsdictory. have. however. hcsrd enough and seen
eaeneh to feel satisfied thai great mistake exists
as 10 the value Of these soealled Customs, and Il
seems advisable that should recall 20 you're
celer,ioa that 'Caston. ~ Dc of any value. must
be drst 'TessonS6les' secondly, clear aud without
sally sdmittea-;hAt Is 10 say, at least In the Port
and l0arthly that they should be notorious 10 all
Who can BY any possibility be affected BY thea.
Often heSr It said that Tie Chamber Of Commerce in
this or the other Port hAs DECLARED so-andso. and
this on matters affecting not only the interests of
members of the Chambers, but of Others not mem
oeEs, and who Know nothing Of the rules and rcgn-
lations framed, who have never been consulted but
who are neverihelcss to be held bound by them
Agsln, | have been told that in certain trades,
there arc certain eustoms: to give an instance,
not 10 examine articles bought BY samplc" and
this, IL has been urged upon me, not being the Gus
tonl the seller Is held responsible nntl the purcha
ser, to the fourth or ffih generation as Il were,
thinkS at to eNamine the goods he has bought
This, 1t Is custom '-And may here remark, IL
has never been proved 90 my satisfaction 10 be Que
is decidedly bad one, for IL is against law,
sgsiRst reason aud against what am tempted 10
call the morality Of Trade aud must Inevitably lead
70 litigation. and any conduct, any custom, which
iusiies To- or Is provoeatiye OF litigation is as bad
as bad eau be Do not think Intend to speak dis
respectfully of mercantile usages or customs, but to
entitle them 10 respect, they must be reasonable,
such In short, recommend themselves by their
evident utility snd Importance 60 the mind OF all
persons engaged or Interested in mercantile pur-
sui,s-;hey must also be generally universally ad
mitfcd and acted on-any practical dissent nom
them, any evidence thai shows that they are not
universally admitted or acted on, is fatal to them
And. morsover, they cannot be proclaimed aud act
ed on BY one section 81 the commercial community
which Is TO be benefited by their adoption, unless
consented to hy that and other sections whose inter
ests they may, or are calculated to, affect.
goSd deal Of error seems 10 exist With reference
to Consus duties especially regards that portion
OF then, which arc OF jadicsf character II seems
to S imagined that he Is 10 do whatever he Is asked
10 do. II some one wants ship stopped, man
held 10 bail 10 be prevented leaving the port, or
eheQue or bin not 10 DC paid the CoOsulis expect
ed In The first ease 10 detain the ships papers in
the second 10 lay embargo on the liberty OF the
subject in the third 10 send round his compliments
the manager of the bank merchant, aud request
m nnf tn the hill Pprnar,s the
mAli,y Of affidavit, in which nothing generally Of
Importance Is sworn 10, Is gone through; and II
these requests are not Immediately attended to- the
applicant thinks himself very Ill used. have been
here now about two months, and In that short time
hsvv been asked to deiain two ships. both of them
on the very eve Of leaving the haroor with their
the pott, on the ground that they owed money TO
some one, who, up 10 the last moment had never
thought OF suing for the amounts, aud three times
have been asked 10 order Managers OF Banks not
to pSy hills that had been accepted. II | bad aeee-
ded 10 these requests should have been guilty Of
most improper use of my authority and Of great
abuse Of my judicial power To the ship owners.
eharterers or shippers, might have done grevious
wrong. To the reputation and credit of the indi-
vidrsls was asked 10 hold 10 bail, might have
dcue rrepsrsble injury, and II the Managers Of the
Banks at my reqBest had yielded and not paid the
bills they might have found themselves exposed to
actions for damages besides the certainty of being
severely reprimsnded by their governing bodies at
home I have no doubt that was thought very OBJ
strue,iEe, but people wlo make such demands and
are very sore al their not being immediately com
piled with should recollect that altho they may be
today iu the position.-to use Scotch term, Of
" pursuers,n they may be tomorrow in that OF the
" pursued" and then imagine their notion of
what Consurs duty is would be materially altered.
And how stood the cases refer to. very little
inquiry into the merits OF one Of the ship cases
showed eonelasively that neither the ship nor her
owuers had Incurred the least liability and In the
other, after a little conversation, no one was more
clearly convinced than the applicant himself that
so far from the Captain being TO blame, the ship
liable. il but the cOusignee himself
whose battle nv applicant was so ready to take up,
and on whose behalf be was ready TO stop the ship,
sue the Captain, and put every one connected with
him TO very considerable Inconvenience As regards
the Of applications to hold TO ball. all the three
supposed to be, TO use common phrase,
on the of boiling levaniing, still here, and
for all know TO the contrary have never had the
slightest intention of leaving With reference TO
the bill cases don't think much damage would
have here followed, because think the Bank Man
ayers far too acute and alive to the interests Of
The establishments they preside over 10 have paid
much attention TO my requests, and il they had been
inclined 30 do So OF had my requests been put in
the shape of orders, should have been politely
warned that whatever they did, they did on my per-
sonsi responsibility. ~
But there Is another little matter connected with
the occasional spparent disinclination of Consul
do all he is asked and IN the exact mode IN wheh
the request Is made, which II may be just as well to
meHiOn, and just well TO bear in mind and that
is-nOt only does certain responsibility attach to
his actions, but even graver and more Important,
because capable Of pecuniary calculation. attaches
TO those who set bis power in motion. IT, in each
Of the cases have mentioned, serious injury bad
resulted from nv granting the applications made to
me- those who suffered might have recovered dam
ages from the applicants, and juFies well
Judges apt 10 visit heavily conduct which, heed
lessly imperils mans character and reputation,
the success OF q commercial venture
! do not mean 10 say that prompt, decided action
i not very often necessary to prevent great losses,
fo rs ofFe n iuzffce hut as decisfou
implies foTethought and consequent responsibility
the greatest caution should be exercised and the
sOundest discretion employed before extraordinary
or unusually energetic measures are res0Tted to-
There Is nothing so annoying the feeling Of being
having been deceived or imposed
on and in the first excitement men are apt to think
more Of gratifying their anger and revenge than Of
the c0nseqnences which may follov ilconsidered
measures Of retaliation or punishment. and Consul
often does greater service in refusing hasty and
request than be would do 10 granting H.
the Consul must hold the scales equally;
he Is not an advocaie empoyed7o act for Of the
parties 20 q misunderstanding quarrel; he has
20 more right TO set on the Impulse ofthe momentto
please than he has 20 please another; be is
Judge to decide fairly between them, and every act
that Re does should be done deliberately and Only
after he has had ample time afforded him to ascer-
tain that he is aefing within the authority conided
10 him. within the law aud the rules Of practice laid
down for his guidance, and in conformity with fair
ness and justice Should be act, moreover, he
should generally insist al applications being re-
dEced 20 writing, and that The fullest information,
lnd Hben Necessary, on oath, be given him. "A mat
ter looks very dihereHf on paper 10 what II does
when II comes pouring forth IN food Of words
ErF~ ~rIa f~r1~~