The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1872-02-24
rHE PACIFIC
Commercial A06ertiser
SATURDAY. FEBRUARY "a.
The Government and the u. S.,
~. z. and Australian Mail
6, 8. Line.

"An attempt has been made - to prejudice the
public sentiment Of these Islands against the
American line Of mail steamers now running be-
tween this port and New Zealand and Australia,
in connection with their refusal to carry the Ha-
waiian mails to those colonies. The Gazette
having in its last issue published a part of the
correspondence and action Of this government in
regard to the matter, we, believing that the
maintenance or withdrawal of this important es-
tablished line is Of considerable moment TO the
general public, have taken pains to obtain some
information as to the history Of this subject, pre-
vious to Mr.. Webb's arrival here and conference
with the government in November last, with a
view to a full understanding of the position of the
parties, up to the present date, and in order that
the public may Intelligently judge for themselves
in the matter.
In January of last year, nearly ten months be-
fore Mr.. Webb's personal conference with the
government, application was made by his special
agent, Mr.. Steward, then in this city, to the gov
ernment for a mail contract and for the subsidy
of $50 900 appropriated by the last Legislature.
Similar applications were made at the same time
by the North Pacific Transportation Company,
and by Mr.. Ii. IL. Hall. The official replies of
the government to the applications of Mr.. Webb's
agent and of Mr.. Hall, were published in the
Gazette of February l, 1871, and were as follows
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE,
hoNoLCLC'J January <oth' IoLl- D.
Nststv,. GayerS ae5 yo o nr bno = line 30 Of stea5sbins tytvae1
Auckland, His Majesty's Government direct me To- say, that
upon the presentation at this Office on or be0reihe lst Of May
next, Of y contract duly signed by the authorities ofNew South
Wales by which they undertake TO assist You with their sub
silies, aud you contract for a term Of four, I'VE, or more years
60 run that line with suitable ships, we will pay You the sub
ment to commence as Of January LIST, 1871. You are to un-
derstaud that On signing the contract with Us, we shall insist
you have hitherto done. Our subsidy is given mainly to'pro-
consideration which induces Ills Majesty's Government to take
this step.
sh.ud you fail to present such contract, then His Majesty's
Government viii deem themselves at liberty to pay their sub
sides TO whoever may establish a line.
l remain, yours truly,
Minister Of Finance.
To II. H.. HALL, Esq Honolulu.
The above very plainly states that Mr.. Halls
line Of steamers shall connect with New Zealand,
and that a contract must be duly signed by the
New South Wales government, requiring a line
of suitable ships to run for at least four years.
Were either of these requirements exacted from
Mr.. Hall, in his contract with this government,
when the subsidy vas paid? Or did Mr.. Hall
give a guarantee 70: the faithful performance of
his contract? Probably when the steamers dis
continued running, and the contract forfeited, the
SI4 900 was returned to this government. An
unprecedented public would like an explanation.
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE,
HONOLULU, January 18th, 1871.
SIR: His Maiesty's Government have taken into consider
alton everything which has been said by yourself as Agent Tor
MI MeDC; .OI nc hs me Sv e; zaoIand om5 q Gu a STEAM t GoIon T.
via these Islands. This Government are anxious TO aid in the
with the aforesaid Colonies. You are aware that Mr.. Halls
line has established and kept up that connection for ten months,
2 a1 ua na nG-pral Ftaf he A - y m M sydney uI nm
a line from and after the lst of April next, and that there will
be no interruption to the present connection we are further
assured that a subsidy will be granted by the N :. Wales Gov
eminent for such a line. In view Of these circumstances, l
have been instructed to assure Mr.: Han thatf a contract duly
signed by the Authorities Of the n ; Wales Government: by
which they undertake to assist him with their subsidy, and he
Lue with suitable ships, our subsidies, as authorized by law,
T TAi <zi HSRR NJ PfI'H fo 1T PR f ZEN r h 19n' rHis OFFICE e,
on pr BEEoR rs the Ne Isl sETG 4 G M MAr MEN, \ VII
HOLD THEMSELVES AT LIBERTY TO MAKE AN AR
wHOSOEvER MAY ESTABLISH a LINE, AND WILL
P FIMp DE DEE , TAHE F From TIT THIs PaFL FOR R5 mi THE BRIT BRIT
Ireman, yours truly;
J. VI. SMITH,
Minister Of Finance.
/ To J. n. NJ. STEW ARD. Esq, Honolulu,
agent J0T Nm. H. Wsb6, Esq.
This promise of the government, officially made,
was evidently accepted by Mr.. Webb in good
faith, as we understand no further application
for a contract was made by him until after the
expiration of the time fixed by the government
for Mr.. Hall to produce a Colonial Mail Contract,
which would have entitled the latter to the sub
sidy, if such contract had been produced by him
- on or before the first day of May, 1871 No
such contract having been produced by Mr., Hall,
Mr.. Webb through his agents again made appli-
cation 10 the government in June following,
which application led to no result, and the pro-
posed contract was declined by government.
IL ~ H. l,,ISn,l =, ,n~ n
subsidy to Mr.. Hall as well as to Mr.. Webb
even though not in conformity with the promise
made IN their letter of January %, 1871, to Mr..
Webb's agent,-its action might have been
proper but, disregarding this promise, moneys
,Cere paid out of the Treasury, to the amount OF
$4,000, as a subsidy towards Mr.. Halls line.
. When Mr.. Webb arrived here in November last
only $50 600 remained of the appropriation.
Now it would appear that government had am
1 pie time, from january to November, 1871, to
q have ascertained the views of the Privy Council,
4 So that when Mr.. Webb had his interview with
them in the last named month, it was but reason
able to suppose that they treated with him on the
assurance that the Privy Council would approve
of their action. Or is it possible that the gov
erument, in considering Mr.. Webb's first and
second application for a contract and subsidy-iI
January and June, IS71-should have treated them
so lightly as to deem them undeserving the delib,
Grafton of the Privy Council, during all this time
When Mr.. Webb left Honolulu, he certainly mus
have taken with him the assurance on the part o.
the government that they acted in concert with the
Privy Council. When he received information q
month later, that the subject had been indefinitely
postponed, or at least until the government could
learn whether the United States or the ColoniaI
governments had contracted with him, it is not a
all. surprising that he considered himself unfairly