The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1890-02-06
OUR OCEAN MAIL SERVICE.

The question of extending and in
creasing our mail service on both
oceans should be considered by Con-
gress in advance of and separate
from other propositions which con-
Germ our merchant marine. The Alta
has consistently advocated the in
crease of such mail facilities, and be-
lieves that the same principles
should be applied to the carrying of
ocean mails as have always prevailed
in similar service on land. From
the very beginning of our postal
system it has been the policy
IF our Government to induce and
stimulate settlement, production and
commerce by the establishment and
liberal maintenance of mail routes.
The mail contractor has been, in
deed, the pioneer of civilization
across the continent. The Govern
ment has never stopped to ask whe-
Their the Treasury would get back
what it spent to carry mails. It has
established routes and paid we'll to
have them run where, in the begin
ming, there was hardly any mail to
carry. One great motive for Gov
eminent aid to the first Pacific rail
ways was to secure adequate mail
facilities for the benefit of commerce
and to extend our interstate trade.
The effect of constructing those
roads was to supply also an induce
ment for international CONNIE, ce,
to attract it to this port, and to give
it a highway across this continent.
But that external commerce needs
adequate mail facilities also. It was
poor policy to stop at the shore. The
trade between this city and Hawaii,
o tered by the reciprocity treaty of
which the Alta was the only news
paper advocate here when its abro-
CATION was sought during the last
Administration, has grown so that
there is demand for more frequent
steam communication. The total
foreign commerce of Hawaii in
1887 was $l4,473,OOO, of which
San Francisco handled at least S12,-
100000. The area Of that kingdom
is only about 1000 square miles and
its population $4,000, but it is most
important factor in our commerce.
The reciprocity treaty has been SO
long maintained that neither coun-
try will now consent to its abroga-
ton, and both would freely seek
closer relations rather than weaken
those which exist. This reciprocity
treaty was one of the results of a
railway mail route across the CONT
nent. The commerce built upon it
needs a more frequent communica-
ton with Hawaii than is now en-
joyed. The distance is about seven
days by steam, and yet the interval
between mails from San Francisco
is about twenty days. The mails
should pass every two weeks at least
or twice month, instead of twice in
each forty days. Better facilities
would be at once reflected in in
creased enterprise on the Islands
that would appear in an enlarged
commerce at this port. The mails to
China, Japan and Australia should
be doubled also. Two should &c
from San Francisco and arrive at
San Francisco where one passes
now. If the government should give
a million year to this Pacific ocean
mail service, every dollar would
finally produce five dollars in the en-
largement of our commerce. There
is another consideration which we
hope to make plain without being
misunderstood. Under our treaties
with China a certain traffic was fOs
tered with that country which oul
laws have since terminated. While
that traffic existed, it was lawful
The investment in steamships and al
establishment adequate to carry il
was the direct result of laws and
treaties which the investors had moi
promoted, but which created com
mercial necessity that they supplied
) 1t is surely craftsmanship and com