The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-12-13

After the first OF the year the West
ern Sugar Refinery will commence
shipping raw sugar from Honolulu to
New York direct by sail. This will
be the first time in the history of the
islands that such a thing has been
done, and the announcement will
cause considerable surprise among
merchants and shipping men. The
fact has only been known TO few,
although notice was served on the
planters few weeks ago. The rea-
son given for the change is the worlds
over-production and consequent over
supply in this country. The western
Sugar Refinery has a contract for five
years to take all the sugar produced
on the islands. a special clause in
the contract provides that the corpor-
alton may ship one-third of each
years production to any port, but the
rest of the output must come TO San
Francisco. Various conjectures have
been advanced as to the cause of the
shipments around the Horn, and by
some it is said that the railroad is at
the bottom of il. The Western Sugar
Refinery supplies the Coast and also
sends considerable sugar across the
Rockies. 1t Is limited that greater
amount than usual was to be sent
East next year, but that the Southern
Pacific would not make suitable
rate and that the sugar men decided
to- ship by sea and back from New
York by rail. This statement, how
ever, Is denied by the officers of the
Western Sugar Refinery, who claim
that the change is merely due 30 an
over-supply on the Pacific Coast, says
a late Chronicle.
Robert Oxnard, secretary of the
Western Sugar Refinery, was seen
yesterday and admitted that ship
ments were to be made from the ISL
of the new move" said Mr.. Oxnard,
sis the Wilson tariff bill, which has
allowed so little margin on refined
sugar. Under the Mckinley law raw
sugar was admitted free, and there
was q duty Of half q cent q pound on
the refined product. Wilson put a
duty of 40 per cent. ad valorem on the
raw material and refined sugar, and
added ne-eighth Of a cent to the
latter. This leaves a very small per-
centage to the manufacturers to work
on, with all other things equal. What
has hurt California principally is the
has been shipped to San Francisco.
This was done in anticipation of the
passage of the tariff bill, and the ship
ments have been continued on ac-
count of the light duty on refined
goods.
"We cannot compete in this coun-
try with Chinese manufactured goods, |
for the Asiatics can make them much /
cheaper than we can. In the Orients |
lat. e n. IN Nl..
refineries. This amounts to $3.50 a
month In our own money, or frac-
ton over Is cents day. We pay our
men 20 cents an hour. Besides COM
ing into competition with cheap labor,
we have against US the fact that
Hongkong is a free port. The manu-
facturers there have nothing to pay
for any of their supplies. We supply
Nevada and Utah exclusively and
ship our goods as far east as the Mis-
souri, river. The supply, however,
will be so much in excess OF the de-
mand Of our territory that we must
have another outlet. Consequently,
we have decided to send our surplus
raw material to New York"
"Is the railroad factor in the new
was asked.
mot at ALL" replied Mr.. Oxnard.
''There are no other reasons than that
which nave TOLD yOu.'
John ID. Spreckels, president of the
Western Sugar Refinery, corroborated
the statements of Mr.. Oxnard, and
added that the new arrangement
would have a weighty effect on the
trade between here and the
islands. He said that there would be
about $4,000 tons of sugar in all to go
to New York, the transportation of
which would require at least ten big
deep-water vessels. Nearly all these
vessels will be foreign bottoms, he
said, owing to the lack of suitable
American ships in port.
Among the shipping firms who will
suffer by the diversion of freight to
New York will be Williams, Dimond
& Co., Welch & Co., Kentfield & Co,
George f. Smith and Captain Charles
Nelson. They all have lines plying
between here and Honolulu, and the
new arrangement means a loss TO
them.
a gentleman identified with the
shipping interests in the island trade
expressed it as his opinion that the
sea shipments meant a fight against
the railroad in the interest of the
sugar trust. 1.-THE sugar men," said
he, shave probably been unable to get
rates to the Missouri, and
are going to fight the railroad by sea-"