The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-11-07
.SAKI CASE IN COURT.
INVESTIGATIONS WILL PROBABLY
FOLLOW.


Ut NHT bu huhi utEul ny Nb'ito'iN
liquor dealers of Honolulu, the saloon
keepers and others becomes more inter-
esting every day. 1t eliminated in AN
arrest and trial this morning. The
prosecuting witness was w. G.. Peacock
of Peacock & Co.. defendant japanese
in the employ of Mr.. Julius Hoting
named Tabuchi.
The charge preferred was in effect
that Tabuchi had, obtained 1901 tubs OF
saki and sold the same to the Hawaiian
Wine Company. The case was called
before Acting Judge Wilcox this morn
ing and after full hearing was dismissed.
In the premises the prosecuting witness,
W. c. Peacock, has made charge
against Mr. Hoting which is at least
peculiar.
Mr.. Peacock claims that Mr.. Hoting
received the saki for his servant, being
protected by license, and turned 1t
over to the latter after the law effecting
its passage through the Custom House
! had been fulfilled. In advancing this
!. claim Mr.. Peacock wrote the following
letter to Mr.. Hoting and had the same
delivered this morning.
HoNoLuLu, II. l., Nov. I, 1894.
SIR: | desire to refresh your memory
regarding the conversation between you
and myself as to the importation OF saki
by your cook Tabuchi. About two
weeks ago | called at the Office of f. a.
Schaefer & Co. and informed you that
: Tabuchi had offered us a consignment
OF $50 tubs of saki, to arrive per steamer
4 Nanshan.
l You expressed the greatest indigna-
4 ton at the action OF Mr.. Tabuchi, and
I. informed me that he had on one former
: occasion imported an invoice OF saki,
) and that you had passed it at the Gus
q tom House for him, and had then eau
s toned him that you would not again
assist him in that manner. You said
that you would have nothing whatever
a to do with the present shipment.
After the arrival OF the Nanshan you
e made a sworn entry at the Custom
l. House that the goods were imported for
the account Of F. A. Schaefer & Co.,
q knowing that at that very time entry OF
e the invoice had been refused to II
II licensed dealer, on the ground that he
e was not bona fide consgnee. You
II demanded that the entry should be
IS accepted on occount OF your firm, and
II the entry was SO accepted.
u You well know the immense importa-
tions of saki by persons having no
license to deal in liquors, and think it
an outrage that the license of such an
70 eminently respectable firm as that in
which you are partner should be mis-
a. used in the interests Of your cook.
- You stated in the court this morning
IL that the documents had been handed t.
j. you by Tabuchi after the arrival of the
IT, Nanshan, and you must have been wei
~ aware that you could not properly make
ro the Custom House entry under thos'
Go circumstances
sincerely regret that your action IL
gu this matter obliges me to draw publ,
re attention to the manner in which illici
Is dealers are encouraged to import liquors
IL but the only way can see to pr, ven
us future transactions of this nature is t.
II give publicity to the facts.
IN Yours very truly,
ne w. c. PEACOCK.
- This correspondence, however, ha
-. but little effect upon the case, as
r effects the revenues OF this Government
and will ultimately, unless remedied
effect the Reciprocity treaty with tn
ID United States in the event of Californi
a takin., natural stand in the matter
80 The int, in nutshell, is that a larg
W. amount OF saki comes into this countr
by every steamer from Japan and is,
some way, handled by persons who d
MT sess licenses.
Ike For instance, when the Belgic arrive
on August 2Sth 1866 tubs of saki wei
o' piled on the Pacific Mail wharf. {
;on this number IA were handled by uni
censed persons. The case of the Maj
IAN shan is even worse. That vessel brougl
1880 tubs, and ll2l, or nearly IS p
cent Of the shipment, was received
IVY unlicensed traders.
edit From the best sources of informatic
it is learned that the usual methods f
ger unlicensed dealers to get their saki is
''' have the goods shipped from Japa
transfer the shipping papers to
licensed dealer who would pass the
to- through the custom house. The no
tiers licensed person will then become
nit drummer and sell the goods. 7
hey licensee in such cases makes a char
tier of fifty to seventy-five cents per tub I
get the use of his license.
fter Several small japanese houses a
con. others firms of more or less importan
tier are in the saki trade extensively on Il
Ne to plan. The following figures will ill
1t is trate the growth of the saki trade a
be it stands to reason that licensed deal
and are not being benefited by the gr
advance: In 1892 the importation
saki was 5l40 tubs; in 1893 it was s.
tubs; while for the ten months of
mort present year it has reached the en-
the nous total of over 90 900 tubs.
the nv, -.
d a ~, =,
80 over 220 tubs being now on the VIII
- as the consignees cannot enter them
80 the liquor dealers will not. Howe
-. it is possibly merely matter of a ST
AIN, time before some licensed party will
dertake to get the stuff through to
o. consignees for small consideration.
But aside from the revenue the c