The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-05-28


the question of inter-isIand cable com
munication.
From the time the cable proposition
was first made to Congress the New
Jersey company has had to fight ;
wealthy, INSCRIPTIONS and active com
bination, which has maintained a large
lobbying force and has spent lots o
money trying to defeat the laying Of
the cable. This combination sneered a
the subsidy offered by Hawaii, denied
that the Government of Hawaii had any
right to make a concession, and said
that an inter-isIand cable was a foolish
and impossible proposition. The ser
vices of Admiral Irwin were secured,
and so strong a following did the com
/ bination get both in Senate and House
that it seemed as if it was going to
| have a walk over and Hawaii was to be
| left in the cold.
To counterfeit this, Mr.. Hastings, of
the Hawaiian Legation at Washington
went to work to show, first, that our
right to grant an exclusive franchise,
no matter to whom so long as it was to
a responsible party, was incontrovert-
ibIe.
The second point was that while the
United States could have any right they
wanted granted to them as a govern
ment, the rights they now possess by
virtue of the Pearl River concession
could not be used for the advantage Of
a private corporation. The point is a
good one. It would be just as fair for
the United States to assume that they
had the right to license an importing
house to do business at Pearl River,
and thus evade our right to collect Gus
tom duties. But the United States Cow
eminent don't intend to put in such a
claim, and the proposition was only
made by a combination which never
meant to carry out what it proposed
to do
Thirdly, it was argued that the action
Of the Legislature and Government Of
the Hawaiian Republic in granting so
large a subsidy per annum was in1u-
enced by the course pursued last winter
by Congress, and the desire shown was
to meet the United States, as far as the
means of so small a country would al
low, in establishing a cable connection
between the two countries.
Through this line of reasoning, the |
perfectly honest desire of the Govern |
meut, the value Of our concession and
our right to make the concession were
all clearly established, and HawaiTs |
rights in the matter came to be under
stood both in the Senate and in the
House The proposition to throw both
The contesting parties out of court and
TO give the contract for laying a cable
% the party that would fulfill the requi-
sitions of the Hawaiian concession and
transfer the right to land a cable,
which that concession grants, for TWEEN
y years, was the last move in the game,
md was made by the New Jersey OF
'palding company. In this shape it has
zone to the Senate, and it is TO be hoped
hat it will be concurred in by the
House.
One thing is certain, whether we get
he cable this session or not, the Sen
ties action has successfully demon
trated that Hawaii has some rights
which the statesmen of the United !
states are willing to respect, and that
he friendly action and intentions Of the
hawaiian Government with respect to
Electrical communication with the i
United States cannot be blocked by
reedy corporation.