The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-03-30
KNOTTY PROBLEM
To Decide What ]. q
Waibe1 Shall Pay.
Has Paid Two Licenses May Be
Called Upon For
Third.

The matter of licenses for commits
sion men and travelling agents is at
tracing the attention of the authori-
ties. and it looks now as though test
case will be brought by the Govern
ment to decide just what rights man
has who takes out a dealers license.
The law is that a man who sells from
sample must pay a license fee OF $500;
then there is a traders license OF $50.
Some commission merchants pay the
latter and others the former; it de-
pends entirely on the nature of the
business.
When J. G.. Waibel, manager of the
]. G.. Waibel Company, on Fort street,
near King, started business some time
ago, he applied for and received a
wholesalers liquor license, for which
he paid $500 and a traders license,
which cost him $50 more. In addition
to this amount, the stamp fee amount
ed to $3.50. This, Mr.. Waibel be-
lieved, entitled him to carry on bust
ness in Honolulu.
On Thursday last he received a note
from the Marshal, requesting him to
call at his office. In the interview
which followed, Mr. Waibel was told
that there was a question whether he
did not come under the head of the law
governing commercial travellers, and
the matter would have to be submitted
to the Department for a decision.
Mr. Waibel took the stand that he
could not be both merchant and COM
mercial traveller, and if the law ap-
piled to him, it must also apply to
every store-keeper in Honolulu who
employed men to tour the Islands and
make sales. A decision in the case will
be handed down in a day or two, and
Mr.. Waibel will then know how he is
to be classed.
In the case of "Shilling's Best
Baugh, who sells entirely from sam
pies, a fee of $500 is charged by the
Government, but he is not allowed to
sell outside of Honolulu. There are
other men, commission agents, who
pay only the $50 fee, and yet sell by
samples.
cit is probably to reach these men, -
said a dealer yesterday, "that a test
may be made of Waibel's case, and if
he is obliged to pay an additional $500
license, I do not see how the Govern
ment can avoid charging every mer-
chant in Honolulu, who sends out
drummers, the same sum. The law
was made to protect merchants from
people who came here from the United
States with cheap stuff and sold it in
competition with merchants who con-
tribute toward the expenses of the
Government.
eff these merchants have to pay a
drummer's license, it is their own fault.
For years past the big dealers and
manufacturers in the United States
have been sending drummers to Ho-
nolulu If the men are known, they
engage with local house for a few
weeks, get a letter to the effect that
they are in the employ of Brown,
Jones & Co., of Honolulu, and go out on
the road. That letter covers a multi
tude of sins, for none of the drummers
have ever been interfered with by the
authorities"
The outome of this case of the ]. G..
Waibel Company will be watched with
considerable interest by the merchants
and commission men, as it is generally
understood that Mr.. Waibel has COM
piled with the law in every respect.