The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-06-09

The approaching ShanBe Is BeNhhb
very near to us now, and preparations
are being made both in the post office
and the custom house for the transfer
to the Federal authorities. At the
custom house the scene will be quite
dramatic on Wednesday, for the office
is to remain open till midnight, so that
IL anything should happen to come in,
the goods might be entered under the
Hawaiian and not the American tariff.
At the stroke of twelve, midnight, the
Hawaiian Custom House expires and
the Federal Custom House comes in.
At the post office there will be no
such dramatic scene, a sort of seeing
the old year out and the new year in.
The change will be apparent in the
change of stamps and the rate of post
age. Two cents will take our letters
to any part of the mainland, from
Alaska to the Gulf States. We shall
lose our parcels post to Europe, which
has been a convenience to some MEM
bers of the community, though parcels
might be sent to Canada by parcels
post, directed to some agent in Van
cOuver, and then forwarded to the Ter
ritOry as freight on the Canadian
steamers.
Then all newspapers between the ISL
ands will have to be stamped. With
view of encouraging the art of read
ing among the Hawaiians, our prede-
cessors away back in the ffties passed
law that all newspapers published on
rhe Islands, should be exempt from
postage. Uncle Sam thinks that people
ought to pay postage on their news
papers. Certain other exemptions will
be done away with, as the free postage
from the Leper Settlement On the
other hand all official business will be
carried on under penalty" envelopes,
which are extremely convenient and
prevent the petty pilfering of postage
stamps.
The great boon in postal matters will
be the house to house delivery. This
will put us on level with all the cities
of the world. The crude method which
has obtained hitherto will give place to
an advanced and proper plan and we
shall have made yet another step for
werd in the march of progress.
1t is a pity Uncle Sam does not look
after the car systems. The city would
very much like to hand over, Pain, his
skeleton mules and his Noah's arks to
the Federal government to be displayed
as cWiosities in the National Museum
at Washington, and have the whole
outfit replaced by an up to date sys-
tenn. But we can't have everything
that we want, even under the wing
of the Great Republic, and we must
patiently wait till rapid transit or au-
tomobiles drive the wretched machines
off the road
The effect upon US of becoming a part
of the United States will be broaden
ing. We shall cease to be as self CEN
tered as We have been. We shall take
vital interest in the affairs of the
Great Republic. We have always had
an interest, but it has been rather the
interest of the locker on than of one
VINO is taking a part in the game Now
everything that rebounds to the glory
of the Republic, rebounds to our glory.
We take an intimate interest in every
thing that happens in Washington for
washington is our Capital now. The
laws which are passed in Congress are
OF vital interest to us. We have our
local interests of course, but we have
set of national interests, and ques-
tons of public policy will take a diff
ferent aspect on the fourteenth day of
June. The hour of midnight, June 10.
VIII be fateful hour, the opening of a
new era.