Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-07-05
A CHINESE CONSUL
ONE AT HONOLULU CHARGED
WITH SMUGGLING.
Said to Have Brought in Opiun-1n-
vestigating Cures for Leprosy-
Suits for Private Fishing Rights.

Special Correspondence OF The Evening Star.
HONOLULU, T. H. June Il, 1902
His imperial Chinese majestys consul in
Honolulu is just now the subject of good
deal OF correspondence between Collector
of Customs Stackable of Hawaii and the
State Department at Washington The
consul. Yang Wei Pin is accused of SNUG
Cling opium into the United States. in yio-
Iation of the customs laws, and his enc
mics in Honolulu predict that his recall
will soon be asked for.
Yang Wei Pin is a splendid specimen Of
the Manchurian race. being over six feet
tall aristoCratic and fine looking, and he
has long been a commanding and promi-
nent figure on the streets of Honolulu. He
wears the gorgeous robes that show high
Chinese rank and has all the dignity proper
to- one who is entitled to clOthe himself in
blue silk and decorate with the insignia of
an imperial consul But for years past he
has been in constant warfare with large
majority of his Countrymcn in Hawaii
They have repeatedly charged him with
fraudulenuy cxtGrting money and have en-
deavored to undermine his influence in
many ways, and all because when the
wave of reform struck Pekin before the
RoXer outbreak. and the Emperor KwanE
1lsu issued the famous reform edicts. that
caused the empress to dethrone him ana
probably had much to do with the Boxer
business Yang Wei Pin stood with the
empress antl-reform party. He sent to the
imperial government the names of hundreds
OF Chinese in Hawaii who Joined a reform
society and in some cases the relatives OF
the Hawaiian Chinese were thrown into
prison as a consequence.
Opium smuggling, under the old Hawaiian
monarchy and later under the renubIic of
Hawaii, was irrepressible and many arc
the taits OF scandal in connection with the
tfarnc There is still great profit in the
business. as the drug is used here in large
Quantities. The Chinese consul ia said 10
nave brought opium to Hawaii in his pri-
Nate consIgnments. which are allowed to
pass without examination. as a matter of
courtesy to the representative OF the Em-
perOr of China
Consul Yang Wei Pin was given the usual
custom house privileges some time ago and
accordlns to the stories of his Bow Wong
UeIorrnt enemies. he.was soon suspected of
violating the privilege. Collector StackabIe
however was instructed by the Treasury
department that the case in which an accrI-
Satlon was brought was too small a matter
TO bother about. and the subject was sun.
posed to have been dropped The Bow
Nongs. however. wrote to the State Depart
lnt mt making charges against the consul
among them that of smuggling and the
collector was instructed to look into tho
matter. He has seen a lot Of witnesses
ana Will soon make a report to the State
Department. in which Il is stated tba
charges VIII be sustained.
Tests of Leprosy Cures.
The Hawaiian board of health is prepar-
Ing to make some very interestins; tests of
supposed cures for leprosy. The use of the
H-ray, which is known TO have a germicidal
power VIII be investigated. and the So
called Copenhagen" cure will be tried The
latter is the employment of the violet raw
OF the spectrum which has also been found
10 nave germ destroying properties II has
never been applied to Ieprosy though il
mas been used with success in some cases
n
the hands Of a committee of tha hoard nf
hsdlth and are awaited with much interest
honolulu is enjoying a Iull in politics.
"illch is something very unusual. Prep
arations are being made. however for the
1al campaign, and precinct club meetings
nave already been held for the nomination
or Offlccrs to conduct the fight ] A Ken
hedy' chairman of the republican territorial
central committee. has offered his resigna-
ton. and c. j. Mccarthy, chairman OF rha
Democratic committee. has done the sana
Both parties will go into the fight under
new management.
One section of the organic act I,,- ,.,,,;o,,
congress provided form of government
Tor Hawaii has supplied the territory with
vast amount of litigation. and prospects
or great financial outlay. The section re-
ferred to provided that private fishing
rights should all be established bv suits
against the territory. such suits to he ba
gun within two years after the act went
INTO effect. and to be followed by suits nv
the territory to condemn the rights 50 that
Ihere would be no such thing as a private
nshing right in ocean waters of Hawaii.
the private fishing rights are heritases of
the old monarchy Many Of them date
pack to the days of the Kamehamehas.
having been royal grants to chiefs.
As a result of this provision of the Ha
waiian territorial act between seventy and
eishty suits have been filed against the ter
ritory by private parties claiming fishing
rights The territory will contest every
suit The rights claimed are distributed ali
over the Islands. The Bishop estate has
over twenty separate suits, claiming rights
In various waters
II Is impossible to estimate the value Of
such rights and no one can say lust how
much the territory will have to pay FOR
them under condemnation PROCEEDINGS. AS
a rule the titles claimed are TO the exclu
sive privilege Of catching certain kinds of
nsh 10 percentage of all fish taken by
Others from the area of waters included in
the claim and to the right during certain
seasons of the year to exclude all fishers
from such areas. The establishments of
boundaries. examinations of titles and as
sessments of the values of these rights con-
% a Il