The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-04-13
MERCHANTS
IN SESSION
Debate Telephone and
Foreign Tax
Bill.

There was much oratory unloaded on
the desert air at the meeting of the
| Merchants Association yesterday aft
ernoon without results commensurate
with it's profuseness. There were but
| two propositions brought up, sub
stitute for the foreign 'corporati ton tax
bill introduced into the legislature at
| the request OF the association and the
matter Of endorsement of the proposed
| Standard Telephone franchise. The
tax bill was presented by Mr.. H. E.
Cooper and had been prepared by him
and l.. A. Thurston in the interests of
fairness to the foreign corporations
which do pay heavy taxes TO the ter
ritory. The bill introduced at the re-
quest of the Merchants provided for a
tax on capital stock of foreign corpor-
ations in order to make them bear
their share of the territoryS burden.
This bill Mr.. Cooper stated was un-
fair to corporations which had large
property holdings here and were pay
ing taxes in as large proportion as
domestic corporations. The bill was
aimed at companies which merely had
small offices here and took away bust
ness from local firms without paying
the territory anything. However, Mr.
Cooper said that the bill did not ac-
complish its purpose but inflicted an
unfair burden on other corporations.
He particularly spoke of the Union
Oil Company and the Pacific Oil
Transportation Company, foreign cor
porations which are paying heavy tax
es in the territory on their property
1t was unfair to saddle an additional
tax on their capital stock. On the 9TH
er hand corporations doing a small
business here like the Singer Sewing
Machine Company would have to pay
a large tax on a capitalization of some
thing like So, 000, 000-manifestly an I'M
fair burden.
Mr. Cooper then presented new act
which provided that foreign corpora
tions doing business in the territory
should pay an annual license of 5000
providing that they did not pay taxes
to the territory in the sum of 5000
annually. This he said would be a
fair bill. He and his interests were
anxious to cooperate with the asso-
citation in properly protecting local con-
Germs but they thought that there was
a limit which should be set. He also
stated that if a heavy tax were i'm
posed he was sure that foreign COR
porations would combine and associ-
ate as domestic corporations. He was
sure that there would be no contest OIL
the bill he presented which was COM
bination of the present law and the
proposed Merchants bill.
There was some little discussion of
the new bill but nothing definite was
done. the matter being referred to the
Public Affairs Committee for investi-
CATION
THE TELEPHONE FRANCHISE.
The next business was the consider
alton of the reports of the committee
on the proposed telephone franchise.
There We're two reports, the majority
report, presented by Mr.. Cation fav-
oring the franchise bill as now before
the legisla ture and the minority re-
port presented by Mr.. Emmeluth, scor-
ing it as "bristling with 'cinch'
clauses" AS soon as the reports were
presented there was a hot debate.
Practically everyone seemed to favor
the granting of the franchise but the
discussion was over the minor details
The minority committee presented a
pll PROVIDED iOf an
extension of the conduit system as far
as Asylum road. Judd and Punahou
streets, the completion of the system
in two years. supervision by the Super
intendent of Public Works, and pro-
hibiting the requirement of any other
system by the Standard as we'll as the
working of any employee over forty
eight hours week. The bill also fixed
maximum rates and cut out the right
of eminent domain
Mr.. Emmeluth was very earnest in
his presentation but the majority of
the members were of the opinion that
his bill restricted the company so
much that it would not care for the
franchise The opinion prevailed that
the present service was rotten as
several of the members said and that
the only way to improve the situation
was to introduce competition. The i'm
preston seemed to be quite general
that the automatic system was a good
one. After much wrangling it was de-
cided to endorse the granting of the
pending franchise to the Standard
Company subject to such amendments
as the legislature sees fit to make. A
resolution to that effect was intro
duced by Mr. Macfarlane and passed
after which the meeting adjourned