The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-08-20
REPORT OF. CHAMBER
OF COMMERCE PRESIDENT
Splendid Record of Work Accomplished by the
Organization During the Past
Twelve Months.

The past year work of the Homo
lulu Chamber of Commerce was pre-.
sented at the annual meeting of that
organization yesterday afternoon by
President James F. Morgan, in a care
fully prepared and elaborated report,
as follows:
1t affords me much pleasure to be
able to present, herewith, my annual
report and to know that arrangements
have been completed whereby it will
appear with other matter of interest,
IN printed form, and [ trust that this,
the first annual publication to be is,
sued by the Chamber, may be but the
beginning of an uninterrupted series
which will increase in value from year
to year. 1t should be our endeavor to
make the annual of the Honolulu Cham.
Der of Commerce a publication of such
merit that it will be looked upon as an
authority on Island matters and find
welcome in the library of every com.
mercial organization throughout the
world.
1t is pleasing to note by the secre.
tary S report that the membership of
the Chamber has shown healthy in.
crease during the year. All of the
Territory's leading interests are now
well represented and find in the Cham
Der an excellent medium for exploiting
the best interests of the Islands. sys.
tematically and effectively.
AS to the work of the Chamber dur,
ing the past year, | will refer to mat,
tiers of more or less Importance in the
order of their occurrence
Coastwise Shipping Laws.
Upon becoming a Territory, it of
course followed that the Shipping Laws
of the United States were applied to
Hawaii, which means that passengers
or freight cannot be carried between
Honolulu and San Francisco or any
other American port, except in vessels
flying our flag. 1t was felt by many
that being over 1000 miles from the
mainland, Hawaii ought not to be sub
Ject to this construction of the law
and an effort was made by the Board
of Trustees to secure the passage of
bill by Congress, exempting the Islands
from the ruling for period of years
until at least there were enough yes.
sells flying the American flag plying on
the Pacific to readily and at all times
care for the passenger traffic between
Hawaii and the mainland. This bin
will be again brought up for considera.
ton at the next session of Congress.
Pearl Harbor
Perhaps the most important piece of
work undertaken during the year by the
Chamber was its effort to bring about
the early improvement of Pearl Harbor. |
On October 30th, 1907, | called a
meeting of the trustees for the pur-
pose of considering the advisabihtS of |
sending special representative to
Washington TO forward Pearl Harbor |
legislation; the plan met with the APP
prevail of the board and special com
miftee was at once appointed to inves- |
tigate and report upon the matter. The |
members of the committee quickly de-
cided in favor of the plan and were |
successful in securing subscriptions in
an amount sufficient to meet the prob.
able cost. At their request, Mr.. I'll. 2.
Wood, the secretary of the Chamber, |
was selected as our representative and
left for Washington, november %,
1907.
Shortly after his arrival there, /
eabled Mr.. Wood to secure the opinion
of the Chief of Engineers as to the
desira Utility of making certain borings,
as means of securing reliable informa-
ton as to character and hardness of for
nation, in order to enable a fairly close
estimate to be made of the cost OF
and deepening the entrance
to Pearl Harbor.
Admiral Dewey and General Macken.
zie, Chief of Engineers, both heartily
approving of the suggestion, the neees.
sary outfit was secured by the Chamber
Of Commerce and behring's were carefully
|
trance to the Harbor up to the site for
the proposed Naval dock, practically
covering the entire Harbor. The re.
suits of the behring's were cabled direct
to the Chief of Engineers and Delegate
thus supplying them with
out unnecessary delay, data which all
admit, was most helpful in obtaining
appropriations from Congress for this
great undertaking. In this work, we
we're greatly assisted by Captain Curtis
W. Otwell, of the L. s. Engineer Corps,
Rear Admiral Samuel w. Very, then
of the Honolulu Naval
Station; Mr. Marston Campbell, Super
ntendent of Public Works; the latter
supplying us with much of the equip
nent used without cost.
Owing to Mr. Wood s wide acqualn-
-ance with the commercial bodies of the
United States, he was able to follow
lp the work of the Chamber and |
strengthen the hearty cooperation al +;
ready offered by letter and resolution
n the plans for improvement of Pearl I
4arbor. in this way, making the mat
er an issue of National Importance. The
eading Chambers of Commerce through, |
nut the United States sending IN to ]
heir representative in Congress strong
I
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