The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1908-06-16
CHAMBER Of COMMERCE.

| en- out the misleading statement that
only 65 per cent of the cabin space on
| their steamers has been used That
statement Is disproven by the fact that
through the larger part of the entire
year there are passengers left over
from the through steamers who are
wholly unable to secure passage from
Honolulu
At the time Of annexation, ten years
ago, there were fourteen steamers
available for travel between Honolulu
and San Francisco. Today there are
but nine steamers available for that
travel; and of these three are freight
steamers, the cabin capacity of all
three not equaling that OF one second
class passenger boat.
am informed by the American-Ha
waiian Steamship Company, which OPP
crates two of those steamers, that
those two will be Withdrawn at once
and replaced by exclusive freight
steamers.
The result will be that by the end OF
this summer, unless this bill is passed,
we shall have but eight steamers car
rying passengers between Honolulu
and San Francisco, and of these two
are freighters with only limited pas
| senger equipment.
In other words, Mr.. Speaker Hawaii
will have six less steamers available
for travel at the end of this summer
than she had ten years ago, although
during that time the volume of travel
has increased almost so per cent.
1t is true that the Pacific Mail Com
pany has replaced it's old steamers
with new and larger ones, but the vol
ume of travel to the Orient has in
creased so greatly that there are fire.
quently fewer accommodations avail
abel for Hawaii on the big new steam
ers than there were on the smaller
ones ten years ago.
Tourists desiring to visit Hawaii
| have so frequently been unable to Sc
cure passage that that class of travel
| has greatly fallen off. So great has
been the decrease of tourist travel that
two of the best and largest hotels in
Honolulu were compelled to close their
doors last December. One of these no.
tells, the Royal Hawaiian. had been in
continuous and successful operation
for half a century.
Let il be clearly understood in this
House that Hawaii asks no change Of
the law with respect to freight car
riage. We are only asking for the
physical possibility of travel to and
| from the mainland
| Hawaii believes in proper protection
to shipping, and we believe in ship
| subsidy, but until Congress sees fit to
make such laws as will give us sutti-
cient American passenger boats we are
simply compelled to ask this tempo
rary privilege
Only few weeks ago this House
voted almost unanimously to suspend
the coastwise laws as regards the Phil
ippines, that action being taken not
only in the interest of the Filipinos,
but also of our own export commerce.
| AM unwilling to believe that this
nation in anneXing Hawaii intended
that it should be made less possible
for us to travel back and forth to the
mainland States than was the case
when we were a foreign nation.
Freedom of intercourse between the
several States and Territories is one of
the fundamental principles of our Fed
| eral system of government
An embargo upon travel has never
N OF u
stringent war measure, and | do not
believe that the passage of this meas
ure will be taken by any sensible peo-
pie as any assault on the American
shipping laws. but merely a measure to
relieve the practical embargo that has
been created against travel to and
from Hawaii in ever-recurring periods
1t is unsound for the opponents OF
this measure to say 1t is break in the
American prOtectOrate principle. The
strongest advocate of protection has
never held that it should be carried So
far as to wholly take away the right
to obtain a commodity; yet that is
precisely what constantly occurs in
Hawaii; for recurring periods of from
one to three weeks American citizens
are denied the commodity of travel to
and freedom of intercourse with the
mainland OF this nation
The statements made here that this
will turn most of the passenger travel
over to japanese steamers is absurd
and unfOunded. There are only three
Japanese passenger steamers calling al
Honolulu; and their rates are $40 and
SIS higher than that charged by either
the Oceanic or the Matson steamers.
The Japanese steamers will carry
only the surplus of passengers and
those unable to wait for a later boat
This measure win not injure any
American steamship company Every
one knows that the profits Of a steam
ship line are made from freight and
not from passengers; moreover, be-
cause OF the iAcrease of travel, made
possible by this bill, the number of
passengers using the American steam
ers will not be decreased IN the slight