The Hawaiian gazette., 1908-12-11

free steel and free ships as for free
steamship passenger rights. We might
just as well ask for free Chinese coolies.
al therefore move in amendment to
Mr.. Castles resolution, that this Cham
Der hereby renffirms its action taken
at the last meeting. -
This amendment was seconded by F..
j. Spalding, who raised the point that
! Mr.. Castle 3 resolution was in reality
one TO reconsider and should be ruled
out under the former ruling of the
chair. Chairman Cooke saw a differ.
ence, however, and ruled the original
resolution in order.
Shingle Reviewed the Case.
R. W. Shingle, who had been in
Washington and taken part in hav.
ing the bill for Congress framed, re.
viewed the history of that legislation.
He related the agreement made with
Messrs. Dearborn, of the American.Ha.
waiian. and Mr.. Hartman, of the Pa.
cific Mail, to install ventilating plants
on their line for fresh pine transpor-
| tation and the agreement of Governor
Frear to not press for perishable
freight clause in the exemption asked
| for. Mr.. Single had to grope for the
word ventilating'' when he needed
| it, and one member, noting his desire,
suggested "hot air plant as what was
promised.
Mr.. Single stated that he was salts
fed with the promises of Captain Mat
son and would support the nonsupport
Of the suspension now Of the Coastwise
laws.
Ridiculous Position.
w. H. MeInerny supported Mr.. Cas-
tie s resolution, referring to the ridicu-
lous position the action of the Cham
Der had placed it in and the awkard-
ness of the position the action had
placcd Hawaii IS friends at Washington
in. He believed that the opening of
the doors to travellers from all vessels
would bring more business to the Mat
son line than the exclusion of the for
| eign liners from the trade would.
| There were number of other speak.
ers. z. X. Myers favored standing
pat, r. B. McStocker thought the sus
pension of the law would force the
American shipowners to meet conditions
here and w. r. Castle explained that
when the Coastwise laws were passed
there had been no Territory of Hawaii
and none expected. He also wanted to
know what right Congress had to
maroon any citizen in the middle of
the Pacific. In reply to some of the
points raised by Mr.. Tenney, he said:
Hawaii Has Rights.
' Regarding the statement made that
the repeal of this act could be called
special privileges and that thereby our
right as Territory might be taken
away from us, / cannot agree. These
Islands were annexed under a contract,
not by conquest. We have equal rights
with the United States. The resolution
Of annexation had to be ratified by Ha-
wall as well as by the United States
and that resolution gave us certain
rights that Congress cannot take away
from us, If any Congress should ever
attempt to, the Supreme Court of the
United States will protect us.
Gas to our local conditions, / sup
pose you all read the statement made
short time ago by Mr.. Schwerin as
to what might happen to the Pacific
Mail. There are some who said that
that statement was gulf, whatever
that may mean, but / believe it was a
1 statement made irearnest, namely, that
the rules and regulations of the Inter
state Commerce commission were oper-
ating so against tht Pacific Mail that
the result might be the withdrawal of
the line from the service. What would
that mean to Hawaii?
"What condition are we in, anyway,
with the uncertainty and with what
vessels there are crowded at times so
that we cannot travel, which frequently
happens. The only just and proper
course to be taken is that outlined in
/ the bill now before Congress, which
is not special legislation. The eXemp-
tons asked for in that bill are for
7, every citizen of the United States, not
for us in Hawaii alone. The Chamber
is now in position to put itself right
before the people of the United
States.n
Galt's Speech Applauded.
j. r. Gait made one of the strongest
speeches in support of the resolution,
reviewing the history of the coastwise
laws and pointing out how every visit
ing Congressman and government otii-
cial and secretary had seen the unjust
ness of their application here and the
unwisdom of continuing their applica-
ton under present circumstances. Are
we now, mt this eleventh hour going to
throw down our friends in Congress
who have been working for usl' he
asked. eff so, how can we ever con
sistently ask Congress ever again for
any legislation whateveri How can
we assure our friends there that we are
not going to leave them standing alone
after another eleven months work in
our INTEREST,""
B. F. Dillingham's Advice.
b. F. Dillingham; stated that the ques-
ton of not applying the coastwise laws
to Hawaii had come up when the Or
ganic Act was being drafted, and he
had been one at that time opposed to
the application of the laws.
81 am interested financially in the
Matson Navigation Company, said
Mr.. Dillingham;, "but ! am opposed TO
the retention of the coastwise laws in
the interest of the Matson or any other
line. / believe in throwing open the
door and let the ninety million people
of the United States know they can
travel freely to and from Hawaii. I
believe that with open passenger SER