The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1909-08-11
MAIL
STEAMERS MAY
Be WITHDRAWN
,c,,
tContinued from rage one.l

work in together and run on an adj
vertised schedule the route being
through the Suez canal The rate
has been approximately S12 per ton,
as against $15 per ton by the transcon-
tinental railroads and the Pacific lines.
OF this SIS mentioned the money has
been shared, the railroad getting two
thirds on outward freight and three
fttths on inward, the remainder going
to the steamship companies
Now comes the Interstate Com,
merce Commission which calls for the
publication of all our rates rs arrang-
ed between the railroad and the steam
ship company. No such rule can be in
voked against our competitors. They al
so ruled that in case of a change of,
rates we must give thirty days notice,
though this has since been changed to
three days on lowered tariff and ten
days on raises. Again no such ruling
can be made against the all water
route They can change there rates
at any moment of the day, which nat
urally gives them great advantage.
"Of course from interior points,
where the shipper would have to haul
by railroad to New York 10 send by
the Suez route, our rates are differ
emit Now if we should publish our
rates, showing what part went to the
railroads and what to the steamship
company, CRY would Immediately be
raised. 1t would be said that either
wnrn bauIino oh fn,,
or that the domestic rates were alto
gether too high. The result has been
that we have been forced to cut out
the export rate altogether and that
anyone shipping from the East by the
Pacific lines must pay the domestic
rate to San Francisco and then the
regular steamer rate from here to tn
Orient.
"The result is what you see with
this ship. We have nowhere near
enough freight to cover the expense
of handling it. How long we can keep
this up before given relief by Con-
sress is question. Something must
be done, however, or We'll have to
give up the line to Japan and China.
Would subsidy help? Yes, the pro-
per kind of a subsidy would. The
bill that just failed of passage in the
Congress- last year, however, would
have done us little or no good. After
figuring it out we would have been
given approximately $4,000 for each
rip across, the subsidy being paid for
only one way, instead of for the round
trip, as is the case with the Japan
ese steamers. To balance this we
would have to give up our Chinese
,rews and would have to employ white
men. This would cost us $4,000 more
han we are paying now, leaving us
| net gain of $4,000 through the sub
'idy. You can see that this would
lot go very far.
In contrast to this take the Jap
lnese subsidies. The new vessels of
he Togo Kisen Kaisha are given a
f the Honolulu people can obtain
hat sum for our company l will guar
lntee to spend half of It here. A fur
her matter in regard to the employ
nent of white crew is that l do not
believe that we could get the men in
San Francisco and if we did would
Ie in a turmoil all the time. Just as
he vessel was about to sail, with all
Ter passengers on board, if the wait
rs should all leave the ship on ac-
,ount of some grievance what could
We do? If the firemen should all leave
What would happen? AS I say, we
should have continual trouble.
mo, know nothing about the
giving up of our agreement with the
Togo Kisen Kaisha. I believe that
iome story to that effect was publish
ID in Mr.. De Young's paper He is on
,oard here and evidently knows all
bout it. I know nothing OF it what
yer. .a@SAP
Now while we are in these Difficult
les l hope that Honolulu will come
o our assistance. In order to keep
tut line going we must have freight.
{ there is freight 10 be taken from
lere to the Coast we want it, You
want passenger accommodations, but
'ou must understand that in order to
'un a line this we must have the
reight and passengers to pay for the
No business enterprise is
'un on a spirit of philanthropy. If I
he freight and passengers are not
eady for us we must get out of the
BUSINESS.
"The conditions here in Hawaii, as ,
egards our company have altered !
'ery much in the past few years.
When the company first came here
We were given free wharfage, free wa
er, pilotage, and free land for our {
oal piles. This kept under the mon {
lrchy and the republic, while now,
With the single exception of Manila,
honolulu is the most expensive port
t which our vessels touch. l.
mo, I cannot say when this affair !
With the Interstate Commerce Com
mission will be settled II is a mat /
urI,goI, ,,,,,rt bn ,.cv,,nIf.I ID /