Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1910-03-24

: the forty-passenger steamship or
fifty-passenger steamship is all that
the manager of the Americana a-
waiian has to offer in that line. RI,
To be as honest as Mr.. Dearborn
has been, we do not believe that
! accommodation for forty or fifty
/ passengers is fair reciprocition
for the advantages of carrying be-
tween two and three hundred thou
sand tons of freight. 81.
The response to this is that the
big freight is not moved to San
| Francisco or Coast ports. And when
! that is said. great many men will
ask whether every transportation
line solicitous of the good will OF
a community, and anxious to serve
1t in every way possible, always
makes the same ratio of profit on
every line that 1t operates?
II 1t came to a showdown, would
1t not be good business for any
steamship company to operate a
Short-haul passenger and freight
line Oh break-even basis, or pos
| sibly at small loss, IL 1t were able
to operate ten ships on another
long-haul freight line at u good
profit?
Possibly the final answer may be,
If the full facts were known:
What's the use of talking about
this when it is not likely to come
TO a showdown" -
This has not beepr said, but, ac-
lens will speak louder than words.
Z AS for the passenger steamship
that will carry good-sized cargo
CT freight. II should be noted that
such a transportation proposition
has yet to prove failure. The
Matson line appears to have done
very well at 1t. Certainly the
Oceanic Steamship Company is not
operating the l.eamship Alameda,
and now the steamship Sierra, with
larger passenger accommodations,
from philanthropic motives.
The Oceanic carries less freight
than any other line with ships call
ing az this port. Its steamer has
been the. object of as many gratui-
tous knocks as any that sails the
Pacific. In the face of this. the
managers of the line find sufficient
support to put large sum of
money into the Improvement of the
| service.
The public does not have the adj
vantage of perusing the books OF
the. steamship companies. 1t only
knows that John d. Spreckels would
not run a steamer to, Honolulu that
was operated at loss on the total
years business. II also knows that
both the Observation-Disclosures and
the Matson Navigation companies
have larger freights assured them,
by thousands of tons, than is guar
anteed the Oceanic line. $500,
The Hawaiian. carrying
the largest freights, gives the least
attention to, passengers. Next
comes the Matson line. that strikes
a fair average, with passenger ac-
commodation on every steamship 1t
operates. with the exception of a
chartered boat. And then the. Oce-
anic, with the least freiehts and
the largest relative passenger equip
ment. rasA # 1 aaas.
With these facts before them, 1t
Is hard, very hard, for the people
to believe that the carriers of the
largest freights can't afford to give
this town steamers carrying more
passengers, In fact, the people
don't believe what Is told them.
lThey believe that the freight-car-
riers are. supremely selfish, and
what is more to the point, that they
are supported in this selfish policy
by the attitude of the men who con-
troll the great sugar freights.
The Bul letin Is satisfied that
the steamship companies, particu-
larly the American-Hawaiian, will
eventually gain the best result
under broader passenger policy.
Protected enterprises should recog-
nize that they have some other re-
sponslbilities under the advantages
given them by the American policy
of protection than the mere han
ding of the freights! especially
when dealing with section OF the
country having no other MEANS OF
transportation than by water.
They know what that RESPONSE
| bility is Just as we'll as anyone else,
Senator Daniel Strioken-Day tOn.