The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-12-13
BY ]. A. BREcrloNs.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3.-Character-I
izing the governments specifications
for carrying mail through the Panama
canal as entirely impractical" be-
cause of the requirement that boats
carrying this mail should have a speed
of sixteen knots, George S. Dearborn,
president of the American Hawaiian
Steamship company, has offered to
carry the Panama man for fiat rate
of four cents per pound, without the
subsidy of $75O,OOO offered by the gov
eminent
Mr.. Dearborn's offer was the only
one received by the postmaster gen.
eral in response to his advertisement
for bids. 1t was not intended to com
ply with the requirements necessary
to obtain the proposed subsidy Of
$750,000 a year, but in view Of the
fact that no other bids were received,
and that the proposition would mean Il
saving to the government of the inn
mense bonus it was proposed to give,
it is thought that the Aforementioned
ian company may get the contract.
Twenty-Three Ships.
In his statement accompanying the
proposal Mr. Dearborn stated that his
company would have not less than
twenty-three ships running at the open
ing of the canal, with nine sailings a
month from New York, with a schedule
of from six to seven days to Colon and
from eighteen to twenty day to San
Francisco. The offer further says:
The mail service we could provide
with these frequent sailings would be
fully as efficient as the one contemplate
ed in your contract AS to compensa-
iont the regular postl rate of four
cents a pound would be adequate. Fur
thermore, should all OF the services
which are required under your adver-
tisement come into existence their
total annual freight capacity would be
but small part of that which we are
providing for"
The American Hawaiian Steamship
Company, the offer said, was absolute
ly independent, no transcontinental
railroad having any connection or ar
rangement.
Mr.. Dearborn, in discussing the offer
of his company, said he was not sur
prised that the government had receiv-
ed no bids for this service, because the
single requirement that the ships must
have a sixteen-knot speed would pre-
clude their operation on a sound COM
mercial basis Such boats, he said,
must be passenger boats with small
freight capacity, and would be compel
led to depend largely upon tourist
travel The boats of his company We're
fourteen-knot vessels, and were the
only kind capable of doing a profitable
business. Passenger boats, such as
would be necessary to carry the mail
on the schedule proposed by the gov
eminent, would be compelled to charge
from 1925 to $3.50 for passage to San
Francisco, as against SIS charged by
the railroads.
Plenty of Business.
There will be plenty of business for
the canal" said Mr. Dearborn, 'in fact
there will be a scrap for it. know Of
two other companies right here prepar-
ing for its opening just as We are, and,
like ourselves, they have not been fig
uring on any subsidy. We are carry,
ing now $50 900 tons of freight year,
every ton of which, I should say, is
taken from the railroads, so that II
doesn't look as though we We're con
trolled by them, does It? We are build
ing five additional boats to increase
our cargo capicity to 100000, and to
fill these boats we will have to reduce
the present rates. That is one of the
objects of the canal"
Speaking of the governments mail
subsidy offer of $75OOO0 year made
in the circular issued last July, Mr.
Dearborn said that he couldn't under
stand why it-had ever been made.
"As to who suggested this thing how
it came about and what it's object was
l as still in the dark he said, The
mail by ships? The only letters that
be carried by rail, because the trains
can make the run in four days. Who
would send even third or fourth class
mail by ships The only letters thai
can be carried are those for the Cana
Zone and the little that goes to th'
neighboring countries. Is a subsidy
necessary for this?"
Doubt Subsidy Legality
Mr.. Dearborn said that he in com
mon with others who had studied the
matter, doubted the legality of the
subsidy offer. "There was only the
opinion OF the Acknowledgement t
back it up" he said, "and for one
deemed that hardly sufficient" Undei