Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-02-08
NEW STEAMER
FOR PANAMA

: NEW YORK, Jan. III am con.
family being asked" said President
George S. Dearborn, of the American
Hawaiian Steamship Line, what will
be the freight rate on sugar from h =
vail upon the opening of the Panama
Canal and the operation of our s1ips
through that waterway direct to New
York. People want to know what the
effect of the toll would Oe it it should
De levied on coastwise domestic snip
ping, as well as on foreign shipping
The Panama Canal act, as it now
stands, exempts from the toll ve> seis
Engaged in coastWise trade. My answer
S that cannot say. 1t Is all a ques+
ton Of supply and demand and COM
petition in tonnage. | any case the toll
will bep aid by the ultimate, consumer.
ror that reason .fe, did not ask for free
II lis on eaagtWise business. The pres
sure for that concession came from
the commercial bodies on the Pacific
Coast There is no basis for the no.
ton that We had been ragitating IN
We. hington or lobbying for the tree
use of the canals AS said at the
time in testifying before the Congress
eional Committee on Interstate and
toIeign Commerce, somebody has got
to pay the carrying charges and the
coast of operating the canal, and, that
somebody will be the ultimate consum-
er.
The ShipoWnerS uGllg the canal,
whatever toll is levied and paid 10y
their ships, will pass it on and caclu-
late their profit apart from it. If the.
ships do not pay they will not use the
CANAL For that reason we were indlf-,
ferent whether tolls were levied or
lvidorl de- e-nrfiRs fie-oyo .jstm
not. In making contracts today with
shippers We provide for charging the
toll in addition to the freight charges.
il. case such a toll should be levied on
coastwise shipping. is impossible to
say as yet whether the charges will,
re higher or lower. In our own case,
rs we shall add eight new ships to our
fleet, we ihall be doubling our capac-,
ity. In order to gain full cargoes it is
not likely that our rates will be in.
creased. Doubling the tonnage sener-
ally means reduction.
Then there is the reduction that
will be brought about by the ellmln-
alton of the transfer charges, rs We
shall have the all through water route
instead of transhipping as now over
the Isthmus of Tehuantepcc or Pa
mama. Consequently, even allowing
for the toll, the rate might be lower.
Added to these considerations is
that of increased competition. 1t is
conceivable that the rates might be
abnormally low if the ships entering
the trade should give more than sufti-
Gent tonnage for the demand.
"If we could control the carrying
trade it would be another matter. But
with the Luckenbach Steamship Com
pany entering into the Panama trade,
the International Mercantile Marines
KroonIand and Noordland, and posi-
we could control the trade, let along
concerning it.
Speaking of the past year and the
prospects in the Hawaiian trade. Pre-.
sident Dearborn sad that the esti-
mates of the sugar crop owing to the
drought in the islands would probably
be cut down by 10 per cent. The
pineapple shipments had amounted to
about a million cases. Freight had
been offered freely along the Hawaii
an and Pacific coasts but the move
ment was rather Spasmodic.
OF the eight new boats to be added
to the Aforementioned feet under
its present program two were already |
in service. The Montana would be |
launched at the latter end OF this |
month The kansan had been let out |
on charter and had made two I'M
usual trips for an American vessel |
In one voyage it had carried a cargo |
for its charterer to Antwerp and OF |
the other took a cotton cargo from
to Bremen.