The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1913-03-14


SIN o.. luni on tac bonds e.c. mt,
TAG Tor extensions al pro cmeh
..ul rHuH lttiNo dividends on he sto .
iu' tie rate of = per cent rpr annHm
aud shall pay. in 80 Ter ~ &c rays an q
thing iu cS, ess Of per cent. one
'rurth 10 the company aud three
fnuriha 20 the city 7 lis gives tn com
tany 200 absolutely sure return OF 4
per cut on all that t has thus fai
rut Ia, and on the waite q stock that
10 has already issued, and on al that
~ NAV PIT in hereafter. but ii shuts
ct dividends on additi watered
stock The dividends are made cumu.
lative so that it u does no, pay per
cent In one wear, il may paw enough
moro than S per cent in another yeqr
20 make up. Thus it is abso utely as.
cured &c IN income of per cent, max.
ing the stock ms hood as n we'l.secured
/ s per cent bond, although in { G street
lTailwar settlement iH Chicago, which
was brought about by Secretary + sher,
/ only . per cent was allowed. An as
sured per cent dividend would make
| the stock command a handsome prem.
: ium in the market: and If the public
! shoul ever take over the railway, the
stockholders would he paid back all
and more than they put into it. What
more could they reasonably askf'
1.-The company, of course, takes the
position that it has good thing now
End that it viii he to the advantage of
the public to extend the franchise be.
| cause that win enable the company to
spread its sinking fund for bonds and
stock over a longer period and there.
fore enable it to expend more now in
making extensions.
"That is quite true" continues the
statement "An unusually good fran.
chise was granted in 1898. The city
was then small, there was little capital
seeking investment in this way the
public was willing to go a long way
to get a better service than was given
by the old tramway company and the
subject was not so well known or had
not been brought so prominently to
public attention at that time as now;
and yet the company, even under the
bill as L have drafted, it viii stand
to gain much more than it will lose. y
Questions to Be Tested.
Moreover, the company probably
has not such good thing now as it
thinks. In the first place, there is
much reason to believe that it can
issue watered stock only to the extent
of twenty-five per cent and not to the
extent of l25 per cent of the cost and
that it can not set aside sinking
fund for any stock which has not been
paid for in full. The time will soon
come when the government viii be in
a position to test these questions. The
company, therefore, can not afford to
insist upon a doubtful contention of
this kind at the risk of losing the
magnificent boon of twenty one-year
extension. Furthermore, the public
has under the present law some pref
ty good levers to exert on the company
in ease the latter should not do the
square thing by the public. For in
stance, the superintendent of public
works and the Governor may make
rules and regulations for the company;
the company may be required to in
crease it's schedule; the franchise is
not exclusive, and the rights and privil-
eyes of the company, except as other
wise provided, are expressly granted
| upon such terms, conditions and re-
strictions as now are or NAV hereafter
be imposed by the laws of the Terri
tory of Hawaii in relation to the mat.
! ter of construction and maintaining
street railways in the district of Ho.
nolulu. Island of Oahu. and a strict
compliance with such laws is hereby
required. There are also other re-
| spects in which the company may he
! required to give increased service to
I such an extent that it could not do
more than pay off its bonds and stock
and small dividend during the re.
mainder of its present franchise if the
public were disposed to exercise its
powers The company should in its
own interests take the position that
it desires to serve the public first and
that it is willing to do so for a fair
return.
! GIN the matter of securing adequate
service n provision is inserted similar
to that which congress inserted at my
suggestion in the Hilo franchise to the
effect that the company may be re-
quired by proper board or a public
utility commission to make extensions
as the needs of the city require, pro.
yided the entire system. including the
extensions, will enable the company to
pay dividends of eight per cent" it
continues.
Limits Will Change.
"The company has inserted in its
bill, apparently as a bid for support or
as if it were making a valuable con-
cession, n provision extending the lin
its, within which it may not charge
more than five cents fare, from Dia-
, mond Head to Twentieth avenue and
from a mile and a half to three miles
, from the shore, / have omitted that
provision from the substitute BILL part
) ly because it is of no consequence and
. partly in order that it may not be used
as a bait for obtaining valuable new
privileges. In the first place, those
limits will not at all be what they
= should be perhaps even ten years from
r now. In the second place, the company
, would not venture in the face of public
! sentiment to charge more than five
' cents within those limits anyway. II
4 is not doing so now on its Nuuanr
+ line. In the third place, il could moi
! charge more than five cents within any
s limit without the approval of the Gov
q ernor and no Governor would approx,
n making larger charge than that with
4 in any limits where that charge wal
reasonable On the other hand. hav'
left In a provision for slight add
ffnnul nriNilaHa "a nj fhara aat