Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-03-18
RAPID TRANSIT
(continued from Page ~

thing in sight and even goes farther
than did by intimating that his
coGpahy expects TO calm few
things not in sight At any rate, the
company is going TO stick Ey its bond
In his first statement last Friday he
said, with reference 10 a square deal
by the public, i submit that our
franchise Or contract alone deter
mines what this square deal" STALL
be In mis- statement this morning
he quotes the law as constituting the
contract between the public and the
company and says: This contract
came be altered or abridged except
BY the consent OF the company Thai
IS just it. The company mas good
thing and proposes to make the besS
ofiI. but the public should not permit
itself to be deceived into granting an
made equitable. -. .......... ~
"He also makes the contention
which predicted he would make when
The time came, although / hardly
thought he would make it so soon, that
the company can build it's road on
bonds or earnings and issue watered
stock 10 the amount Of the entire cost
plus % per cent, then pay off the
bonds and the stock out of the earn
ings and keep the road besides and
ask the public TO pay for IL again if
Il wants it; in other words, that the
public may have to pay at least three
and quarter times the cost of the
road to company that has either not
put anything into it or has taken
everything out that it has put into it
and drawn good dividends besides.
Supports My Prediction"
He further supports my prediction
by showing that the company con-
tends that even now under the law it
can issue $1,40S.750 additional of wa
tered stock to it's stockholders with
out their putting any additional capt.
tai into the business, and it may be
expected to do this, if permitted to
do it, as soon as it becomes to its in
interest to do it. He seems to concede
that the company has already issued
100000 of stock to the stockholders,
for which they have paid nothing.
had supposed it was less amount.
"He quotes the figures thus far
as if they were any criterion to go by
for the future. In my original state
ment | showed that the proposed ex-
tension would be the fat period for
the company. after the company had
passed it's developing stage and the
city had grown to two or three times
its size at the time the franchise was
granted, and yet it shows that even
during this early developing period
the company has paid in dividends
1851, 286.95 on a capital investment by
it's stockholders of $707,500, besides
issuing a 100000 stock dividend and
besides paying off $4,000 of bonds,
putting large sums into extensions of
its property and making other in
yestmentS. n +.
81 note also that his company now
advances another contention which
bad not supposed it would advance,
even later on and that is that it's
present franchise will not expire until
June %, 1880, that is. 80 years after
. its approval by the president of the
United States, whereas the franchise
itself is by it's own terms to continue
thirty years after the railway author
lied by this act shall have been CON-
menced, and the construction of
said railway must commence within
one year after the passage of this act
and this act shall take effect and be-
come law from and after the date of
its approval that is. by the president
of the Republic of Hawaii, which was
on July Z, 1898, which would make
the franchise terminate about 2
years earlier than the company now
contends. ....:=.\
AS said in my original statement,
the substitute bill prepared by me was
prepared somewhat hurriedly and
might be improved upon . 1t was pre-
pared by way of suggestion to the
committee which had the conpany's
bill in charge and was not at that
time intended to be introduced as an
independent bill 1t was prepared at
the request of one of the members of
the committee. In my first statement
pointed ont two or three respects in
which it might be improved and since
then / have looked over portions of
the original franchise ac; more care
fully and the more go into it the
more fearful and wonderful find
it to be. A number of other sections
should be amended before, any extern
sion of the franchise Is granted be-
cause they contain widely separated
provisions relating to the same mat
ter, any one of which is apt to be
very misleading unless read in con-
junction with the others.
For instance, one. thing that the
company has done lately shows an
additional contention on its part
which, if sound, would enable the
company to invest all surplus earn
ings in stocks of other companies and
thus pile .up great mass of invest
ments to divide among its stockhold-
ers upon the termination of its fran
Chise and never pay to the public a
cent of it's earnings. This gives also
an added interest to the joker intits
bill by which it confines the earn
ings in which the public may share to
transportation earnings" III. -:-..
Md pEnK,c STATEMENT