Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-02-14
HONOLULU MUST BEND ENERGIES
FOR american OCEAN COMMERCE

amount o: tonnage. Of merchant YES,
sells under orr dag 70 Great Britain
: alone. the oversee tonnage OF the
! United St:,t"s is dis2r2cefuliy small
While Ills may be largely due TO the
! fact thai Americans have greater OBJ
pOrtWnties on shore than they could
find in going to sea. it IS to my mind
/ due TO our navigation laws.
I Tie American citizen car not Dur-
c'ae" a vessel abroad and use il to
carry passengers and cargo to his own
county under his own flag unless ne
| first suffers sufficiently TO be Obliged
! Il pat into an American port in dis
tress and spends twothirds Of its
lalae in repairs at such port.
This law is Old and since 1861 has
| operated to drive the American flag
| from the high seas. to siCh an extent
| that the other day learned that the
| entire sailing fleet Of the United
| States is insufficient to carry the su-
gar of Hawaii to market.
Perhaps the restrictions on the Dur-
chase OF ships might be borne by the
ship owners were 1t not that certain
| men in the United States have striv-
en- to Wrest from ship owners all the
profits Of their enterprises.
The trades unions have been a
blight to the oversee shipping inter
ests of the United States. by placing
another and more severe handicap up
On them and are now striving by leg
islation TO cripple them further I'M
less the trades unions shall be per-
mitted to reap where they have not
sown.
want to tell you a little story il,
Illustrative of this contention of mine
In 1905 | took over the government OF
American Samoa. At that time the
Oceanic S. S. Co. was operating mail
service, giving steamer every three
weeks between San Francisco, Homo
lulu, Pago Page, Auckland and Sgd
ney.
1t was having somewhat, of a strug-
gle to make both ends meet owing to
a drouth in Australia, and to meet the
troubles caused to it 0y the tricky
handling of its freight by the Union
Steam ship Company's employees in
New Zealand.
Its route lay as stated, including
four union ridden ports and the final
extinction was wrought by the unions,
assisted by magistrates at the various
ports. Pago Page was the only port
at which any encouragement was CIV
en- it.
In 1907 l went to Washington and
endeavored to aid the passage of al
ship-subsidy bill to include that line.
/, encountered congressman from
the Middle West who was interested
in flour line to Brazil and the Span.
ish Main who told me that no subsidy
could be granted to any line till he
got his without a fight from him!
Now, you gentlemen of the AID Club
are interested in this matter.
Honolulu is not only the great mil
itary and naval base Of the United
States in the Pacific Ocean: it is the
great future port Of call for vessels |
passing through the Panama canal. |
Every steamship and every sailing
vessel of the United States that plies |
its trade on this ocean will drop in |
at Honolulu preferably il you make it |
worth while, and these American
ships will be less anxious to press on
than will be the foreigners
1t is up to you to promote the
building of American ships with
which to SECURE the commercial SUI |
premacy of Your \ country on this
ocean.
| We are today paying. understand, |!
about $500, 100000 year to send our
produce to market in foreign bottoms, }
and we must continue to pay that tax
unless we can overcome the forces |
working against an American mer.
chant marine.
Our country is great in area, in nat. |
Tral resources, in population. in wealth,
and in claims to greatness.
Is it not time that we throw our hat |
into the ring, and strip for the strug- |
gle for that peaceful and beneficent !
domination of the Pacific which is
Gus by right of position and oppor-
tunity if We have the real virtue to
grasp the prize?