Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-01-14
coASTWIsE SHIPPING.

Editor Honolulu StaT-BHle1tiHs-
Sir: Maxim. in your issue of JAN
uary 18th. has views Of his own on
our coastwise shipping laws, and
seems to deplore the fact that he does
rot agree with X.Y-Z Maxim calls
him or her to account for presuming
to speak for others and advises that
he or she should speak only for him
self or herself. If no one agrees with
with N.Y.. We must all agree with
Maxim, and of course he speaks for
us all-eyery body else should listen
and all the world must leI'l it's ears.
The matter of our coastwise laws
has frequently been discussed in Ho-
nolulu and elsewhere, and the repeal
of some or all of The provisions of
these laws has been advocated by
very responsible and thoughtful peo-
PIE. Honest discussion will bring out
the fact that laws restricting trade
are bad, and when our shipping laws
prohibit the inhabitants of our coun-
try accepting the services of ship
pers who are really, able and anxious
to do our shipping. our government,
in enforcing such laws Is doing in
times of peace what @our enemies
would try hard to do in times of war,
that is, blockade our ports Why
should preparations be made to defend
our coasts and shipping with armies
and navfes if trade will ruin us? To
be at war woutl be more desirable;
our shipping would be destroyed and
then we would have ideal protection;
foreign competition would be elm
mated; increased demand for Home
production by home buyers would be
reality; American labor woutl find
lots of employment; we would be bot
tied up by the enemy If trade is
good only when carried on in Ameri-
can ships now will the products of
industry be any worse to the buyer if
he receives them in foreign bottoms?
They are the same goods, his orders
have been filled and he is getting what
he ordered Insliyfdua1s, not coun-
tries, trade. Laws iB14nded to foster
a merchant marine tax all other in
dustry and we all must suffer for the
benefit Of few who were resource
full enough to- mislead our legislators
into framing laws thatrrestrict trade
and stifle real prosperity - a..
If Americans cannot enter the mer-
chant marine without faVofitism be-
ing shown them tneyseugft to be men
enough TO stay ont atifls do something
else There are thousands of better
opportunities for Americans than go
ing to sea as employees UEsler fair
shipping conditions, the money We
now have to spend to bolster up an
Improbable merchant marine would
be put to profitable uses at home, and
American labor would not be put to
the Inconvenience of looking for jobs
at sea. Surely It is lot tile intention
of cur navigation laxs3to foster an
American merchant marine just to
give a few sailors jebsi OF course,
under absolute free trade our Ameri-
can ships and shippers would prac-
tically swarm the seas with commerce
under the American flag as they did
before the Civil War, but as block
adci ports drove our commerce from
the seas and the policy Of 'pTotec-
ton" has kept 1T off, 1T is doubtless
reasonable to believe that opposite
causes will have opposite effects and
that open, ports and free trade will
again make us an important factor in
the commerce of the world.
Maxim appears tor be anxious about
the salaries of the, Japanese employees
on plantations, but observation shows
that they are we'll able to take care
of themselves, that they are self-re-
liant, and that they are not squealing.
Perhaps Maxim presumed little
when he spoke for the Japanese. Max
i'm should know that We are all pro-
ducers. Every purchaser is pro-
Queer. The owner offa* gold watch is
as much a producer of gold as the
miner in Colorado, the man who pays
for loaf of bread is as much pro-
Queer of wheat as the farmer who
planted and harvested it, and as much
9 producer of flour as the miller who
ground the wheat All consumers are
producers. Money is nothing more
than labor in reserve, anH when ulIi-
rate consumers pay for their pur-
chases they are rendering labor for
the services reE.lered by the producer.
If the consumer earned the money he
paid. his money is nothing more than
& certificate of the labor he performed
or the services he rendered, so Maxim
may now be convinced that there are
TO non-producers other than land
spectators.
He claims to have American blood
in his veins, etc, but if he is an Amer
;can born ne ought to take no credit