Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-01-16
coAsTwIsE SHIPPING LAWs-AN
OTHER INSTALLMENT.
Honolulu, January IS. l

Honolulu, January IS. 1914.
| Editor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
Sir: Again we hear from Maxim or
| cCastwiSe shipping. and although h
writes very authoritatively on the f.
! nancial depression al over the main
| land, as he would lead US to think
| yet he seems to have an idea that
Honolulu is the only port in the world
| and all that appears to bother him is
! that unless We hang on like a bull
| dog" to our coastwise laws our harbor
will be swarmed with all the ships
of the world, that this place viii be-
! come poverty stricken, disease-ridden.
/ and all that. What is the matter with
the health department. and have we
not learned anything about taking care
! of the sick? don't think Maxim feels
sure that too many ship owners will
! be looking for business here. We are
, not the only people in the world and
the problem is where can we get ships
enough. Navigation laws of some
other countries are more liberal than
ours and their shipping business is a
| very profitable industry. Up to 1908
| ulu nOt buOSiuILC as do
one-fifth Of her merchant marine and
1t would be hard to find any consid-
cradle port in the world without a
British ship, Why not have good navi-
cation laws? II we can not render
the service the American people want
| why act the dog in the fnanger" and
tell them, that unless they patronize
| inferior service they will see that the
government prohibits the free use of
foreign ships? Is not that restrain
ing trade? Should we be compelled
to make terms with our enemies? Are
those who conspire to defraud the
American people. By charging very
high freight and passenger rates
worthy of cur support?
1t will be well to remind Maxim
THAT he is little off IN his American
history. / do not like to get into par.
itisan political discussions in writing,
but Maxim might easily ind out that
,,our three great panics occurred during
periods of high tariffs. No Demo
cratic party was in power during the
! panic of 1873 The panic of 1893 start
ed in July Of that year, four months
after the Inauguration of President
Cleveland Congress dfd mot meet I'M.
til December, 1893,s ana. the Wilson
bill passed in 1894. a year after the
ipanicat We were working under the
mckinley high tariff 'bf the former
Harrison administration and there was
no congressional legislation going on
lat all. The panic of 1907 occurred
under the Dingley high tariff law, un-
der a united favorable high tariff adj
ministration. The history of our coun-
try shows only bursts of prosperity
for comparatively short periods dur
ing high tariff times and that our So
called protection" 1hassbeen' success
full in creating a few millionaires, and
charitable organizations and poor
houses and the like find steady and
regular employment taking care of the
more unfortunates that made the mil
lionaires. OF course, milliouaires are
victims of circumstances like the rest
Of us, but they suffer differently. We
make the laws and the game is play
ed according to the rule. Maxim
might not know that the failures are
about 50 per cent and that We hear
more about them only when our cap
tains of industry are dissatisfied if the
people resolve to have new deal
1t does seem strange to advance
that consumers are producers, but the
law of demand causes the supply, and
what the consumers will not consume
will not be produced to an alarming
extent. Maxim looks at things through
the wrong side of the glass when he
states that the steamship companies
made these islands by spending mil
Eopposite-the producers on these ISL
ands and the consumers on the main
land and the consumers on these ISL
ands and the producers on the main
land made these islands what they
are and caused the millions to be
spent on ships. Only for us there
would be no need Of the ships and
none would be built. Maxim might
now realize that we are not only pro-
ducers of sugar, but we also produced
ships and are maintaining them and
that we are, not getting any charity
from navigation companies, but en-
ploying them to. serve US, only our
laws prohibit our employing as many
companies as We like.
If meat is no lower in price. butter
from New Zealand is 81 cents per
pound and cheaper than formerly.
Conditions are. not quite natural on
these islands and local artificial con-
dltions might be taken care of later by