The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1915-03-19

extra time it would take to compute
and stamp on every bill of ladihg the
amount Of toll to be collected. This
may appear to be a personal matter
with me, in so far as the Inter Island
company is concerned, but | maintain,
gentlemen, that it is not fair to expect
any company doing purely local busis
ness such as ours to be put to the ex-
pense or to be hampered with any such
work. a. ....l .tt.t-
ait is quite different proposition
where large shipments are made on
few bills of lading, by steamships max.
ing a trans-oeean voyage, giving the
purser and freight clerks ample time
to work up the tolls and other char .es
to be collected at destination. Quite a
different procedure this us than in the
Inter. Island business, where steamers
only have a few hours In which to re.
| teive and load cargo, Please take this
into consideration also, when reaching
your conclusions on the proposed bill.
Important Omissions
There is no mention in the proposed
act as to whether the rtoIl shall be
charged on a ton of weight or meas
A
| what the charge shah sbegon fractions
| Of ton, or what the minimum charge
shall be. The omission of these details
may have been purely an oversight on
the part of those drafting the bill,
but they are important omissions
nevertheless.
"The section in the proposed act
relating to toll charges is also rather
ambiguous, as to whether charge
shall be made and coIleGted on mer-
chandise when discharged from one
vessel into another. Should any such
law as proposed be enacted, in order
that there be no misunderstanding :, an
addition to this section should be 'ad.
4 ded, reading as follows:
Nothing in this section shall be
considered or intended to mean that
freight or supplies discharged from one
vessel directly into another, shall be
taxed a toll charge. .rs> ys, &c.,
elm conclusion, gentlemen, wish to
go on record as beng unqualitiedly OPP
posed to the proposed tolls on mer
chandse going to or FROM one island
lport to another, ,anI believe the only
fair toll that can be imposed, would
be ono on merchandise only when
coming into this customs district
Such a tax would at least be an equaI
burden on all ports IN the territory
having government wharyes, and there
would not be any discrimination
against or i'll favor Of any port in the
territory.
~ do not believe, however, that the
raising of revenue ON this plan is good
or sound policy, for instead of increaS
ing the charges of our island pOrts
every effort should be made to reduce
thom. -.r.sata O., w.. ..
This would be in line with another
act prepared by the harbor commits
sioners, which if passed by the legis
lature, will enable them to supply
shipping in Honolulu harbor with wa
ter at a greatly reduced cost, and !
want TO say right here, that this bill
has the earnest support of myself AM
associations whom | represent.
"Thc government is very similar Il
any public service corporation ant
should not expect to make all branches
of its business pay There are boun.
to be some branch'S that will .neeG
support and assistn @ from lis gcn
eral funds, to equallHe expenses that
must be met to maintain the service
to the public, and this applies in the
present case particularly to our harbor'
AMI wharVes, which are for the public
good and which should be maintained
out of the eneral revenues Of the Ter
ritory If necessary, and not by an AT
ditioual direct tax.