The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-08-03
Remarks BY Veteran Ship Owner
Are Pertinent IN View Of II
~. Referendum y 's
H0N0LULU COMMERCE
''''ii CHAMBER VIII VOTE


Capt. Robert Dollar, known to every
shipper and commission agent on the
faclfic, packs the pith Of the argument
against the much discussed Seaman .
Act into two sentences. 'gh tlie -
The Chamber of Commerce Of Homo.
luln de- shortly to contribute its vote
to the national referendum on the Act
to be taken by the Chamber Of Com.
merce OF the United States, and the
members have been asked TO acquai nj
themselves with the law, its workings
and the arguments for and against u
as fully as possible, in order that thes
may vote intelligently. EHg =. =
In this connection Captain Dollar 4
argument is of particularly timely in
terest to Honolulu business men. Am.
eriean laws, says the captain in sub.
stance, were SO Onerous on ship owners
before the passage Of the Seaman 8 Act
that, when. the Panama Act permitted
them 70 buy ships up to fye years old
in foreign countries and register them
under the American flag, not q shiJ
took advantage Of the privilege. "ci'
What May Be Expected
What then, he asks, may il be expect
ed that they will do under the new
lawf He has answered his own ques
tion BY transferring his ships TO the
British dag, and registering them from
Vancouver, instead Of San Francisco
Writing In the "Nation, - Business,
the official publication Of the Chamber
Of Commerce Of the United States, the
captains argument in full rs as fol
lows: VaI .r.'- taF ?. >, -
i4iWhat win be the effect which the
Sealnanis Act will have on Amer ear
shipsi / will confne my remarks in re
plying TO foreign trade and to the class
Of ships which have earned for Greai
Britain the control of the commerce Of
the,world, viz, freight steamers Of from
5000 tons TO 10000 tons deadweighI
capacity. &. ,hTHA I.,. p a." ~
~ make this classification becaus,
the Seaman's Act applies 70 all yes
sells of one hundred tons or over. a
lOo.ton cargo hooker - placed in th'
same category with the 40,000-ton line
carrying thousands Of passengers. Thii
is about as sensible as TO class q wheel
barrow with q tenton auto truck o.
a bicycle with q passenger express
train. ai EtfG Bkt5NlE| G&FflyS
"t'our laws and regulations must b,
changed to eorfespond to those Of for
eign nations with whom we come / IL
direct Competition. The laws Of Greai
Britain are preferable as, under them
more than half Of the steam tonnage o.
the world ia successfully operated
Therefore, IL is fair 10 assume that tht
British regulations cannot be far wrong
Our laws and regulations require TWEEN
~ different ehanges to make the oper
ation of ships correspond TO that OF
the British. ] win name few Of
these differences. i5t'' .17tF . III =
British Measnrements Just
"Our ships in foreign trade SHOULD
be measured in exactly the same way
as the British, 50 that we win not b,
compelled to pay into foreign treas
pries thirty per cent more tonnage dues
drydocking, wharfage, etc, than the
ships of our competitors. ~
" "On American boilers hydrostatiC
pressure must be applied once year
This causes serious delay and greRt
expense. The operation racks the boil
ers and pipes which take weeks to gel
in proper condition, after each yearly
test. This is not required by any Other
nation except in Canada, unless {
boiler has been weakened In some way
''When her year has expired on ar
rival at an american porte the new
law insists that vessel mpst be in
sPected. To be fair she should be
permitted to 90 20 her home port; al
other nations permit this.
can American ship carries more
men, and higher priced men at that
than the ships Of any other nation. The
American sailor, being better fed and
paid than Others, We are told, is able
to do more work. II this be true, why
is 1t that we must have more men than
are carried on the ships of any Other
nationI This is o very serious matter
The cost to an American ship is about
$4,000 more a year than TO its foreign
competitors. is not this unreasonable
unjust and unealled fort ~
"These and many more expensive
rules were in existence before the sea
man s bill came into force. While the
Panama Act permitted us to buy ships
up TO Eve years old, in foreign coun,
tries and register them under our flag
without cost, pot . siagle ship took
advantage Of this privilege. This is
because, as I have pointed out, the ex,
ira cost Of operating has prevented
American ships In foreign trade from
operating except ut p loss.
Down swoops Pernicious Act
Such was the conditions up to the
time of the passage Of the emergency
bill last August, which permitted ms TO
change the flag and operate our ships
exactly as we had been doing under
foreign register. Since that time ship
ping of only about 500,000 tons has
accepted this offeF. Owners were afraid,
and justly so, that some other restric.
tionS would be imposed that would
nnllifv the emergency bill.
I'VE did not have long TO yait. On
March I, down came the Seaman 3 Act
on us like a thunderbolt out of a clear
sky. On the Pacific ocean this closed
out the last hope OF ever seeing an
American merchant ship. Furthermore,
for some unknown reason, by this bill,