The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1915-03-19
Members Feel Proposed Measure
Would Be Discriminatory
i Against Honolulu .'s aa
SELF IMPOSED TONNAGE 4
FEE MIGHT BE DRoPPF[
Loss Of Present Fund Woult
Cripple Leah Home and Pa
lama Settlement Work
~ - IL -- RnulfIELl ~ a
(FrOm MUMMY . Advertise,lrtl

hdTDOT IOlS OF ten Genus Ton o.
all incoming and outgoing freight tina
passes over the territorial wharyes o.
Hawaii, as proposed in bill now be
fore the legislature, were unanimousl
declared yesterday by the Honolulu
chamber of commerce to be discrimins
tory and, as such, prejudieial to tn
best interests Of this port. I'm
There was no question in the mind
Of the members, after listening to Col
onel @. J. Mccarthy, territorial treas
urer and member Of the board
harbor commissioners, that the woodei
wharves that now line the waterfron
are rapidly falling apart and must b
replaced by permanent STRUCTURES D !
reinforced concrete; they wanted I
make Honolulu a modern port, an
they realized that it win take moneN
to do ii; but when il came to rafsint
the money, they baked at thehidea
shouldering all the expense on til,
merehants, the shippers, and the Inter
Island Steam Navigation Company, ans
unanimously put the chamber, on rec
ord as opposed 10 any such proposal.
Subject Of Discussion
Technically, the discussion was linz
tied to consideration Of Section 690Nf
Of the proposed act to amend Chapte1
40 Of the Revised Laws Of 1915. III
bill as whole was referred back 81
the legislative committee of the cham
Der, which offered to call into consults
tion the committee on maritime affairs
= The bill was fathered by the harbo
commissioners, but though they attend
ed the meeting Of the chamber, the,
did not urge their measure, confnfni
themselves to a presentation Of tn
facts and leaving the chamber totsar
rive at its own own conclusions as I,
how conditions best could be met.
Huge Interest Charges
"Repairs to and maintenance o.
our wooden wharves for the past nv
years, - said Colonel Mccarthy, "hav'
amounted to fifty per cent Of their in
itial cost. 49, H. p. w. =
eve are now spending $660,ogO
year, or between twenty-five and thiI
ty per cent pf the, lensrents tetriteriay
expenses, in paying the interest on
plant that must be renewed almost q!
fast as IL u constructed. * '.., =
"What We need is self-supportin
plant, one that shall from its own rev
enues take care Of maintenance, inter
est on the bonded indebtedness out
which it was built, and provide for
sinking fund to pay off that indebt
ness when il natures.
"You we got to have the wharves
Where's the money coming fromf Shall
IL come from taxation spread over tn
entire Territory, or shall the wharve,
supply it themselvesi
"The harbor board wants no sym
patty. We are part Of the. govern
ment serving without pay. We la,
things before you as we find them. "
Superintendent Forbes of the depart
ment of public works, and asA sucl
chairman ex oficio of the board Of
harbor commissioners, followed with 3
detailed report on the present eondi
tion of the piers. I'LL. ",
White ants and teredoes, he said, has
eaten away the four inch planking, tn
stringcrs, caps and posts of Pier sevei
until it was impossible to reconstruct
IL. The best that could be done wa
TO patch il up sufficiently 80 that y
should not fall into the harbor over
night - tsEZ..... .... X
y Piers twelve and fourteen were 10,
much better. Pier sixteen was worse
it was beyond the possibility even o.
repair. " rrt1E
Such was the physical aspect of the
problem Colonel Mccarthy already
had presented theI financial as pect. =
The Turning Point @,.....
1t was at this junction that ]. l.
Mclean, vice president of the Inter
Island Company and one Of the newly
elected directors of the chamber, read
a carefully prepared report which made
such an instant impression that there
never was any doubt thereafter Of
what action the chamber would take
. The Advertiser prints the full text Of
tho report below. +" -. .,..,.a -
Ever since wharfage tolls became
subject of general discussion among
business men it has been generally as
sumod that they were hostile, but i
was the report of Mr.. Mclean, ably
reinforced by the verbal arguments 81
A. Lewis, Jr., second vice president ant
general manager Of the Bank of Ha
wall, that crystallized the sentiment
of the chamber,
Mr.. Mclean and other speakers hat
shown that, under the proposed act
shipments by Honolulu merchants "
their customers in other islands woul'
be liable to a tax of ten cents the tOI
on the original importation, ten cent
when he. goods went out againIto thu
other island, and ten cents whom they
were landed there, making thirty
cents in all.
Double Discrimination
Under such conditions, the merchant
and shippers argued two effects. u
the first place, they felt they would b.
unable to compete with mainland deal
ers. People would deal direct will
the mail order houses.
Every year" said 4. }. BuchlJ
1--WE are prosecuted a little more sc
verely by the merchants of the main
land. In hard times We have to NEE
their prices
That was discrimination against HI