The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1916-09-26
THE ADVERTISERS SEMl-WEEKLY
A Neglected Service

MODIFICA1IONS in federal quarantine in.
Az spection it applies to vessels in the strict.
~ interstate passenger traffic between here and
the Pacific Coast have been widely discussed, pro
and contra, and out of this discussion something
for the good of Hawaii is bound to come. There
is another branch Of the inspection service, How
ever, strictly federal in its scope, where modifca.
ton of practise needs to be made, else Honolulu,
will get bad name among travellers coming from,
the Orient .g%t" 80 =
For long time it has beensthe practise of the
immigration bureau to send only one inspector
or boarding officer out to meet passenger vessels
coming from the West Now, these inspectors
are trained efficient PUBLIC servants who do their
best to complete all the fnultifarous duties pre-
Scribed by federal law and government reeula-
tons, between the time when the quarantine Of
lcials allow them to board the ship and her ar
rival at the wharf, but human limitations often
prevent this task from being accomplished The
Chinese crew must be identified and counted pass
ports and documents showing the nationality Of
immigrants examined and verified; and all the
statistical data secured which our immigration
laws require. -~.t~>
AS final duty the inspector must examine the
papers of each PasSenger who wants to come
ashore during the few hours the ship is in port,
and if these in order, issue passes All this
takes time In several instances during the last
six months passengers who wanted to see the
sights have been unable to get the necessary pass
es until long after the vessel had been tied up at
the wharf, simply because the one lone boarding
officer had been physically unable to do all that
was expected OF him during the very short time
at his disposal
few years back there were two, three or more
migration inspectors sent aboard each ship and
that is now the practise at Los Angeles, Seattle,
Portland and other Pacific Coast ports Los An
geleS does not handle anything like the amount
OF Oriental shipping that comes to Honolulu Seat
tie is about on par, far as Oriental tonnage
goes, but Honolulu has more immigration work
do on account of the greater number of passen-
ger boats calling here. 49,. 4
This service is not dependent on Stseciic !eorei
gresslonal appropriations for the work at each port
or point where aliens enter the United States but
on allotments of funds from lump sum approbri-
alton, in accordance with the requirements of the
service. 1t so happens that Honolulu with more
immigration work to be cared for than any other
Pacific port, excepting only San Francisco, has
lever clerks, inspectors, interpreters and board
ing officers than any other first class port, none
excepted.
If this condition of affairs were coexistent with
economical administration in all other branches of
the public service, Honolulu might have nothing
to complain Of, but the present administration has
not been noted for its economy. The first and
only two billion congress country has ever in
dulged in has just adjourned after making lavish
provision for the immigration service and everyI
other de facto and potential department. Homo
lulu has not enough men to care for its legitimate
commerce, perhaps because Hawaii is Territory
and has no votes to trade, and perhaps because
the chamber of commerce and commercial bodies
have paid no attention to the needs Of this port
along these lines.
Let half dozen Tuning tourists be DELAYED half
an hour, or an hour, in securing their landing per-
mits and the commotion they make will undo the
studied efforts of the promotion committee in far
off lands, and for months to come The best adj
vertising agents country can have are its we'll
pleased visitors. This is certainly a matter that
should receive the immediate attention of Our com.
mercial bodies.
Riches and Poverty