Evening star., 1937-02-28

idly recovering from the pa
ralysis to its trade and reSumlng pur-
chases from mainland United States
at the rate of 100000, 900 year.
Such is the declaration OF Samuel
Wilder King, industrious Delegate TO
Congress from this American Territory
in the mid-Pacific, who was forced TO
travel part way to Washington on a
pineapple barge TO resume his legls-
lative duties.
While reg riding the future with op-
timism, King is anxious for Congress
to take steps that will prevent re-
currence of the isolation which
brought such great economic losses to
the Paradise of the Pacific" He re-
counted a number of incidents, both
humorous and tragic, resulting from
the blockade. that caused the Ameri-
can flag practically to disappear from
the worlds greatest ocean.
AS an island community. entirely
dependent upon sea-borne commerce,
except for the minutely small portions
of merchandise carried by the air clip
EGIS, HAWAII Su44C4Cd dNOCNAS AAO-AA
shortage of various food necessities,
King explained. He said:
Prices of staple necessities rose as
much as 300 per cent and are still high,
placing most of the burden on those
least able to afford it. There has been
no starvation, because foreign imports
have been brought in, but provisions OF
the tariff and coastwise navigation
laws. which apply to Hawaii as well as
other parts of the Nation. skyrocketed
the prices of such necessities as pota-
toes. flour. rice, citrus fruits and
canned goods Of all kinds, particularly
canned milk for babies"
KINGS hope is that these laws can
be waived during periods Of
strikes or when the island territory
is isolated from any other cause. He
stated that Alaska suffered also from
the shipping tie-up and said other
non contiguous areas. such as Puerto
Rico and the Virgin Islands, might at
a later date be similarly affected. He
then said:
But probably the biggest one OF
my worries right now is the $500
Club"
The 5000 Club; what on earth is
that?"
Haven't you heard? That is prob
ably the most peculiar club in the
country. Nobody wanted to join it
in the first place, but 27o people had to.
and now they are trying to get me to
help them to resign.
Here's the way it happened. You
see any one who travels on foreign
vessel between two American ports.
such as Honolulu and San Francisco
or New York and Miami, has to pay a
fine of 5000 That fine is levied by the
Government directly on the foreign
ship for each passenger she carries
between American ports, and the
ships soak the passengers. They make
you pay your 5000 fine before they
sell you ticket.
Il and my family, four of us, left
Honolulu on a pineapple barge and
boarded the Monterey outside the
harbor, so saved $500. So did some
400 others, but many were stranded
both in Hawaii and on the West
Coast.
Chief Justice Coke of the Hawaiian
Supreme Court, who, with Mrs. Coke,
had to get back on his job from Cali
fornia and was assessed $400, was
among the victims"
King has received letters from most
of the reluctant club members. j.
Dickson Pratt, Hawaiian business man,
was stranded in San Francisco with
his wife and sister-in-law for two
months before they could obtain pas
sage on a Japanese ship at the regu-
lar fare plus $500. Many others were
similarly delayed. Some boarded Ca
madam ships at Vancouver, but these
passages were very scarce.
THE Delegate is trying to get through
Congress a bill to have the Secre-
tary of Commerce remit these fines,
which now total $4,000.
Don't forget that the strike was
very tough for the lei sellers, too"
King said. While we were paying
as much for celery as you on the main
land were paying for orchids. We had
more orchids than we could use, at
about the price you pay for celery"
Without any ships to meet, it seems
that the lei sellers faced a crisis, no
doubt.
eyes, and it was no joke, either.
There are several hundred women who
make living stringing those garlands
of carnations and orchids and ginger
blossoms We partially solved the
problem when We raised sl.7oo with