Template:1142-1143 - Revision history

Jere Krischel at 09:25, 11 February 2006

2006-02-11T09:25:12Z

Ken Conklin at 22:43, 8 February 2006

2006-02-08T22:43:22Z

Jere Krischel at 05:19, 12 December 2005

2005-12-12T05:19:15Z

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1142 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.
The CHAIRMAN. Commodities, yes; which do not require too rapid
transportation, but one that is cheap and safe, would you not prefer
to ship your commodities on a sailing ship if you could save freight by
doing so ?
Mr. SIMPSON. DO you mean, if they were going to the Orient, to take
them to Honolulu and then ship them to the Orient ?
The CHAIRMAN. Or as a place of refreshment for ships?
Mr. SIMPSON. In that case it undoubtedly would be of great advantage.
The CHAIRMAN. I do not agree with your assumption that steam
transportation or steam navigation is going to supplant the sail. I
think it will be found, after a while, that the supply of coal is so limited,
or the price will be so great, that for the heavier commodities it
will not be used for transportation and sailing ships will come in
vogue and be an important part of the commerce of the world.
Mr. SIMPSON. One reason why I take that ground is, when I was in
Honolulu I saw a bill of lading issued by the Southern Pacific Railroad
Company of goods shipped from London and routed across the Atlantic
and the United States by the Southern Pacific Railroad Comjjany, and
from San Francisco to Honolulu by steam navigation. Arbitrary rates
exist across the American Continent and between San Francisco and
Honolulu. The rate fluctuates on the Atlantic according to the displacement
of cargo offered, and that transportation was 31 shillings and
G pence. The same articles taken from New York City to Honolulu
overland would cost us in American money $5.30. The same articles
taken in a sailing vessel from London to Honolulu, occupying some eight
months in time, (and it would be a good trip to make it in eight months),
would cost$4.85, according to the then existing rate. Bow, the persons
shipping those goods preferred steam across the Atlantic and the American
Continent, over a sailing vessel, from the fact that the money
invested in the cargo in transit would be greater than the cheap rate
on the return cargo from Honolulu, except the ship struck there in the
sugar season, when they could get a return cargo to the Pacific coast.
There would have to be that difference arranged for.
The CHAIRMAN. AS a general proposition, I suppose, it is not to be
disputed that over a long distance the transportation of heavy articles
of commerce would be cheaper by sail than by steam?
Mr. SIMPSON. That was the generally accepted idea, except where
you get cheap fuel. The resources of the Pacific Ocean for fuel are
greater than on the Atlantic. They have three distinct bases of supply
where there is an enormous amount of coal. I speak of the Japanese
coal fields, the Australian coal fields, and the coal fields of the Northwestern
Pacific coast. The Japanese coal fields and the Northwest
Pacific Coast fields are almost inexhaustible. An enormous amount
of coal can be produced there. The methods of handling in the
Northwest Pacific coast are very crude in comparison with the manner
the business is handled in well-settled and well-worked coal fields. It
is so much in its infancy that it has hardly gone beyond its experimental
stage.
The CHAIRMAN. AS yet the real value of the coal out there is not
known, and can not be known, until they go further down into the seam
or vein ?
Mr. SIMPSON. No. Known coal fields are so numerous and known
deposits are so numerous at this time that it would be a waste of money
to expend it in finding new fields.
The CHAIRMAN. YOU mean in our own country?
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 1143
Mr. SIMPSON. In the State of "Washington, I know that to be true.
The CHAIRMAN. Give a general statement of the commercial relations
between Hawaii and the United States.
Mr. SIMPSON. The Hawaiian Islands are to the Pacific Coast and to
the country west of the Mississippi River what the West Indies are to
the Atlantic and the country east of the Mississippi River. They
raise and can raise the same products. They are at present nearly
identical in formation, in methods, and maimer of doing business, and
of articles actually handled. There is, to my mind, no alternative for
the United States except to provide conditions and manner of doing
business with the Sandwich Islands, from the fact that the country
west of the Missouri River is practically dependent upon those
islands for the commodities which are raised in the islands, to procure
them at anywhere near the price at which the same commodities are
sold east of the Mississippi Bivfir. In the West Indies sugar, rice,
and the fruit culture is in its infancy, but it will be augmented very
fast. The principle article, sugar, is dependent upon the Pacific coast
market, so called, and the Pacific coast is compelled to reciprocate.
For this reason sugar raised in Cuba and refined in the Eastern part
of the United States is compelled to pay too great a transportation fee
to reach the markets of the Pacific coast. Were there no sugar raised
in the Hawaiian Islands the sugar would be received from China and
Japan rather than from Cuba, on account of this transportation. The
sugar business is controlled by the American Sugar Trust, of which
Spreckels and his interest are a part. During the winter of 1892-'93
contracts were made by the American Sugar Trust, through Spreckels
as agent, for their product of sugar for five years. The stipulations
of that contract are these:
The trust agrees to pay to the grower for sugar laid in San Francisco
the same price, that Cuban sugar brings in New York City, less
a quarter of a cent per pound. This quarter of a cent per pound difference
is for the purpose, as claimed by the sugar trust people, to compensate
them for the difference in freight that they would have to pay
if they had to take Cuban sugar to the Pacific coast. It is simply a
subterfuge for the purpose of obtaining the advantage of a quarter of
a cent per pound. That contract also states that all sugar running in
grade of 96 per cent saccharine shall pay a thirty-second of 1 cent per
pound for each degree over 96 per cent saccharine, and a sixth of 1 per
cent on each degree under 96 per cent saccharine. All the planters in
the islands engagedin the sugar business have signed this contract from
the fact that there is no other outlet. When I was in Honolulu in the
winter of 1892 the growing price of sugar was about $90 per ton. The
cause of that was that the previous crop of Cuban sugar had been practically
a failure, and they were enabled to get a much better price than
they are getting at present. The last quotations which I received from
Honolulu they were paying for Hawaiian sugar laid in San Francisco
21, almost the lowest price it has ever reached, and which price does
not pay even a small interest on the investment.
The rice business of the islands is carried on principally by the Chinese
and Japanese. The rice they raise grades with what is known
commercially as No. 1, or as good as any rice in the South Sea Islands
or off South Carolina.
The CHAIRMAN. HOW is it raised?
Mr. SIMPSON. By irrigation; different from what it is in the fields
in the South.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{p|1142}}
+The {{sc|Chairman.}} Commodities, yes; which do not require
 too rapid
 transportation, but one that is cheap and safe, would
@@ Line 8: / Line 7: @@
 freight by doing so??
-Mr. SIMPSON.  Do you mean, if they were going to the
+Mr. {{sc|Simpson.}} Do you mean, if they were going to the
 Orient, to take them to
 Honolulu and then ship them to the Orient??
-The CHAIRMAN.  Or as a place of refreshment for ships?
+The {{sc|Chairman.}} Or as a place of refreshment for ships?
-Mr. SIMPSON.  In that case it undoubtedly would be of
+Mr. {{sc|Simpson.}} In that case it undoubtedly would be of
 great advantage.
-The CHAIRMAN.  I do not agree with your assumption
+The {{sc|Chairman.}} I do not agree with your assumption
 that steam transportation
 or steam navigation is going to supplant the sail.  I
@@ Line 29: / Line 28: @@
 of the commerce of the world.
-Mr. SIMPSON.  One reason why I take that ground is,
+Mr. {{sc|Simpson.}} One reason why I take that ground is,
 when I was in Honolulu I
 saw a bill of lading issued by the Southern Pacific
@@ Line 65: / Line 64: @@
 would have to be that difference arranged for.
-The CHAIRMAN.  As a general proposition, I suppose, it
+The {{sc|Chairman.}} As a general proposition, I suppose, it
 is not to be disputed
 that over a long distance the transportation of heavy
@@ Line 71: / Line 70: @@
 would be cheaper by sail than by steam?
-Mr. SIMPSON.  That was the generally accepted idea,
+Mr. {{sc|Simpson.}} That was the generally accepted idea,
 except where you get
 cheap fuel. The resources of the Pacific Ocean for
@@ Line 93: / Line 92: @@
 gone beyond its experimental stage.
-The CHAIRMAN.  As yet the real value of the coal out
+The {{sc|Chairman.}} As yet the real value of the coal out
 there is not known, and
 can not be known, until they go further down into the
 seam or vein?
-Mr. SIMPSON.  No.  Known coal fields are so numerous
+Mr. {{sc|Simpson.}} No.  Known coal fields are so numerous
 and known deposits are
 so numerous at this time that it would be a waste of
@@ Line 104: / Line 103: @@
 finding new fields.
-The CHAIRMAN.  You mean in our own country?
+The {{sc|Chairman.}} You mean in our own country?
 {{p|1143}}
+Mr. {{sc|Simpson.}} In the State of Washington, I know that
 to be true.
-The CHAIRMAN.  Give a general statement of the
+The {{sc|Chairman.}} Give a general statement of the
 commercial relations between
 Hawaii and the United States.
-Mr. SIMPSON.  The Hawaiian Islands are to the Pacific
+Mr. {{sc|Simpson.}} The Hawaiian Islands are to the Pacific
 Coast and to the
 country west of the Mississippi River what the West
@@ Line 171: / Line 169: @@
 difference in freight that they would have to pay if
 they had to take Cuban
-sugar to the Pacific coast.   It is simply a
+sugar to the Pacific coast.  It is simply a
 subterfuge for the purpose of
 obtaining the advantage of a quarter of a cent per
@@ Line 208: / Line 206: @@
 off South Carolina.
-The CHAIRMAN.  How is it raised?
+The {{sc|Chairman.}} How is it raised?
-Mr. SIMPSON.  By irrigation; different from what it is
+Mr. {{sc|Simpson.}} By irrigation; different from what it is
 in the fields in the
 South.