Hawaii Holomua, Volume II, Number 8, 10 January 1894 — A VALUABLE BOOK. [ARTICLE]

A VALUABLE BOOK.

* — Hawaiian Tariff and Di- * gest of La ws and Regn!ations Kelatipg to Cnstoms. etc. I Mx. S. M. Damon deserres ' gre«t credit for haring c«used a j rerised edition to l>e made of the | ro’<ome containing a loi of; raluable information foj mer- ; chants, shipowners, cnptams, i consuls and the general pnhlie * Tbe new edition contains all iaws and regulations up to Oct. \ 2Cth 1893, whieh bear on the subjects of cnstoms. pilotage, lighthouses, registering of ressels, ! i consular serrices etc. etc. The eompilaiion has been carefnlly made by Messrs. J.A. Hassinger, | Cbief Clerk of the Interior Department and Mr.T.G. Thruro, Registrar i \of Conveyance5». Among the many j I interesting subjects contained in the volume. we notice the act of j the P. G. whieh eonhnee importa- , tion of dynamite, giant-powder, j and firearms to the government. j This seems to prove that the brig j Anin’e Jchneon whieh cleared at San Francisco at the end of November with 50 cases of dynamite, broug.it that cargo for the government. May we ask for what purpoae that importation was made? We noliee tbe reference to tne dutits of the Inspectors of animals and plants imported h«re, but see nothing about the fee whieh these gentlemen eeem to eonsider themselves entitled to demand for their services from the importers. The regulations for whalers are quite iuteresting especially those referring to their carrying of spirits, an explanation in regard to the large quantities of aleohol whieh a certain firnr> used to dump on board of whale ships would perhaps be appropriate. The tax whieh is irapoeed on all vessels under the name of Marine I Hospital Tax seems rather 1 unjust as we neither have a Marine Hospital nor do seafaring men or passengers receive free treatment at the loeal hospital i here, Would it not be better to change the nftme of that antiqualed tax? How would a “sand bag” tax, sound? We are rather surprised to noticethat there exists a law regulating the nuraber of passengers whieh a coasting vessel is al!owed to carry. That law is certainly' not carried out, because we have frequently seen certain sleamers carry a far greater number than the law permits, especially when transporting Japanese emigrants to the other Islands, another law whieh is not carrled out is the one relating to the Registry of Hawaiian vessel8. It says that no vessel shall be entitled to a Hawaiian Registry j unless the samebe “wholly ,, owned ! by a subject cr subject$ of this eountry. We believe that the minister of finance could mention several vessels under the Hawaiian flag, the owners of whieh are not subjects nor even residents of this country. The li$t of Hawaiiap Gonsnls shows that the service is not kept up as it ought to be. Several European countries haye no Hawaiian Qousuls residing within them at all. As insiances we ean meniion Rnssia, Denmark, Orceoe and ; SwiUerlaud. Important capitals j like Berlin, are witbout any representative of Hawaii althougb i Hawaii ia very mueh blesaed wiln a Germaa Oonaul. On the other «ide we noiiee three Consols in sueh a ridiculous plaee as the j Philippine islands. The above remarks are not ipteqdod aa a criticism o| ihe book whieh we eonsider very valuable and whieh we serioosly recommend to e very body interested in matters perI iaining to commerce and seafar- : ing to proonre. Tbe book whieh i is printea at ihe offiees of Mr. B. Grieve is gotten np in the naual neat style for whieh that printing office is known.