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May 23,  1900
House
v. 33   (7)
p.  5924-5925
CUSTOMS OFFICERS FOR HAWAII.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I present a report from the Com- 
mittee on Ways and Means.
The SPEAKER. The gentleman from New York calls up a 
privileged bill, which the Clerk will report.
The bill (3. 4560) to provide for officers in the customs district 
of Hawaii was read, as follows:
Be it enacted, etc.. That there shall be in the customs district of Hawaii 
one collector, who shall reside at Honolulu, and who shall receive a salary of 
$4,000 per annum, and such deputy collectors and other customs officers as 
the Secretary of the Treasury shall deem necessary.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I want to say that a bill like this 
passed the last House unanimously, and this bill is unanimously 
reported by the Committee on Ways and Means. I ask unani- 
mous consent that the bill be considered in the House as in Com- 
mittee of the Whole.
The SPEAKER. The gentleman from New York asks unani- 
mous consent that this bill be considered in the House as in Com- 
mittee of the Whole. Is there objection?
Mr. McRAE. With the opportunity to move an amendment to 
limit the number of officers, I am ready to consent to it.
Mr. PAYNE.   I do not understand the gentleman.
Mr. McRAE. With an opportunity to move an amendment to 
limit the number of officers.
Mr. PAYNE. Why, if the gentleman desires to offer an amend- 
ment, I will yield to him for that purpose.
The SPEAKER.   Is there objection, with that understanding?
There was no objection.
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, this bill has been read. It simply 
provides for a collector of customs at Honolulu, at a salary of 
$4,000 a year. While the bill that passed the House regulated the 
matter of customs duties for the Hawaiian Islands and created 
customs districts, it did not provide for any collector of customs 
at Honolulu. That was an omission. I want to say that in the 
last Congress a bill was introduced in the House providing for 
the collection of customs in the Hawaiian Islands, providing col- 
lection districts, and also providing for this very officer, a col- 
lector of customs at Honolulu, at a salary of $4,000. It was the 
unanimous voice of the committee at that time, and of the House 
as well, but the bill was not acted upon by the Senate. I under- 
stand at the Treasury Department that they are anxious that this  
legislation be had now, because they want to send officials there 
to provide for the collection of the customs, to reach there by the 
15th of June. If I mistake not, the Hawaiian bill goes into oper- 
ation on the 1st of July.
Mr. KNOX.   Forty-five days from the date of its passage.
Mr. PAYNE. It will be necessary for the officials to reach 
there by the 15th of June in order to get the machinery in order 
to collect the customs.
Mr. KNOX. It goes into effect earlier than the gentleman 
stated.
Mr. RIDGELY. Will the gentleman allow me to ask him a 
question?
Mr. PAYNE.   Certainly.
Mr. RIDGELY. Is it proposed to put a tax upon commerce 
between the Hawaiian Islands and the United States, the same as 
we imposed a short time ago in the case of Porto Rico?
Mr. PAYNE. Not by this bill. I will say, however, that the 
House and Senate did impose in the Hawaiian bill a tax upon. 
articles coming from the Hawaiian Islands, which articles were 
imported into the Hawaiian Islands from foreign countries prior 
to the passage of the bill. While the gentleman from Kansas 
Mr. RIDGELY] may regard this as a violation of the Constitution, 
yet both sides of the House fractured the Constitution with re- 
spect to the Hawaiian bill, if that is a fracture of it.
Mr. RIDGELY. Can the gentleman inform us as to whether 
his committee would favor a tax upon the commerce between this 
country and the Hawaiian Islands?
Mr. PAYNE. I can not speak for the committee. So far as I 
am concerned, I am in favor of the provision that was put in the 
Hawaiian bill, to put the full tariff duties of the United States 
upon all articles the products of foreign countries which were 
imported into Hawaii previous to the passage of the bill and after- 
wards imported into the United States.
Mr. RIDGELY. How about goods that are produced there and 
goods that are produced here being exchanged?
Mr. PAYNE. Oh, sufficient to say that I voted for the Hawaiian 
bill, which does not impose a duty upon those articles, the Ha- 
waiian people not having had any hurricane or any other de- 
structive calamity, and having sufficient resources within them- 
selves to provide for the government of the islands otherwise than 
by imposing duties upon articles of traffic between this country 
and the Hawaiian Islands. There is no necessity for it, and of

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