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August IE , 1914. Honorable Board o f Harbor Commissioners, Bos Angeles, C a lifo r n ia . Gentlemen: - In the m atter o f the communication from R. D. Lapham,. r e la t iv e to loadin g charges on American-Hawaiian business, dated Aug. 4, And r e fe r r e d to me fo r a rep o rt, I beg to present the fo llo w in g ; I t appears th at the American-Hawaiian Steamship Co. proposes to make d e liv e r y at p ile on deck and to absorb a l l hand­lin g charges in making such d e liv e r y , but i f the consignee desires, goods loaded from spile on dock in to cars, a charge o f lE-§- cents a ton is to be made f o r such loa d in g. : The question has been ra is e d whether th is charge is le g a l under the ordinance, or whether the c i t y ought to compel the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company to charge the regu la r handling ra tes estab lish ed by ordinance fo r wharf companies doing a wharfage business as a pu blic u t i l i t y . This is la r g e ly a le g a l question, and the tech n ica l le g a l poin ts should be passed upon by the p i t y attorn ey. I w i l l discuss the subject as I see i t from a t r a f f i c standpoint. H ereto fo re, and fo r years past, the American-Hawaiian Company has not only absorbed the handling charges on the wharf, but also wharfage, and even t h e - r a il haul ra te from San Diego to Los Angeles-,, and i t s righ t, to do so has never been le g a lly ques- . tio n ed so fa r as I am aware. In view o f the opening o f the Panama Canal the company now proposes to lower i t s ra te s and cease absorbing the r a i l haul and wharfage, but i t proposes to continue to absorb the handling charge up to the p i l e on the dock. That is , i t w i l l take the cargo