upr000331 25

' % li$ x n z y t n t llhttor 5 M 3B m in in g 2Lcxs A t t g ^ i e # , d i a l . Los Angeles, C a l., November 11, 1914. To theH onorable Board of Harbor Commissioners, of the City of Los Angeles, C aliforn ia. Gentlemen: We have been employed by the Luckenbach Steamship Company to take up with your Honorable Body the matter of the enforcement of Ordinance Humber 30,259 (H .S .), relatin g to the imposition and collection of wharfage, dockage and handling charges at the p ort. We have before us a copy of a le tt e r dated August 24, 1914, from City Attorney Stephens to your­selves, dealing with the question of the collection by the City of the charges prescribed under such ordinance on the Wharf of the City at which vessels of the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company dock. In his le tte r Mr. Stephens says: ”The City as proprietor of the wharf charges and receives a l l the fees fo r the use thereof mentioned in the ordinance .* This statement is so at variance with the fa c ts, as we understand them, that we fe e l, in justice to Mr, Stephens and the company that we represent, that the matter should re­ceive further consideration at your hands. Under the provisions o f the so-called permit granted to the American-Hawaiian lin e by Ordinance Ho. 28533, as we understand i t , the scale of the wharfage and dockage charges to be paid by the American-Hawaiian Steamship lin e w ill vary with the amount of business handled over the wharf during each year of the permit. In other words, the scale of such charges paid by said company w ill not necessarily be in accordance with that prescribed by Ordinance Ho. 30,2&9. A ll other vessels, however, must pay f u l l wharfage and dockage rates as prescribed by said ordinance. Again, the permit in question makes no mention of handling charges, and we are informed that the city does not co llect from the American-Hawaiian lin e , or from any one else, the handling charges prescribed by the said ordinance. I t seems to us that either the City o f Los Angeles should require the payment of handling charges by the American- Hawaiian lin e , or by the consignees, on a l l freigh t moving over the wharf so that the vessels docking at other wharves w ill be on an equality with the vessels of the American-Hawaiian lin e . We see no objection to the American-Hawaiian lin e absorbing, ?these handling charges, i f i t is so disposed, but we believe that under the terms of the ordinance in question handling