Editorials
Friday, May 8, 1998

Auto merger is a step
toward world economy

THE history of the American auto industry is replete with mergers, especially in the early years. Several familiar brand names were once those of independent companies that disappeared decades ago. Chrysler Corp., which needed $1.5 billion in federal credit to stave off bankruptcy in 1980 but has since rebounded strongly, is now making history by merging with Germany's Daimler Benz, maker of the Mercedes-Benz luxury cars, in a $40 billion deal.

In a smaller sale involving manufacturers of luxury and economy cars, Volkswagen, another German automaker, agreed to buy the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Division from Britain's Vickers for $690 million.

The Chrysler deal is an ironic development for a company that loudly lobbied for a "buy American" policy when the U.S. market was being flooded with Japanese imports. Chrysler's colorful former chairman, Lee Iacocca, was a leading critic of Japan's policy of blocking auto imports while exporting freely to the U.S. and other markets. The Japanese auto companies blunted such criticism by building plants in the United States and employing American workers. But imports of foreign cars in Japan are still a trickle.

However, U.S. automakers stopped the hemorrhaging and learned how to compete with the imports. Today they are profitable again and American consumers have a wide variety of makes and models to choose from.

But Chrysler, the smallest of the major American manufacturers, and Daimler Benz saw a need to join forces to compete in the world market. The two companies are clearly complementary in products and markets. The merger will produce the world's fifth-largest automaker. Behind the decision lies the problem of survival in a world saddled with production overcapacity estimated at 25 percent above demand. This is likely to result in fierce competition, which should be to consumers' benefit.

The merger is another big step toward the globalization of business. The assumption that companies should have national identities and loyalties is being eroded. Hawaii, which has long been dependent on investment from Japan as well as Wall Street, should realize that there is no turning back from the world economy. Efforts to exclude mainland and foreign competitors, such as the recent battle to stop the city sale of Pearl City land to a mainland hardware chain, are futile.

Police shooting

POLICE explanations of the Tuesday shooting of a North Shore man by an officer are less than adequate in the first days of an internal-affairs review of the incident. Assertions by relatives of Fortunato Barques II undisputed at this point that he was shot twice in the back and had not drawn his gun call for a thorough investigation.

A police presence at the parking lot at Puu O Mahuka Heiau at Pupukea is understandable because of a recent series of thefts from autos. According to police, Barques had walked between parked cars in the lot and entered a vehicle.

Officer Mark D. Boyce reportedly then saw Barques violate traffic laws, blocked the vehicle with his patrol car and ordered Barques and a woman identified as Barques' girlfriend out of the vehicle. Police say the woman complied with Boyce's order to lie on the ground, but Barques jumped over a 4-foot fence onto land that his family says he leases.

According to one family account, Barques told Boyce not to come onto his property without a search warrant. Police say the wind blew open Barques' shirt, revealing a shoulder holster carrying a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun.

Police say Barques went for his gun and Boyce fired at him. The family says Barques was walking away from Boyce and was holding a cellular telephone, not a gun.

Police are trained not to fire their weapons except under circumstances of imminent danger. Barques was armed because the area is secluded and dangerous, his family says. It was illegal for him to carry a concealed weapon on the public roadway where the incident began, but the danger to Boyce at the moment of the shooting is questionable. The family's attorney alleges that Barques was an innocent victim of "police indiscretion."

We wish Barques a speedy recovery from the severe internal injuries he suffered in the shooting. His version of the events will be important for an impartial determination of whether the police officer was justified in firing.

Autonomy for UH

ONE of the less heralded but most significant achievements of the current session of the Legislature is the approval of greater autonomy for the University of Hawaii. President Kenneth Mortimer has maintained that the university needs more control over its affairs in order to achieve the degree of excellence the state requires. At present, the university is subject to state restrictions that often result in long delays.

A measure that has cleared a legislative conference committee and is headed for final approval would exempt the university from the state procurement law, give the UH Board of Regents authority to set fees for sports and other public events and provide more freedom in negotiating broadcast and advertising rights.

The bill also sets a range for general fund appropriations for the university at three to five times the revenue generated by tuition charges, thus ensuring that the state would not reduce its support to offset growth in tuition revenue.

Eugene Imai, UH senior vice president for administration, said the measure "became even more robust as it was going through the session...so we're very pleased." All indications are this bill will give the UH the freedom from constricting state regulation that it badly needs.

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John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher

David Shapiro, Managing Editor

Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor

Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors

A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor