]" Id. (citation omitted) (internal quotation marks omitted). In Territory v. Fung, 34 Haw. 52 (1936), the Territorial Court addressed the question of whether a certificate of "public convenience and necessity" for a common carrier of passengers on public highways (namely, the Checker Cab Co. of Hawai'i) was a government franchise (i.e., a contract) or a mere revocable license. See Territory v. Fung, 34 Haw. at 53-54.
A certificate of public convenience and necessity is a different authorization from that of a franchise involving different rights and duties. ( Territory v. Fung, 34 Haw. 52, pp. 61-64.) The Territory v. Fung case points out that a franchise and a governmental license differ widely in origin and in legal characteristics; among other characteristics, a franchise is a property right and subject to alienation while a governmental license is considered as a mere privilege, is revocable and temporary, conferring no vested rights of property, and is personal to the licensee.
( Triner Corporation v. McNeil, 363 Ill. 559, 2 N.E. [2d] 929.) This court has repeatedly held that laws passed by the legislature in the exercise of its police powers were "rightful subjects of legislation" within the meaning of that term as employed in section 55 of the Organic Act. ( Territory v. Fung, 34 Haw. 52; Campsie v. Catton, Neill Co., 26 Haw. 737, 740; Ter. v. McCandless, 24 Haw. 485, 490, 491; In re Kalana, 22 Haw. 96, 103; Territory v. Makaiwi, 21 Haw. 631, 633; In Re Craig, 20 Haw. 483, 490.) Moreover, no inconsistency exists between the provisions of sections 7459-A and 7459-F and the provisions of the Sherman Antitrust Act, as amended.