The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1857-11-26

taking their discharge. Captain Newelfs repu
tation as a shipmaster and as a man, stands higf
with his fellow masters, and with all who know
him, and we have full confidence that the more
that is known of the case, the more credit viii
attach to him. for the exercise of frmness and
forbearance in one of those trying and urpleas
ant disturbances which, we are happy to say
are of rare occurrence in this ocean.
A seaman when he ships is supposed to know
his duty-which is. smoothing else than obedience
to the commands of the master. Any disobedi-
ence of his orders is more or less mutinous con-
duct, and the seaman who disobeys ordersdoes SO
at his peril. 1t is true that a master may be nm
necessarily severe, but there are very seldom cases
where resistance on the part of a seaman is justi-
fable. The cruises of whale ships are not long.
and in most cases a seaman who is u~njustly treated
can procure his discharge, and try another vessel
While on this subject of the rights and duties
of masters and seamen, we will allude to the
question raised by the recent arrest of the first
officer of the Charles Carroll, referred to in our
last issue and commented on by writers in the
Polynesian. Though ours Is a little government,
yet it very properly clings with the tenacity of a
Scotch terrier to all the rights which the most
powerful nations claim or concede to each other.
There are certain rights which nothing but inter-
national usage can settle. Among them are those
of jurisdiction on the high seas. Were there but
one great nation in existence, the dominion of the
sea would be hers as clearly as that of the land.
But rivalry between nations fixes another limit to
the jurisdiction of each-which every school boy
knows is one league from low water mark.
In our last issue it was asserted that the police
officers of the government had exceeded their au-
thority in boarding a foreign ship at sea off the
port, and a~rresting the commanding officer. The
statement was made on the assertion of those
supposed to know the facts. On further inquiry
we find the facts to have been these While the
ship Charles Carroll had on board q pilot and
was about to leave the port, q warrant was is
sued to detain the first officer, which was placed
in the hands of a police officer, who followed the
ship out and boarded her near the spar buoy,
just as the pilot had left her and while her sails
were aback, and the crew eating the anchor.
In this case the vessel appears not to have pro-
ceeded beyond the territory of the kingdom at
the time she was boarded, and the arrest was evil
IDENTIFY legal.
When the item was inserted in the last paper
it was supposed from the information obtained,
to be a repetition of the Illegal stretch of author
ity exercised last fall in the case of the whale
ship George q Mary. That ship had proceeded
to sea and was lying off and on. A warrant was
issued to arrest a seaman on board of her, which
warrant was served while the ship was under sail
a distance of not less than fire miles from land
as W. are informed by her owners, and the sea-
man was brought on shore. Redress was sought
on the part of the owners for this illegal act, but
they were told there was no redress for them in
the courts. This arrest was an open violation of
the rights of the ship and its crew. This case
would show that it makes little difference with
the police whether a vessel is actually within the
Jurisdiction of this kingdom according to the law
of nations or not. The law really ~practised here
is, if she is within spy-glass view or within a
days sail for a boat she is a legal prize.
All that we aim at is to see that the rights of
foreign vessels visiting the port are respected.
Every one knows that they pay enough to the
of the government and its officers in num-
berless legal fees, without having to pay doubt
full claims, or to be subject to vexatious deten-
tions when beyond their authority. Such cases
no suae VI 1uo OeVfJe J 4uUTy \duu Ihcic NAY NC
others) tend only to create i'll feeling among the
officers and owners of whale ships, from whose
visits our merchants as well as governmental derive
no small benefit.
In the case of the Charles Carroll, had she
been wrecked in the absence of her first officer,
was arrested by the police and taken on
shore, there is no question that the owners could
have held a good claim on this government for
the amount of their loss, if refused by under
as would undoubtedly have been the
case. The ship had no agents at this port, as we
are informed by Messrs. Williams & Mitchell,
who, though they were inquired of as to the
of the second officer, had no response
bility in the matter. The government and its
officers were alone responsible for any damages
arising from their own acts.
NOTES OF THE WEEK.