The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-08-06
SEAMAN'SACT HITS
THIS PORT SEVERE
BLOW II ENFORCED
Steamer Manchuria Win Be Last
Vessel Here Under Ameti-
a.. can Registry H..
PASSENGER TRAFFIC :
WILL BE PARALY zED

Widespread comr ,nt and specula
tion has followed the Pacific Mail
Steamship company announcement,
which appeared in The Advertiser yes.
torday, when the new Seaman s Act
goes into effect November 4. ataa.s q
The statement Of r. p. Schwerin
vicc-prcsidcnt and general pnanaaer Of
the Pacific Mail, made at San Francisro
Tuesday, was corroborated YESTERDAY
by IL. Hackfcld 4 Co., the HonOlul
agents, in a formal statement which an
pears in another column.
The question now Is whether Homo.
lulu Is TO have the benefit after Notem.
h.r OF the Eve vessels the company
will cease operating in American waters
after that date. "' -.' .'
viii the Pacific Mail enter its ships
--the Mongolia, Siberia, Manchuria,
Korea and China-under British regis
try, as IL already has done with the
Milo and Hersia2 Or will the boats Re
leased or sold TO a foreign corporation
one of the three big japanese steamship
companies or the Chinese syndicate re.
port d 10 be interested in the situa.
MGnIhurta Last Vessel
But none of these rumored tales, If
contaminated, will relieve traffic con-
gestion between the islands and the
Coast, probl,m that already is serious
to !hq people Of Hawaii. -'"
"WhaL is the Pacific Mail to do with
its five boats after the Seaman's Act
goes into cifectf" was the query put to
F. w. Klcbahn, ii. Hackfeld 3 represen.
tative directly in charge Of the steam
ship cOmpany's Office here.
~ have received no advice other
than that given in the official notice
sent out by me today" was his reply.
81 have been given no intimation con.
cerning the Pacific Mail Is plans after
November 2. All | can say is that the
Manchuria will be our last vessel call.
ing at Honolulu before the new federal
law becomes effective
In the last year ships of the line have
carried 25O0 passengers between Homo.
lulu and the mainland. This service
will be even more urgently necessary
in the winter months to do justice to
the tide of tourist business seeking to
come this way. 'T.s'
Repeal or Suspend Law
=. The only thing that will save the
service, say business men, Is the repeal
of the La Toilette law or at least sus-
pension of its operation until congress
has time to give the entire subject of
American shipping calm and mature
Judgment. (
That something of this kind is in the
minds of the Pacific Mail officials would
seem to be indicated by the fact that
at least one of its ships, the Mongolia,
will continue on the Oriental run until
late next December. 1t has been limited
that the company hopes, ere the vessel
is ready to leave San Francisco, the
first of the year, the question Of the
new law 5 enforcement will have been
disposed of to the satisfaction of the
transportation concern, shippers and
Hawaii,
The Mongolia is scheduled to sail
from San Francisco November 2 for
Oriental ports. The La Toilette Sea,
mans Act becomes effective November
I. AS the steamship company has been
unable to comply with the new act 5
provisions the Mongolia dare not call
at Honolulu.
Mongolia Proceeds Direct
If it does it win not be permitted
to leave the harbor until the law 5 re-
quirements have been met. Consequent.
ly the Mongolia on that trip will pro-
''th w JbHdhNoo anu Sul-
n'se ports of call and then travel di.
rcctly back to San Francisco. IL will
take something like sixty days to make
the round trip, bringing the vessel into
the Golden Gate late in. December.
Under the La Toilette act Honolulu
and this Territory will be struck the
hardest blow of any port or region in
the United States control. Ships of
foreign registry have been barred for
several years from engaging in freight
or passenger traffic between the Islands
and the States, by the coastwise ship
ping law. The new statute now puts
further and much greater limitation on
the Transpacifc traffic.
Shipping Facilities Paralyzed
With the Pacific Mail going out Of
business on the run Hawaii will have
the use of only six or seven steamers
going to San Francisco. These are the
four MatsOn ships, the MatsOnia, Ma
nOa, Lurline and Wilhelmina, and the
three vessels of the Oceanic Steamship
line, the Sierra, SonOma and Ventura,
tn" last two named Hipplving O HI.
weekly service from the Coast, going
on TO Australia. The Sierra, which
operates only on the Honolulu San
Francisco route, is In drydock at pres.
ent but Is expected to resume her route
by November /. .a
With these seven steamers Honolulu
should get a San Francisco mail every
Tuesday and one every alternate Mon.
day, making a total Of six arrivals a
month from San Francisco privileged to
carry passengers. Two other arrivals
each month from the mainland, by way
of Vancouver, BIC, will be received in