The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1915-11-02

hardly seem time in which vessels
COULD wisely he Withdrawn from serv.
! iPe.'
"'The foregoing Is sufficient TO dis
! close the attempt to shift responsibility
FOR burden too grirvOus to he borne,
from those who imposed the burden to
those who were unable to bear it, and
to show tire grounds upon which the
sponsors of the La Toilette bill seek
! o avert from themselves to the steam
ship companies the resentment Of ship.
pers and the Indignation Of the public
atnraIlv consequent upon witnessing
! tho forced withdrawal Of American
teamships and the gift so Japan OF
maritime control or the Pacific Ocean
Pac:hc Mail Singled Out
,"The casual connection between the
Seamen = bill and the withdrawal OF
American ships from the trade most III.
Teetly affected by the act is too obvious
md the charges against the withdraw.
Ing steamship lines too himsv and the
motive therefor too transparent to 1e-
lceive any one. But ms the Pacific Mail
steam hip Company has been singled
ont for special attack, a few words in
reply are jmstifablP.
| ""That company Is cqnsured because
/ 1t gave no adequate notice that the La
| Toilette bill would cause il to disron-
tnue its transpaci6c line. That the in
evitahle consequence Of the passage Of
the SeameH hin would be the forced
| ftscontinuance of it's steamships on the
Pacific was vainiy pointed out by the
representations Of the Pacific Mail, with
4 all the Parnestness and emphasis Mt
| their command, to congressional com.
mittees at numerous hearings In the
eleven years that interviewed between
i'he date of the first introduction of the
fbil to it's final passage. Finally the
lead of the Pacific Mail, on July IA,
! 1914, as a last resort, wrote formal
1 letter to the same effect to the Presi.
dent of the United States. II was
shown, at that time, that the inability
Of the Pacific Mail to operate under
the restrictions Of the Seamen s bill
1 was not based on a rough estimate Of
the increased expenses, but was accu"
rately asrPrtained by an ANALYSIS IF
the pRyrOIls and the other expenses Of
| operation which would be affected by
the provisions Of the bill. All these
circumstances, warnings and notices
' "V't tItdltl as u DluH, "nN now are
! regarded as never having been made.
The claim of surprise at the effects Of
the Seamen' $ bill is absurd.
Obedience to Law Assumed
Again it is said that the Pacific
Mdil should have appealed for assist.
ancesto the secretary of commerce and
Y sh0rht have waited, to, see how he was
going TO enforce the law. 1t had to as
sumo that he would obey the law as
written. Even if it were in the power
Of the secretary to eOnstrue away the
nOxious provisions, what reason had tho
Pacific Mail to believe that the power
behind the throne which Sc Ired the
law would permit such disregard Of
he very provisions which that power
most valued. There Is certainly no rea,
SON to believe that organized labor IL
less influential now than il was when
! the law was passed or that it is any the
less Interested now In securing the
strict enforcement Of the requirement.
that every ship must have on board
crew not less than IS per cent of which
II each department thereof are able to
understand any order given by the Of
! rrrs OF such vessel.
- Next we have il that the secretary
Of the treasury has been told that the
. Scamen 8 bill was not the cause of the
withdrawal of the Pacific Mail = boats,
hut the real cause was the high price
Of ships brought about by the war.
But long before the war was dreamed
Of the officers of the Pacific Mail had
/ declared and demonstrated by facts AMI
''gures before congressional comm ittees
] hU nf
estate the Y thdrawal Of its steam
hips on the Pacific. The same reasons
which increased the value of ship4
would have made the Pacific Mail un
willing to part with its vessels and
abandon business which it had beer
engaged in for years, If the intolerable
r'.trictiOns Of the La Toilette bill had
49,, d"Prived&it of any choice in tn"
matter.
Panama Canal Act Not Cause
1.-THE secretary of the Treasury int
mates that the provisions of the Pan
anna Canal Act forbidding railroad
owned ships from going through the
"anal was contributing cause. It ls
up to him to explain what possible con
nectiOn there can be between the Pan.
ANA Canal Act and a sale, not Of ships
engaged in the Panama Canal trad.
but of a separate feet always engaged
IN the tranSpacifc trade.
1T is claimed that the Pacific Mail
Vas not understood the law, especially
the language. clause, and that if it hat
only waited until the secretary of the
treasury construed that clause all would
have been well. The Pacific Mail had
10 interest. in deceiving itself Tho
meaning of the law is too plain to be
misunderstood. But, if it had passo
| by Il favorable chance to sell and had
awaited the secretary's instructions,
what assistance would it have receivedf
Witness the secretarys circular of
, September Is, 1918. That circular
/ gravely informs us that the law does
not require an English-speaking crew.
hut it may have French or Ger
man speaking officers and crews!
Also that when the law re
quircs that Is per cent of the crew, in
each department thereof, must he able
to understand amy order given by the
officer of the vessel, this means 'Only