Sea Transport In

Samoa.

Charge That Inter-Island Voyagers Take Undue Risks.

By Marc T. Greene.

THERE is a tradition, and a well founded one, that human life at sea is safer under the British flag than under any ether. Though an American by nationality, I subscribe whole heartedly to this tradition, and when ever or wherever I find it disregarded I make such protest as may be.

The substantial foundation of this tradition is the soundness and the comprehensiveness of the British Board of Trade regulations, and these have been the standard of the world for a hundred years and more. Yet here in Western Samoa they are being violated, and the British tradition of safety at sea disregarded, to an extent that I have never found in any port under the British flag.

The trip from here to Pago Pago,

though less than a hundred miles in distance, can be and frequently is a very strenuous one. It is made in the teeth of the trade wind, and the sea between the islands of Upolu and Tutuila is often rough. Yet, with the single exception of the Burns, Philp boat “Makoa,” the craft making it are hardly larger than launches. As such they are able enough, but even in ordinary weather the discomfort of the people compelled to make the trip just about passes description. In weather outside the ordinary their safety is often in question. This is especially so in the case of a small launch flying the American flag, and owned in Pago Pago. This craft often leaves Apia laden almost to the gunwales.

Another case requiring attention is a boat operated by a Chinese-Samoan named Ah Mu, which runs from an Upolu village across to one on Savaii.

The worst sea tragedy to happen here since the gale of 1889 was the over turning of a former boat operated by this person, and the drowning of thirty people, including a New Zealand official. Yet the Administration is per mitting this man to run a small craft

on the same route. The other day when, as it chanced, I was among the twenty passengers overcrowding the little craft (which draws but thirty inches of water and is flat-bottomed) the engine “backfired” after coughing, spluttering and snarling its way along for a couple of hours like a stubborn camel. The engine immediately blazed up, and since the craft was without a fire extinguisher or any other means of fighting a fire, even a common pail, we all had an exceedingly narrow escape. Nor had the boat either a tender, life-raft or anything but a few life-preservers. Yet the Administration has licensed it to carry twenty passengers in unprotected water.

It is such instances as these that go far to justify the Samoans in their distrust and dislike of New Zealand rule, One hears from natives and Europeans alike the accusation that the minor officials are merely “holding down their chairs and drawing their salaries.”

There are exceptions, of course, but it appears to be time the New Zealand regime “snapped out of it,” as it would not inadequately be summed up in America.