Tailspins & Tiki Gods:The Authorities

The Colonial Government

Governor: Frédéric Marie Jean Baptiste Chastenet de Géry [RL person.]

HQ: Colonial capital at Papeete.

The French method of colonial government is called "Direct Rule". There is no official acknowledgement of tribal life or mores. The state owns all land not privately owned. (The Kamekame shrewdly played this game, having scrambled to "buy" their own lands with trade-goods in the 1800s.)

There is also a Privy Council and a General Council… but they are not much concern locally.

Administrators:

The Port Authority

The rather grand-sounding Port Authority is, at most times, no more than 5-10 people. If need be, they can call on the police- but this is seldom necessary. They are responsible for regulating both interisland trade (still mostly sail-driven, though steamers up to 200-300 displacement tons are coming on the scene) and incoming ships from far away. (Luckily, most of these vessels do not require fuelling- Port Cochere being merely a “through port” on the way somewhere else.)

Being mainly concerned with the harbor and the lagoon, the Port Authority seldom moves out of La Bas Ville. There are actually painted wooden poles denoting the limits of the Authority’s beat on land.

Structure: The Capitaine de Port, Alaine St. Heler de Montaigne, may have up to 10 agents at any given time. They answer to him directly, and he answers (rather tenuously) to the Mayor’s Office.

“Daytime Business” (and standing policies)

Contact with out-villages: there are minor atolls that can sustain no more than 40-50 people. The Port Authority checks in on them every so often, on behalf of the Mayor or Governor, if the villages are otherwise not heard from. (If they are in a lazy mood, they pay someone else to ‘knock on the doors’.)

Concessions: If it’s ashore, it’s the Town’s problem, but if you’re a businessman who approaches ships directly (say, rowing up to the side and offering goods on the spot), the Port Authority ‘has a word’. They also “recommend” porters/stevedores/longshoremen for freighters. (The town has a separate authority for the Marketplace, however. This has the effect of making landing and using the Marketplace a more effective option, which helps the town as a whole)

Customs & Tariffs Inspections: Typical items-of-interest include firearms (without proper documentation), drugs (especially Opium- both the local Benevolent Society and the Port Authority put their heavy boots on regarding this), wild or domestic animals NOT in transit.

Harbormastering: The Port Authority rigorously controls where private vessels (aside from very small craft) go while in the lagoon. The recent introduction of seaplanes makes this VERY IMPORTANT. (The Capitaine de Port has expressed an interest in making a ‘landing strip’ area of the lagoon taboo to islander boating, but this so far seems unworkable. And development of a rudimentary air-traffic control system is in progress.)

Hiring:They ‘recommend’ lighters (locally-run shore boats) for people who haven’t brought their own, as well as recommending locals for dockside work. (Here, they work with the Wangguan Benevolent Association’s hiring hall system, as well as native and local groups with identifiable ‘representatives’.)

Mooring: The Port Authority is responsible for charging for mooring (cost depending on location and availability, as well as duration.)

Navigation: They do maintain channel markers, as needed.

Notices to Mariners: The Port Authority is partly responsible for issuing weather and surf advisories, among other things. (OOC: If a kraken started preying on local boats, they would be the ones to have to decide whether to warn everyone or if it would “Cause a Panic”, a la most monster movies. ;) )

The On-Ship Rule: Ships’ crews are confined to ship after nightfall. This actually does have a certain crime-preventing effect. (It’s hard to mug sailors by night when those sailors are on their boats, for example, and drunken brawls are kept to a minimum), but shop-owners complain that it’s restraining trade.

“Liberty of the Town” can be arranged through the Port Authority, or via the Mayor’s Office.

Passports: They do typically inspect them. They do not, however, stamp them (though they do have, if need be, access to a lovely set: Papeete, Nuku Hiva, Tubuai, Uturoa…)

Pilotage: If you have a larger vessel and wish to NOT drop anchor outside the lagoon’s barrier reefs, the Port Authority will charge you to have a PA Pilot either taking the wheel of your vessel or watch over your shoulder.

Quarantine: They are authorized to call ‘quarantine’ on a ship. This usually involves consulting with Port Cochere’s town doctor. If an initial inspection shows rampant vermin (rats, bugs, etc), contagious illness, or is shown to carry insufficiently contained dangerous live cargo, that vessel may be quarantined for any amount of time. Alternately, a ‘restricted bill of health’ may allow the crew to unload onto a lighter without any further contact or disembarkation. (This is a big deal- through a combination of vigilance and dumb luck, Ile Trouve is almost completely clear of invasive species like rats.)

Registry: They gladly keep books of what registered ships have passed through, per international maritime custom. (They do it so gladly that they keep more than one book!) They also ask to know where you’re going, as ports often do. They do know that almost any answer they get is likely to be a lie, however. They also keep an eye out for stolen or otherwise ‘commandeered’ vessels.[OOC: It is by no means a dealbreaker. (“Typical business” means you pay the ‘expediting’ fee) ]

The Safe Harbor Rule: “Any port in a storm” is a law of the sea. The Port Authority cannot, by custom, refuse entry during an emergency. (Some clever bastards sometime try to arrive DURING a storm, in order to obtain berthing they otherwise would not get. They are seldom up to any good. )

Shipping News: Using ships notices given by Mr. Kinney (Port Cochere’s young radioman), they know who is announced to be coming or going. Tugboat: The Port Authority also runs the majestic Le Pot de Rouille, Port Cochere’s only tugboat. If you’re being towed in, this is the only game in town.

“Nighttime Business”

If the Mayor’s office represents the high-end “intrigue” end of Port Cochere’s business, the Port Authority represents pure piratical instinct. Additional Fees: While it is subsidized by the French government (represented in the person of His Honor the Mayor), the Port Authority nonetheless (off the record) extracts ‘fees for special procedures’ (for things likewise off-the-record). The most profitable fee the Authority uses is a ‘bypass’. Basically, for a fee, one need not bother oneself with the fine details. Port Liberty is sometimes sold, either for a fee or for a refundable security.

Obviously, this is only done within limits, otherwise nobody would use the harbor at all. Thus, all ‘fees’ must be justifiable to someone (ie, no straight up graft), and they must be taken in moderation (“Part of doing business”). The Port Authority does (per the old saw) “stay bought”, typically, and they know when to stop squeezing the stone.

They also keep the “surface tension” going. By making it prohibitive for smugglers or other demimondaines to just barge into the port, they encourage them to ‘transfer’ to light transport on out-islands, making it possible to say “we didn’t know!”. Since affordable anonymity is Ile Trouve’s most profitable industry, setting the price just-so is important.

“Hiring Fees” (ie kickbacks): In exchange for ‘primary recommendation’ in hiring, the Port Authority tends to want a “Finder’s Fee”. Bas Ville is chock full of be crewmen whose hitch is over for one reason or another (“They left without me.” “I wonder WHY, hm?”), drifters, stowaways, renegade islanders no longer welcome at home, even refugees (though they’d have to be really stubborn refugees to be way out here.) This can make hiring a nightmare. While the Port Authority does show favoritism in ‘recommendations’, it at least imposes as sense of order.

“Reading”: Members of the Port Authority have a knack for telling what’s on a ship and where it’s likely to go. (If you know the fuel-efficiencies of a ship and its fuel-load, you can find out where it’s going. Since ships rarely carry more ballast than they need to, a ship claiming to go a short distance while clearly loaded to go a long way (or vice versa) is of note. This information can then be ‘sold’ (to interested parties) or ‘sold back’ (to the owners of the ship in question). )

Relations:

vs the Mayor’s Office: There’s always been a bit of a turf war between the two bureauxs. The Mayor’s office is charged with validating documents, which sometimes bumps into the Port Authority’s “checking your papers”, for example. [OOC: The main difference is that while the Mayor’s office might be obstructionist while flexing their bureaucratic muscles or illustrating a larger point, the Port Authority is mainly just looking to ‘expedite things’.]

vs the Police: The Port Authority is fairly ginger about calling in the Municipals. They are not about to ask the Legionnaires to get involved, either. However, if they do see a crime committed that falls in either’s territory, they will call them immediately (theft, for example, or assaulting a Port Authority official.)

vs. The Navy: The French Navy is based at Papeete. While the Port Authority may technically call the Navy in for certain things, this ruins certain gentlemen’s agreements. (That is, the French naval officer will ask what is going on, not take “well, you know…” for an answer, and will log whatever he is told, accurately.)

vs. VIPs: Generally speaking, VIPs will be sized up on arrival. Exceptionally wealthy high-rollers tend to get “hands off” treatment, after initial contact. (Herr Zoransky for example.)

The Police

The Gendarmes: As in all overseas territories, the Gendarmerie are here to enforce the law. They also act as game wardens, of a sort, and report to the Mayor. There is a brigade (the smallest police unit) in Port Cochere.

There is a small jail here, but actual magistrates are far off. So things tend to be “handled locally”. The penal colony in New Caledonia is where the worst offenders go.