CHAPTER XVII
ADMIRALTY REMEDIES
One of the reasons for the continued vitality of the admiralty lies in the efficiency of the remedies which it affords. If it were not for these it is quite possible that it would long since have been absorbed by the common law as was the law merchant many years ago. Parties having rights to enforce will usually resort to the admiralty in preference to any other court if the selection is open to them. This is not so much by reason of any difference in the law as in the methods of its application. Admiralty remedies may be divided into proceedings, _in rem_, _in personam_, and under the Limited Liability Act.
=1. Proceedings in Rem.=--This procedure is peculiar to the American admiralty and does not exist in the common law. As the name indicates, it is directed against the thing itself to enforce property rights which inhere in it, mainly maritime liens. It belongs to the courts of admiralty exclusively and similar remedies attempted to be given by state statutes are unconstitutional and void. The characteristic feature of this proceeding is that the vessel or thing proceeded against is itself seized and impleaded as the defendant and is judged and sentenced accordingly. Sales made under it are good against all the world while at common law it is only the title of the defendant which is affected and the title conveyed can never be better than his own. The nature of the proceeding is more apparent when it is noted that the admiralty personifies the ship and considers her capable of incurring legal obligations entirely irrespective of her owner's personal responsibility therefor. There is no such doctrine in the common law.
American courts of admiralty--that is to say, the United States district courts--take jurisdiction _in rem_ not only of domestic vessels but of ships flying foreign flags, and of controversies originating on the high seas and in foreign waters. The test is, whether the subject matter is within admiralty jurisdiction. The admiralty courts are not bound to take jurisdiction of controversies between foreigners, but they may exercise it in their discretion and frequently do so, applying the principles of international law or the _lex loci contractus_. In the exercise of their discretion to take jurisdiction of suits between foreigners, the courts give consideration to the wishes of consuls of the nations involved, though they are not bound to do so. The United States courts have jurisdiction _in rem_ for supplies furnished American ships in foreign ports and foreign ships in American ports. They may in their discretion take jurisdiction of claims for wages by foreign seamen against foreign ships in American ports, and, of course, of claims of American seamen against foreign ships. The principle upon which the court is to determine whether to exercise jurisdiction is whether the rights of the parties would best be served by retaining the cause or remitting it to the foreign court.
Foreign governments sometimes own or operate merchant vessels, and a serious question arises, as yet undetermined by the Supreme Court, whether such vessels are, like naval vessels, exempt from maritime liens, or whether they are subject to the process _in rem_ of the admiralty courts. By the act of March 9, 1920, Shipping Board vessels are immune from arrest, but provision is made for suit _in personam_ against the government. Vessels of the Panama Railroad, although it is a government agency, are subject to suits _in rem_.
=2. When Proceedings in Rem Will Lie.=--Generally speaking, every maritime lien includes the right to enforce it by a proceeding _in rem_. The person who has a maritime lien upon a vessel is entitled to proceed directly against her in a court of admiralty for the locality in which she happens to be. Thus in all suits by materialmen for supplies, repairs, or other necessaries; in all suits for mariners' wages, pilotage, collision, towage, hypothecation, bottomry, salvage, and the like, the process may be _in rem_.
=3. The Libel.=--No process or writ can be issued by a court of admiralty before a libel is filed in the clerk's office. A libel is the statement of the party's claim and the relief or remedy which he desires. It states the nature of the cause, for example, that it is of contract, or of tort or damage, or salvage, as the case may be; the ship, or property, against which the claim is made and that it is, or soon will be, within the district; the facts upon which the claim is based; and the relief sought. For convenience, it should be expressed in concise paragraphs or articles, and, of course, must state a case within the jurisdiction of the court.
=4. The Writ or Process.=--Upon a libel being properly filed in the office of a clerk of a district court of the United States, a writ of attachment is prepared and delivered to the marshal which commands him to arrest and take the ship, goods or other things into his possession for safe custody; and to cause public notice thereof, and of the time fixed for the return of the writ and the hearing of the cause, to be given in such newspaper within the district as the court shall order. It is then the duty of the marshal to obey the writ, arrest the property and give due notice according to law.
=5. Owner's Rights.=--The owner whose vessel is seized in admiralty is entitled to release her immediately by giving a bond to secure payment of the libellant's claim. This bond may be in double the amount of the claim, or for such smaller amount as may be agreed upon between the parties, or for the appraised value of the ship. In practice, such bonds are usually arranged between the parties and their proctors[32] without the expense and delay incident to an actual seizure. It is not unusual to notify the owner of the commencement of the suit before process is issued and he will generally agree to appear and bond accordingly. This, however, is only courtesy and not a matter of right. At the same time the amount of the bond can be arranged and, when filed, the suit proceeds as if there had been an actual arrest and bonding. The bond takes the place of the ship for all legal purposes and she proceeds about her business entirely freed from the lien in suit.
The owner must establish his status with the court by filing a claim. This is a formal statement on oath of his title to the property. If he desires to contest the libellant's demand, he must file an answer to the libel. The cause is then at issue and will be disposed of by the judge in due course. The time will depend largely on the parties.
=6. Default.=--If the owner does not claim and bond his ship on the return-day named in the writ, the libellant may take his default. The court then investigates the demand _ex parte_ and makes an appropriate decree for the sale of the ship to satisfy the amount due.
=7. Interlocutory Sales.=--When the property remains in the custody of the marshal and is subject to undue expense or risk of loss, the court may order its immediate sale for the benefit of all concerned. The proceeds are paid into the registry of the court and represent the ship for all purposes up to the time of the sale. The purchaser at such a sale, as well as at a sale under a final decree, obtains a clear and perfect title, if the proceedings have been in accordance with law. All claims and liens are relegated to the proceeds.
=8. Intervenors.=--All persons legally interested in a ship are entitled to appear and be heard by the court when she is in the custody of a court of admiralty. Such are parties having other maritime liens upon her and mortgagees. Their claims are presented, pursuant to the public notice given by the marshal, by intervening libels or petitions and they are called intervenors. The form of such petitions is substantially like that of an original libel. Generally when an owner will not bond his ship, she has become heavily in debt and all her creditors will be obliged to intervene in the proceeding in order to protect their accounts. A sale is accomplished and the proceeds brought into court as soon as possible. Distribution is then made between the various lienors according to their rank and priority. Any surplus will belong to the owner and he may obtain it at any time before it is covered into the Treasury of the United States as unclaimed funds.
=9. Costs and Expenses.=--These are largely within the control of the parties and become heavy only to the extent that the court is burdened with the care of the property or its proceeds. If promptly bonded, the necessary costs are very small. If the marshal remains in possession, his costs will include ship-keeper's charges and all other expenses which the situation occasions. If he sells, there will be his commission on the amount realized, 2-1/2 per cent. on sums under five hundred dollars and 1-1/2 per cent. on sums in excess; the clerk will be entitled to a commission of 1 per cent. for handling the proceeds. His other necessary costs are small. Where, however, there is prolonged litigation, the expenses may become very heavy, especially in respect of stenographer's accounts and the fees of commissioners to whom matters of detail may be referred.
=10. Proceedings in Personam.=--Suits may also be brought against a defendant personally in the admiralty, where the subject matter is maritime and a personal liability exists. Such a liability always attaches to the person who made the contract or did the wrong for which the action is brought. In a few instances of maritime torts, like assaults and beatings on the high seas, the remedy is _in personam_ only.
=11. Process in Personam.=--The writ here is usually a simple monition or summons to appear and answer the libel, like the ordinary writ in an action at law, but where the defendant cannot be found within the district, it may contain a clause for the attachment of his goods and chattels, or garnishment of his credits and effects. This proceeding is often very effective in obtaining security for the judgment when the proceeding _in rem_ cannot be employed.
=12. Proceedings in Limitation of Liability.=--The shipowner is entitled to limit his liability on account of the ship to its value in many cases and the General Admiralty Rules promulgated by the Supreme Court provide a very valuable proceeding for this purpose. In substance, whenever an owner is threatened with a multiplicity of suits on account of damage done by his ship, or by a claim or claims in excess of her value, and he is not personally liable on such account, he may file a petition in the proper court and surrender the ship to a trustee or give a bond for her appraised value. All other suits are thereupon stayed and all creditors must present their claims in the proceeding which he has so instituted. In effect, it is a maritime bankruptcy by which the ship, or her value, is surrendered to creditors for _pro rata_ division and the owner goes free from further claims. It is the application of one of the underlying doctrines of the maritime law by which a shipowner, on abandoning the ship, can protect himself from further responsibility on her account.
[32] In admiralty an attorney is called a proctor. The term is being generally abandoned.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX I
SUMMARY OF NAVIGATION LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES
JASPER YEATES BRINTON[33]
I. SHIP REGISTRY 228 General 228 Registry and Nationality 228 Registry and the Flag 229 Registry and Ownership 229 Vessels Entitled to American Registry 229 Forms of Register, Enrollment and License 231 Restrictions as to Coastwise Trade 231 Procedure for Documenting Vessels 232 1. Presentation of Carpenter's Certificate 232 2. Surveyor's Certificate of Measurement 232 3. Securing and Marking of Official Number 233 4. Marking of Official Tonnage 233 5. Marking of Name and Home Port 233 6. Evidence that Number, Tonnage, Name and Home Port are Properly Marked 234 7. Owner's Oath 234 8. Master's Oath 235 9. Special Oath by a Corporation 235 10. Evidence of Outstanding Certificate of Inspection 235 Bill of Sale Not Required on Original Documentation 236 Surrender and Reissue of Documents 236
II. RECORDING OF BILLS OF SALE 237
III. PREFERRED MORTGAGES UNDER MERCHANT MARINE ACT 238
IV. CHANGE OF NAME 240
V. ENTRY AND CLEARANCE 241
VI. SHIPPING ARTICLES 242
VII. LICENSING AND QUALIFICATIONS OF OFFICERS 244
VIII. QUALIFICATIONS OF SEAMEN 245 Age 246 Service and Physical Qualification 246 Lifeboat Men 246 Language 246
IX. NATIONALITY OF OFFICERS AND CREW 246 Officers 246 Crew 247
X. WAGES 247 Advances 247
XI. WATCH AND WATCH AND WORK-DAY 248
XII. PROVISIONS FOR CREW 249 Sleeping Quarters 249 Washing Places 249 Provisions Scale 249 Hospital Accommodations 250 Warm Room and Woolen Clothing 250
XIII. PERSONAL INJURIES TO SEAMEN AND RECOVERIES FOR DEATH 250
XIV. OFFENSES BY SEAMEN 251 Mutiny, Desertion and Disobedience 251 Miscellaneous Offenses 252 Assistance in Case of Collision 252
XV. RULES OF THE ROAD 253
XVI. PILOTAGE 253
XVII. LENGTH OF HAWSERS 254
XVIII. INSPECTION OF STEAM VESSELS 255 Barges 255 The Certificate of Inspection 255 Manning of Inspected Vessels 256
XIX. REGISTER TONNAGE 256
XX. TONNAGE TAXES 257
XXI. NAVIGATION FEES 258
XXII. ANNUAL LIST OF MERCHANT VESSELS 258
XXIII. NUMBERING OF UNDOCUMENTED MOTOR BOATS 258
XXIV. ADMINISTRATION OF NAVIGATION LAWS 259 Commissioner of Navigation 259 Steamboat Inspection Service 259 Shipping Commissioners 260
XXV. THE SHIPPING BOARD 260
SUMMARY OF THE NAVIGATION LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES
While the navigation laws of the United States are in many respects the most advanced and progressive of any in the world, the form in which they exist is far from satisfactory and is a serious handicap on their usefulness. They are voluminous and complicated and in much confusion. Even on comparatively simple topics it is often impossible to distinguish the law of to-day from the law of yesterday.
The reason is not hard to find. It lies in the fact that these laws represent one of the oldest bodies of statute law in the books, and for well over a century have been subject to a steady piecemeal amendment, but with little or no attempt at revision or codification. The result is that on almost every subject there is a bewildering overgrowth of laws--law after law covering and partly modifying, but seldom explicitly repealing, the older law, which thus remains as a stumbling block to even the expert reader.
A complete revision is urgently needed and has been undertaken by the Shipping Board. In the meantime, it is of course desirable that knowledge of the laws as they exist shall be made as conveniently accessible as possible and the summary herewith is presented as a contribution towards that end. It does not pretend to be either complete or exhaustive, but merely undertakes to cover very generally the principal topics, with a somewhat more extended reference to the practical aspects of ship registry as embodied not only in the laws but in the regulations and practices which have grown up around them.
Most of the statutes which have been summarized herein except the recent Merchant Marine Act (Jones Bill) and other laws of this year will be found in the 600 page compilation of the Navigation Laws (1919) prepared with the thoroughness and accuracy to be looked for from any work issued under the direction of the present Commissioner of Navigation. It may be procured from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, at the cost of one dollar. Subject to the obvious limitations on any compilation which must necessarily include a large body of conflicting and practically obsolete statutes, the work is in every respect admirable. The volume, however, is confined to statute law, and for much of the practical information covering those branches of operation of ships involving the agency of the customs service, including the documentation of vessels, reference must be had to the Customs Regulations, the last edition of which was published under date of 1915, and which may also be secured from the Superintendent of Documents.
In addition to these two principal compilations reference should also be made to the series of Rules and Regulations of the Board of Supervising Inspectors, issued by the Steamboat Inspection Service, Department of Commerce, to the various publications of the Department covering the Rules of the Road, the International Rules, the Inland Rules, and the Pilot Rules, respectively, together with the notable series of pamphlets issued by the Department from time to time, covering such special subjects as the Measurement of Vessels, the Comparative Study of Navigation Laws of the Maritime Nations, and other similar topics. So far as the writer is aware, however, there is no volume which contains any general summary of the whole body of our navigation laws.
I. SHIP REGISTRY
=General.=--Under the power to regulate commerce Congress, among its earliest enactments, adopted a system of ship registry for American-owned bottoms and created the class of vessels to be known as "vessels of the United States." The purpose of establishing this system was the double one of encouraging domestic commerce and of building up our national defense. It did not require and (with certain war-time exceptions) has never required that American-owned ships should be registered, but by imposing prohibitory penalties on foreign trade in American-owned vessels which are _not_ registered, and by closing the coasting trade entirely to all except American-owned vessels (or vessels operating during war time under special permission of the Shipping Board) it made the securing of appropriate documents--a register--an enrollment and license--or a simple license, as the case may be,--a practical necessity for American-owned vessels engaged in American trade. In passing it is to be noted that while a ship's registry is a special document, distinguished from the enrollments and licenses of smaller vessels, the word _registry_ is commonly used as covering generally all three classes of documentation.
=Registry and Nationality.=--While vessels, like citizens, are commonly said to have a nationality, their _nationality_ is not necessarily a matter of _registry_. Nationality means rather--To what country does the ship in fact belong and to whose protection is she entitled? As far as the United States is concerned this nationality--this right to protection--depends upon _ownership_.
Therefore, if a ship is actually owned by American citizens, her nationality is American, and she is entitled to the protection accorded to American property all the world over, regardless of the fact that for any reason she may not be entitled to, or may not desire to take, American registry.
=Registry and the Flag.=--In the same way, the right to fly the American flag is not dependent upon American registry, but upon American ownership. The flag is only the symbol of nationality and of a right to protection. It is the signal to other vessels at sea--conveying information as to nationality, just as her other signals are used to convey the name of the private owner or of the line to which she belongs. It follows that the American flag may be flown upon any vessel owned by American citizens. For many years vessels of this character flying the American flag have been familiar in the trade in the Far and Near East.
The rule as to the use of a flag is somewhat different and more strict in England. Under the Merchant Shipping Acts the use of a British flag on board a ship owned either in whole or in part by persons not lawfully qualified to own a British ship, subjects the vessel to forfeiture. But there are no such provisions in the law of the United States and questions as to the improper use of the flag of this country upon vessels have not arisen, although occasional diplomatic negotiations have been undertaken to prevent the use of the American flag in foreign countries. Generally speaking it may be said that the United States has been extremely lax in regulating the use of her flag.
=Registry and Ownership.=--Just as registry is not necessary to give nationality, with its corresponding right to protection, so it is true that the transfer of title to ships is not dependent upon its registry laws. While title to a ship must be passed by bill of sale, this does not depend upon any requirement of the United States law, but arises out of the general maritime law. It is only in the case of ships that are to be registered or enrolled that it is necessary that the transfer be made according to the particular and very specific form prescribed by the registry acts.
=Vessels Entitled to American Registry.=--Under the early ship registry acts, and for a period of over 120 years, American registry was confined to American-built ships. Such alone were "deemed vessels of the United States, and entitled to the benefits and privileges appertaining to such vessels." As already noted, these privileges were, in effect, the right to engage in American trade.
In 1892, a special act was passed granting American registry to certain foreign-built vessels of the American Line under conditions as to the building of other vessels, but this was a special and very limited proviso.
The Panama Canal Act of 1912, however, made a radical change in our policy and opened American registry to foreign-built vessels not over five years old, owned by American citizens, although denying to these vessels the privilege of entering the coasting trade.
The Ship Registry Act of 1914 went a step farther and removed the limitation as to age, and also authorized the President to suspend, as to these vessels, the rigorous provision that the watch officers of all vessels engaged in foreign trade should be citizens of the United States. This authority was exercised by the President and many such vessels have been registered.
In 1915 a law was passed to facilitate the transfer of American-owned vessels from foreign to domestic registry by a repeal of the prohibitory duties on such vessels on condition that before leaving an American port they should secure the necessary documentation.
The Shipping Act of 1916, as amended in 1918, and again by the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, further enlarged the scope of the registry laws by providing that vessels (whatever their previous history) purchased, chartered or leased from the Board by citizens of the United States may be registered, or enrolled and licensed, or both enrolled and licensed, as vessels of the United States and entitled to the benefits and privileges of such documentation.
The various classes of vessels now entitled to registry under these laws may be thus divided:
(1) American-built vessels which have always been American-owned;
(2) American-built vessels formerly owned by foreign owners, but subsequently purchased by American citizens;
(3) Vessels captured in war lawfully condemned and owned by citizens;
(4) Vessels forfeited for breach of the laws;
(5) American-built vessels sold by the government to citizens, and foreign-built vessels bought or chartered by the government and sold to citizens;
(6) Vessels whose documentation is authorized by special act;
(7) Wrecked vessels purchased by citizens and repaired in American shipyards on proof that the repairs are equal to three times the appraised salved value; this is a special permission which is a dead letter except as to the coastwise trade, as wrecks can now be admitted to registry for foreign trade regardless of the amount of repairs;
(8) Vessels for foreign trade wherever built, wholly owned by citizens of the United States;
(9) Vessels purchased, chartered or leased from the Shipping Board by citizens of the United States.
Barges, lighters and other boats provided with sails or internal motive power, if falling within these classifications, are entitled to documents, as also barges and boats without sails or internal motive power engaged in the Canadian trade or employed upon the marine waters of the United States or engaged in the carriage of passengers.
The following classes of vessels are not within the provisions of the registry laws and therefore require no documents:
(1) Boats or lighters not masted, or if masted and not decked, employed in the harbor of any town or city and not carrying passengers.
(2) Barges or canal boats or boats without sails or internal motive power employed wholly upon canals or on the internal waters of the state and not engaged in trade with contiguous foreign territory and in carrying passengers;
(3) Barges or boats without sail or motive power, plying on inland rivers or lakes of the United States, also not engaged in trade with contiguous foreign territory and in carrying passengers;
(4) Vessels plying waters wholly within the limits of the state having no outlet into a river or lake on which commerce with foreign nations or among the states can be carried on.
=Forms of Register, Enrollment and License.=--The Law provides for three classes of documents; (1) A Register; (2) An Enrollment and License; (3) A License.
Originally the license, which is applicable only in the coasting trade, was an altogether separate document from the enrollment, the form of each document being provided by statute. In 1906, however, the two documents were consolidated into one, so far as enrolled vessels were concerned, leaving the license only to be required in the case of smaller vessels. As the law now stands these documents are distinguished as follows:--
_Registry_ is _required_, for vessels engaged in the foreign trade and in the trade with our insular possessions, except Hawaii and Porto Rico, and is _permitted_ to vessels engaged in the domestic trade under certain requirements as to entry at the Custom House when laden with certain commodities, etc. There is but a single form of register.
_Enrollment of License_ is _required_ for vessels of twenty tons or over when engaging in the coasting trade. Separate forms are issued for the coasting trade or fisheries, and for yachts.
_License_ alone is _required_ for vessels between five and twenty tons when likewise engaged in the coasting and fishing trade.
Vessels of less than five tons may not be licensed, nor may pleasure vessels of less than sixteen tons be documented except under special instructions from the Department of Commerce.
In general form and purpose these documents closely resemble each other and further consolidation and simplification is badly needed.
=Restrictions as to Coastwise Trade.=--From 1817 until the recent war the coastwise trade of the United States was limited to vessels of the United States. This restriction, however, was removed by the shipping Act of 1916. Under this act (§ 9) the Shipping Board was authorized generally (with certain very limited exceptions) to purchase, lease and charter vessels suitable for its purposes, regardless of whether foreign-built or not, and also to sell and charter the same to citizens of the United States, such vessels being entitled to American registry. As to all such vessels the Act specifically provided that they should be permitted to engage in the _coastwise_ trade. This privilege was also extended to vessels owned, chartered or leased by the Emergency Fleet Corporation (see § XXV, below).
In addition, under an act passed in 1917, the Shipping Board was given authority in its discretion to permit vessels of _foreign registry_, and foreign-built vessels which had been admitted to American registry under the Act of 1914, already referred to, to engage in coastwise trade during the war, and for three months thereafter.
This latter act has been in terms repealed by the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, but with the proviso (§ 22) that all foreign-built vessels admitted to American registry, which were owned on February 1, 1920, by citizens of the United States, and all foreign-built vessels owned by the United States on the date of the signing of the Act (June 5, 1920), when sold and owned by citizens of the United States, may engage in the coastwise trade so long as they continue in such ownership.
The general policy above outlined is supplemented by a further proviso of the Merchant Marine Act (§ 27) forbidding the transportation of merchandise between points in the United States, or such of its possessions as are subject to the operation of the coastwise laws, in any other than documented vessels of the United States, owned by citizens of the United States, except in the case of the vessels to whom the privilege has been extended by the provisions above referred to.
=Procedure for Documenting Vessels.=--Marine documents are issued by the Collectors of Customs for the various collection districts, one district frequently including several ports. The District of Philadelphia, for instance, includes Camden, Gloucester City, Chester, Somers Point, Tuckerton, Thompson's Point, Wilmington and Lewes.
Practically each step in the process of securing the ship's papers is marked by the production or issuance of one or other of a number of important documents. These steps are as follows:
_1. Presentation of Carpenter's Certificate._--The Carpenter's Certificate, sometimes referred to as the Master Carpenter's Certificate or Builder's Certificate, is the starting point of the vessel's official status in the eyes of the government, and is the first document to be produced before the Collector. It is the vessel's birth certificate, and is required in order to fix the origin of the vessel, to secure and place on record the best evidence as to the date and place of its building, the name of its builder, and its general description, given under the oath of the builder. For the purpose of this certificate the time of building is the time of completion; the place of building is that where the hull was built. Both of these facts must appear on all marine documents. The Carpenter's Certificate is not a document of title and does not of itself vest any interest in the person holding it. It is sufficient to authorize the vessel to be removed from the district where she has been built to another district in the same or an adjoining State where its owner resides, provided it be in ballast only. This document is filed of permanent record in the Custom House where the vessel receives her papers. The difficulties frequently encountered in the way of securing the certificate of the builder himself have led to the adoption of a regulation permitting other competent evidence establishing the same facts, subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Navigation.
_2. Surveyor's Certificate of Measurement._--The measurement of the boat contained in the Carpenter's Certificate not having been made by a government officer, is not an official measurement. It is therefore specifically required that there shall be produced a certificate of such an official measurement made, prior to every registry, by the Surveyor of Customs or by some person appointed by him, at the port where the vessel is, or if there be no such officer, by some one appointed by the Collector. The Surveyor is the "outside man" in the Custom House administration, the official who superintends and directs the inspectors and weighers, who visits all vessels as they arrive in port each day, and who incidentally is charged with this particular duty of measuring vessels for register. His certificate of measurement is required to show not only the measurement of the vessel, i.e., length, breadth, depth, etc., but her build, her tonnage, number of decks and masts. It is also required to state that the vessel's name and the place to which she belongs are painted on her stern. Once measured, it is not necessary that the vessel shall be measured again upon each successive register. Like all the other documents incident to the registration of the vessel, the form of this document is provided by the government and must be countersigned by an owner, or by the master, or by the owner's agent.
_3. Securing and Marking of Official Number._--The Secretary of Commerce has been authorized to provide a system of numbering all documented vessels. An application for such number must be made through the Collector of Customs by the master or owner. Each vessel so numbered must have her number "deeply carved or otherwise permanently marked on her mainbeam," preceded by the abbreviation "No."
Prior to 1866 the penalty for the violation of this requirement was the severe one of forfeiting her status as a vessel of the United States. To-day the penalty is a fine of $30 upon every arrival of the vessel in a port.
_4. Marking of Official Tonnage._--The law also requires that the net tonnage of a vessel shall be deeply carved or otherwise permanently marked on her mainbeam. This tonnage--representing the entire cubic contents of the interior of the vessel, excluding the spaces occupied by the crew and the propelling machinery, and known as the "registry tonnage" or "register tonnage"--is defined by elaborate provisions of a law passed in 1864, which has been several times amended. It is fixed in the first instance by the surveyor or other officer measuring the boat.
_5. Marking of Name and Home Port._--The law requires that the name of the vessel shall be marked upon each bow and upon the stern, and that the home port shall also be marked upon the stern. These names may be painted or gilded, or they may consist of cast or carved Roman letters in a dark color on a light ground, or in a light color on a dark ground, secure in place, distinctly visible, and not less in size than four inches. Originally the names of vessels were required to be in white on a black ground. In 1875 yellow and gilt letters were permitted. The rule as we now have it dates from 1891. The penalty for violation of this law is $10 for each name which is omitted.
In addition to this, every steam vessel of the United States is required to have her name conspicuously placed in distinct, plain letters not less than six inches high, on each outer side of the pilot house, and in case the vessel is a side-wheeler, then also upon the outer side of each wheel-house. "Double-enders" may place the names on the parts corresponding to the bow and stern; and on vessels whose sterns do not allow sufficient space for lettering, the letters may be placed on adjacent parts so as to conform as closely as possible to the requirements, and provided always that the home port shall be marked at _one_ end of the vessel.
Scows, barges and other vessels with square bows may be marked on the bow instead of the side, where such marking would be speedily worn out by chafing against other vessels.
The "home port" as required to be marked on the stern of the vessel, may mean either the _port_ where the vessel is documented, _or_ the place in the _same_ district where the vessel was _built_, _or_ where one or more of the _owners reside_. From this it follows that the home port need not be the port of documentation, for, as already noted, the law is that the vessel must be _registered_ in the district which includes the port to which the vessel at that time _belongs_, such port being defined by law as that at or nearest to which the owner, or if there be more than one, the managing owner of the vessel, usually resides.
Questions as to what is a vessel's "home port" frequently arise in connection with contracts for repairs and supplies and liens arising from the same. As will be seen the port of registry and the home port may often be quite different places.
_6. Evidence that Number, Tonnage, Name and Home Port are Properly Marked._--The Surveyor's Certificate under the form now in use should have covered all of these various points. However, if for any reason they have not been so covered, as for instance, if the vessel is out of the district in which she is being documented, the law requires that evidence be produced by the owner that all these requirements have been complied with. Thus, if the vessel is elsewhere, the owner may make an affidavit that the necessary has been done, but as soon as the vessel arrives within the vessel's home district, where the inspection certificate of a customs officer can be secured, such a certificate must be produced.
_7. Owner's Oath._--Before a vessel can be documented, the owner, or an officer or agent of the owner, whether individual or corporate, must make an affidavit disclosing the general facts as to the ownership of the boat, giving the names of its various owners, their proportions of ownership, and the citizenship of each of them, etc. It must also include a statement as to the name and tonnage of the vessel, and the place and nature of her construction. This oath is an absolute requirement, and if the vessel is documented without it, the document is void, and the vessel is not entitled to be considered a vessel of the United States.
It is also required that the owner's affidavit shall name the master of the vessel together with a statement that the master is a citizen, with a note of the means whereby he acquired his citizenship. The person thus named by the owner is thereby deemed her master for all legal purposes, regardless of the question of his competency, or as to who actually commands the vessel, but no name of a master who has not the necessary license to command a vessel of the class in question will be accepted by the Collector. Thus, while in the case of a _barge_ any citizen may be _named_ as the master, or one citizen may be named as master for any number of barges, in case of a tug or larger vessel requiring a licensed master, the person named as master must be licensed and qualified to perform this duty. This, however, is entirely irrespective of whether he has in fact assumed or does in fact assume actual command over the vessel. For such purposes the command may be a nominal one.
The importance of this document is illustrated by the fact that the penalty for a statement knowingly false is a forfeiture of the vessel, or of its value, to be recovered from the person by whom the oath was made.
_8. Master's Oath._--In addition to the oath of the owner as to the name and qualification of the master, it is specifically required that if the master is within the district where the registry is made at the time of application for it, an oath must be taken by _him_, instead of by the owner, covering his citizenship. In the case of a false oath by the master the vessel is not forfeited, but the master is liable to a penalty of $1,000. Every change of master must be reported at the first port and indorsed on the document.
_9. Special Oath by a Corporation._--Under recent legislation a special oath is required in the case of corporations, covering any question of a possible foreign interest in the corporation. This oath must set forth "that the controlling interest in the said company free from any alien trust or fiduciary obligation, or any understanding that it may be exercised directly or indirectly on behalf of any alien, is owned by citizens of the United States, and that the President and Managing Directors are citizens of the United States and that the corporation is organized under the laws of some particular State".
_10. Evidence of Outstanding Certificate of Inspection._--It is specifically forbidden to issue a ship's document on any vessel subject to the inspection laws until a copy of the certificate of inspection as issued by the Local Inspectors, has been filed with the Collector of Customs. If the original certificate is not available, a certified copy can always be secured from the office of the proper Collector of Customs.
=Bill of Sale Not Required on Original Documentation.=--The foregoing completes the steps or documents necessary for the original registration of a vessel.
It will be observed that no reference has been made to a bill of sale. This is because no such bill is required by law to be produced at the first registration. In fact the only bill of sale recognized by statute is a bill which _itself_ contains a copy of the ship's document, and therefore such a bill could not be produced before the registration had actually taken place. All that is required in the first instance, therefore, is the Carpenter's Certificate with the affidavits as to ownership, etc. These documents are taken as establishing the ownership, and laying the foundation for registry in a particular name. However, the bill of sale may be actually in existence, having been given either by the builder himself or by some one who had subsequently acquired title to the vessel before her documentation. In such case the bill of sale should be produced to complete the chain of title, and will be retained at the Custom House with the Carpenter's Certificate as a link in the chain. But it will not be recorded, for the law makes no provision for the recording of bills of sale except in the sense of transfers of documented vessels, as hereafter referred to.
=Surrender and Reissue of Documents.=--The foregoing summarizes the steps to be followed in the case of an _original_ registration. But on every change in the status of the vessel a new registry must be secured, and the vessel must be documented anew. This is the case where a vessel is _sold_ in whole or in part to a citizen of the United States, or where it is _altered_ in whole or in part, by being rebuilt or lengthened or built upon, or is changed from one classification or denomination to another, by alteration in its mode or method of rigging or fitting. It also applies to the case of a change of name as hereafter referred to, and, in case of corporations, to the death of the officer in whose name vessel is documented.
It should be borne in mind that the penalty for failure to effect such a new registration is the severe one that the vessel shall cease to be considered a vessel of the United States. No time limit for the accruing of this penalty, however, has been fixed by law.
In case of such new registration the process is the same as above outlined, but omitting the earlier steps relative to the measurement and marking of vessel, official number, etc., all of which are certified to by the previous document.
In the case of the _sale_ of the vessel, it is of course the bill of sale that furnishes the foundation for the transaction, which must be accompanied by the owner's and master's oaths as already outlined.
The bill of sale, as the all-important and indispensable document, must be made to comply strictly with the requirements covering registry, the most important of which is that it will recite at length the last previous certificate issued to the vessel. This proviso is of great importance in England. The inaccurate recital of such a certificate voids the sale entirely. In the United States the penalty is not so severe, but still severe enough, as the ship is deprived of her American character.
The bill of sale when produced is recorded in the office of the Collector of Customs in accordance with the law hereinafter referred to, and is returned to the owner producing it, as in the case of any other bill of sale which the owner may desire to have recorded.
It frequently happens that it becomes necessary to secure new documents for a vessel which is distant from the port where her new owners reside, and where it is desired that she shall be documented. In such case it is often impractical at the time to secure the outstanding papers for surrender. The practice is to secure certified copies of the same either from the office of the Collector where they were issued or from the office of the Commissioner of Navigation at Washington, giving the necessary oath for the production of the original documents when they come to hand.
It also frequently happens that the certified copies, or indeed sometimes the original documents themselves, do not bear upon their face, as they should, a notation as to the date of expiration of the certificate of inspection of the vessel. In this case some evidence of an outstanding inspection must be produced to the Collector. The simplest plan is to secure, by wire if necessary, a statement from the appropriate Collector of Customs that such an inspection is outstanding.
The law is very strict on the surrender of the old documents upon the issuing of new ones, as also in those cases where a ship loses her right to continue as a vessel of the United States. The old law, passed in 1792, provided for the giving of a bond by the ship's husband or the acting or managing owner, varying in amount according to the tonnage of the boat from $400 to $2,000, guaranteeing that the registry should be used only for the vessel for which it was granted, and should not be sold, lent or otherwise disposed of, and that in case the vessel were lost or taken by an enemy or otherwise prevented from returning to the port, the certificate, if preserved, should be delivered up within eight days of her return to port, etc. The present law substitutes for this bond a penalty of $500 and declares the Certificate of Registry to be void after a violation of any of the requirements as to its surrender.
It frequently happens that a document is lost or wrongfully withheld from the possession of the owner. In this case, upon the oath of the master or other person having charge of the vessel, a new document may be issued either temporary in form, if the vessel is out of her own port, or permanent, if she is in her own port.
II. RECORDING OF BILLS OF SALE
The present law on the subject of recording bills of sale is included in the general mortgage provisions of the new Merchant Marine Act, under which it is provided that no sale of a vessel shall be valid against a ship unless the bill of sale is recorded by the Collector of Customs in an official register, which is required to show
(1) The name of the vessel; (2) The names of the parties to the sale; (3) The time and date of receiving the bill of sale; and (4) The interest in the vessel so sold.
It is also provided that no bill of sale can be recorded unless the interest of the grantor in the vessel is stated, also the interest sold, nor unless the bill has been acknowledged before a notary public or other officer authorized to take acknowledgements. In the case of a change in the port of documentation, no bill of sale may be recorded at the new port unless a certified copy of the record of the vessel at the former port is furnished by the collector of that port.
III. PREFERRED MORTGAGES UNDER MERCHANT MARINE ACT
The law in regard to ship mortgages is highly technical and reference only will be made here to the general provisions of the Merchant Marine Act which makes far-reaching changes in the existing system in an effort to give added value to mortgage security on a ship, a form of security which heretofore has been of very limited value on account of the subordination of the mortgage, which is not a maritime contract, to all maritime liens, whether arising out of contract or tort.
The present law gives to a duly recorded preferred mortgage priority except as to (1) liens arising prior to the recording of a mortgage in strict conformity to the provisions of the act; (2) liens for damages arising out of tort; (3) liens for wages of stevedores when employed directly by the owner, operator, master, ship's husband or agent of the vessel; (4) liens for wages of the crew of the vessel; (5) liens for general average; (6) liens for salvage, including contract salvage; and (7) court costs and expenses.
If a mortgage covers a ship of over 200 gross tons the material facts regarding it must be endorsed on the ship's papers. There must also be filed an affidavit that the mortgage was made in good faith, without the intent to delay or defraud. It must appear that the mortgagee is a citizen of the United States and that the mortgage does not stipulate that the mortgagee waives its preferred status. If the mortgage includes property other than a vessel it must provide for the separate discharge of such property by the payment of a specified amount, and if it includes more than one vessel it must similarly provide for the separate discharge of each vessel on the payment of a specified amount, in default of which, the court, in a suit on the mortgage, is to determine the proportionate charge.
Two certified copies of every preferred mortgage are to be delivered by the collector to the mortgagor, who is required to use due diligence to retain one copy on board the vessel, and to cause it and the ship's documents to be exhibited by the master to any person having business with the vessel which may give rise to a maritime lien or to the sale of the vessel. Upon request, the master is required to exhibit to such person the ship's documents and this copy of the mortgage. Upon request of the mortgagee, the mortgagor is required to disclose in writing, before the execution of any preferred mortgage, the existence of any maritime lien prior to the mortgage, that is known to the mortgagor, and, without the consent of the mortgagee, the mortgagor is forbidden, after the execution of the mortgage and before the mortgagee has had reasonable time to record the mortgage and have the necessary endorsements made, to incur any obligations creating liens on the vessel other than those for wages, for general average or for salvage.
The law permits the preferred mortgage to bear any rate of interest agreed to by the parties. It provides severe penalties upon the master for failing to exhibit the ship's documents or the copy of the mortgage, when demanded, and permits local inspectors to suspend or cancel the master's license for any such violation. As to the mortgagor who fails to make disclosure of liens already referred to, or who incurs new liens with attempt to defraud, the law provides a maximum fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for two years, and makes the mortgage then immediately payable. It also subjects the collectors of customs and the mortgagor to personal liability for loss occasioned by their failure to perform their duties under the act and opens the federal courts to such suits.
Under the same act jurisdiction of all suits to foreclose a preferred mortgage is vested exclusively in the District Courts of the United States. Authority is also given to bring suit _in personam_ in the admiralty, in the United States District Courts, against the mortgagor.
The surrender of the documents of mortgaged vessels without the approval of the Shipping Board is prohibited, and the Board is directed to withhold such approval unless the mortgagee consents to the surrender. By resolution of the Board this law is interpreted as not applying to cases in which owners merely renew licenses or change documents incident to change of trade and where the ownership remains the same.
Elaborate provisions are also to be found covering the formal procedure in case of sales of mortgaged vessels, together with a provision that no rights under a mortgage shall be assigned to any person not a citizen of the United States without the approval of the Board, and that no vessel shall be sold in a suit in the admiralty to any person who is not a citizen.
The legality of the provisions conferring upon the federal courts the right to enforce mortgage liens which are of a nonmaritime character, is much debated and must await final decision by the Supreme Court. If the court should decide against the legality of these provisions serious and difficult questions will be presented as to whether the act as it now stands will be effective to give preferred status to such a mortgage, under the radically different procedure which must then be resorted to.
The act also revises the law on the subject of the creation of maritime liens for necessaries. It provides that persons furnishing repairs, supplies, towage, etc., on order of the owner or an authorized agent shall have a maritime lien on the vessel without being required to prove the credit was given to the vessel; defines the persons who are to be presumed to have authority from the owner to procure repairs, etc., including the agents of a charterer; and permits the waiving of such liens by those furnishing the supplies or services, subject to certain existing specified rules of law.
IV. CHANGE OF NAME
The American law has always been very strict in regard to changing the names of vessels. Such change can only be made by the Commissioner of Navigation, and if made _by_ the master or owner or agent of the vessel subjects the vessel to forfeiture. Since 1881 the Secretary of the Treasury, and later, the Commissioner of Navigation, has been authorized to permit the change of names of vessels "duly enrolled and found seaworthy and free from debt." Under this law it became necessary to secure a special act of Congress, which was frequently done, to change the name of a mortgaged vessel. To cure this defect the law of February 19, 1920, which took effect thirty days after its passage, provides for a change of name _by_ the Commissioner of Navigation upon compliance with regulations issued by him.
All that is required in the first instance is a duplicate application by the owner, addressed to the Commissioner of Navigation and forwarded to him through the Collector of Customs at the home port of the vessel, which is required to state the change desired, the reasons in support of it, place of build, official number, rig, gross tonnage, and the owner's name. It must also include a detailed list of liens of record from all custom houses where the vessel has been previously documented, together with the consent in writing of the mortgagee or other beneficiary under each lien to the change desired. To this the Collector of Customs, forwarding the application, must add his certificate as to liens on record in his office, and must also state the date and place of last inspection, a requirement which presupposes the presentation to him of satisfactory evidence of the vessel's inspection, that is, either the original certificate, or a certified copy of it, or a statement from the office of the Commissioner of Navigation at Washington that such a certificate is outstanding. In the case of vessels not usually inspected, as, for instance, barges, inspectors are authorized to make special examinations at the owner's expense and to furnish a certificate of the seaworthiness of the vessel, the object of course being to prevent old and unseaworthy vessels from concealing their condition and antiquity by a change of name.
After the application has been passed by the Commissioner and permission has been granted, it is required that the change shall be published in a daily or weekly paper nearest to the port of documentation in at least four consecutive issues, the cost of procuring the evidence and of publication to be paid by the applicant. The permission for change is not effective until this fee is paid. Upon its payment the issuance of a new document is then required, which presupposes the production, as in other cases, of the owner's affidavit, and of the master's affidavit, as already explained.
The Collector thereupon records the change of name in his prescribed reports and the transaction is completed.
Vessels formerly documented and which have been sold to the United States and resold to citizens, must be documented under the old name and official number, but vessels never before documented and sold by the United States to citizens, may be redocumented under any name selected that is approved by the commissioner.
In forwarding the application for change of name the Collector of Customs is required to submit his recommendations giving any reasons for or against the change. The usual reasons in support of a change are a desire on the part of the company to carry out some established policy in the naming of its vessels, or a desire to shorten or lengthen a name, as the case may be.
The fee required is prescribed by law upon a sliding scale from $10 to $100, according to gross tonnage, the former figure being for vessels of 99 gross tons and under, and the latter for vessels of 5,000 gross tons and over.
V. ENTRY AND CLEARANCE
Whether or not a vessel is required to enter and clear depends, first, upon whether she is registered, and second, upon her tonnage and the service in which she is engaged.
_All_ vessels under _registry_ (as distinguished from vessels enrolled or licensed) are required to enter and clear at every port, except when bound from a point in one state to that of an _adjoining_ state.
If _not_ registered the question depends in the first instance upon the size of the vessel. The law, as inherited from the early days, when smuggling was frequent in small vessels, and it was considered important to keep them under close supervision, makes a distinction between vessels under twenty tons and those above that tonnage.
If _under_ 20 tons (and properly documented, that is licensed) and laden wholly with American goods, or with foreign goods in packages as imported not exceeding $400 in value, or of aggregate value not over $800, they may trade from a customs district in one state to a customs district in the same or an adjoining state, without entering or clearing. But if _over_ twenty tons, such vessels are permitted to trade, without entering or clearing, from one customs district in the same Great District to another in the same Great District, or from a State in one Great District to an adjoining State in another Great District: Except as thus provided _all_ vessels engaged in the coasting trade must enter and clear on their arrival at, or departure from, each port.
The five Great Districts referred to have been defined as follows and should not be confused with the customs collection districts:--
1. Atlantic coast from Canada to Mexico. 2. Porto Rico. 3. Pacific Coast. 4. Alaska. 5. Hawaii.
It is worth noting, however, that enrolled vessels which are not _required_ to enter and clear _may_ do so, if they desire for any purpose to have a record of their entrance and their clearance. This might occur in the case of a vessel intending to undergo extensive repairs and which might desire such a record to secure a rebate of insurance premium.
In the case of vessels in the foreign trade or coming from one Great District into another, and which are required to be registered, the law requires the surrender and filing of manifests, bill of health and crew list. When these formalities have been complied with, the vessel is posted in the Custom House as entered. The manifest is produced to the boarding officer and includes the original manifest issued at the foreign port as well as a certified copy. The crew list is the list issued by the Collector of the last port of clearance from the United States, the Collector having retained the original sworn to by the master, and having furnished the master with a certified copy. Bills of health should have been secured from the American consular office at the last port of touch, but bills are not required from ports where there is no such officer. The ship's register is deposited in the Custom House and obtained before clearance.
In the case of the clearance of a vessel in the coastwise trade, and which is under registry, or which for any other reason desires a clearance, the master is required to produce a coasting manifest to the Collector. Upon making affidavit to this document the necessary coastwise clearance and permit is issued. If, however, as in the case of tugs, there is no cargo to be manifested, a coastwise permit is issued upon affidavit by the master that the vessel contains no cargo whatever other than sea stores.
In the case of vessels bound to foreign ports the documents take the form of the customary foreign manifest, which is followed by the official clearance in the form familiar to the export trade for a hundred years.
VI. SHIPPING ARTICLES
Shipping articles are required in both the foreign and in the coastwise trade, but with certain important differences.
In the _foreign_ trade the articles, which must be in government form, are required to be signed before a Shipping Commissioner. This, however, does not apply to trade between the United States and the British North American possessions and the West Indies, and Mexico. The nature of these articles is sufficiently familiar to require no comment. Generally speaking the articles must contain the following particulars:--
1. The nature and, as far as practicable, the duration of the intended voyage or engagement, and the port or country at which the voyage is to be terminated.
2. The number and description of the crew, specifying their respective employments.
3. The time at which each seaman is to be on board to begin work.
4. The capacity in which each seaman is to serve.
5. The amount of wages which each seaman is to receive.
6. A scale of the provisions which are to be furnished each seaman.
7. Any regulations as to conduct on board and as to fines, short allowances of provisions, or other lawful punishments for misconduct, which may be sanctioned by Congress or authorized by the Secretary of Commerce, not contrary to or not otherwise provided for by law, which the parties agree to adopt.
8. Any stipulations in reference to allotment of wages or other matters not contrary to law. In 1898 this provision was repealed so far as it relates to allotments in trade between the United States, Dominion of Canada, Newfoundland, the West Indies and Mexico, and the coasting trade of the United States, except between Atlantic and Pacific ports.
In the _coasting_ trade the law merely requires that every _master_ of a vessel of fifty tons or over, bound from a port in one State to a port in any other than a port in an adjoining State (with the exception of voyages from the Atlantic to Pacific ports, which are included under foreign trade) shall make an _agreement in writing_ with his seamen declaring the voyage or term of time for which the seaman is shipped. This agreement _may_ be signed before a Shipping Commissioner, but this is not compulsory. The agreement required in the coasting trade requires only the voyage, or term of time for which the seaman is shipped.
Question has been raised as to whether the requirement as to written articles applies to cases where the "adjoining State" is reached by a waterway running through other States, as, for instance, a voyage from New York to Philadelphia. It seems clear, however, that the law should be strictly interpreted, according to its terms, and that articles would not be required on such a voyage.
In neither case does the law provide a limit in the matter of length of voyage. In England shipping articles are frequently for long periods of a year or more. Our practice is more limited. Clauses for one or more continuous voyages are commonly found with a provision for the termination of the contract by authority of the master, or any member of the crew, upon twenty-four hours' notice.
A provision of law which sometimes occasions difficulty is that which permits a seaman discharged "without fault on his part justifying such discharge" and without his consent, before the commencement of the voyage or before one month's wages are earned, to receive a compensation of one month's wages. This question, like all other questions relating to wages, comes up in the first instance before a Shipping Commissioner, and in the hands of a competent commissioner there should seldom be any difficulty in determining whether the discharge was or was not due to the fault of the seaman or to his inability properly to perform his duties.
The right to overtime is not provided for by statute, and before the war was not generally recognized. In July, 1919, however, an informal agreement was made between the Shipping Board and the steamship association and the unions, under which this right to claim overtime is recognized, provided it is covered by special contract.
VII. LICENSING AND QUALIFICATIONS OF OFFICERS
The law requires that masters, chief mates, second and third mates, if in charge of a watch, engineers, and pilots of all steam vessels, and the masters of sailing vessels of over 700 gross tons, and of other vessels over 100 gross tons carrying passengers for hire, shall be licensed and classified by the boards of local inspectors, and imposes a penalty of $100 for employing an unlicensed officer or for an unlicensed person to serve as an officer. These several boards of inspectors are under the direction of a Supervising Inspector General appointed by the President, and who is at the head of a Steamboat Inspection Service, and are further under the supervision of ten supervising inspectors, to each of whom is assigned general supervision of the work of inspection in a particular district. The law imposes large discretion upon the local inspectors in the examination and licensing of officers, limiting the licenses to a period of five years, and giving the inspectors authority to suspend licenses on proof of bad conduct, intemperate habits, incapacity, inattention to duties or a willful violation of inspection laws.
It is specially forbidden for any state or municipal government to impose on pilots any obligation to secure a license in addition to that issued by the Federal government.
One of the most important functions of the local inspectors is that which concerns the investigation of collisions and complaints of incompetency or misconduct committed by licensed officers. For this purpose the inspectors have power to summon the witnesses, to administer oaths and, upon hearing had after reasonable notice in writing to the alleged delinquent, to suspend or to revoke his license, if satisfied that he has been guilty of misbehavior, negligence or unskillfulness, or has endangered life. Appeals from the decision of the local inspectors may be made to the supervising inspector.
Where, however, the supervising or local inspector finds a licensed officer on board a vessel under the influence of liquor to such an extent as to unfit him for duty, or when a licensed officer uses abusive language to an officer or insults him while on duty, the local inspector is required to revoke the license of the offending officer without further trial or investigation.
The rules of the board classify vessels according to the general character of their trade, as
1. Ocean and coastwise. 2. Lakes, bays and sounds. 3. Rivers.
Qualifications for the officers properly vary according to these three classes of service, to which is added a number of other special classifications, as, for instance, ferry steamers on rivers, passenger barges on rivers, etc.; or in the case of engineers, as, for instance, condensing river steamer and noncondensing river steamer. These requirements are set forth in full detail in the Regulations of the Steamboat Inspection Service, with which all officers should be familiar.
Certain minimum requirements in the case of deck officers have been prescribed by statute, the latest law being that of March 11, 1918, which with certain minor exceptions, provides for one licensed master for every vessel; for vessels 1,000 gross tons or over, three licensed mates, and for vessels between 200 and 1,000 tons, two licensed mates; for vessels between 100 and 200 tons, one licensed mate. The inspectors, however, are permitted to increase these requirements if they consider the vessel not sufficiently manned for safe navigation.
The same law of 1918 prohibits officers from assuming deck watches on leaving port unless they have had at least six hours off duty within the twelve hours preceding sailing; and also prohibits licensed officers on both ocean and coastwise vessels from doing duty exceeding nine hours of any twenty-four while in port, or more than twelve hours of any twenty-four while at sea, except in case of emergency endangering life or property.
VIII. QUALIFICATIONS OF SEAMEN
Before the passage of the Seamen's Act in 1915, there were no statutory requirements as to the ability or experience of the crew, other than the general requirement that the vessel should be properly manned. This act, however, presents a body of highly stringent requirements. Its principal requirements may be summarized as follows:
=Age.=--In the matter of age the act provides that in the deck department of all vessels of more than 100 tons gross, except those navigating rivers exclusively and the smaller inland lakes, there shall be a certain proportion of seamen with the rating of able seamen, a classification which is limited to those of nineteen years of age. The lack of supply of able seamen has made it practically impossible to enforce this requirement.
=Service and Physical Qualification.=--The act requires the physical examination of able seamen in the deck department. It also divides able seamen into two classes, those engaged in vessels operating on the high seas and those engaged on the Great Lakes, smaller lakes, bays and sounds. For the former three years' service at sea or on the Great Lakes, etc., and an examination as to general physical condition, is required, or one year's experience on deck at sea or on the Great Lakes, etc., together with an oral examination on seamanship and for the latter eighteen months' experience at sea or on the Lakes.
=Lifeboat Men.=--The Seamen's Act, in connection with its elaborate provisions for the equipment of vessels with life-saving appliances, lays down the distribution of a specially designated class of certificated seamen known as lifeboat men to the various lifeboats and rafts required to be carried by a vessel, leaving the designation of the individuals to the discretion of the master. To secure a certificate as lifeboat man, a seaman is required to prove to the satisfaction of the inspection officers, or other officers designated for the purpose of issuing certificates, that he has been trained in all the operations in connection with launching lifeboats and the use of oars, is acquainted with the practical handling of the boats themselves, and is capable of understanding and answering the orders relative to lifeboat service.
=Language.=--Perhaps the most disputed proviso of the Seamen's Act is that which requires that not less than 75 per cent. of the crew of the vessel must be able to understand any order given by the officer--that is, the necessary orders given to the members of the crew in each department in the performance of their particular duties. This law, however, does not require the use of any particular language on the part of officers and crew of the vessel, nor does it require an English-speaking crew, nor that the members of the crew in one department of the vessel should understand orders given in another department.
IX. NATIONALITY OF OFFICERS AND CREW
=Officers.=--Since 1792 our laws have required that the officers of _all_ vessels of the United States who are in charge of a watch, including pilots, shall be citizens. This of course includes tugs, barges and all other vessels which are documented under our laws. The term "officer" includes the Chief Engineer and each Assistant Engineer in charge of the watch. The only exception to this rule is that which was made by the Ship Registry Act of 1914, and the executive order based upon it, under which foreign-built ships admitted to American registry under that act are permitted to retain their watch officers, without regard to citizenship, for a term of seven years, provided that after two years any vacancy must be filled by a citizen of the United States.
=Crew.=--There are no provisions or restrictions as to the nationality of the crew on vessels of the United States.
X. WAGES
The Seamen's Act requires that on _coasting_ voyages, wages shall be paid to every seaman within two days after the termination of the agreement under which he shipped, or at the time of his discharge if he should be discharged before the expiration of the agreement; and that on _foreign_ voyages wages shall be paid within twenty-four hours after the discharge of the cargo, or within four days after the discharge of the seaman, whichever shall first happen. The law further provides that a seaman is entitled in every case to be paid at the time of his discharge a sum equal to one-third of the balance of wages then due him. This proviso, however, is seldom observed in practice, nor is it insisted upon, as it would in general be impracticable for wages to be paid at the moment of discharge.
The question of payment of a certain portion of wages on demand, which is also covered by the Seamen's Act and earlier acts, has received considerable revision in the Merchant Marine Act. Under this law it is provided that _every_ seaman on a vessel of the United States may receive on demand of the master one-half of the balance of his wages earned at every port where the vessel loads or delivers cargo. This protection may not be waived by contract, but is subject to the proviso that the demand shall not be made before the expiration of, nor oftener than once in, five days, nor more than once in the same harbor. Failure on the part of the master to comply with this demand releases the seaman from his contract and entitles him to full payment of wages earned. At the end of the voyage the seaman is entitled to the remainder of his wages according to the provisions of the Seamen's Act, which also provides that notwithstanding the release, which is required to be signed before the Shipping Commissioner at the time of the seaman's discharge, the proper court may set aside the release upon good cause shown. The provision of the Merchant Marine Act is specially made applicable to the case of seamen on foreign vessels while in the harbors of the United States, and the courts of the United States are opened to such seamen for its enforcement.
=Advances.=--The law in regard to advances to seamen is also slightly amended by the Merchant Marine Act, which makes it unlawful to pay wages in advance of the time when actually earned, or to pay such advance wages or make any order or note or other evidence of indebtedness for the same to any other person, or to pay any other person for the shipment of seamen when payment is deducted or is to be deducted from the seaman's wages. Payment of such advance wages or allotment whether made within or without the United States does not absolve the vessel from libel and is no defense to a libel suit. This act also forbids any person to demand or receive from any seaman any remuneration whatever for providing him employment.
Seamen discharged by a consul in a foreign port on account of the voyage being continued contrary to agreement, or unseaworthiness of vessel, or bad provisions, or cruel treatment, are entitled to one month's extra wages and transportation to the United States. Seamen discharged at a foreign port at the request of the master, and not on account of neglect of duty, are entitled to employment on a vessel agreed to by the seaman and to one month's extra wages.
Seamen discharged before commencement of voyage without fault, are entitled to one month's additional wages, and all seamen are entitled to two days' extra wages for each day's delay in payment at end of voyage.
The laws also contain elaborate and beneficial provisions for the recovery of their wages by seamen through proceedings in the courts.
Seamen are disqualified by law from signing away their lien upon a vessel for wages; as also their rights to participate in salvage. It is to be noted that the seaman's right to a share in salvage, in the case of the saving of human life, on the part of a seaman who has taken part in the services rendered, is expressly conferred and protected by statute. Failure, unless unavoidable, to give help to persons at sea, in danger of being lost, is also made a serious criminal offense.
XI. WATCH AND WATCH AND WORK-DAY
Before the passage of the Seamen's Act there were no legal requirements as to hours of labor at sea, though long established custom had divided the deck crew into two watches and the engine crew into three watches, with certain variations in this plan in special trades. Under the Seamen's Act it is now provided that on merchant vessels of over 100 tons, except those engaged in river and harbor navigation, the sailors must be divided into at least two watches, and the firemen, oilers and water tenders into at least three watches, which are to be kept on duty successively for the performance of ordinary work, incident to the sailing and management of the vessel.
Seamen may not be shipped to work alternately in the fireroom and on deck, nor may those shipped to work on deck be shifted to the fireroom, or vice versa, subject to cases of emergency, in the judgment of the master or other officer. These provisions, however, do not prohibit the master or other officers from requiring the whole or any part of the crew to participate in fire, lifeboat and other drills when the vessel is in a safe harbor nine hours, inclusive of the anchor watch, which is a legal day, but in such case no seaman may be required to do unnecessary work on Sundays or on New Year's, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas, provided that this does not prevent the dispatch of the vessel on regular schedule or when ready to proceed on her voyage.
XII. PROVISIONS FOR CREW
=Sleeping Quarters.=--The Seamen's Act provides that on all vessels (except yachts, pilot boats and vessels of less than 100 tons) whose construction is thereafter begun, there shall be a crew space of not more than 100 cubic feet or not less than 16 square feet for each seaman lodged therein; also that each seaman shall have a separate berth, and that not more than one berth shall be placed above another; that the seamen's quarters shall be properly lighted, drained, heated, ventilated, constructed and protected and shut off; and that crew space shall be kept free from goods and stores. This law increased the crew quarters from 72 cubic feet and 12 square feet in the case of steamships, and from 100 cubic feet in the case of sailing vessels. It is noted that the Seamen's Act applies to _all_ merchant vessels of the United States, in this respect differing from the earlier acts which applied only to seagoing vessels.
=Washing Places.=--The Seamen's Act requires that all merchant vessels whose construction is begun after its passage, having more than ten men on deck, shall have a light, clean and properly ventilated washing place, at least one washing outfit for every two men of the watch, and a separate washing place for the fire-room and engine-room men, if more than ten in number, which shall be large enough to accommodate at least one-sixth of them at the same time, and shall have hot and cold water supply and a sufficient number of wash basins, sinks and shower baths.
=Provisions Scale.=--Since 1790 the laws of the United States have specified a scale of provisions required to be carried upon vessels. With minor alterations included in the Seamen's Act, the present scale, with permissible substitutions, was fixed by law on December 21, 1898. Under this law seamen have the option of accepting the provisions offered or of demanding the legal scale, which is required to be inserted in all ship articles and to be posted in the galley and forecastle. The laws contain provisos for complaints to be made to the officer in command of the vessel or to the United States consular officer or Shipping Commissioner or chief officer of the customs, who has authority to take action to see that the deficiency is corrected, subject to a penalty for default.
For allowing the supply of provisions to be reduced below the legal scale during the voyage, except for unavoidable causes, compensation must be paid to every seaman according to the time of its continuance and in accordance with the scheduled allowances fixed by law.
=Hospital Accommodations.=--In addition to crew space already referred to all merchant vessels which ordinarily make voyages of more than three days' duration and carry a crew of twelve or more seamen, are required to have a separate compartment for hospital purposes with at least one bunk for every twelve seamen, provided that not more than six bunks in all may be required.
=Warm Room and Woolen Clothing.=--Every vessel bound on a voyage over fourteen days in length must, in addition to a slop chest, provide for each seaman one suit of woolen clothing, as also a "safe and warm room" for cold weather.
XIII. PERSONAL INJURIES TO SEAMEN AND RECOVERIES FOR DEATH
Prior to the passage of the recent Merchant Marine Act (1920) recovery by a seaman for injuries received by him in the service of the ship was subject to the maritime law under which (except in case of the unseaworthiness of the vessel, where full recovery might be claimed) the seaman was entitled to, but only to, his maintenance and cure, and to wages so long at least as the voyage continued, regardless of his own negligence (unless it amounted to willful misconduct) or of that of any other person. Where his contract extended beyond the voyage or there was fault on the part of the ship, recovery of wages was allowable even beyond the termination of the voyage.
This liability could not be enlarged or diminished by any law of the states on the subject of employer's liability or workmen's compensation.
The Seamen's Act of 1915 undertook to enlarge the protection of seamen by providing that in suits to recover damages for injuries received on board a vessel, or in its service, seamen "having command," _e.g._, masters, etc., should not be held to be fellow servants with those under their authority, but this was held not to affect those cases covered by the general rule of the maritime law above stated, under which the fellow servant question is immaterial.
A more successful effort at extending the seaman's right, however, was made in the recent Merchant Marine Act, which permits any seaman who suffers injury in the course of his employment, to maintain, at his election, an action for damages at law, with the right of trial by jury, and in such case to have the benefit of the United States statutes modifying or extending the rights of railroad employees in analogous cases.
The same act also covers the question of actions for the death of seamen, giving to their personal representatives the right to sue for damages at law and the benefit of a trial by jury, and the similar benefit of the laws covering actions for death in the case of railroad employees.
This provision, it is observed, is in sharp contrast, and perhaps in some conflict with the provision of an act passed at the same session of Congress, on March 30, 1920, giving a general right to maintain actions for all deaths occurring on the high seas by some wrongful act or neglect. This law, which in its broad terms covers also the case of seamen, permits suits to be brought in the admiralty courts and fixes the recovery at the amount of pecuniary loss sustained by the persons for whose benefit suit is brought. It further provides that in such action the fact that the decedent has been guilty of contributory negligence is not to be considered a bar to recovery, but is to be taken into consideration by the court in fixing the degree of negligence and in reducing the recovery accordingly.
A discussion of the technical questions involved in the relations of these two acts is beyond the scope of this summary.
XIV. OFFENSES BY SEAMEN
Offenses by seamen are punishable under the laws of the United States, generally, when committed on the high seas, or on any waters within the jurisdiction of the admiralty courts, or on lands under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States. The list of crimes covers those familiar to the criminal law, such as murder, manslaughter, assault, rape, robbery, arson, larceny, forgery, receiving stolen property, etc. Other offenses peculiar to marine life may be noted as follows.
=Mutiny, Desertion and Disobedience.=--Inciting to or participation in a mutiny on a United States vessel is punished by a fine of not over $1,000 or imprisonment of not over five years or both. This offense includes the stirring up of the crew to resist lawful orders or "to refuse or neglect their proper duty, or to betray their proper trust," also "the assembly with others in a tumultuous and mutinous manner." The actual revolt or mutiny--the usurping of the command of a vessel, is punishable by a fine of not over $2,000 or imprisonment of not over ten years, or both.
Willful disobedience is punishable under the Seamen's Act by being placed in irons until the disobedience ceases, and, on arrival in port, by forfeiture of wages, not exceeding four days' pay, or, at the discretion of the court, by imprisonment not exceeding a month.
Continued willful disobedience subjects the offender to being placed in irons on bread and water, with full rations every fifth day, until the disobedience ceases, and the forfeiture, on arrival in port, of twelve days' pay for every twenty-four hours' disobedience, or by imprisonment not over three months, at the discretion of the court.
Desertion is punishable under the Seamen's Act by forfeiture of clothes and effects left on the vessel, and of wages due, the former penalty of imprisonment for desertion in a foreign port having been abolished, as also the provision for the arrest of seamen deserting from foreign vessels. This proviso is much more lenient than the laws of most foreign countries. In the case of England, if the desertion takes place outside the United Kingdom the deserter is liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding twelve weeks. Imprisonment for desertion in the coastwise trade was abolished by the Maguire Act in 1895.
=Miscellaneous Offenses.=--Among these may be mentioned the following:
_Seduction_ of a female passenger, by master, officer, crew or employee is punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000 and imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both. A subsequent marriage may be pleaded in bar of conviction. _Misconduct_, neglect or inattention to duty, resulting in loss of life, is punishable by fine not exceeding $10,000, or imprisonment not more than ten years, or both. _Abandonment of seamen_ is punishable by a fine not over $500, or imprisonment not over six months, or both. _Barratry_--the attempt to injure or destroy a vessel for her insurance--is punishable by a fine not over $10,000 and imprisonment not over ten years. _Wrecking_--plundering or stealing from a wrecked vessel--calls for a fine not exceeding $5,000 and imprisonment not exceeding ten years. _Willfully Obstructing Escape_ from a wrecked vessel subjects the offender to a minimum imprisonment of ten years, with a maximum punishment of imprisonment for life. _Plundering_ a vessel,--fine $5,000 maximum, and imprisonment not exceeding ten years. _Entering_ a vessel with intent to commit felony,--fine $10,000 maximum, and imprisonment not exceeding five years. _Casting away_ or otherwise destroying vessel by owner,--imprisonment for life or any lesser term; by other person, imprisonment not exceeding ten years.
The carrying of sheath-knives by seamen in the merchant service is forbidden, and penalties for allowing violation of this prohibition are imposed upon the master.
Officers, seamen and employees are forbidden to visit passengers' quarters except by permission of the master. Severe penalties are imposed upon both the offending person and upon the master permitting the violation.
Corporal punishment is prohibited by the Seamen's Act under penalties not only of fine and imprisonment, but of liability to civil damages.
Ill treatment of a seaman, beating without justifiable cause, wounding or beating, or the withholding of suitable food and nourishment, or the infliction of any cruel and unusual punishment is punished by fine of not over $1,000 or imprisonment of not over five years.
Shanghaiing was prohibited, under severe penalties, in 1909.
=Assistance in Case of Collision.=--The law requires every master, in the case of a collision, so far as he can do so without serious danger to his own vessel or its crew or passengers, to stand by the other vessel until he has ascertained that she has no need of further assistance, and to render such assistance as may be practical, also to give the name of his own vessel, her port of registry, and other material information. For failure to do so and in the absence of reasonable cause shown for such failure, a collision, in the absence of proof to the contrary, is deemed to have been caused by such master's wrongful act or neglect.
For failing to render such assistance, or giving the information required, masters are liable to a fine of $1,000 or a year's imprisonment, and the vessel is expressly made liable for the amount named, one-half of which is payable to the informer.
XV. RULES OF THE ROAD
There are three general bodies of rules covering the navigation of vessels with respect to the rules of the road.
The first of these are the International Rules which were adopted at a conference of maritime nations held in the United States in 1889, which are now in force in practically all maritime countries. They apply only to vessels on the high seas, the boundary line of which, so far as the United States is concerned, has been defined by an act of Congress passed in 1913, under which the Secretary of Commerce, having been authorized to fix lines separating the high seas from inland waters for the purposes of the rules of the road, has defined a water line from Cutler Harbor, Maine, to Puget Sound.
The second body of rules is known as the Inland Rules, embodied in a federal statute passed in 1897, and applicable only to the waters within the line thus defined. These rules, generally speaking, are similar to the International Rules but differ in a number of details.
The third body of rules is what is known as the Pilot Rules for certain inland waters of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, adopted by the supervising inspectors of the Steamboat Inspection Service, approved by the Secretary of Commerce under authority of the Act of June, 1897, establishing the Inland Rules, and of subsequent acts passed in 1903 and 1913, establishing the Department of Commerce. These rules are also to a large extent similar to, and are generally in harmony with the inland rules, to which they yield in case of conflict. More extended reference to these rules, the knowledge of which should be a matter of second nature to seafaring men, is beyond the scope of this summary.
XVI. PILOTAGE
As the states had enacted pilotage laws before the adoption of the Constitution, the right of the states to a certain measure of control over pilotage, within their boundaries, has always been recognized, and consequently a dual system has grown up. The state laws are effective except where the subject is specifically covered by a federal law.
As to the federal requirements, all vessels engaged in the _coasting_ trade are required, when under way and within the jurisdiction of the United States, that is, except on the high seas, to be piloted by officers duly licensed under the federal law as pilots for the particular waters covered. This is covered by the qualifications laid down for the various classes of vessels by the Board of Supervising Inspectors, and by the provision of our law that the qualifications necessary for obtaining a license as master, mate or pilot of all steam vessels shall be as prescribed by the Board.
Registered steam vessels, when engaged in _foreign_ trade, and all sailing vessels of the United States in the foreign or coasting trade, are exempt from this requirement, but are subject to the requirements of the pilotage laws of the several states.
The master of a foreign vessel is not required to employ a pilot licensed under the laws of the United States.
As to state laws, the pilotage of all vessels in state waters (except enrolled steam vessels employed in the coasting trade, which are exempted from state supervision by act of Congress), is regulated by the laws of the respective states. There are, however, a number of special prohibitions designed to prevent controversy between the states. Thus, no regulation may be adopted by one state making the discrimination of a lower pilotage as to vessels sailing between ports of one state and vessels sailing between ports of different states, nor any discrimination against steam vessels; nor may a state require pilots to procure a state license in addition to that issued by the United States. It is to be noted that the federal law, which forbids the states to require enrolled coastwise steamers to take on state pilots, does not apply to _sailing vessels_ even though they may be in a tow of a steam tug carrying a licensed pilot, a discrimination difficult to justify.
In this connection, thrifty ship agents handling _registered_ vessels which for the time being happen to be engaged in the _coasting_ trade, will naturally see to it that registers are exchanged for enrollments, wherever a substantial saving in the matter of exemption from state pilotage fees can be figured out.
It is to be noted, however, that in order to permit this very saving, in another direction, the government permits vessels engaged in trade through the canal to be enrolled and licensed. By thus obviating the necessity for registry, state pilotage is avoided.
XVII. LENGTH OF HAWSERS
The law provides a special procedure covering length of hawsers in the case of tows. The Commissioner of Lighthouses, the Supervising Inspector of the Steamboat Inspection Service, and the Commissioner of Navigation are directed to convene as a board, under directions of the Secretary of Commerce, and to prepare regulations limiting the length of hawsers between towing vessels and seagoing barges in tow, and the length of such tows within any of the inland waters of the United States. Willful violation of these regulations subjects the license of the master of the towing vessel to suspension or revocation.
XVIII. INSPECTION OF STEAM VESSELS
All steam vessels must be inspected yearly as to their hulls, and generally as to whether they have complied with all the requirements of the law in regard to fires, boats, pumps, hose, life preservers, floats, anchors, etc., as laid down in the Rules and Regulations of the United States Board of Supervising Inspectors, which should be familiar to all masters. Inspectors, however, have the widest latitude. The law requires that they shall satisfy themselves that the boat is in a condition to warrant their belief that she may be used in navigation with safety for life. In making this test they may have her put under way or may adopt any other suitable means to test her sufficiency or that of her equipment. This yearly inspection, however, may be suspended under special regulations, when vessels are laid up and dismantled and out of commission. In this connection it is perhaps worth remembering that the laws of the United States make it a criminal offense for any person knowingly to send to sea an American ship, whether in the coast, foreign or coastwise trade, in such an unseaworthy state that the life of any person is liable to be endangered. The punishment for this offense is properly severe--imprisonment not exceeding five years or a fine not exceeding $1,000 or both at the discretion of the court.
The law also provides for the yearly inspection of the boilers of all steam vessels, including tug-boats, to insure compliance with the requirements of the standards issued by the board.
=Barges.=--Seagoing barges of over 100 tons gross are also subject to yearly inspection. The standard applied by the local inspectors is the elastic one that they shall satisfy themselves that the barge is "of a structure suitable for the service in which she is to be employed, has suitable accommodations for the crew, and is in a condition to warrant the belief that she may be used in navigation with safety to life." In the case of such barges the law also specially provides that there shall be at least one lifeboat, one anchor with suitable chain or cable, and at least one life preserver for each person on board.
Without such certificate of inspection actually in force at the time, no document can be issued for a barge, and for navigating a barge without a certificate or without the equipment referred to the owner is liable to a penalty of $500. Certificates of inspection for barges are issued in the same manner as for seagoing vessels generally. Where the certificate is not available at the time of securing a new document, evidence that it is still in force must be produced to the Collector, which may be in the form of a telegraphic confirmation of the fact, from the office of the Steamboat Inspection Bureau, Department of Commerce, Washington.
=The Certificate of Inspection.=--Upon the making of every inspection, if the inspectors refuse to grant a certificate, they are required to sign a written statement of their reasons for their disapproval. If approval is granted, however, it is their duty to immediately deliver to the master or owner a temporary certificate, which is good until the regular certificate has been delivered. Copies of these certificates are kept on file in the inspector's office or in the office of the Collector of Customs. The original is required to be posted in a conspicuous place in the vessel, to be kept there at all times except where it is otherwise permitted in special cases under the regulations.
=Manning of Inspected Vessels.=--The inspection of the local inspectors covers not only the hull and boiler and equipment, but also the questions of manning, character of merchandise to be carried, and the mode of packing dangerous articles, etc.
The local inspectors, on making the general inspection of the vessel, are required to make entry in the certificate of inspection of such complement of licensed officers and crew, including certificated lifeboat men, as they consider necessary for her safety, this entry being subject to right of appeal to the Supervising Inspector General.
Where such a vessel is for any reason deprived of the services of any number of the crew, without the consent or fault of the master or any person interested in the vessel, she is permitted to proceed on her voyage if, in the judgment of the master, she is still sufficiently manned. It is required, however, that the master shall ship, if obtainable, a number equal to those whose services he has been deprived of, and of the same or higher grade, also that he shall explain in writing the situation to the local inspectors within twelve hours of the arrival of the vessel at its destination under penalty of $50. The penalty for undermanning the vessel is $100, or in case of an insufficient number of licensed officers $500.
XIX. REGISTER TONNAGE
Three methods of measuring the capacity of a ship are more or less in general use in the maritime world.
The displacement tonnage, or weight of the volume of water displaced by the ship when fully loaded with all her crew, coal, supplies, etc., is in general use by the navies of the world for assuring accuracy and uniformity, but of course is not adapted to merchant vessels on which the cargo varies from voyage to voyage.
The deadweight tonnage, or actual weight of the cargo which a merchant ship will transport, obviously is adaptable only for vessels carrying bulk cargoes and not for general cargo ships. Each of these measurements is recorded in long tons avoirdupois.
The American registered tonnage system follows the Moorsom rules adopted in England in 1854, which are now in effect in practically every maritime country. It aims to express the entire cubical content of a merchant ship in unit tons of 100 cubic feet, this figure having been arrived at in England, on the adoption of the present system, when it was found that the ratio of the total registered tonnage of the British merchant marine to cubic feet of contents was slightly over 98.
The measurement rules of the United States are carefully and elaborately defined in the statutes themselves.
Under the statutes net tonnage is ascertained by deducting from gross tonnage that proportion of the ship's space occupied by engine's machinery, boilers, coal bunkers and certain other minor spaces, such as those which inclose the steering gear below deck, the boatman's stores, chart-houses, donkey engine and sail room.
To encourage the building of ample forecastles, crews' quarters, etc., as well as for other reasons, the rule is adopted by almost all maritime nations that tonnage taxes and other tonnage dues shall be collected not on gross but upon the net tonnage. This also includes the usual commercial charges for towage, dockage and wharfage. Official U. S. statistics of entrances and clearances are in terms of net-register tonnage, as also time charter rates when not specifically based on deadweight tonnage. The incentive to understate net register is thus strong.
In the case of tugs engaged in foreign service and which are therefore subject to tonnage duties, it becomes important to see that the net tonnage, which should ordinarily be a very small figure, is held to the lowest limit. For instance, seagoing and oceangoing tugs have been reported with a tonnage as low as eight and ten tons. On the other hand, many American tugs of no larger capacity are in the habit of carrying a net tonnage far exceeding this amount.
XX. TONNAGE TAXES
Tonnage tax is levied on every vessel engaged in trade upon her arrival by sea from a foreign port unless she is in distress. It is not levied on more than five entries at the same rate during any one year nor on vessels arriving otherwise than by sea from foreign ports at which equivalent taxes or dues are not imposed on vessels of the United States.
This tax varies from two to six cents per net ton, the two cent rate applying to ports in North and Central America, the West Indies, including Cuba and the Bermuda Islands, the coast of South America bordering on the Caribbean Sea, and New Foundland. By special treaty arrangement it also applies to Norway and Sweden. The six cent rate applies to all other trade.
Vessels entering otherwise than by sea from a foreign port at which tonnage or lighthouse dues or other equivalent tax or taxes are not imposed on vessels of the United States, are exempt from the tonnage duty of two cents per ton, not to exceed in the aggregate ten cents per ton in any one year.
These tonnage duties are substantially similar to the corresponding English rates, but are materially lower than corresponding charges in European continental ports. There are a number of special instances of exceptional cases, but which are not of sufficient frequency or importance to deserve special mention. It is well to remember, however, that if any officer of an American vessel should happen not to be a citizen a penalty of fifty cents a ton is imposed, except as provided by presidential proclamation in the case of certain vessels of foreign origin.
Foreign steam tugs employed in towing coastwise vessels are liable to a tonnage of fifty cents a ton on the measurement of the vessel towed, unless the towing is done in whole, or in part, within or upon foreign waters, or when the tug-boat is owned by a foreign railway company whose cars enter into the United States by means of such transportation.
XXI. NAVIGATION FEES
Vessels engaged in foreign trade with other than Canadian ports are subject to navigation fees upon entry. Thus if she is less than 100 tons burden the fee is $1.50. Over that amount the fee is $2.50. Her clearance fee is at the same rate.
In the event that she might have any dutiable merchandise on board she would also be liable under similar conditions to the usual fees for surveyor's services in connection with her customs entries, to wit, $1.50, if less than 100 tons, and $3 if more than 100 tons. Where she carries no dutiable merchandise, however, the fee is a nominal one of sixty-seven cents, which applies, of course, in the case of foreign ballast which is not dutiable.
XXII. ANNUAL LIST OF MERCHANT VESSELS
The law provides that the Commissioner of Navigation shall publish annually a list of vessels of the United States belonging to the commercial marine, specifying their official number, signal letters, name, rig, tonnage, home port, and place and date of build, distinguishing sailing vessels from those propelled by steam or other motive power. The list for the year 1919 was the fifty-first list so published.
Under the provisions of an act passed in 1912 it is required that upon affidavit by a reputable ship builder as to the rebuilding of _unrigged_ wooden vessels, giving date and place of their rebuilding, and certifying that they are sound and free from rotten wood and in every respect seaworthy, a notation to this effect shall be included in the list. It is noted that the provision applies only to _unrigged_ wooden vessels, and thus does not cover the case of rigged barges, whatever their size.
XXIII. NUMBERING OF UNDOCUMENTED MOTOR BOATS
In 1918 a law was passed requiring the numbering of all theretofore undocumented motor boats, except vessels under sixteen feet temporarily equipped with detachable motors. These numbers are awarded by the collectors of customs on application of the owner or master, and are required to be painted, or otherwise attached, to the bow of the vessel, and to be not less than three inches in size. Violation of the act is subject to a penalty of $10.
From the date of the passage of the act on December 7, 1917, up to July 1, 1919, nearly 100,000 such vessels had been numbered, and the experiment had proved highly successful in assisting the enforcement of the navigation laws and the collection of taxes as well as the enforcement of harbor police laws and regulations.
XXIV. ADMINISTRATION OF NAVIGATION LAWS
Practically every department of the government has to do with some feature or other of the navigation laws as affecting ship building, maritime commerce and ocean transportation. Primarily, however, the administration of the laws is in the hands of the Department of Commerce, under the immediate direction of the Bureau of Navigation, the Steamboat Inspection Service and the United States Shipping Commissioners. Other branches of government service whose functions touch on some phase of navigation are the Public Health Service, with its hospitals and quarantine stations, and the Coast Guard which, since 1915, has included the Revenue Cutter and Life Saving Service. The War and Navy departments also have various functions related primarily to the national defense. The activities of the Shipping Board will be separately reviewed.
=Commissioner of Navigation.=--The Bureau of Navigation, under the head of the Commissioner of Navigation, has general superintendence of the merchant marine and seamen so far as they are not directly subject to other departments; it controls the documentation of vessels and has supervision of the laws relating to measurement of vessels, signal numbers and the questions relating to the tonnage tax. It is charged further with the preparation of the annual list of vessels belonging to the merchant marine, has authority to change the names of vessels, and is charged with the preparation of annual reports to the Secretary, and with numerous other miscellaneous but important duties.
=Steamboat Inspection Service.=--The Steamboat Inspection Service is under the direction of a Supervising Inspector General appointed by the President, in addition to which there are ten supervising inspectors who meet as a Board in Washington at least once a year and establish regulations necessary to carry out the inspection laws relating to vessels, subject to the right of the Secretary of Commerce to convene a special executive committee, composed of the Supervising Inspector General and two supervising inspectors, who have power to alter and amend these rules with the approval of the secretary.
The principal duty of the supervising inspectors is to supervise the work of a large number of local inspectors of hulls and of boilers, and who in their respective districts, upon designation of the Secretary of Commerce, constitute the Board of Local Inspectors charged with the duties of inspection and the issuance and supervision of licenses already referred to.
=Shipping Commissioners.=--The Shipping Commissioners of the United States form a highly responsible body of officers with semi-judicial functions, who are directly responsible to the Secretary of Commerce, by whom they are appointed. The law provides one such officer for each port of entry which is a port of ocean navigation, and which in the judgment of the Secretary shall require the services of a Commissioner, and for whom Congress has made an appropriation. Generally speaking, the duties of the Shipping Commissioner are to afford facilities for engaging seamen; to superintend their engagement and discharge in the manner prescribed by law; to provide means for securing their presence on the board at the proper time; to facilitate the making of apprentices in the sea service; and to perform other duties imposed upon them.
One of the most important and useful functions of a Shipping Commissioner, particularly when the office is in capable hands, is that of arbitrating claims between master, consignee, agent or owner or any of the crew, when both parties agree in writing to submit to the award, it being provided by law that an award made by a Commissioner in such case is binding on both parties and in any legal proceedings is to be deemed conclusive of the rights of the party.
The Commissioners are given authority to call upon owners, agents, masters, for proof or production of books, papers, etc., or to give evidence before the Commissioner subject to a penalty and punishment for contempt for failure to so comply.
As it is the practice to insert arbitration clauses in all steamers' shipping articles, excepting those operated by the Shipping Board, which should be carefully read to the crews before they are signed, this duty is generally viewed by captains and owners as an invaluable aid to shipping and has been accepted also by the majority of seamen. The work of the Commissioners in this direction has been so successful that an effort was recently made to confer upon the Commissioners by law certain magisterial powers subject to appeal to the United States District Courts. So far the effort has been unsuccessful.
Having in mind their responsibilities and enormous possibilities of service to navigation, Shipping Commissioners are among the most pitifully underpaid of government officials. As an illustration of this it may be noted that the Commissioners in the great ports of Philadelphia and of Norfolk receive salaries of $2,400 and of $1,800, respectively.
XXV. THE SHIPPING BOARD
The United States Shipping Board was created before the war, by the Shipping Act of 1916, with the dual function and purpose, first of acting as the administrative agent of the government in developing the merchant marine and the naval auxiliary in peace time, and, second, that of meeting the shipping problems incident to a possible war.
Its most important powers have heretofore been exercised through the instrumentality of the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation, organized by, and the stock of which has been held by, the Shipping Board, for the Government. The primary function of the Corporation was the construction of vessels, but its work was soon extended to include their operation, in an effort to avoid the embarrassments, prior to our entering the war, of having our vessels, if operated by such purely public administrative agency as the Shipping Board, treated as public vessels in foreign ports. In the beginning it was intended that the Corporation should function in the character of a private corporation, and 50,000,000 dollars was appropriated to it for the construction of vessels, but during the war it acted primarily as the agent of the President, claiming the immunities and privileges incident to that somewhat anomalous relation, and has expended upwards of 3,000,000,000 dollars, its capital remaining intact. The actual operation of vessels by the Corporation has been carried out through the instrumentality of a specially organized Division of Operations, which was largely separate from the Corporation itself, and subject to the direction and supervision of the Shipping Board.
The jurisdiction of the Shipping Board, however, has not been confined to vessels in which the government is interested as owner or charterer. From the first the Board has had authority to enforce a general prohibition against unfair discrimination and preferences and against the improper influencing of marine insurance companies by common carriers by water, whether in foreign or interstate commerce, not including tramps, and has also exercised the right of supervising and regulating tariffs fixed by common carriers in _interstate_ commerce. In this field, however, the jurisdiction of the Board does not overlap the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission, which has authority to establish through routes and joint rates where they involve water transportation. Like the Interstate Commerce Commission the orders of the Shipping Board are subject to review by the federal courts.
A recent provision of the Merchant Marine Act (1920) reorganizes and strengthens the Shipping Board, consolidating and centralizing its control and giving it wide powers in the matter of developing the American merchant marine and of encouraging the establishment of new lines and the investigation generally of all matters relative to the advancement of merchant marine.
Among other new powers of general scope given to the Board is that under which it is authorized to make rules and regulations affecting shipping in the _foreign_ trade, wherever necessary, in order to meet special conditions in foreign trade arising out of foreign laws or competitive methods practiced in foreign countries. The Board is also authorized to request the heads of departments to suspend and modify regulations or to make new regulations affecting shipping in the foreign trade, except those relating to the Public Health Service, the Consular Service and the Steamboat Inspection Service, and no rules or regulations excepting those affecting the services named, may be established by any department without being first submitted to the Board for its approval and final action taken thereon by the Board or the President.
[33] Of the Philadelphia Bar.
APPENDIX II
THE MERCHANT MARINE ACT OF 1920[34]
_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled_, That it is necessary for the national defense and for the proper growth of its foreign and domestic commerce that the United States shall have a merchant marine of the best equipped and most suitable types of vessels sufficient to carry the greater portion of its commerce and serve as a naval or military auxiliary in time of war or national emergency, ultimately to be owned and operated privately by the citizens of the United States; and it is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States to do whatever may be necessary to develop and encourage the maintenance of such a merchant marine, and, in so far as may not be inconsistent with the express provisions of this Act, the United States Shipping Board shall, in the disposition of vessels and shipping property as hereinafter provided, in the making of rules and regulations, and in the administration of the shipping laws keep always in view this purpose and object as the primary end to be attained.
SEC. 2. (a) That the following Acts and parts of Acts are hereby repealed, subject to the limitations and exceptions hereinafter, in this Act, provided:
(1) The emergency shipping fund provisions of the Act entitled "An Act making appropriations to supply urgent deficiencies in appropriations for the Military and Naval Establishments on account of war expenses for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1917, and for other purposes," approved June 15, 1917, as amended by the Act entitled "An Act to amend the emergency shipping fund provisions of the Urgent Deficiency Appropriation Act, approved June 15, 1917, so as to empower the President and his designated agents to take over certain transportation systems for the transportation of shipyard and plant employees, and for other purposes," approved April 22, 1918, and as further amended by the Act entitled "An Act making appropriation to supply deficiencies in appropriations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1919, and prior fiscal years, on account of war expenses, and for other purposes," approved November 4, 1918;
(2) Section 3 of such Act of April 22, 1918;
(3) The paragraphs numbered 2 and 3 under the heading "Emergency shipping fund" in such Act of November 4, 1918; and
(4) The Act entitled "An Act to confer on the President power to prescribe charter rates and freight rates and to requisition vessels, and for other purposes," approved July 18, 1918.
(5) Sections 5, 7, and 8, Shipping Act, 1916.
(b) The repeal of such Acts or parts of Acts is subject to the following limitations:
(1) All contracts or agreements lawfully entered into before the passage of this Act under any such Act or part of Act shall be assumed and carried out by the United States Shipping Board, hereinafter called "the board."
(2) All rights, interests, or remedies accruing or to accrue as a result of any such contract or agreement or of any action taken in pursuance of any such Act or parts of Acts shall be in all respects as valid, and may be exercised and enforced in like manner, subject to the provisions of subdivision (c) of this section, as if this Act had not been passed.
(3) The repeal shall not have the effect of extinguishing any penalty incurred under such Acts or parts of Acts, but such Acts or parts of Acts shall remain in force for the purpose of sustaining a prosecution for enforcement of the penalty therein provided for the violation thereof.
(4) The board shall have full power and authority to complete or conclude any construction work begun in accordance with the provisions of such Acts or parts of Acts if, in the opinion of the board, the completion or conclusion thereof is for the best interests of the United States.
(c) As soon as practicable after the passage of this Act the board shall adjust, settle, and liquidate all matters arising out of or incident to the exercise by or through the President of any of the powers or duties conferred or imposed upon the President by any such Act or parts of Acts; and for this purpose the board, instead of the President, shall have and exercise any of such powers and duties relating to the determination and payment of just compensation: _Provided_, That any person dissatisfied with any decision of the board shall have the same right to sue the United States as he would have had if the decision had been made by the President of the United States under the Acts hereby repealed.
SEC. 3. (a) That section 3 of the "Shipping Act, 1916," is amended to read as follows:
"SEC. 3. That a board is hereby created to be known as the United States Shipping Board and hereinafter referred to as the board. The board shall be composed of seven commissioners, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and the President shall designate the member to act as chairman of the board, and the board may elect one of its members as vice chairman. Such commissioners shall be appointed as soon as practicable after the enactment of this Act and shall continue in office two for a term of one year, and the remaining five for terms of two, three, four, five, and six years, respectively, from the date of their appointment, the term of each to be designated by the President, but their successors shall be appointed for terms of six years, except that any person chosen to fill a vacancy shall be appointed only for the unexpired term of the commissioner whom he succeeds.
"The commissioners shall be appointed with due regard to their fitness for the efficient discharge of the duties imposed on them by this Act, and two shall be appointed from the States touching the Pacific Ocean, two from the States touching the Atlantic Ocean, one from the States touching the Gulf of Mexico, one from the States touching the Great Lakes and one from the interior, but not more than one shall be appointed from the same State. Not more than four of the commissioners shall be appointed from the same political party. A vacancy in the board shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments. No commissioner shall take any part in the consideration or decision of any claim or particular controversy in which he has a pecuniary interest.
"Each commissioner shall devote his time to the duties of his office, and shall not be in the employ of or hold any official relation to any common carrier or other person subject to this Act, nor while holding such office acquire any stock or bonds thereof or become pecuniarily interested in any such carrier.
"The duties of the board may be so divided that under its supervision the directorship of various activities may be assigned to one or more commissioners. Any commissioner may be removed by the President for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. A vacancy in the board shall not impair the right of the remaining members of the board to exercise all its powers. The board shall have an official seal, which shall be judicially noticed.
"The board may adopt rules and regulations in regard to its procedure and the conduct of its business. The board may employ within the limits of appropriations made therefor by Congress such attorneys as it finds necessary for proper legal service to the board in the conduct of its work, or for proper representation of the public interest in investigations made by it or proceedings pending before it whether at the board's own instance or upon complaint, or to appear for or represent the board in any case in court or other tribunal. The board shall have such other rights and perform such other duties not inconsistent with the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, as are conferred by existing law upon the board in existence at the time this section as amended takes effect.
"The commissioners in office at the time this section as amended takes effect shall hold office until all the commissioners provided for in this section as amended are appointed and qualify."
(b) The first sentence of section 4 of the "Shipping Act, 1916," is amended to read as follows:
"SEC. 4. That each member of the board shall receive a salary of $12,000 per annum."
SEC. 4. That all vessels and other property or interests of whatsoever kind, including vessels or property in course of construction or contracted for, acquired by the President through any agencies whatsoever in pursuance of authority conferred by the Acts or parts of Acts repealed by section 2 of this Act, or in pursuance of the joint resolution entitled "Joint resolution authorizing the President to take over for the United States the possession and title of any vessel within its jurisdiction, which at the time of coming therein was owned in whole or in part by any corporation, citizen, or subject of any nation with which the United States may be at war, or was under register of any such nation, and for other purposes," approved May 12, 1917, with the exception of vessels and property the use of which is in the opinion of the President required by any other branch of the Government service of the United States, are hereby transferred to the board: _Provided_, That all vessels in the military and naval service of the United States, including the vessels assigned to river and harbor work, inland waterways, or vessels for such needs in the course of construction or under contract by the War Department, shall be exempt from the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 5. That in order to accomplish the declared purposes of this Act, and to carry out the policy declared in section 1 hereof, the board is authorized and directed to sell, as soon as practicable, consistent with good business methods and the objects and purposes to be attained by this Act, at public or private competitive sale after appraisement and due advertisement, to persons who are citizens of the United States except as provided in section 6 of this Act, all of the vessels referred to in section 4 of this Act or otherwise acquired by the board. Such sale shall be made at such prices and on such terms and conditions as the board may prescribe, but the completion of the payment of the purchase price and interest shall not be deferred more than fifteen years after the making of the contract of sale. The board in fixing or accepting the sale price of such vessels shall take into consideration the prevailing domestic and foreign market price of, the available supply of, and the demand for vessels, existing freight rates and prospects of their maintenance, the cost of constructing vessels of similar types under prevailing conditions, as well as the cost of the construction or purchase price of the vessels to be sold, and any other facts or conditions that would influence a prudent, solvent business man in the sale of similar vessels or property which he is not forced to sell. All sales made under the authority of this Act shall be subject to the limitations and restrictions of section 9 of the "Shipping Act, 1916," as amended.
SEC. 6. That the board is authorized and empowered to sell to aliens, at such prices and on such terms and conditions as it may determine, not inconsistent with the provisions of section 5 (except that completion of the payment of the purchase price and interest shall not be deferred more than ten years after the making of the contract of sale), such vessels as it shall, after careful investigation, deem unnecessary to the promotion and maintenance of an efficient American merchant marine; but no such sale shall be made unless the board, after diligent effort, has been unable to sell, in accordance with the terms and conditions of section 5, such vessels to persons citizens of the United States, and has, upon an affirmative vote of not less than five of its members, spread upon the minutes of the board, determined to make such sale; and it shall make as a part of its records a full statement of its reasons for making such sale. Deferred payments of purchase price of vessels under this section shall bear interest at the rate of not less than 5-1/2 per centum per annum, payable semiannually.
SEC. 7. That the board is authorized and directed to investigate and determine as promptly as possible after the enactment of this Act and from time to time thereafter what steamship lines should be established and put in operation from ports in the United States or any Territory, District, or possession thereof to such world and domestic markets as in its judgment are desirable for the promotion, development, expansion, and maintenance of the foreign and coastwise trade of the United States and an adequate postal service, and to determine the type, size, speed, and other requirements of the vessels to be employed upon such lines and the frequency and regularity of their sailings, with a view to furnishing adequate, regular, certain, and permanent service. The board is authorized to sell, and if a satisfactory sale can not be made, to charter such of the vessels referred to in section 4 of this Act or otherwise acquired by the board, as will meet these requirements to responsible persons who are citizens of the United States who agree to establish and maintain such lines upon such terms of payment and other conditions as the board may deem just and necessary to secure and maintain the service desired; and if any such steamship line is deemed desirable and necessary, and if no such citizen can be secured to supply such service by the purchase or charter of vessels on terms satisfactory to the board, the board shall operate vessels on such line until the business is developed so that such vessels may be sold on satisfactory terms and the service maintained, or unless it shall appear within a reasonable time that such line can not be made self-sustaining. The Postmaster General is authorized, notwithstanding the Act entitled "An Act to provide for ocean mail service between the United States and foreign ports, and to promote commerce," approved March 3, 1891, to contract for the carrying of the mails over such lines at such price as may be agreed upon by the board and the Postmaster General: _Provided_, That preference in the sale or assignment of vessels for operation on such steamship lines shall be given to persons who are citizens of the United States who have the support, financial and otherwise, of the domestic communities primarily interested in such lines if the board is satisfied of the ability of such persons to maintain the service desired and proposed to be maintained, or to persons who are citizens of the United States who may then be maintaining a service from the port of the United States to or in the general direction of the world market port to which the board has determined that such service should be established: _Provided further_, That where steamship lines and regular service have been established and are being maintained by ships of the board at the time of the enactment of this Act, such lines and service shall be maintained by the board until, in the opinion of the board, the maintenance thereof is unbusinesslike and against the public interests: _And provided further_, That whenever the board shall determine, as provided in this Act, that trade conditions warrant the establishment of a service or additional service under Government administration where a service is already being given by persons, citizens of the United States, the rates and charges for such Government service shall not be less than the cost thereof, including a proper interest and depreciation charge on the value of Government vessels and equipment employed therein.
SEC. 8. That it shall be the duty of the board, in coöperation with the Secretary of War, with the object of promoting, encouraging, and developing ports and transportation facilities in connection with water commerce over which it has jurisdiction, to investigate territorial regions and zones tributary to such ports, taking into consideration the economies of transportation by rail, water and highway and the natural direction of the flow of commerce; to investigate the causes of the congestion of commerce at ports and the remedies applicable thereto; to investigate the subject of water terminals, including the necessary docks, warehouses, apparatus, equipment, and appliances in connection therewith, with a view to devising and suggesting the types most appropriate for different locations and for the most expeditious and economical transfer or interchange of passengers or property between carriers by water and carriers by rail; to advise with communities regarding the appropriate location and plan of construction of wharves, piers, and water terminals; to investigate the practicability and advantages of harbor, river, and port improvements in connection with foreign and coastwise trade; and to investigate any other matter that may tend to promote and encourage the use by vessels of ports adequate to care for the freight which would naturally pass through such ports: _Provided_, That if after such investigation the board shall be of the opinion that rates, charges, rules, or regulations of common carriers by rail subject to the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission are detrimental to the declared object of this section, or that new rates, charges, rules, or regulations, new or additional port terminal facilities, or affirmative action on the part of such common carriers by rail is necessary to promote the objects of this section, the board may submit its findings to the Interstate Commerce Commission for such action as such commission may consider proper under existing law.
SEC. 9. That if the terms and conditions of any sale of a vessel made under the provisions of this Act include deferred payments of the purchase price, the board shall require, as part of such terms and conditions, that the purchaser of the vessel shall keep the same insured (a) against loss or damage by fire, and against marine risks and disasters, and war and other risks if the board so specifies, with such insurance companies, associations or underwriters, and under such forms of policies, and to such an amount, as the board may prescribe or approve; and (b) by protection and indemnity insurance with such insurance companies, associations, or underwriters and under such forms of policies, and to such an amount as the board may prescribe or approve. The insurance required to be carried under this section shall be made payable to the board and/or to the parties as interest may appear. The board is authorized to enter into any agreement that it deems wise in respect to the payment and/or the guarantee of premiums of insurance.
SEC. 10. That the board may create out of net revenue from operations and sales, and maintain and administer, a separate insurance fund, which it may use to insure in whole or in part, against all hazards commonly covered by insurance policies in such cases, any interest of the United States (1) in any vessel, either constructed or in process of construction, and (2) in any plants or materials heretofore or hereafter acquired by the board or hereby transferred to the board.
SEC. 11. That during a period of five years from the enactment of this Act the board may annually set aside out of the revenues from sales and operations a sum not exceeding $25,000,000, to be known as its construction loan fund, to be used in aid of the construction of vessels of the best and most efficient type for the establishment and maintenance of service on steamship lines deemed desirable and necessary by the board, and such vessels shall be equipped with the most modern, the most efficient and the most economical machinery and commercial appliances. The board shall use such fund to the extent required upon such terms as the board may prescribe to aid persons, citizens of the United States, in the construction by them in private shipyards in the United States of the foregoing class of vessels. No aid shall be for a greater sum than two-thirds of the cost of the vessel or vessels to be constructed, and the board shall require such security, including a first lien upon the entire interest in the vessel or vessels so constructed as it shall deem necessary to insure the repayment of such sum with interest thereon and the maintenance of the service for which such vessel or vessels are built.
SEC. 12. That all vessels may be reconditioned and kept in suitable repair and until sold shall be managed and operated by the board or chartered or leased by it on such terms and conditions as the board shall deem wise for the promotion and maintenance of an efficient merchant marine, pursuant to the policy and purposes declared in sections 1 and 5 of this Act; and the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation shall continue in existence and have authority to operate vessels, unless otherwise directed by law, until all vessels are sold in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the provision in section 11 of the "Shipping Act, 1916," to the contrary notwithstanding.
SEC. 13. That the board is further authorized to sell all property other than vessels transferred to it under section 4 upon such terms and conditions, as the board may determine and prescribe.
SEC. 14. That the net proceeds derived by the board prior to July 1, 1921, from any activities authorized by this Act, or by the "Shipping Act, 1916," or by the Acts specified in section 2 of this Act, except such an amount as the board shall deem necessary to withhold as operating capital, for the purposes of section 12 hereof, and for the insurance fund authorized in section 10 hereof, and for the construction loan fund authorized in section 11 hereof, shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the board and may be expended by it, within the limits of the amounts heretofore or hereafter authorized, for the construction, requisitioning, or purchasing of vessels. After July 1, 1921, such net proceeds, less such an amount as may be authorized annually by Congress to be withheld as operating capital, and less such sums as may be needed for such insurance and construction loan funds, shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. The board shall, as rapidly as it deems advisable, withdraw investment of Government funds made during the emergency under the authority conferred by the Acts or parts of Acts repealed by section 2 of this Act and cover the net proceeds thereof into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts.
SEC. 15. That the board shall not require payment from the War Department for the charter hire of vessels owned by the United States Government furnished by the board from July 1, 1918, to June 30, 1919, inclusive, for the use of such department.
SEC. 16. That all authorization to purchase, build, requisition, lease, exchange, or otherwise acquire houses, buildings or land under the Act entitled "An Act to authorize and empower the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation to purchase, lease, requisition, or otherwise acquire, and to sell or otherwise dispose of improved or unimproved lands, houses, buildings, and for other purposes," approved March 1, 1918, is hereby terminated: _Provided, however_, That expenditures may be made under said Act for the repair of houses and buildings already constructed, and the completion of such houses or buildings as have heretofore been contracted for or are under construction, if considered advisable, and the board is authorized and directed to dispose of all such properties or the interest of the United States in all such properties at as early a date as practicable, consistent with good business and the best interests of the United States.
SEC. 17. That the board is authorized and directed to take over on January 1, 1921, the possession and control of, and to maintain and develop, all docks, piers, warehouses, wharves and terminal equipment and facilities, including all leasehold easements, rights of way, riparian rights and other rights, estates and interests therein or appurtenant thereto, acquired by the President by or under the Act entitled "An Act making appropriations to supply urgent deficiencies in appropriations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1918, and prior fiscal years, on account of war expenses, and for other purposes," approved March 28, 1918.
The possession and control of such other docks, piers, warehouses, wharves and terminal equipment and facilities or parts thereof, including all leasehold easements, rights of way, riparian rights and other rights, estates or interests therein or appurtenant thereto which were acquired by the War Department or the Navy Department for military or naval purposes during the war emergency may be transferred by the President to the board whenever the President deems such transfer to be for the best interests of the United States.
The President may at any time he deems it necessary, by order setting out the need therefor and fixing the period of such need, permit or transfer the possession and control of any part of the property taken over by or transferred to the board under this section to the War Department or the Navy Department for their needs, and when in the opinion of the President such need therefor ceases the possession and control of such property shall revert to the board. None of such property shall be sold except as may be hereafter provided by law.
SEC. 18. That section 9 of the "Shipping Act, 1916," is amended to read as follows:
"SEC. 9. That any vessel purchased, chartered, or leased from the board, by persons who are citizens of the United States, may be registered or enrolled and licensed, or both registered and enrolled and licensed, as a vessel of the United States and entitled to the benefits and privileges appertaining thereto: _Provided_, That foreign-built vessels admitted to American registry or enrollment and license under this Act, and vessels owned by any corporation in which the United States is a stockholder, and vessels sold, leased, or chartered by the board to any person a citizen of the United States, as provided in this Act, may engage in the coastwise trade of the United States while owned, leased, or chartered by such a person.
"Every vessel purchased, chartered, or leased from the board shall, unless otherwise authorized by the board, be operated only under such registry or enrollment and license. Such vessels while employed solely as merchant vessels shall be subject to all laws, regulations, and liabilities governing merchant vessels, whether the United States be interested therein as owner, in whole or in part, or hold any mortgage, lien, or other interest therein.
"It shall be unlawful to sell, transfer or mortgage, or, except under regulations prescribed by the board, to charter, any vessel purchased from the board or documented under the laws of the United States to any person not a citizen of the United States, or to put the same under a foreign registry or flag, without first obtaining the board's approval.
"Any vessel chartered, sold, transferred or mortgaged to a person not a citizen of the United States or placed under a foreign registry or flag, or operated, in violation of any provision of this section shall be forfeited to the United States, and whoever violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of not more than $5,000, or to imprisonment for not more than five years, or both."
SEC. 19. (1) The board is authorized and directed in aid of the accomplishment of the purposes of this Act
(a) To make all necessary rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act;
(b) To make rules and regulations affecting shipping in the foreign trade not in conflict with law in order to adjust or meet general or special conditions unfavorable to shipping in the foreign trade, whether in any particular trade or upon any particular route or in commerce generally and which arise out of or result from foreign laws, rules, or regulations or from competitive methods or practices employed by owners, operators, agents, or masters of vessels of a foreign country; and
(c) To request the head of any department, board, bureau, or agency of the Government to suspend, modify, or annul rules or regulations which have been established by such department, board, bureau, or agency, or to make new rules or regulations affecting shipping in the foreign trade other than such rules or regulations relating to the Public Health Service, the Consular Service, and the Steamboat Inspection Service.
(2) No rule or regulation shall hereafter be established by any department, board, bureau, or agency of the Government which affect shipping in the foreign trade, except rules or regulations affecting the Public Health Service, the Consular Service, and the Steamboat Inspection Service, until such rule or regulation has been submitted to the board for its approval and final action has been taken thereon by the board or the President.
(3) Whenever the head of any department, board, bureau, or agency of the Government refuses to suspend, modify, or annul any rule or regulation, or make a new rule or regulation upon request of the board, as provided in subdivision (c) of paragraph (1) of this section, or objects to the decision of the board in respect to the approval of any rule or regulation, as provided in paragraph (2) of this section, either the board or the head of the department, board, bureau, or agency which has established or is attempting to establish the rule or regulation in question may submit the facts to the President, who is hereby authorized to establish or suspend, modify, or annul such rule or regulation.
(4) No rule or regulation shall be established which in any manner gives vessels owned by the United States any preference or favor over those vessels documented under the laws of the United States and owned by persons who are citizens of the United States.
SEC. 20. (1) That section 14 of the Shipping Act, 1916, as amended, is amended to read as follows:
"SEC. 14. That no common carrier by water shall, directly or indirectly, in respect to the transportation by water of passengers or property between a port of a State, Territory, District, or possession of the United States and any other such port or a port of a foreign country,--
"First. Pay, or allow, or enter into any combination, agreement, or understanding, express or implied, to pay or allow, a deferred rebate to any shipper. The term 'deferred rebate' in this Act means a return of any portion of the freight money by a carrier to any shipper as a consideration for the giving of all or any portion of his shipments to the same or any other carrier, or for any other purpose, the payment of which is deferred beyond the completion of the service for which it is paid, and is made only if, during both the period for which computed and the period of deferment, the shipper has complied with the terms of the rebate agreement or arrangement.
"Second. Use a fighting ship either separately or in conjunction with any other carrier, through agreement or otherwise. The term 'fighting ship' in this Act means a vessel used in a particular trade by a carrier or group of carriers for the purpose of excluding, preventing or reducing competition by driving another carrier out of said trade.
"Third. Retaliate against any shipper by refusing, or threatening to refuse, space accommodations when such are available, or resort to other discriminating or unfair methods, because such shipper has patronized any other carrier or has filed a complaint charging unfair treatment, or for any other reason.
"Fourth. Make any unfair or unjustly discriminatory contract with any shipper based on the volume of freight offered, or unfairly treat or unjustly discriminate against any shipper in the matter of (a) cargo space accommodations or other facilities, due regard being had for the proper loading of the vessel and the available tonnage; (b) the loading and landing of freight in proper condition; or (c) the adjustment and settlement of claims.
"Any carrier who violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $25,000 for each offense."
(2) The Shipping Act, 1916, as amended, is amended by inserting after section 14 a new section to read as follows:
"SEC. 14A. The board upon its own initiative may, or upon complaint shall, after due notice to all parties in interest and hearing, determine whether any person, not a citizen of the United States and engaged in transportation by water of passengers or property--
"(1) Has violated any provision of section 14, or
"(2) Is a party to any combination, agreement, or understanding, express or implied, that involves in respect to transportation of passengers or property between foreign ports, deferred rebates or any other unfair practice designated in section 14, and that excludes from admission upon equal terms with all other parties thereto, a common carrier by water which is a citizen of the United States and which has applied for such admission.
"If the board determines that any such person has violated any such provision or is a party to any such combination, agreement, or understanding, the board shall thereupon certify such fact to the Secretary of Commerce. The Secretary shall thereafter refuse such person the right of entry for any ship owned or operated by him or by any carrier directly or indirectly controlled by him, into any port of the United States, or any Territory, District, or possession thereof, until the board certifies that the violation has ceased or such combination, agreement, or understanding has been terminated."
SEC. 21. That from and after February 1, 1922, the coastwise laws of the United States shall extend to the island Territories and possessions of the United States not now covered thereby, and the board is directed prior to the expiration of such year to have established adequate steamship service at reasonable rates to accommodate the commerce and the passenger travel of said islands and to maintain and operate such service until it can be taken over and operated and maintained upon satisfactory terms by private capital and enterprise: _Provided_, That if adequate shipping service is not established by February 1, 1922, the President shall extend the period herein allowed for the establishment of such service in the case of any island Territory or possession for such time as may be necessary for the establishment of adequate shipping facilities therefor: _Provided further_, That until Congress shall have authorized the registry as vessels of the United States of vessels owned in the Philippine Islands, the Government of the Philippine Islands is hereby authorized to adopt, from time to time, and enforce regulations governing the transportation of merchandise and passengers between ports or places in the Philippine Archipelago: _And provided further_, That the foregoing provisions of this section shall not take effect with reference to the Philippine Islands until the President of the United States after a full investigation of the local needs and conditions shall, by proclamation, declare that an adequate shipping service has been established as herein provided and fix a date for the going into effect of the same.
SEC. 22. That the Act entitled "An Act giving the United States Shipping Board power to suspend present provisions of law and permit vessels of foreign registry and foreign-built vessels admitted to American registry under the Act of August 18, 1914, to engage in the coastwise trade during the present war and for a period of one hundred and twenty days thereafter, except the coastwise trade with Alaska," approved October 6, 1917, is hereby repealed: _Provided_, That all foreign-built vessels admitted to American registry, owned on February 1, 1920, by persons citizens of the United States, and all foreign-built vessels owned by the United States at the time of the enactment of this Act, when sold and owned by persons citizens of the United States, may engage in the coastwise trade so long as they continue in such ownership, subject to the rules and regulations of such trade: _Provided_, That the board is authorized to issue permits for the carrying of passengers in foreign ships if it deems it necessary so to do, operating between the Territory of Hawaii and the Pacific Coast up to February 1, 1922.
SEC. 23. That the owner of a vessel documented under the laws of the United States and operated in foreign trade shall, for each of the ten taxable years while so operated, beginning with the first taxable year ending after the enactment of this Act, be allowed as a deduction for the purpose of ascertaining his net income subject to the war-profits and excess-profits taxes imposed by Title III of the Revenue Act of 1918 an amount equivalent to the net earnings of such vessel during such taxable year, determined in accordance with rules and regulations to be made by the board: _Provided_, That such owner shall not be entitled to such deduction unless during such taxable year he invested, or set aside under rules and regulations to be made by the board in a trust fund for investment, in the building in shipyards in the United States of new vessels of a type and kind approved by the board, an amount, to be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury and certified by him to the board, equivalent to the war-profits and excess-profits taxes that would have been payable by such owner on account of the net earnings of such vessels but for the deduction allowed under the provisions of this section: _Provided further_, That at least two-thirds of the cost of any vessel constructed under this paragraph shall be paid for out of the ordinary funds or capital of the person having such vessel constructed.
That during the period of ten years from the enactment of this Act any person a citizen of the United States who may sell a vessel documented under the laws of the United States and built prior to January 1, 1914, shall be exempt from all income taxes that would be payable upon any of the proceeds of such sale under Title I, Title II, and Title III of the Revenue Act of 1918 if the entire proceeds thereof shall be invested in the building of new ships in American shipyards, such ships to be documented under the laws of the United States and to be of a type approved by the board.
SEC. 24. That all mails of the United States shipped or carried on vessels shall, if practicable, be shipped or carried on American-built vessels documented under the laws of the United States. No contract hereafter made with the Postmaster General for carrying mails on vessels so built and documented shall be assigned or sublet, and no mails covered by such contract shall be carried on any vessel not so built and documented. No money shall be paid out of the Treasury of the United States on or in relation to any such contract for carrying mails on vessels so built and documented when such contract has been assigned or sublet or when mails covered by such contract are in violation of the terms thereof carried on any vessel not so built and documented. The board and the Postmaster General, in aid of the development of a merchant marine adequate to provide for the maintenance and expansion of the foreign or coastwise trade of the United States and of a satisfactory postal service in connection therewith, shall from time to time determine the just and reasonable rate of compensation to be paid for such service, and the Postmaster General is hereby authorized to enter into contracts within the limits of appropriations made therefor by Congress to pay for the carrying of such mails in such vessels at such rate. Nothing herein shall be affected by the Act entitled "An Act to provide for ocean mail service between the United States and foreign ports, and to promote commerce," approved March 3, 1891.
SEC. 25. That for the classification of vessels owned by the United States, and for such other purposes in connection therewith as are the proper functions of a classification bureau, all departments, boards, bureaus, and commissions of the Government are hereby directed to recognize the American Bureau of Shipping as their agency so long as the American Bureau of Shipping continues to be maintained as an organization which has no capital stock and pays no dividends: _Provided_, That the Secretary of Commerce and the chairman of the board shall each appoint one representative who shall represent the Government upon the executive committee of the American Bureau of Shipping, and the bureau shall agree that these representatives shall be accepted by them as active members of such committee. Such representatives of the Government shall serve without any compensation, except necessary traveling expenses: _Provided further_, That the official list of merchant vessels published by the Government shall hereafter contain a notation clearly indicating all vessels classed by the American Bureau of Shipping.
SEC. 26. That cargo vessels documented under the laws of the United States may carry not to exceed sixteen persons in addition to the crew between any ports or places in the United States or its Districts, Territories, or possessions, or between any such port or place and any foreign port, or from any foreign port to another foreign port, and such vessels shall not be held to be "passenger vessels" or "vessels carrying passengers" within the meaning of the inspection laws and the rules and regulations thereunder: _Provided_, That nothing herein shall be taken to exempt such vessels from the laws, rules, and regulations respecting life-saving equipment: _Provided further_, That when any such vessel carries persons other than the crew as herein provided for, the owner, agent, or master of the vessel shall first notify such persons of the presence on board of any dangerous articles, as defined by law, or of any other condition or circumstances which would constitute a risk of safety for passenger or crew.
The privilege bestowed by this section on vessels of the United States shall be extended insofar as the foreign trade is concerned to the cargo vessels of any nation which allows the like privilege to cargo vessels of the United States in trades not restricted to vessels under its own flag.
Failure on the part of the owner, agent, or master of the vessel to give such notice shall subject the vessel to a penalty of $500, which may be mitigated or remitted by the Secretary of Commerce upon a proper representation of the facts.
SEC. 27. That no merchandise shall be transported by water, or by land and water, on penalty of forfeiture thereof, between points in the United States, including Districts, Territories, and possessions thereof embraced within the coastwise laws, either directly or via a foreign port, or for any part of the transportation, in any other vessel than a vessel built in and documented under the laws of the United States and owned by persons who are citizens of the United States, or vessels to which the privilege of engaging in the coastwise trade is extended by sections 18 or 22 of this Act: _Provided_, That this section shall not apply to merchandise transported between points within the continental United States, excluding Alaska, over through routes heretofore or hereafter recognized by the Interstate Commerce Commission for which routes rate tariffs have been or shall hereafter be filed with said commission when such routes are in part over Canadian rail lines and their own or other connecting water facilities: _Provided further_, That this section shall not become effective upon the Yukon river until the Alaska Railroad shall be completed and the Shipping Board shall find that proper facilities will be furnished for transportation by persons citizens of the United States for properly handling the traffic.
SEC. 28. That no common carrier shall charge, collect, or receive, for transportation subject to the Interstate Commerce Act of persons or property, under any joint rate, fare, or charge, or under any export, import, or other proportional rate, fare, or charge, which is based in whole, or in part on the fact that the persons or property affected thereby is to be transported to, or has been transported from, any port in a possession or dependency of the United States, or in a foreign country, by a carrier by water in foreign commerce, any lower rate, fare, or charge than that charged, collected, or received by it for the transportation of persons, or of a like kind of property, for the same distance, in the same direction, and over the same route, in connection with commerce wholly within the United States, unless the vessel so transporting such persons or property is, or unless it was at the time of such transportation by water, documented under the laws of the United States. Whenever the board is of the opinion, however, that adequate shipping facilities to or from any port in a possession or dependency of the United States or a foreign country are not afforded by vessels so documented, it shall certify this fact to the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the commission may, by order, suspend the operation of the provisions of this section with respect to the rates, fares, and charges for the transportation by rail of persons and property transported from, or to be transported, to such ports, for such length of time and under such terms and conditions as it may prescribe in such order, or in any order supplemental thereto. Such suspension of operation of the provisions of this section may be terminated by order of the commission whenever the board is of the opinion that adequate shipping facilities by such vessels to such ports are afforded and shall so certify to the commission.
SEC. 29. (a) That whenever used in this section--
(1) The term "association" means any association, exchange, pool, combination, or other arrangement for concerted action; and
(2) The term "marine insurance companies" means any persons, companies, or associations, authorized to write marine insurance or reinsurance under the laws of the United States or of a State, Territory, District, or possession thereof.
(b) Nothing contained in the "antitrust laws" as designated in section 1 of the Act entitled "An Act to supplement existing laws against unlawful restraints and monopolies, and for other purposes," approved October 15, 1914, shall be construed as declaring illegal an association entered into by marine insurance companies for the following purposes: To transact a marine insurance and reinsurance business in the United States and in foreign countries and to reinsure or otherwise apportion among its membership the risks undertaken by such association or any of the component members.
SEC. 30. Subsection A. That this section may be cited as the "Ship Mortgage Act, 1920."
DEFINITIONS.
Subsection B. When used in this section--
(1) The term "document" includes registry and enrollment and license;
(2) The term "documented" means registered or enrolled or licensed under the laws of the United States, whether permanently or temporarily;
(3) The term "port of documentation" means the port at which the vessel is documented, in accordance with law;
(4) The term "vessel of the United States" means any vessel documented under the laws of the United States and such vessel shall be held to continue to be so documented until its documents are surrendered with the approval of the board; and
(5) The term "mortgagee," in the case of a mortgage involving a trust deed and a bond issue thereunder, means the trustee designated in such deed.
RECORDING OF SALES, CONVEYANCES, AND MORTGAGES OF VESSELS OF THE UNITED STATES.
Subsection C. (a) No sale, conveyance, or mortgage which, at the time such sale, conveyance, or mortgage is made, includes a vessel of the United States, or any portion thereof, as the whole or any part of the property sold, conveyed, or mortgaged shall be valid, in respect to such vessel, against any person other than the grantor or mortgagor, his heir or devisee, and a person having actual notice thereof, until such bill of sale, conveyance, or mortgage is recorded in the office of the collector of customs of the port of documentation of such vessel, as provided in subdivision (b) of this subsection.
(b) Such collector of customs shall record bills of sale, conveyances, and mortgages, delivered to him, in the order of their reception, in books to be kept for that purpose and indexed to show--
(1) The name of the vessel;
(2) The names of the parties to the sale, conveyance, or mortgage;
(3) The time and date of reception of the instrument;
(4) The interest in the vessel so sold, conveyed, or mortgaged; and
(5) The amount and date of maturity of the mortgage.
Subsection D. (a) A valid mortgage which, at the time it is made includes the whole of any vessel of the United States of 200 gross tons and upwards, shall in addition have, in respect to such vessel and as of the date of the compliance with all the provisions of this subdivision, the preferred status given by the provisions of subsection M, if--
(1) The mortgage is indorsed upon the vessel's documents in accordance with the provisions of this section;
(2) The mortgage is recorded as provided in subsection C, together with the time and date when the mortgage is so indorsed;
(3) An affidavit is filed with the record of such mortgage to the effect that the mortgage is made in good faith and without any design to hinder, delay, or defraud any existing or future creditor of the mortgagor or any lienor of the mortgaged vessel;
(4) The mortgage does not stipulate that the mortgagee waives the preferred status thereof; and
(5) The mortgagee is a citizen of the United States.
(b) Any mortgage which complies in respect to any vessel with the conditions enumerated in this subsection is hereafter in this section called a "preferred mortgage" as to such vessel.
(c) There shall be indorsed upon the documents of a vessel covered by a preferred mortgage--
(1) The name of the mortgagor and mortgagee;
(2) The time and date the indorsement is made;
(3) The amount and date of maturity of the mortgage; and
(4) Any amount required to be indorsed by the provisions of subdivision (e) or (f) of this subsection.
(d) Such indorsement shall be made (1) by the collector of customs of the port of documentation of the mortgaged vessel, or (2) by the collector of customs of any port in which the vessel is found, if such collector is directed to make the indorsement by the collector of customs of the port of documentation; and no clearance shall be issued to the vessel until such indorsement is made. The collector of customs of the port of documentation shall give such direction by wire or letter at the request of the mortgagee and upon the tender of the cost of communication of such direction. Whenever any new document is issued for the vessel, such indorsement shall be transferred to and indorsed upon the new document by the collector of customs.
(e) A mortgage which includes property other than a vessel shall not be held a preferred mortgage unless the mortgage provides for the separate discharge of such property by the payment of a specified portion of the mortgage indebtedness. If a preferred mortgage so provides for the separate discharge, the amount of the portion of such payment shall be indorsed upon the documents of the vessel.
(f) If a preferred mortgage includes more than one vessel and provides for the separate discharge of each vessel by the payment of a portion of the mortgage indebtedness, the amount of such portion of such payment shall be indorsed upon the documents of the vessel. In case such mortgage does not provide for the separate discharge of a vessel and the vessel is to be sold upon the order of a district court of the United States in a suit in rem in admiralty, the court shall determine the portion of the mortgage indebtedness increased by 20 per centum (1) which, in the opinion of the court, the approximate value of the vessel bears to the approximate value of all the vessels covered by the mortgage, and (2) upon the payment of which the vessel shall be discharged from the mortgage.
Subsection E. The collector of customs upon the recording of a preferred mortgage shall deliver two certified copies thereof to the mortgagor who shall place, and use due diligence to retain, one copy on board the mortgaged vessel and cause such copy and the documents of the vessel to be exhibited by the master to any person having business with the vessel, which may give rise to a maritime lien upon the vessel or to the sale, conveyance, or mortgage thereof. The master of the vessel shall, upon the request of any such person, exhibit to him the documents of the vessel and the copy of any preferred mortgage of the vessel placed on board thereof.
Subsection F. The mortgagor (1) shall, upon request of the mortgagee, disclose in writing to him prior to the execution of any preferred mortgage, the existence of any maritime lien, prior mortgage, or other obligation or liability upon the vessel to be mortgaged, that is known to the mortgagor, and (2), without the consent of the mortgagee, shall not incur, after the execution of such mortgage and before the mortgagee has had a reasonable time in which to record the mortgage and have indorsements in respect thereto made upon the documents of the vessel, any contractual obligation creating a lien upon the vessel other than a lien for wages of stevedores when employed directly by the owner, operator, master, ship's husband, or agent of the vessel, for wages of the crew of the vessel, for general average, or for salvage, including contract salvage, in respect to the vessel.
Subsection G. (a) The collector of customs of the port of documentation shall, upon the request of any person, record notice of his claim of a lien upon a vessel covered by a preferred mortgage, together with the nature, date of creation, and amount of the lien, and the name and address of the person. Any person who has caused notice of his claim of lien to be so recorded shall, upon a discharge in whole or in part of the indebtedness, forthwith file with the collector of customs a certificate of such discharge. The collector of customs shall thereupon record the certificate.
(b) The mortgagor, upon a discharge in whole or in part of the mortgage indebtedness, shall forthwith file with the collector of customs for the port of documentation of the vessel, a certificate of such discharge. Such collector of customs shall thereupon record the certificate. In case of a vessel covered by a preferred mortgage, the collector of customs at the port of documentation shall (1) indorse upon the documents of the vessel, or direct the collector of customs at any port in which the vessel is found, to so indorse, the fact of such discharge, and (2) shall deny clearance to the vessel until such indorsement is made.
Subsection H. (a) No bill of sale, conveyance, or mortgage shall be recorded unless it states the interest of the grantor or mortgagor in the vessel, and the interest so sold, conveyed, or mortgaged.
(b) No bill of sale, conveyance, mortgage, notice of claim of lien, or certificate of discharge thereof, shall be recorded unless previously acknowledged before a notary public or other officer authorized by a law of the United States, or of a State, Territory, District, or possession thereof, to take acknowledgment of deeds.
(c) In case of a change in the port of documentation of a vessel of the United States, no bill of sale, conveyance, or mortgage shall be recorded at the new port of documentation unless there is furnished to the collector of customs of such port, together with the copy of the bill of sale, conveyance, or mortgage to be recorded, a certified copy of the record of the vessel at the former port of documentation furnished by the collector of such port. The collector of customs at the new port of documentation is authorized and directed to record such certified copy.
(d) A preferred mortgage may bear such rate of interest as is agreed by the parties thereto.
Subsection I. Each collector of customs shall permit records made under the provisions of this section to be inspected during office hours, under such reasonable regulations as the collector may establish. Upon the request of any person the collector of customs shall furnish him from the records of the collector's office (1) a certificate setting forth the names of the owners of any vessel, the interest held by each owner, and the material facts as to any bill of sale or conveyance of, any mortgage covering, or any lien or other incumbrance upon, a specified vessel, (2) a certified copy of any bill of sale, conveyance, mortgage, notice of claim of lien, or certificate of discharge in respect to such vessel, or (3) a certified copy as required by subdivision (c) of subsection H. The collector of customs shall collect a fee for any bill of sale, conveyance, or mortgage recorded, or any certificate or certified copy furnished, by him, in the amount of 20 cents a folio with a minimum charge of $1.00. All such fees shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts.
PENALTIES.
Subsection J. (a) If the master of the vessel willfully fails to exhibit the documents of the vessel or the copy of any preferred mortgage thereof, as required by subsection E, the board of local inspectors of vessels having jurisdiction of the license of the master, may suspend or cancel such license, subject to the provisions of "An Act to provide for appeals from decision of boards of local inspectors of vessels and for other purposes," approved June 10, 1918.
(b) A mortgagor who, with intent to defraud, violates any provision of subsection F, and if the mortgagor is a corporation or association, the president or other principal executive officer of the corporation or association, shall upon conviction thereof be held guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisonment not more than 2 years, or both. The mortgaged indebtedness shall thereupon become immediately due and payable at the election of the mortgagee.
(c) If any person enters into any contract secured by, or upon the credit of, a vessel of the United States covered by a preferred mortgage, and suffers pecuniary loss by reason of the failure of the collector of customs, or any officer, employee, or agent thereof, properly to perform any duty required of the collector under the provisions of this section, the collector of customs shall be liable to such person for damages in the amount of such loss. If any such person is caused any such loss by reason of the failure of the mortgagor, or master of the mortgaged vessel, or any officer, employee, or agent thereof, to comply with any provision of subsection E or F or to file an affidavit as required by subdivision (a) of subsection D, correct in each particular thereof, the mortgagor shall be liable to such person for damages in the amount of such loss. The district courts of the United States are given jurisdiction (but not to the exclusion of the courts of the several States, Territories, Districts, or possessions) of suits for the recovery of such damages, irrespective of the amount involved in the suit or the citizenship of the parties thereto. Such suit shall be begun by personal service upon the defendant within the limits of the district. Upon judgment for the plaintiff in any such suit, the court shall include in the judgment an additional amount for costs of the action and a reasonable counsel's fee, to be fixed by the court.
FORECLOSURE OF PREFERRED MORTGAGES.
Subsection K. A preferred mortgage shall constitute a lien upon the mortgaged vessel in the amount of the outstanding mortgage indebtedness secured by such vessel. Upon the default of any term or condition of the mortgage, such lien may be enforced by the mortgagee by suit in rem in admiralty. Original jurisdiction of all such suits is granted to the district courts of the United States exclusively. In addition to any notice by publication, actual notice of the commencement of any such suit shall be given by the libellant, in such manner as the court shall direct, to (1) the master, other ranking officer, or caretaker of the vessel, and (2) any person who has recorded a notice of claim of an undischarged lien upon the vessel, as provided in subsection G, unless after search by the libellant satisfactory to the court, such mortgagor, master, other ranking officer, caretaker, or claimant is not found within the United States. Failure to give notice to any such person, as required by this subsection, shall not constitute a jurisdictional defect; but the libellant shall be liable to such person for damages in the amount of his interest in the vessel terminated by the suit. Suit in personam for the recovery of such damages may be brought in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (c) of subsection J.
Subsection L. In any suit in rem in admiralty for the enforcement of the preferred mortgage lien, the court may appoint a receiver and, in its discretion, authorize the receiver to operate the mortgaged vessel. The marshal may be authorized and directed by the court to take possession of the mortgaged vessel notwithstanding the fact that the vessel is in the possession or under the control of any person claiming a possessory common-law lien.
Subsection M. (a) When used hereinafter in this section, the term "preferred maritime lien" means (1) a lien arising prior in time to the recording and indorsement of a preferred mortgage in accordance with the provisions of this section; or (2) a lien for damages arising out of tort, for wages of a stevedore when employed directly by the owner, operator, master, ship's husband, or agent of the vessel, for wages of the crew of the vessel, for general average, and for salvage, including contract salvage.
(b) Upon the sale of any mortgaged vessel by order of a district court of the United States in any suit in rem in admiralty for the enforcement of a preferred mortgage lien thereon, all preëxisting claims in the vessel, including any possessory common-law lien of which a lienor is deprived under the provisions of subsection L shall be held terminated and shall thereafter attach, in like amount and in accordance with their respective priorities, to the proceeds of the sale; except that the preferred mortgage lien shall have priority over all claims against the vessel, except (1) preferred maritime liens, and (2) expenses and fees allowed and costs taxed, by the court.
Subsection N. (a) Upon the default of any term or condition of a preferred mortgage upon a vessel, the mortgagee may, in addition to all other remedies granted by this section, bring suit in personam in admiralty in a district court of the United States, against the mortgagor for the amount of the outstanding mortgage indebtedness secured by such vessel or any deficiency in the full payment thereof.
(b) This section shall not be construed, in the case of a mortgage covering, in addition to vessels, realty or personalty other than vessels, or both, to authorize the enforcement by suit in rem in admiralty of the rights of the mortgagee in respect to such realty or personalty other than vessels.
TRANSFERS OF MORTGAGED VESSELS AND ASSIGNMENT OF VESSEL MORTGAGES.
Subsection O. (a) The documents of a vessel of the United States covered by a preferred mortgage may not be surrendered (except in the case of the forfeiture of the vessel or its sale by the order of any court of the United States or any foreign country) without the approval of the board. The board shall refuse such approval unless the mortgagee consents to such surrender.
(b) The interest of the mortgagee in a vessel of the United States covered by a mortgage, shall not be terminated by the forfeiture of the vessel for a violation of any law of the United States, unless the mortgagee authorized, consented, or conspired to effect the illegal act, failure, or omission which constituted such violation.
(c) Upon the sale of any vessel of the United States covered by a preferred mortgage, by order of a district court of the United States in any suit in rem in admiralty for the enforcement of a maritime lien other than a preferred maritime lien, the vessel shall be sold free from all preëxisting claims thereon; but the court shall, upon the request of the mortgagee, the libellant, or an intervenor, require the purchaser at such sale to give and the mortgagor to accept a new mortgage of the vessel for the balance of the term of the original mortgage. The conditions of such new mortgage shall be the same, so far as practicable, as those of the original mortgage and shall be subject to the approval of the court. If such new mortgage is given, the mortgagee shall not be paid from the proceeds of the sale and the amount payable as the purchase price shall be held diminished in the amount of the new mortgage indebtedness.
(d) No rights under a mortgage of a vessel of the United States shall be assigned to any person not a citizen of the United States without the approval of the board. Any assignment in violation of any provision of this section shall be void.
(e) No vessel of the United States shall be sold by order of a district court of the United States in any suit in rem in admiralty to any person not a citizen of the United States.
MARITIME LIENS FOR NECESSARIES.
Subsection P. Any person furnishing repairs, supplies, towage, use of dry dock or marine railway, or other necessaries, to any vessel, whether foreign or domestic, upon the order of the owner of such vessel, or of a person authorized by the owner, shall have a maritime lien on the vessel, which may be enforced by suit in rem, and it shall not be necessary to allege or prove that credit was given to the vessel.
Subsection Q. The following persons shall be presumed to have authority from the owner to procure repairs, supplies, towage, use of dry dock or marine railway, and other necessaries for the vessel: The managing owner, ship's husband, master, or any person to whom the management of the vessel at the port of supply is intrusted. No person tortiously or unlawfully in possession or charge of a vessel shall have authority to bind the vessel.
Subsection R. The officers and agents of a vessel specified in subsection Q shall be taken to include such officers and agents when appointed by a charterer, by an owner pro hac vice, or by an agreed purchaser in possession of the vessel; but nothing in this section shall be construed to confer a lien when the furnisher knew, or by exercise of reasonable diligence could have ascertained, that because of the terms of a charter party, agreement for sale of the vessel, or for any other reason, the person ordering the repairs, supplies, or other necessaries was without authority to bind the vessel therefor.
Subsection S. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the furnisher of repairs, supplies, towage, use of dry dock or marine railway, or other necessaries, or the mortgagee, from waiving his right to a lien, or in the case of a preferred mortgage lien, to the preferred status of such lien, at any time, by agreement or otherwise; and this section shall not be construed to affect the rules of law now existing in regard to (1) the right to proceed against the vessel for advances, (2) laches in the enforcement of liens upon vessels, (3) the right to proceed in personam, (4) the rank of preferred maritime liens among themselves, or (5) priorities between maritime liens and mortgages, other than preferred mortgages, upon vessels of the United States.
Subsection T. This section shall supersede the provisions of all State statutes conferring liens on vessels, in so far as such statutes purport to create rights of action to be enforced by suits in rem in admiralty against vessels for repairs, supplies, towage, use of dry dock or marine railway, and other necessaries.
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS.
Subsection U. This section shall not apply (1) to any existing mortgage, or (2) to any mortgage hereafter placed on any vessel now under an existing mortgage, so long as such existing mortgage remains undischarged.
Subsection V. The Secretary of Commerce is authorized and directed to furnish collectors of customs with all necessary books and records, and with certificates of registry and of enrollment and license in such form as provides for the making of all indorsements thereon required by this section.
Subsection W. The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to make such regulations in respect to the recording and indorsing of mortgages covering vessels of the United States, as he deems necessary to the efficient execution of the provisions of this section.
Subsection X. Sections 4192 to 4196, inclusive, of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended, and the Act entitled "An Act relating to liens on vessels for repairs, supplies, or other necessaries," approved June 23, 1910, are repealed. This section, however, so far as not inconsistent with any of the provisions of law so repealed, shall be held a reënactment of such repealed law, and any right or obligation based upon any provision of such law and accruing prior to such repeal, may be prosecuted in the same manner and to the same effect as if this Act had not been passed.
SEC. 31. That section 4530 of the Revised Statutes of the United States is amended to read as follows:
"SEC. 4530. Every seaman on a vessel of the United States shall be entitled to receive on demand from the master of the vessel to which he belongs one-half part of the balance of his wages earned and remaining unpaid at the time when such demand is made at every port where such vessel, after the voyage has been commenced, shall load or deliver cargo before the voyage is ended, and all stipulations in the contract to the contrary shall be void: _Provided_, Such a demand shall not be made before the expiration of, nor oftener than once in, five days nor more than once in the same harbor on the same entry. Any failure on the part of the master to comply with this demand shall release the seaman from his contract and he shall be entitled to full payment of wages earned. And when the voyage is ended every such seaman shall be entitled to the remainder of the wages which shall be then due him, as provided in section 4529 of the Revised Statutes: _Provided further_, That notwithstanding any release signed by any seaman under section 4552 of the Revised Statutes any court having jurisdiction may upon good cause shown set aside such release and take such action as justice shall require: _And provided further_, That this section shall apply to seamen on foreign vessels while in harbors of the United States, and the courts of the United States shall be open to such seamen for its enforcement."
SEC. 32. That paragraph (a) of section 10 of the Act entitled "An Act to remove certain burdens on the American merchant marine and encourage the American foreign carrying trade, and for other purposes," approved June 26, 1884, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:
"SEC. 10. (a) That it shall be, and is hereby, made unlawful in any case to pay any seaman wages in advance of the time when he has actually earned the same, or to pay such advance wages, or to make any order, or note, or other evidence of indebtedness therefor to any other person, or to pay any person, for the shipment of seamen when payment is deducted or to be deducted from a seaman's wages. Any person violating any of the foregoing provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $100, and may also be imprisoned for a period of not exceeding six months, at the discretion of the court. The payment of such advance wages or allotment, whether made within or without the United States or territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof, shall in no case except as herein provided absolve the vessel or the master or the owner thereof from the full payment of wages after the same shall have been actually earned, and shall be no defense to a libel suit or action for the recovery of such wages. If any person shall demand or receive, either directly or indirectly, from any seaman or other person seeking employment, as seaman, or from any person on his behalf, any remuneration whatever for providing him with employment, he shall for every such offense be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be imprisoned not more than six months or fined not more than $500."
SEC. 33. That section 20 of such Act of March 4, 1915, be, and is, amended to read as follows:
"SEC. 20. That any seaman who shall suffer personal injury in the course of his employment may, at his election, maintain an action for damages at law, with the right of trial by jury, and in such action all statutes of the United States modifying or extending the common-law right or remedy in cases of personal injury to railway employees shall apply; and in case of the death of any seaman as a result of any such personal injury the personal representative of such seaman may maintain an action for damages at law with the right of trial by jury, and in such action all statutes of the United States conferring or regulating the right of action for death in the case of railway employees shall be applicable. Jurisdiction in such actions shall be under the court of the district in which the defendant employer resides or in which his principal office is located."
SEC. 34. That in the judgment of Congress, articles or provisions in treaties or conventions to which the United States is a party, which restrict the right of the United States to impose discriminating customs duties on imports entering the United States in foreign vessels and in vessels of the United States, and which also restrict the right of the United States to impose discriminatory tonnage dues on foreign vessels and on vessels of the United States entering the United States should be terminated, and the President is hereby authorized and directed within ninety days after this Act becomes law to give notice to the several Governments, respectively, parties to such treaties or conventions, that so much thereof as imposes any such restriction on the United States will terminate on the expiration of such periods as may be required for the giving of such notice by the provisions of such treaties or conventions.
SEC. 35. That the power and authority vested in the board by this Act, except as herein otherwise specifically provided, may be exercised directly by the board, or by it through the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation.
SEC. 36. That if any provision of this Act is declared unconstitutional or the application of any provision to certain circumstances be held invalid, the remainder of the Act and the application of such provisions to circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid shall not be affected thereby.
SEC. 37. That when used in this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the terms "person," "vessel," "documented under the laws of the United States," and "citizen of the United States" shall have the meaning assigned to them by sections 1 and 2 of the "Shipping Act, 1916," as amended by this Act; the term "board" means the United States Shipping Board; and the term "alien" means any person not a citizen of the United States.
SEC. 38. That section 2 of the Shipping Act, 1916, is amended to read as follows:
"SEC. 2. (a) That within the meaning of this Act no corporation, partnership, or association shall be deemed a citizen of the United States unless the controlling interest therein is owned by citizens of the United States, and, in the case of a corporation, unless its president and managing directors are citizens of the United States and the corporation itself is organized under the laws of the United States or of a State, Territory, District, or possession thereof, but in the case of a corporation, association, or partnership operating any vessel in the coastwise trade the amount of interest required to be owned by citizens of the United States shall be 75 per centum.
"(b) The controlling interest in a corporation shall not be deemed to be owned by citizens of the United States (a) if the title to a majority of the stock thereof is not vested in such citizens free from any trust or fiduciary obligation in favor of any person not a citizen of the United States; or (b) if the majority of the voting power in such corporations is not vested in citizens of the United States; or (c) if through any contract or understanding it is so arranged that the majority of the voting power may be exercised, directly or indirectly, in behalf of any person who is not a citizen of the United States; or (d) if by any other means whatsoever control of the corporation is conferred upon or permitted to be exercised by any person who is not a citizen of the United States.
"(c) Seventy-five per centum of the interest in a corporation shall not be deemed to be owned by citizens of the United States (a) if the title to 75 per centum of its stock is not vested in such citizens free from any trust or fiduciary obligation in favor of any person not a citizen of the United States; or (b) if 75 per centum of the voting power in such corporations is not vested in citizens of the United States; or (c) if, through any contract or understanding it is so arranged that more than 25 per centum of the voting power in such corporation may be exercised, directly or indirectly, in behalf of any person who is not a citizen of the United States; or (d) if by any other means whatsoever control of any interest in the corporation in excess of 25 per centum is conferred upon or permitted to be exercised by any person who is not a citizen of the United States.
"(d) The provisions of this Act shall apply to receivers and trustees of all persons to whom the Act applies, and to the successors or assignees of such persons."
SEC. 39. That this Act may be cited as the Merchant Marine Act, 1920.
Approved June 5, 1920.
[34] Public, No. 261, 66th Congress.
An Act to provide for the promotion and maintenance of the American merchant marine, to repeal certain emergency legislation, and provide for the disposition, regulation, and use of property acquired thereunder, and for other purposes.
APPENDIX III
PROTEST
The following is a specimen of a marine protest. It is taken from Lawrence _v._ Minturn, 17 How. 100. It was signed by all the officers and by such of the crew as could write:
August 29, 1851, Latitude 31° 0´ N., Longitude 61° 5´ W.
At sea, on board ship _Hornet_ of New York, William W. Lawrence, master, bound from New York to San Francisco, California.
We, the undersigned, master, officers and mariners of the ship _Hornet_, of New York, do, after mature and serious deliberation, enter this solemn protest: That on August 26th, 1851, the ship _Hornet_ being then in or about the longitude of 49° W., latitude 37° N., experiencing a gale of wind from the south, veering to N. W.: and that during said gale, which lasted until the night of the 27th of August, the weight of the deck load, consisting of two boilers, with furnaces attached, and two steam chimneys (the whole supposed to be of the weight of forty tons or thereabouts), did cause the ship to labor very hard, rolling gunwale deep, shipping large bodies of water, straining the ship in her upper works and decks, causing the ship to leak badly, and her pumps constantly worked, placing our lives, ship and cargo in imminent peril for their safety. We now, therefore, do most seriously and solemnly assert, that for the future preservation of the ship, and thereby our lives and cargo, the said boilers, furnaces and chimneys are unsafe on the decks, and for the safety of the whole should be thrown overboard as soon as possible, the weather and sea permitting.
In testimony whereof to the above, we hereby subscribe our respective names.
TABLE OF CASES
PAGE
Aguan, 48 Fed. 320 53
Albany, The, 44 Fed. 431 46, 188, 206
Albert Dumois, 177 U. S. 240 151
Albina Ferry Co. _v._ Imperial and S. G. Reed, 38 Fed. 614 167
Allanwilde Transport Corp. _v._ Vacuum Co., 248 U. S. 377 90
Ambrose Light, 25 Fed. 408 199
Amelie, 6 Wall. (U. S.) 18 20, 50
America. _See_ Eads _v._ Brazelton, 22 Ark. 499 208
America. _See_ Gracie _v._ Palmer, 8 Wheat. (U. S.) 605 95
American Sugar Refining Co. _v._ Maddock, 93 Fed. 980 42
Ancaios, 170 Fed. 106 53
Anderson _v._ Munson, 104 Fed. 913 102
Arcturus, 17 Fed. 95 44
Atlantic, 53 Fed. 607 41, 129
Atlas, 3 Otto (U. S.) 302 152
Atlee _v._ Union Packet Co., 21 Wall. (U. S.) 389 148, 215
Attorney General's Opinion, 29 Op. 188 27
Aurora, 1 Wheat. (U. S.) 96 50, 140
Australasian Steam Navigation Co. _v._ Morse, L. R. 4 P. S. 222, 1 Aspin. 407, 27 LT. Rep. N. S. 357, 8 Moore P. C. N. S. 482, 20 Weekly Rep. 728, 17 Eng. Reprint 393 47
Barker _v._ The Swallow, 44 Fed. 771 73
Barnard _v._ Adams, 10 How. (U. S.) 270 189
Barnstable, 181 U. S. 464 33, 104
Behrens _v._ Furnessia, 35 Fed. 798 82
Belden _v._ Chase, 150 U. S. 674 150
Belfast, 7 Wall. (U. S.) 624 4
Belgenland, 114 U. S. 355 158
Benefactor, 103 U. S. 247 124
Blake, 107 U. S. 418 147
Bold Buccleugh, The, 7 Moore P. C. 267 130
Boskenna Bay, 36 Fed. 697 110
Boston, The, Blatch & H. 309 40
Bowring _v._ Thebaud, 56 Fed. 520 87
Boyce _v._ Bayliffe, 1 Campbell 58 80
Brewster, 95 Fed. 1000 49
Bristol, 29 Fed. 867 126
Brown _v._ Lull, 2 Sumner 559 54
Bulkley _v._ Insurance Co., Fed. Cas. No. 2, 118 89
Burlington, 73 Fed. 258 188
Burrill, 65 Fed. 104 111
Burt. _See_ Murphy _v._ Dunham, 38 Fed. 503 188, 202, 206
Calderon _v._ Atlas Steamship Co., 170 U. S. 272, 42 L. ed. 1033 100
Caledonia, 157 U. S. 124 70
Calypso, 230 Fed. 962 41
Carib Prince, 170 U. S. 655 121
Catalonia, 236 Fed. 554 68
Cayuga, 16 Wall. (U. S.) 177 168
Centurion, 57 Fed. 412 110
Cervantes, 135 Fed. 573 31
Chamberlain _v._ Chandler, 3 Mason 242 80
Chamberlain _v._ Ward, 21 How. (U. S.) 548 31
Charlotte, The, 3 W. Rob. Adm. 68 184
Chicago, 235 Fed. 538 68
China, The, 7 Wall. (U. S.) 53 126, 174, 178
Citizen. _See_ Quickstep, 9 Wall. (U. S.) 665 163
City of Norwich, 118 U. S. 468 123, 124
City of Panama, 101 U. S. 453 82
Civilta and Restless, 13 Otto 699 167, 169
Clara Clarita, 23 Wall. (U. S.) 1 166, 169
Clark _v._ Burns, 118 Mass. 275 79
Clifton, The, 3 Hagg. Adm. 14, 48 180
Compania de Navigacion La Flecha _v._ Brauer, 168 U. S. 104 93
Company _v._ Dexter, 52 Fed. 152 41
Constable _v._ National Steamship Co., 154 U. S. 51 76, 90
Cope _v._ Drydock Co., 119 U. S. 625 180
Craig _v._ Insurance Co., 141 U. S. 638 204
Crapo _v._ Kelly, 16 Wall. 610 15
Crossman _v._ Burrill, 179 U. S. 100 110
Dallemagne _v._ Moison, 197 U. S. 169 68
Dan, 40 Fed. 691 85
Daniel Kane, The, 35 Fed. 785 26
Davidson _v._ Baldwin, 79 Fed. 95 36
Davies _v._ Mann, 10 M. & W. 546 217
Delaware Ins. Co. _v._ Gossler, 6 Otto (U. S.) 645 140
Dempster Shipping Co. _v._ Pouppirt, 125 Fed. 732 82
Dene, 103 Fed. 983 111
DeSmet, The, 10 Fed. 483 137
Dixie, 46 Fed. 403 111
Dixon _v._ Whitworth, 4 Asp. M. L. C. 138, 327 188
Dutton _v._ Strong, 1 Black 23 212, 215
Dyer. _See_ Scotland, 118 U. S. 507 123
Eads _v._ Brazelton, 22 Arkansas 499 208
Edgar F. Coney. _See_ Marie Palmer, 191 Fed. 79 161
Egypt. _See_ Constable _v._ National Steamship Co., 154 U. S. 51 76
Ellis Warley. _See_ North Star, 106 U. S. 17 156
Elton, 83 Fed. 519 45
Ely, 110 Fed. 563 111
Emily B. Souder, 15 Blatch. 185, Fed. Cas. No. 4, 458 184
Empire Shipbuilding Co., 221 Fed. 223 144
Endora, 190 U. S. 169 68
Erastina, 50 Fed. 126 160
Europa, 2 Eng. L. & E. 559 149
Fair American, 1 Peters Adm. 87, 4 Fed. Cas. No. 1874 184
Field Line _v._ South Atlantic Co., 201 Fed. 301 92
Fitzgerald, 212 Fed. 678 85
Fleming _v._ Fire Assoc., 147 Mich. 404 24
Fortuna. _See_ Barnstable, 181 U. S. 464 104
Frances. _See_ Delaware Ins. Co. _v._ Gossler, 6 Otto (U. S.) 645 140
Francis, 21 Fed. 715 110
Freeman, 18 How. (U. S.) 182 34, 42, 92
Future City, 184 U. S. 247 216
Gardner _v._ Gold coins, 111 Fed. 552 187
Garland, The, 16 Fed. 283 18, 135
General Cass, 1 Brown Adm. 334 2
Germania Ins. Co. _v._ Lady Pike, 21 Wall. (U. S.) 1 72
Gillespie _v._ Winberg, 4 Daly (N. Y.) 318 38
Goddard, T. A., 12 Fed. 174 104
Gould _v._ Jacobson, 58 Mich. 288 18
Gracie _v._ Palmer, 8 Wheat. (U. S.) 605 95
Grant _v._ Norway, 10 C. B. 665 42
Grant _v._ Poillon, 20 How. (U. S.) 162 4
Grapeshot, 9 Wall. (U. S.) 129 139, 147
Gratitudine, The, 3 C. Rob. Adm. 240 189
Great Eastern, 24 Fed. Cas. 14, 110 183
Guildhall, 58 Fed. 796 93
Hagar _v._ Clark, 78 N. Y. 45 91
Hales. _See_ Niagara, 77 Fed. 329 153
Hamilton, The, 207 U. S. 398 15
Harlem, 27 Fed. 236 85
Hattie Thomas, 29 Fed. 297 41
Hattie P., 63 Fed. 1015 85
Hector. _See_ Sturgis _v._ Boyer, 24 How. (U. S.) 110 170
Hercules, 28 Fed. 475 213
Herman _v._ Mill, 69 Fed. 646 126
Hobart _et al_ _v._ Drogan, 10 Peters (U. S.) 108 184
Holmes, 1 Wall. Jr. 1, 26 Fed. Cas. No. 15, 383 194
Hopkins _v._ Forsyth, 14 Pa. St. 38 27
Hornet, The. _See_ Lawrence _v._ Minturn, 17 How. (U. S.) 100 74, 189
Hostetter _v._ Park, 137 U. S. 30 88
Hough _v._ Western Transportation Co., 3 Wall. (U. S.) 20 4, 32, 126
Hunter _v._ Prinsep, 10 East 378 77
Huus _v._ Co., 182 U. S. 392, 395 12, 24
Imberhorne, 240 Fed. 830 68
Indrapura, 171 Fed. 929 88
Insurance Co. _v._ Dunham, 11 Wall. (U. S.) 1 4
Intrepid. _See_ Liverpool &c. Navigation Co. _v._ Brooklyn Eastern Dist. Terminal, U. S. Supreme Court Advance Sheets, 85 170
Ixion, 237 Fed. 142 68
Jackson _v._ Union Marine Insurance Co., L. R. 10 C. P. 125 107
Jefferson, The, 215 U. S. 130 181, 188
Jenkins, S. S. Co. _v._ Preston, 186 Fed. 108 53
J. C. Pfluger, 109 Fed. 93 184
J. E. Rumbell, 148 U. S. 1 142, 147
John Buddle, 5 Notes of Cas. 387 151
John G. Stevens, 170 U. S. 113 129, 137
John Jay, 17 How. (U. S.) 399 24
Joseph B. Thomas, 86 Fed. 658 58
Kate, 164 U. S. 458 133
Kate Aitken. _See_ Wilson _v._ Charlestown Pilots' Association, 57 Fed. 227 175
Kensington, 183 U. S. 263 85
Kentucky. _See_ The China, 7 Wall. (U. S.) 53 178
Keokuk, The, &c. _v._ Home Ins. Co., 9 Wall. (U. S.) 526 72
Knickerbocker Ice Co. _v._ Stewart, 253 U. S. 149 57
La Bourgogne, 210 U. S. 95 124
Larch, 2 Curt. 434 27
Larsen, _Ex parte_, 233 Fed. 708 60
Lawrence _v._ Minturn, 17 How. (U. S.) 100 46, 74
Leamington, 86 Fed. 675 182
Lehigh Valley R. R. Co. _v._ Cornell Steamboat Co., 218 U. S. 264 155
Liverpool &c. Navigation Co. _v._ Brooklyn Eastern Dist. Terminal, U. S. Supreme Court Advance Sheets, 85 112, 114, 170
Lizzie Burrill, 115 Fed. 1015 42
Lombard S. S. Co. _v._ Anderson, 134 Fed. 568 53
Lottawanna, 21 Wall. (U. S.) 558 137
Luckenbach _v._ McCahan Sugar Ref. Co., 248 U. S. 139 118
McConochie _v._ Kerr, D. C. 9 Fed. 50 184
McLean _v._ Fleming, L. R. 2 H. L. Sc. 128 (English cases) 42
Mac, 7 P. D. 126 3
Majestic, 166 U. S. 375 79
Majestic, 56 Fed. 244 85, 110
Malek Adhel, 2 How. (U. S.) 210 112, 195
Manitoba, 104 Fed. 145 85
Marcadier _v._ Ins. Co., 8 Cranch (U. S.) 39 199
Margharita, 140 Fed. 820 59
Marie Palmer, 191 Fed. 79 161, 165, 166
Marjorie, The, 151 Fed. 183 127, 128
Mary, The, 1 Sprague 19 189
Max Morris, The, 137 U. S. 1 58
Mencke _v._ Sugar, 187 U. S. 248 111
Minnetonka, 146 Fed. 509 79
Mitchell _v._ Chambers, 43 Mich. 150 38
Mohawk, The, 3 Wall. (U. S.) 566 12
Moore _v._ Sun Printing &c. Association, 183 U. S. 642 109
Morgan _v._ Parham, 16 Wall. (U. S.) 471 12
Morning Light, 2 Wall. (U. S.) 550 148
Mosher, 17 Fed. Cas. No. 9874 164
Murphy _v._ Dunham, 38 Fed. 503 188, 202, 206
Mystic, 30 Fed. 73 160
Nebraska, The, 75 Fed. 598 40, 53
Neilson _et al_ _v._ Rhine Shipping Co., 248 U. S. 205 65
New World _v._ King, 16 How. (U. S.) 469 176
Niagara, The, 21 How. (U. S.) 7 39, 40, 45, 53
Niagara, 77 Fed. 329 153
Nicaragua. _See_ Mosher, 17 Fed. Cas. No. 9874 164
Normannia, 62 Fed. 469 85
North Star, 106 U. S. 17 156
O'Brien _v._ Miller, 168 U. S. 287 124, 147
Ocean Spray, 4 Sawy. 105 62
Ole Olson, 20 Fed. 384 62
Onderdonk _v._ Smith, _et al_, 27 Fed. 874 210
Oregon, 158 U. S. 186 151
Orleans _v._ Phoebus, 11 Peters (U. S.) 175 28, 44
Osceola, 187 U. S. 190 68
Patapsco Ins. Co. _v._ Coulter, 3 Peters (U. S.) 222 199
Pendleton _v._ Benner Line, 246 U. S. 353 118, 124
Pfluger, J. C., 109 Fed. 93 184
Pickwick. _See_ Gould _v._ Jacobson, 58 Mich. 288 18
Ponce, 178 Fed. 76 53
Post _v._ Jones, 19 How. (U. S.) 150 47
Prendergast _v._ Compton, 8 C. & P. 454 80
Pulaski, 33 Fed. 383 129
Quickstep, 9 Wall. (U. S.) 655 163
Ragland _v._ Norfolk & Washington Steamboat Co., 163 Fed. 376 42
Railway Co. _v._ Myers, 80 Fed. 361 82
Ralli _v._ Troop, 157 U. S. 386 174, 191
Rebecca-Ware, Fed. Cas. No. 11,629 124
Relief. _See_ Wilson _v._ Charlestown Pilots' Association, 57 Fed. 227 175
Republic. _See_ Sturgis _v._ Boyer, 24 How. (U. S.) 110 170
Reward, 1 W. Rob. 174 185
Richardson _v._ Harmon, 222 U. S. 96 118, 124, 215
River Mersey, 48 Fed. 686 207
Robertson _v._ Baldwin, 165 U. S. 275 60, 68
Rock Island Bridge, 6 Wall. (U. S.) 213 129
Ronalds, 109 Fed. 905 111
Rosenthal, 57 Fed. 254 110
Ross _v._ McIntyre, 140 U. S. 453 68
Royal Sceptre, 187 Fed. 224 75, 115
Rumbell, J. E., 148 U. S. 1 142, 147
Rupert, 213 Fed. 263 53
St. Clair _v._ U. S. 154 U. S. 134 199
St. Jago de Cuba, 9 Wheat. (U. S.) 409 132
Sandberg _v._ McDonald, 248 U. S. 185 65
Sandringham, 10 Fed. 556 182, 187
Scotland, 118 U. S. 507 123
Scotland, 105 U. S. 24 124
Scotia, 14 Wall. (U. S.) 170 158
Seabrook _v._ Raft, 40 Fed. 596 3, 148
Shawnee, 45 Fed. 769 58
Sheehan _v._ Dalrymple, 19 Mich. 239 30
Sherlock _v._ Alling, 93 U. S. 99 33
Shooting Star. _See_ Wm. H. Webb, 14 Wall. (U. S.) 406 168
Skinner, 248 Fed. 818 188
Smith _v._ Burnett, 173 U. S. 430 211
South Coast S. S. Co. _v._ Rudnbach, 251 U. S. 519 133
Southern Pacific Co. _v._ Jensen, 244 U. S. 205 56
Southern Pacific Co. _v._ Ky. 222 U. S. 632 15
Southwark, 191 U. S. 1 122
Spedden, 184 Fed. 283 53
Spedden _v._ Koenig, 24 C. C. A. 189; 78 Fed. 504 37
Sprott, 70 Fed. 327 110
Stach Clark, 54 Fed. 533 201
Steamship Co. _v._ Schmidt, 241 U. S. 245 68
Strathearn, 239 Fed. 583 68
Strathearn S. S. Co. _v._ Dillon, 252 U. S. 348 65
Stratton _v._ Jarvis, 8 Peters (U. S.) 4 186
Sturgis _v._ Boyer, 24 How. (U. S.) 110 170, 179
Sumner _v._ Caswell, 20 Fed. 249 85
Sun Printing &c. Association _v._ Moore, 183 U. S. 642 109
Syracuse, 18 Fed. 828 161
Syracuse, The, 12 Wall. (U. S.) 167 168
Tabor _v._ U. S., 1 Story 1 14
T. A. Goddard, The, 12 Fed. 174 104
Tamplin Steamship Co. _v._ Anglo-Mexican Products Co., Ltd., 2 A. C. 397 108
Teutonia _v._ Erlanger, 248 U. S. 521 182
Tornado, 108 U. S. 342 78
Trans. Co. _v._ Wright, 13 Wall. (U. S.) 104 124
Transportation Co. _v._ La Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, 182 U. S. 406 178
Transportation Co. _v._ Pearsall, 90 Fed. 435 185
Trigg, 37 Fed. 708 53
Troop, 118 Fed. 769 59
Tucker _v._ Alexandroff, 183 U. S. 424, 438 5
United States _v._ Ansonia Co., 218 U. S. 452 11
United States _v._ Forester, Newb. Adm. 81 24
United States _v._ Willings, 4 Cranch. (U. S.) 48 23
Valencia, 165 U. S. 264 131
Vauban. _See_ Liverpool &c. Navigation Co. _v._ Brooklyn Eastern Dist. Terminal, U. S. Supreme Court Advance Sheets, 85 170
Vincent _v._ Company, 109 Minn. 456 215
Western States, 151 Fed. 929 80
White's Bank _v._ Smith, 7 Wall. (U. S.) 646 24
Wildcroft, 201 U. S. 378 85, 122
Wm. Bagaley, The, 5 Wall. (U. S.) 377 26, 28, 29
William Brown. _See_ Holmes, 1 Wall. Jr. 1, 26 Fed. Cas. No. 15,383 194
Wm. H. Webb, 14 Wall. (U. S.) 406 168, 179
Willings _v._ Blight, 2 Pet. Adm. 288, 30 Fed. Cas. No. 17,765 29
Wilson _v._ Charlestown Pilots' Association, 57 Fed. 227 175
Wisconsin. _See_ Sturgis _v._ Boyer, 24 How. (U. S.) 110 170, 179
Woodall _v._ Dempsey, 100 Fed. 613 37
Yankee Blade, 19 How. (U. S.) 82 127
Yarkand, 120 Fed. 887 53
INDEX
(The references are to pages.)
Abandonment, of cargo on disaster, 75 to creditors, 114 to insurers, 123 to underwriters, 113 of seamen, 197, 252
Accounting, compellable by part owners, 30
Acts of Congress: June 26, 1884 (23 St. at L.), 70, 116 August 19, 1890 (26 St. at L. 320), 63 September 4, 1890 (26 St. at L. 425), 158 February 13, 1893 (27 St. at L. 445), 70, 72 February 18, 1895 (28 St. at L. 667), 252 December 21, 1898 (30 St. at L. 755), 196, 249 March 3, 1899 (30 St. at L. 1151), 206, 209 April 22, 1908 (35 St. at L. 65), 57 March 4, 1909 (35 St. at L. 1088, 1142), 196 April 5, 1910 (36 St. at L. 291), 57 June 24, 1910 (36 St. at L. 629), 141, 200 August 1, 1912 (37 St. at L. 242), 187 August 24, 1912 (37 St. at L. 560), 229 August 18, 1914 (38 St. at L. 698), 229, 246 March 4, 1915 (38 St. at L. 1164), 56, 245, 247-252 September 7, 1916 (39 St. at L. 729), 231, 260, 261 June 7, 1918 (40 St. at L. 602), 258 February 9, 1920, 16, 219 March 30, 1920, 83, 84, 157, 250 June 5, 1920, 12, 17, 18, 19, 27, 64, 79, 128, 130, 131, 135, 141, 200, 214, 232, 238-240, 250, 261, 263-289 _See also_ Revised Statutes: Compiled Statutes, 1916; Bills of Lading Act; Harter Act; Loss of Life Act; Panama Canal Act; Merchant Marine Act; Ship Mortgage Act; Stand-by Act.
Acts of God, 89
Adjuster, in general average, 191
Admiralty. For specific subjects, see particular titles
Admiralty Courts. _See_ Courts
Admiralty Law, sources, general, 1 in United States, 1
Admiralty remedies. _See_ Remedies
Admiralty Rules, general, 14
Advances of wages (_see also_ Wages), 247, 248
Advances on bottomry, 141
Adventure. _See_ Frustration of adventure
Affreightment, contract of, defined, 77, 78 reciprocal obligations of ship and cargo, 34, 35 _See also_ Contracts of affreightment
Agency, of master, right to delegate, 49 for temporary owner or charterer, 33
Agent, managing, responsibility of owner for, 31
Alaska Railroad, under Merchant Marine Act, 277
Alaska, trade with, coastwise, 14 under Merchant Marine Act, 277
Aliens, defined, in Merchant Marine Act, 288 sales of Shipping Board vessels to, under Merchant Marine Act, 266, 267
American Bureau of Shipping, under Merchant Marine Act, 276
Anchorage, 215, 216
Anchors, included in sale, 23
Antitrust laws, marine insurance associations exempt from, under Merchant Marine Act, 278
Antwerp, York-Antwerp Rules, 7
Appurtenances, what included in sale, 23
Arbitration clause, not enforceable, 107
Arrest of passengers, 42
Arrival and discharge, 76
Arrived ship, 106
Arson, maritime, 196
Articles, shipping. _See_ Shipping articles
Assaults, 196 on seamen, 61
Association, defined, in Merchant Marine Act, 278
Attorneys, employment by Shipping Board, under Merchant Marine Act, 265
Austrian vessels, sale of, under Merchant Marine Act, 266
Average. _See_ General average
Bankruptcy, of shipbuilder during construction, 11
Bare boat charter, 101
Barges, inspection of, 255 whether ships, 3
Barratry, 199, 200, 252
Bathhouse, floating, a ship, 3
Berths, separate for seamen, 249
Bills of lading, Chapter VII, 86-111 holder's claim to goods, 76 liability of owner for cargo not received, 31 limitations on, 76 limitation of master's authority to bind owner, 41 limitation on master's right to issue, 45 not contracts of affreightment, when, 34
Bills of sale, not required for documentation, 236 recording, 237, 238 recording, under Merchant Marine Act, 278, 279 requirements, 236
Blockade, violation of, 195
Boats, included in sale, 23
Boilers, included in sale, 23
Bonds. _See_ Mortgages and bonds for release of ship, 220 for safe return, when compellable, 28, 29
Bottomry bond, defined, 138 nature and incidents of, 138-140
Bowsprit, included in sale, 23
Breach of charter, 106, 107
Breakage, exception of, 99
Breakdown clause, 102, 103
Builder's lien, 136
Bunkers, liability for, during temporary ownership, 33
Cables, included in sale, 23
Captain. _See_ Master
Capture. _See_ Prize of war
Cargo. _See_ Affreightment, contracts of; Lien, etc. damage to, in collision, 152, 156 deck, in general average, 191 discharge of (_see_ Arrival and discharge) injury to, personal liability of master, 41 loading and stowage of, 72-75 master's relation to, 44-47 not involved in forfeiture, when, 195 on wreck, owner's rights, 206 out and back, 91 reciprocal obligations of ship and cargo, 34, 35 shipper must disclose character, 72, 73 unlawful, annuls charter, 107
Cargo vessels, provision of Merchant Marine Act, 276
Carpenter, master. _See_ Master carpenter ship's, lien for wages, 62
Carpenter's certificate, 232
Carriage by sea, Chapter VI, 69-84
Carriers, common and private, defined, 69 liability of, 69, 70
Certificate. _See_ Carpenter's certificate, Surveyor's certificate, Inspection certificate
Cesser clause, 103
Changes, in structure, to be reported, 16
Charter parties, Chapter VII, 86-111 effect on lien, 133 master must not alter, 45 notice to creditor, when avoids lien, 33
Charter rates, Emergency Act, repeal of, in Merchant Marine Act, 263, 264
Charterer, agent of, may create lien, under Merchant Marine Act, 285 liability, 113 liability as temporary owner, 33 may create lien on vessel, when, under Merchant Marine Act, 285
Chartering Executive Committee, 86
Chartering of vessels, authority of Shipping Board, under Merchant Marine Act, 267
Chronometer, included in sale, 23
Circuit Court of Appeals. _See_ Courts
Citizens, who are, 25 defined in Merchant Marine Act, 288
Citizenship, of owner (_see also_ Corporations), 12, 13, 25, 27 of master, 25, 39 of pilots, 13 of watch officers, 13
Claim, notice of, 100
Classification of Shipping Board vessels under Merchant Marine Act, 276
Clearance. _See_ Entry and clearance
Coastwise trade, Alaska, under Merchant Marine Act, 277 corporate owner, stock control, 28 forfeiture for violation, 195 insular possessions, executive control, under Merchant Marine Act, 274 investigation of ports, etc., by Shipping Board, under Merchant Marine Act, 268 Philippine Islands, not, under Merchant Marine Act, 274 provisions of Merchant Marine Act, 277 restrictions, 231, 232 vessels to engage in, 13, 277 via foreign port, under Merchant Marine Act, 277 voyages, wages on, 247 what is, 13, 14
Code, Federal Criminal, 196
Collector of Customs, duties with respect to recordation, under Merchant Marine Act, 279, 280
Collision, Chapter XI, 148-158 assistance in case of, 252 investigation of, 244 personal liability of master, 41 responsibility of pilot, 175 when a peril of the sea, 89
Commanding officer. _See_ Master
Commerce, Department of, representation on American Bureau of Shipping, under Merchant Marine Act, 276 routes to be established by Shipping Board, under Merchant Marine Act, 267 Secretary of, authority to regulate recordation of mortgages, etc., under Merchant Marine Act, 286 may remit certain fines, under Merchant Marine Act, 276
Commissioner of Navigation (_see also_ Navigation), 259
Commissioners. _See_ Shipping commissioners
Common carriers. _See_ Carriers Compass, included in sale, 23
Compensation, just, under Merchant Marine Act, Law. _See_ Workmen's Compensation Law, 264
Competition, Shipping Board to make rules, under Merchant Marine Act, 272
Compiled Statutes 1916: 4554, 63 7707, 25 7778, 7779, 143 7981, 173 7990-7994, 187 8020-8027, 115 8029-8035, 93 8036, 52 8204-8208, 173 8287-8297, 63 8300-8314, 63 8315-8337-A, 64 8343-8376, 66 9920, 206 10419-10444, 193 10445-10462, 193 10462-10469, 193 10470, 203 10470-10483, 193
Congress, Acts of. _See_ Acts of Congress, Revised Statutes
Consignee, right to goods, 76
Construction loan, fund under Merchant Marine Act, 269 by Shipping Board, under Merchant Marine Act, 260
Construction, title by, 10
Contract, maritime, defined, 4 status of ship mortgages, 141, 142 shipbuilding, 10 not maritime, 11, 12 liens arising out of, 126 of master, liability of owner, 31 liability of temporary owner, 33 seaman's, 55 under Emergency Shipping legislation, validated by Merchant Marine Act, 263, 264
Contracts of affreightment, Chapter VII, 86-111 _See also_ Affreightment, contracts of
Contribution, in collision cases, 155
Contributory negligence, none in admiralty, 156
Control of ownership, effect on registry, 12, 25 _See also_ Corporations
Corporal punishment, forbidden, 56, 197, 252
Corporate owners, privity or knowledge of, 118
Corporation, as owner, citizenship and stock control of, 13, 25, 27, 28, 123 oath for documentation, 235 under Merchant Marine Act, 288, 289
Costs, in admiralty, 221
Courts, United States: Circuit Court of Appeals, jurisdiction, 2 district, jurisdiction, 2 extent of judicial power, 2 state courts, jurisdiction, 2 Supreme Court, U. S., jurisdiction, 2
Court of Claims, suits for just compensation under Merchant Marine