by custom or agreement entitled to participate in the profits or result
of a cruise or voyage, nor to masters of coastwise nor to masters of
lake-going vessels that touch at foreign ports; but seamen may, by
agreement, serve on board such vessels a definite time, or, on the
return of any vessel to a port in the United States, may reship and sail
in the same vessel on another voyage, without the payment of additional
fees to the shipping-commissioner.
[NOTE.—Sec. 4511, however, does apply in part to masters of coastwise
vessels whose crews are shipped under provisions of the act of Feb. 18,
1895.] (R. S., 4513; Feb. 18, 1895; June 19, 1886.)
The master shall, at the commencement of every voyage or engagement,
cause a legible copy of the agreement, omitting signatures, to be placed
or posted up in such part of the vessel as to be accessible to the crew;
and on default shall be liable to a penalty of not more than one hundred
dollars. (R. S., 4519.)
Period of engagement.
A master of a vessel in the foreign trade may engage a seaman at any
port in the United States, in the manner provided by law, to serve on a
voyage to any port, or for the round trip from and to the port of
departure, or for a definite time, whatever the destination. The master
of a vessel making regular and stated trips between the United States
and a foreign country may engage a seaman for one or more round trips,
or for a definite time, or on the return of said vessel to the United
States may reship such seamen for another voyage in the same vessel, in
the manner provided by law, without the payment of additional fees to
any officer for such reshipment or re-engagement. (June 26, 1884; sec.
19.)
Penalty for shipment without agreement.
If any person shall be carried to sea, as one of the crew on board of
any vessel making a voyage as hereinbefore specified, without entering
into an agreement with the master of such vessel, in the form and
manner, and at the place and times in such cases required, the vessel
shall be held liable for each such offense to a penalty of not more than
two hundred dollars. But the vessel shall not be held liable for any
person carried to sea, who shall have secretly stowed away himself
without the knowledge of the master, mate, or of any of the officers of
the vessel, or who shall have falsely personated himself to the master,
mate, or officers of the vessel, for the purpose of being carried to
sea. (R. S., 4514.)
If any master, mate, or other officer of a vessel knowingly receives, or
accepts, to be entered on board of any merchant-vessel, any seaman who
has been engaged or supplied contrary to the provisions of this Title
[R. S., 4501-4613], the vessel on board of which such seaman shall be
found shall, for every such seaman, be liable to a penalty of not more
than two hundred dollars. (R. S., 4515.)
Shipment in foreign ports before consuls.
Every master of a merchant-vessel who engages any seaman at a place out
of the United States, in which there is a consular officer or commercial
agent, shall, before carrying such seaman to sea, procure the sanction
of such officer, and shall engage seamen in his presence; and the rules
governing the engagement of seamen before a shipping-commissioner in the
United States, shall apply to such engagements made before a consular
officer or commercial agent; and upon every such engagement the consular
officer or commercial agent shall indorse upon the agreement his
sanction thereof, and an attestation to the effect that the same has
been signed in his presence, and otherwise duly made. (R. S., 4517.)
Every master who engages any seaman in any place in which there is a
consular officer or commercial agent, otherwise than as required by the
preceding section, shall incur a penalty of not more than one hundred
dollars, for which penalty the vessel shall be held liable.
Every master of a vessel in the foreign trade may engage any seaman at
any port out of the United States, in the manner provided by law, to
serve for one or more round trips from and to the port of departure, or
for a definite time, whatever the destination; and the master of a
vessel clearing from a port of the United States with one or more seamen
engaged in a foreign port as herein provided shall not be required to
reship in a port of the United States the seamen so engaged. (R. S.,
4518; June 26, 1884; sec. 20; Mar. 3, 1897; sec. 3.)
Crew list.
Before a clearance is granted to any vessel bound on a foreign voyage or
engaged in the whale-fishery, the master thereof shall deliver to the
collector of the customs a list containing the names, places of birth
and residence, and description of the persons who compose his ship's
company; to which list the oath of the captain shall be annexed, that
the list contains the names of his crew, together with the places of
their birth and residence, as far as he can ascertain them; and the
collector shall deliver him a certified copy thereof. (R. S., 4573; June
19, 1886.)
In all cases of private vessels of the United States sailing from a port
in the United States to a foreign port, the list of the crew shall be
examined by the collector for the district from which the vessel shall
clear, and if approved of by him, shall be certified accordingly. No
person shall be admitted or employed on board of any such vessel unless
his name shall have been entered in the list of the crew, approved and
certified by the collector for the district from which the vessel shall
clear. The collector, before he delivers the list of the crew, approved
and certified, to the master or proper officer of the vessel to which
the same belongs, shall cause the same to be recorded in a book by him
for that purpose to be provided, and the record shall be open for the
inspection of all persons, and a certified copy thereof shall be
admitted in evidence in any court in which any question may arise under
any of the provisions of this Title [R. S., 4501-4613.] (R. S., 4574.)
Failure to produce crew.
The master of every vessel bound on a foreign voyage or engaged in the
whale fishery shall exhibit the certified copy of the list of the crew
to the first boarding officer at the first port in the United States at
which he shall arrive on his return, and also produce the persons named
therein to the boarding officer, whose duty it shall be to examine the
men with such list and to report the same to the collector; and it shall
be the duty of the collector at the port of arrival, where the same is
different from the port from which the vessel originally sailed, to
transmit a copy of the list so reported to him to the collector of the
port from which such vessel originally sailed. For each failure to
produce any person on the certified copy of the list of the crew the
master and owner shall be severally liable to a penalty of four hundred
dollars, to be sued for, prosecuted, and disposed of in such manner as
penalties and forfeitures which may be incurred for offenses against the
laws relating to the collection of duties; but such penalties shall not
be incurred on account of the master not producing to the first boarding
officer any of the persons contained in the list who may have been
discharged in a foreign country with the consent of the consul,
vice-consul, commercial agent, or vice-commercial agent there residing,
certified in writing, under the hand and official seal, to be produced
to the collector with the other persons composing the crew, nor on
account of any such person dying or absconding or being forcibly
impressed into other service of which satisfactory proof shall also be
exhibited to the collector. (R. S., 4576; Mar. 3, 1897; sec. 3.)
Papers relating to crew.
The following rules shall be observed with reference to vessels bound on
any foreign voyage:
_First._ The duplicate list of the ship's company, required to be made
out by the master and delivered to the collector of the customs, under
section forty-five hundred and seventy-three, shall be a fair copy in
one uniform handwriting, without erasure or interlineation.
_Second._ It shall be the duty of the owners of every such vessel to
obtain from the collector of the customs of the district from which the
clearance is made, a true and certified copy of the shipping-articles,
containing the names of the crew, which shall be written in a uniform
hand, without erasures or interlineations.
_Third._ These documents, which shall be deemed to contain all the
conditions of contract with the crew as to their service, pay, voyage,
and all other things, shall be produced by the master, and laid before
any consul, or other commercial agent of the United States, whenever he
may deem their contents necessary to enable him to discharge the duties
imposed upon him by law toward any mariner applying to him for his aid
or assistance.
_Fourth._ All interlineations, erasures, or writing in a hand different
from that in which such duplicates were originally made, shall be
deemed fraudulent alterations, working no change in such papers, unless
satisfactorily explained in a manner consistent with innocent purposes
and the provisions of law which guard the rights of mariners.
_Fifth._ If any master of a vessel shall proceed on a foreign voyage
without the documents herein required, or refuse to produce them when
required, or to perform the duties imposed by this section, or shall
violate the provisions thereof, he shall be liable to each and every
individual injured thereby in damages, to be recovered in any court of
the United States in the district where such delinquent may reside or
be found, and in addition thereto be punishable by a fine of one
hundred dollars for each offense.
_Sixth._ It shall be the duty of the boarding-officer to report all
violations of this section to the collector of the port where any
vessel may arrive, and the collector shall report the same to the
Secretary of Commerce and to the United States attorney in his
district. (R. S., 4575; Feb. 14. 1903; sec. 10.)
Shipment of seamen in the coasting or near-by foreign trade.
None of the provisions of an act entitled "An act to authorize the
appointment of shipping commissioners by the several circuit courts of
the United States to superintend the shipping and discharge of seamen
engaged in merchant ships belonging to the United States, and for the
further protection of seamen" shall apply to sail or steam vessels
engaged in the coastwise trade, (except the coastwise trade between the
Atlantic and Pacific coasts,) or in the lake-going trade touching at
foreign ports or otherwise, or in the trade between the United States
and the British North American possessions, or in any case where the
seamen are by custom or agreement entitled to participate in the profits
or result of a cruise, or voyage. (June 9, 1874; June 19, 1886; Feb. 18,
1895.)
Shipping commissioners may ship and discharge crews for any vessel
engaged in the coastwise trade, or the trade between the United States
and the Dominion of Canada, or Newfoundland, or the West Indies, or the
Republic of Mexico, at the request of the master or owner of such
vessel, the shipping and discharging fees in such cases to be one-half
that prescribed by section forty-six hundred and twelve of the Revised
Statutes, for the purpose of determining the compensation of shipping
commissioners. (June 19, 1886; sec. 2.)
When a crew is shipped by a shipping commissioner for any American
vessel in the coastwise trade, or the trade between the United States
and the Dominion of Canada, or New Foundland, or the West Indies, or
Mexico, as authorized by section two of an Act approved June nineteenth,
eighteen hundred and eighty-six, entitled "An Act to abolish certain
fees for official services to American vessels, and to amend the laws
relating to shipping commissioners, seamen, and owners of vessels, and
for other purposes," an agreement shall be made with each seaman engaged
as one of such crew in the same manner as is provided by Sections four
thousand five hundred and eleven and four thousand five hundred and
twelve of the Revised Statutes, not however including the sixth and
eighth items of Section four thousand five hundred and eleven; and such
agreement shall be posted as provided in Section four thousand five
hundred and nineteen, and such seamen shall be discharged and receive
their wages as provided by the first clause of Section four thousand
five hundred and twenty-nine and also by Sections four thousand five
hundred and twenty-six, four thousand five hundred and twenty-seven,
four thousand five hundred and twenty-eight, four thousand five hundred
and thirty, four thousand five hundred and thirty-five, four thousand
fine hundred and thirty-six, four thousand five hundred and forty-two,
four thousand five hundred and forty-three, four thousand five hundred
and forty-four, four thousand five hundred and forty-five, four thousand
five hundred and forty-six, four thousand five hundred and forty-seven,
four thousand five hundred and forty-nine, four thousand five hundred
and fifty, four thousand five hundred and fifty-one, four thousand five
hundred and fifty-two, four thousand five hundred and fifty-three, four
thousand five hundred and fifty-four and four thousand six hundred and
two of the Revised Statutes; but in all other respects such shipments of
seamen and such shipping agreement shall be regarded as if both shipment
and agreement had been entered into between the master of a vessel and a
seaman without going before a shipping commissioner. (Feb. 18,1895; Mar.
3,1897; sec. 8; Dec. 21,1898; sec. 25; Mar. 3, 1897; sec. 8.)
Agreement in coasting trade not before commissioner.
Every master of any vessel of the burden of fifty tons or upward, bound
from a port in one State to a port in any other than an adjoining State,
except vessels of the burden of seventy-five tons or upward, bound from
a port on the Atlantic to a port on the Pacific, or vice versa, shall,
before he proceeds on such voyage, make an agreement in writing or in
print, with every seaman on board such vessel except such as shall be
apprentice or servant to himself or owners, declaring the voyage or term
of time for which such seaman shall be shipped. (R. S., 4520.)
If any master of such vessel of the burden of fifty tons or upward shall
carry out any seaman or mariner, except apprentices or servants, without
such contract or agreement being first made and signed by the seamen,
such master shall pay to every such seaman the highest price or wages
which shall have been given at the port or place where such seaman was
shipped, for a similar voyage, within three months next before the time
of such shipping, if such seaman shall perform such voyage; or if not,
then for such time as he shall continue to do duty on board such vessel;
and shall moreover be liable to a penalty of twenty dollars for every
such seaman, recoverable, one-half to the use of the person prosecuting
for the same, and the other half to the use of the United States. Any
seaman who has not signed such a contract shall not be bound by the
regulations nor subject to the penalties and forfeitures contained in
this Title [R. S., 4501-4613]. (R. S., 4521.)
At the foot of every such contract to ship upon such a vessel of the
burden of fifty tons or upward there shall be a memorandum in writing of
the day and the hour when such seamen who shipped and subscribed shall
render himself on board to begin the voyage agreed upon. If any seaman
shall neglect to render himself on board the vessel for which he has
shipped at the time mentioned in such memorandum without giving
twenty-four hours' notice of his inability to do so, and if the master
of the vessel shall, on the day in which such neglect happened, make an
entry in the log book of such vessel of the name of such seaman, and
shall in like manner note the time that he so neglected to render
himself after the time appointed, then every such seaman shall forfeit
for every hour which he shall so neglect to render himself one-half of
one day's pay, according to the rate of wages agreed upon, to be
deducted out of the wages. If any such seaman shall wholly neglect to
render himself on board of such vessel, or having rendered himself on
board shall afterwards desert, he shall forfeit all of his wages or
emoluments which he has then earned. [This section shall not apply to
fishing or whaling vessels or yachts, Dec. 21, 1898, sec. 26.] (R. S.,
4522; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 2.)
Discharge in foreign trade.
All seamen discharged in the United States from merchant vessels engaged
in voyages from a port in the United States to any foreign port, or,
being of the burden of seventy-five tons or upward, from a port on the
Atlantic to a port on the Pacific, or vice versa, shall be discharged
and receive their wages in the presence of a duly authorized
shipping-commissioner under this Title [R. S., 4501-4613], except in
cases where some competent court otherwise directs; and any master or
owner of any such vessel who discharges any such seaman belonging
thereto, or pays his wages within the United States in any other manner,
shall be liable to a penalty of not more than fifty dollars. (R. S.,
4549.)
Every master shall, not less than forty-eight hours before paying off or
discharging any seaman, deliver to him, or, if he is to be discharged
before a shipping-commissioner, to such shipping-commissioner, a full
and true account of his wages, and all deductions to be made therefrom
on any account whatsoever; and in default shall, for each offense, be
liable to a penalty of not more than fifty dollars. No deduction from
the wages of any seaman except in respect of some matter happening after
such delivery shall be allowed, unless it is included in the account
delivered; and the master shall, during the voyage, enter the various
matters in respect to which such deductions are made, with the amounts
of the respective deductions as they occur, in the official log-book,
and shall, if required, produce such book at the time of the payment of
wages, and, also, upon the hearing, before any competent authority, of
any complaint or question relating to such payment. (R. S., 4550.)
Upon the discharge of any seaman, or upon payment of his wages, the
master shall sign and give him a certificate of discharge, specifying
the period of his service and the time and place of his discharge, in
the form marked Table B in the schedule annexed to this Title [R. S.,
4501-4613]; and every master who fails to sign and give to such seaman
such certificate and discharge, shall, for each such offense, incur a
penalty not exceeding fifty dollars. But whenever the master shall
discharge his crew or any part thereof in any collection-district where
no shipping-commissioner has been appointed, he may perform for himself
the duties of such commissioner. (R. S., 4551.)
Discharge in foreign ports.
Upon the application of the master of any vessel to a consular officer
to discharge a seaman, or upon the application of any seaman for his own
discharge, if it appears to such officer that said seaman has completed
his shipping agreement, or is entitled to his discharge under any act of
Congress or according to the general principles or usages of maritime
law as recognized in the United States, such officer shall discharge
said seaman, and require from the master of said vessel, before such
discharge shall be made, payment of the wages which may then be due said
seaman; but no payment of extra wages shall be required by any consular
officer upon such discharge of any seaman except as provided in this
act. (R. S., 4580; June 26, 1884; sec. 2.)
If any consular officer, when discharging any seaman, shall neglect to
require the payment of and collect the arrears of wages and extra wages
required to be paid in the case of the discharge of any seaman, he shall
be accountable to the United States for the full amount thereof. The
master shall provide any seaman so discharged with employment on a
vessel agreed to by the seaman, or shall provide him with one month's
extra wages, if it shall be shown to the satisfaction of the consul that
such seaman was not discharged for neglect of duty, incompetency, or
injury incurred on the vessel. If the seaman is discharged by voluntary
consent before the consul, he shall be entitled to his wages up to the
time of his discharge, but not for any further period. If the seaman is
discharged on account of injury or illness, incapacitating him for
service, the expenses of his maintenance and return to the United States
shall be paid from the fund for the maintenance and transportation of
destitute American seamen: _Provided_, That at the discretion of the
Secretary of Commerce, and under such regulations as he may prescribe,
if any seaman incapacitated from service by injury or illness is on
board a vessel so situated that a prompt discharge requiring the
personal appearance of the master of the vessel before an American
consul or consular agent is impracticable, such seaman may be sent to a
consul or consular agent, who shall care for him and defray the cost of
his maintenance and transportation, as provided in this paragraph. (R.
S., 4581; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 16; Mar. 4, 1915; sec. 19.) (Effective
beginning Nov. 4, 1915.)
Whenever a vessel of the United States is sold in a foreign country and
her company discharged, it shall be the duty of the master to produce to
the consular officer a certified list of the ship's company, and also
the shipping articles, and besides paying to each seaman or apprentice
the wages due him, he shall either provide him with adequate employment
on board some other vessel bound to the port at which he was originally
shipped, or to such other port as may be agreed upon by him, or furnish
the means of sending him to such port, or provide him with a passage
home, or deposit with the consular officer such a sum of money as is by
the officer deemed sufficient to defray the expenses of his maintenance
and passage home; and the consular officer shall indorse upon the
agreement with the crew of the ship which the seaman or apprentice is
leaving the particulars of any payment, provision, or deposit made under
this section. A failure to comply with the provisions of this section
shall render the owner liable to a fine of not exceeding fifty dollars.
(R. S., 4582, Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 17.)
Whenever on the discharge of a seaman in a foreign country by a consular
officer on his complaint that the voyage is continued contrary to
agreement, or that the vessel is badly provisioned or unseaworthy, or
against the officers for cruel treatment, it shall be the duty of the
consul or consular agent to institute a proper inquiry into the matter,
and, upon his being satisfied of the truth and justice of such
complaint, he shall require the master to pay to such seaman one month's
wages over and above the wages due at the time of discharge, and to
provide him with adequate employment on board some other vessel, or
provide him with a passage on board some other vessel bound to the port
from which he was originally shipped, or to the most convenient port of
entry in the United States, or to a port agreed to by the seaman. (R.
S., 4583; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 18.)
Wages.
No seaman shall, by any agreement other than is provided by this Title
[R. S., 4501-4613], forfeit his lien upon the ship, or be deprived of
any remedy for the recovery of his wages to which he would otherwise
have been entitled; and every stipulation in any agreement inconsistent
with any provision of this Title, and every stipulation by which any
seaman consents to abandon his right to his wages in the case of the
loss of the ship, or to abandon any right which he may have or obtain in
the nature of salvage, shall be wholly inoperative. (R. S., 4535.)
The following rules shall be observed with respect to the settlement of
wages:
_First._ Upon the completion, before a shipping-commissioner, of any
discharge and settlement, the master or owner and each seaman,
respectively, in the presence of the shipping-commissioner, shall sign
a mutual release of all claims for wages in respect of the past voyage
or engagement, and the shipping-commissioner shall also sign and attest
it, and shall retain it in a book to be kept for that purpose, provided
both the master and seaman assent to such settlement, or the settlement
has been adjusted by the shipping-commissioner.
_Second._ Such release, so signed and attested, shall operate as a
mutual discharge and settlement of all demands for wages between the
parties thereto, on account of wages, in respect to the past voyage or
engagement.
_Third._ A copy of such release, certified under the hand and seal of
such shipping-commissioner to be a true copy, shall be given by him to
any party thereto requiring the same, and such copy shall be receivable
in evidence upon any future question touching such claims, and shall
have all the effect of the original of which it purports to be a copy.
_Fourth._ In cases in which discharge and settlement before a
shipping-commissioner are required, no payment, receipt, settlement, or
discharge otherwise made shall operate as evidence of the release or
satisfaction of any claim.
_Fifth._ Upon payment being made by a master before a
shipping-commissioner, the shipping-commissioner shall, if required,
sign and give to such master a statement of the whole amount so paid;
and such statement shall, between the master and his employer, be
received as evidence that he has made the payments therein mentioned.
(R. S., 4552.)
Upon every discharge effected before a shipping-commissioner, the master
shall make and sign, in the form given in the table marked "B," in the
schedule annexed to this Title [R. S., 4501-4613], a report of the
conduct, character, and qualifications of the persons discharged; or may
state in such form, that he declines to give any opinion upon such
particulars, or upon any of them; and the commissioner shall keep a
register of the same, and shall, if desired so to do by any seaman, give
to him or indorse on his certificate of discharge a copy of so much of
such report as concerns him. (R. S., 4553.)
A seaman's right to wages and provisions shall be taken to commence
either at the time at which he commences work, or at the time specified
in the agreement for his commencement of work or presence on board,
whichever first happens. (R. S., 4524.)
No right to wages shall be dependent on the earning of freight by the
vessel; but every seaman or apprentice who would be entitled to demand
and receive any wages if the vessel on which he has served had earned
freight, shall, subject to all other rules of law and conditions
applicable to the case, be entitled to claim and recover the same of the
master or owner in personam, notwithstanding that freight has not been
earned. But in all cases of wreck or loss of vessel, proof that any
seaman or apprentice has not exerted himself to the utmost to save the
vessel, cargo, and stores, shall bar his claim. (R. S., 4525.)
In cases where the service of any seaman terminates before the period
contemplated in the agreement, by reason of the loss or wreck of the
vessel, such seaman shall be entitled to wages for the time of service
prior to such termination, but not for any further period. Such seaman
shall be considered as a destitute seaman and shall be treated and
transported to port of shipment as provided in sections forty-five
hundred and seventy-seven, forty-five hundred and seventy-eight, and
forty-five hundred and seventy-nine of the Revised Statutes of the
United States. [This section shall not apply to fishing or whaling
vessels or yachts—Dec. 21, 1898, sec. 26.] (R. S., 4526; Dec. 21, 1898;
sec. 3.)
Any seaman who has signed an agreement and is afterward discharged
before the commencement of the voyage or before one month's wages are
earned, without fault on his part justifying such discharge, and without
his consent, shall be entitled to receive from the master or owner, in
addition to any wages he may have earned, a sum equal in amount to one
month's wages as compensation, and may, on adducing evidence
satisfactory to the court hearing the case, of having been improperly
discharged, recover such compensation as if it were wages duly earned.
(R. S., 4527.)
No seaman or apprentice shall be entitled to wages for any period during
which he unlawfully refuses or neglects to work when required, after the
time fixed by the agreement for him to begin work, nor, unless the court
hearing the case otherwise directs, for any period during which he is
lawfully imprisoned for any offense committed by him. (R. S., 4528.)
The master or owner or any vessel making coasting voyages shall pay to
every seaman his wages within two days after the termination of the
agreement under which he was shipped, or at the time such seaman is
discharged, whichever first happens; and in case of vessels making
foreign voyages, or from a port on the Atlantic to a port on the
Pacific, or vice versa, within twenty-four hours after the cargo has
been discharged, or within four days after the seaman has been
discharged, whichever first happens; and in all cases the seaman shall
be entitled to be paid at the time of his discharge on account of wages
a sum equal to one-third part of the balance due him. Every master or
owner who refuses or neglects to make payment in the manner hereinbefore
mentioned without sufficient cause shall pay to the seaman a sum equal
to two days' pay for each and every day during which payment is delayed
beyond the respective periods, which sum shall be recoverable as wages
in any claim made before the court; but this section shall not apply to
masters or owners of any vessel the seamen of which are entitled to
share in the profits of the cruise or voyage. [This section shall not
apply to fishing or whaling vessels or yachts—Dec. 21, 1898, sec. 26—but
this section shall apply to all vessels engaged in the taking of
oysters—June 28, 1906, sec. 4.] (R. S. 4529; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 4; June
28, 1906; sec. 4. Mar. 4, 1915; sec. 3.) (Effective beginning Nov. 4,
1915.)
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 wages which he shall have then earned 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. 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 then
be due him, as provided in section forty-five hundred and twenty-nine of
the Revised Statutes: _Provided further_, That notwithstanding any
release signed by any seaman under section forty-five hundred and
fifty-two 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. [This section shall not apply to fishing or whaling vessels
or yachts—Dec. 21, 1898, sec. 26.] (R. S., 4530; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 5;
Mar. 4, 1915, sec. 4.) (Effective on American vessels beginning Nov. 4,
1915; on vessels of foreign nations not covered by treaties Mar. 4,
1916; on vessels of other foreign nations after termination of treaties.)
Whenever the wages of any seaman are not paid within ten days after the
time when the same ought to be paid according to the provisions of this
Title [R. S., 4501-4613], or any dispute arises between the master and
seamen touching wages, the district judge for the judicial district
where the vessel is, or in case his residence be more than three miles
from the place, or he be absent from the place of his residence, then,
any judge or justice of the peace, or any commissioner of a district
court, may summon the master of such vessel to appear before him, to
show cause why process should not issue against such vessel, her tackle,
apparel, and furniture, according to the course of admiralty courts, to
answer for the wages. (R. S., 4546; May 28, 1896.)
If the master against whom such summons is issued neglects to appear,
or, appearing, does not show that the wages are paid or otherwise
satisfied or forfeited, and if the matter in dispute is not forthwith
settled, the judge or justice or commissioner shall certify to the clerk
of the district court that there is sufficient cause of complaint
whereon to found admiralty process; and thereupon the clerk of such
court shall issue process against the vessel. In all cases where the
matter in demand does not exceed one hundred dollars the return day of
the monition or citation shall be the first day of a stated or special
session of court next succeeding the third day after the service of the
monition or citation, and on the return of process in open court, duly
served, either party may proceed therein to proofs and hearing without
other notice, and final judgment shall be given according to the usual
course of admiralty courts in such cases. In such suits all the seamen
having cause of complaint of the like kind against the same vessel may
be joined as complainants, and it shall be incumbent on the master to
produce the contract and log book, if required to ascertain any matter
in dispute; otherwise the complainants shall be permitted to state the
contents thereof, and the burden of proof of the contrary shall be on
the master. But nothing herein contained shall prevent any seaman from
maintaining any action at common law for the recovery of his wages, or
having immediate process out of any court having admiralty jurisdiction
wherever any vessel may be found, in case she shall have left the port
of delivery where her voyage ended before payment of the wages, or in
case she shall be about to proceed to sea before the end of the ten days
next after the day when such wages are due, in accordance with section
forty-five hundred and twenty-nine of the Revised Statutes. [This
section shall not apply to fishing or whaling vessels or yachts—Dec. 21,
1898, sec. 26—but this section shall apply to all vessels engaged in the
taking of oysters—June 28, 1906, sec. 4.] (R. S., 4547; Dec. 21, 1898;
sec. 6; June 28, 1906; sec. 4.)
Moneys paid under the laws of the United States, by direction of
consular officers or agents, at any foreign port or place, as wages,
extra or otherwise, due American seamen, shall be paid in gold or its
equivalent, without any deduction whatever any contract to the contrary
notwithstanding. (R. S., 4548.)
Any question concerning the forfeiture of, or deductions from, the wages
of any seaman or apprentice, may be determined in any proceeding
lawfully instituted with respect to such wages, notwithstanding the
offense in respect of which such question arises, though hereby made
punishable by imprisonment as well as forfeiture, has not been made the
subject of any criminal proceeding. (R. S., 4603.)
Whenever in any proceeding relating to seamen's wages it is shown that
any seaman or apprentice has, in the course of the voyage, been
convicted of any offense by any competent tribunal, and rightfully
punished therefor, by imprisonment or otherwise, the court hearing the
case may direct a part of the wages due to such seaman not exceeding
fifteen dollars, to be applied in reimbursing any costs properly
incurred by the master in procuring such conviction and punishment. (R.
S., 4605.)
Advances and allotments of wages.
(_a_) 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 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 of 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.
(_b_) It shall be lawful for any seaman to stipulate in his shipping
agreement for an allotment of any portion of the wages he may earn to
his grandparents, parents, wife, sister, or children.
(_c_) No allotment shall be valid unless in writing and signed by and
approved by the shipping-commissioner. It shall be the duty of the said
commissioner to examine such allotments and the parties to them and
enforce compliance with the law. All stipulations for the allotment of
any part of the wages of a seaman during his absence which are made at
the commencement of the voyage shall be inserted in the agreement and
shall state the amounts and times of the payments to be made and the
persons to whom the payments are to be made.
(_d_) No allotment except as provided for in this section shall be
lawful. Any person who shall falsely claim to be such relation, as
above described, of a seaman under this section shall for every such
offense be punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or imprisonment not
exceeding six months, at the discretion of the court.
(_e_) This section shall apply as well to foreign vessels while in
waters of the United States, as to vessels of the United States, and
any master, owner, consignee, or agent of any foreign vessel who has
violated its provisions shall be liable to the same penalty that the
master, owner, or agent of a vessel of the United States would be for
similar violation.
The master, owner, consignee, or agent of any vessel of the United
States, or of any foreign vessel seeking clearance from a port of the
United States, shall present his shipping articles at the office of
clearance, and no clearance shall be granted any such vessel unless the
provisions of this section have been complied with.
(_f_) Under the direction of the Secretary of Commerce the Commissioner
of Navigation shall make regulations to carry out this section. [This
section shall not apply to fishing or whaling vessels or yachts—Dec.
21, 1898, sec. 26—but this section shall apply to all vessels engaged
in the taking of oysters—June 28, 1906, sec. 4.] (Dec. 21, 1898; sec.
24; Apr. 26, 1904; June 28, 1906; sec. 4; Mar. 4, 1915; sec. 11.)
(Effective on American vessels beginning Nov. 4, 1915; on vessels of
foreign nations not covered by treaties Mar. 4, 1916; on vessels of
other foreign nations after termination of treaties.)
Wages and clothing exempt from attachment.
No wages due or accruing to any seaman or apprentice shall be subject to
attachment or arrestment from any court, and every payment of wages to a
seaman or apprentice shall be valid in law, notwithstanding any previous
sale or assignment of wages or of any attachment, encumbrance, or
arrestment thereon; and no assignment or sale of wages or of salvage
made prior to the accruing thereof shall bind the party making the same,
except such allotments as are authorized by this title. This section
shall apply to fishermen employed on fishing vessels as well as to
seamen: _Provided_, That nothing contained in this or any preceding
section shall interfere with the order by any court regarding the
payment by any seaman of any part of his wages for the support and
maintenance of his wife and minor children. (Mar. 4, 1915; sec. 12.)
(Effective beginning Nov. 4, 1915.)
The clothing of any seaman shall be exempt from attachment, and any
person who shall detain such clothing when demanded by the owner shall
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be imprisoned not more than
six months or fined not more than five hundred dollars, or both. (Feb.
18, 1895; Apr. 11, 1904.)
No sum exceeding one dollar shall be recoverable from any seaman, by any
one person, for any debt contracted during the time such seaman shall
actually belong to any vessel, until the voyage for which such seaman
engaged shall be ended. (R. S., 4537.)
Desertion of seamen abroad.
It shall be the duty of all consular officers to discountenance
insubordination by every means in their power and, where the local
authorities can be usefully employed for that purpose, to lend their aid
and use their exertions to that end in the most effectual manner. In all
cases where seamen or officers are accused, the consular officer shall
inquire into the facts and proceed as provided in section forty-five
hundred and eighty-three of the Revised Statutes; and the officer
discharging such seaman shall enter upon the crew list and shipping
articles and official log the cause of such discharge and the
particulars in which the cruel or unusual treatment consisted and
subscribe his name thereto officially. He shall read the entry made in
the official log to the master, and his reply thereto, if any, shall
likewise be entered and subscribed in the same manner. (R. S., 4600;
Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 21; Mar. 4, 1915; sec. 8.) (Effective beginning Nov.
4, 1915.)
Desertion of foreign seamen in the United States.
On application of a consul or vice-consul of any foreign government
having a treaty with the United States stipulating for the restoration
of seamen deserting, made in writing, stating that the person therein
named has deserted from a vessel of any such government, while in any
port of the United States, and on proof by the exhibition of the
register of the vessel, ship's roll, or other official document, that
the person named belonged, at the time of desertion, to the crew of such
vessel, it shall be the duty of any court, judge, commissioner of any
circuit court, justice, or other magistrate, having competent power, to
issue warrants to cause such person to be arrested for examination. If,
on examination, the facts stated are found to be true, the person
arrested not being a citizen of the United States, shall be delivered up
to the consul or vice-consul, to be sent back to the dominions of any
such government, or, on the request and at the expense of the consul or
vice-consul, shall be detained until the consul or vice-consul finds an
opportunity to send him back to the dominions of any such government. No
person so arrested shall be detained more than two months after his
arrest; but at the end of that time shall be set at liberty, and shall
not be again molested for the same cause. If any such deserter shall be
found to have committed any crime or offense, his surrender may be
delayed until the tribunal before which the case shall be depending, or
may be cognizable, shall have pronounced its sentence, and such sentence
shall have been carried into effect. (R. S., 5280.)
Repeal of treaties and conventions.
In the judgment of Congress articles in treaties and conventions of the
United States, in so far as they provide for the arrest and imprisonment
of officers and seamen deserting or charged with desertion from merchant
vessels of the United States in foreign countries, and for the arrest
and imprisonment of officers and seamen deserting or charged with
desertion from merchant vessels of foreign nations in the United States
and the Territories and possessions thereof, and for the cooperation,
aid, and protection of competent legal authorities in effecting such
arrest or imprisonment and any other treaty provision in conflict with
the provisions of this Act, ought to be terminated, and to this end the
President be, and he is hereby, requested and directed, within ninety
days after the passage of this Act, to give notice to the several
Governments, respectively, that so much as hereinbefore described of all
such treaties and conventions between the United States and foreign
Governments will terminate on the expiration of such periods after
notices have been given as may be required in such treaties and
conventions. (Mar. 4, 1915; sec. 16.)
Upon the expiration after notice of the periods required, respectively,
by said treaties and conventions and of one year in the case of the
independent State of the Kongo, so much as hereinbefore described in
each and every one of said articles shall be deemed and held to have
expired and to be of no force and effect, and thereupon section
fifty-two hundred and eighty and so much of section four thousand and
eighty-one of the Revised Statutes as relates to the arrest or
imprisonment of officers and seamen deserting or charged with desertion
from merchant vessels of foreign nations in the United States and
Territories and possessions thereof, and for the cooperation, aid, and
protection of competent legal authorities in effecting such arrest or
imprisonment, shall be, and is hereby, repealed. (Sec. 17.)
Arbitration before shipping commissioner.
Every shipping-commissioner shall hear and decide any question
whatsoever between a master, consignee, agent, or owner, and any of his
crew, which both parties agree in writing to submit to him; and every
award so made by him shall be binding on both parties, and shall, in any
legal proceedings which may be taken in the matter, before any court of
justice, be deemed to be conclusive as to the rights of parties. And any
document under the hand and official seal of a commissioner purporting
to be such submission or award, shall be prima-facie evidence thereof.
(R. S., 4554; Aug. 19, 1890.)
In any proceeding relating to the wages, claims, or discharge of a
seaman, carried on before any shipping-commissioner, under the
provisions of this Title [R. S., 4501-4613], such shipping-commissioner
may call upon the owner, or his agent, or upon the master, or any mate,
or any other member of the crew, to produce any log-books, papers, or
other documents in their possession or power, respectively, relating to
any matter in question in such proceedings, and may call before him and
examine any of such persons, being then at or near the place, on any
such matter; and every owner, agent, master, mate, or other member of
the crew who, when called upon by the shipping-commissioner, does not
produce any such books, papers, or documents, if in his possession or
power, or does not appear and give evidence, shall, unless he shows some
reasonable cause for such a default, be liable to a penalty of not more
than one hundred dollars for each offense; and, on application made by
the shipping-commissioner, shall be further punished, in the discretion
of the court, as in other cases of contempt of the process of the court.
(R. S., 4555.)
Soliciting lodgers.
If, within twenty-four hours after the arrival of any vessel at any port
in the United States, any person, then being on board such vessel,
solicits any seaman to become a lodger at the house of any person
letting lodgings for hire, or takes out of such vessel any effects of
any seaman, except under his personal direction, and with the permission
of the master, he shall, for every such offense, be punishable by a fine
of not more than fifty dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than
three months. This section shall apply to vessels of the United States
engaged in the foreign trade and to foreign vessels. (R. S., 4607; Apr.
13, 1904.)
Return of seamen from foreign ports, Alaska, and insular ports.
It shall be the duty of the consuls, vice-consuls, commercial agents,
and vice-commercial agents, from time to time, to provide for the seamen
of the United States, who may be found destitute within their districts,
respectively, sufficient subsistence and passages to some port in the
United States, in the most reasonable manner, at the expense of the
United States, subject to such instructions as the Secretary of State
shall give. The seamen shall, if able, be bound to do duty on board the
vessels in which they may be transported, according to their several
abilities. (R. S., 4577.)
Relief and protection of American seamen in foreign countries, and
shipwrecked American seamen in the Territory of Alaska, in the Hawaiian
Islands, Porto Rico, the Panama Canal Zone, and the Philippine Islands,
$20,000. (Mar. 4, 1915.)
All masters of vessels of the United States, and bound to some port of
the same, are required to take such destitute seamen on board their
vessels, at the request of consular officers, and to transport them to
the port in the United States to which such vessel may be bound, on such
terms, not exceeding ten dollars for each person for voyages of not more
than thirty days, and not exceeding twenty dollars for each person for
longer voyages, as may be agreed between the master and the consular
officer, when the transportation is by a sailing vessel; and the regular
steerage passenger rate not to exceed two cents per mile when the
transportation is by steamer; and said consular officer shall issue
certificates for such transportation, which certificates shall be
assignable for collection. If any such destitute seaman is so disabled
or ill as to be unable to perform duty, the consular officer shall so
certify in the certificate of transportation, and such additional
compensation shall be paid as the Comptroller of the Treasury shall deem
proper. Every such master who refuses to receive and transport such
seamen on the request or order of such consular officer shall be liable
to the United States in a penalty of one hundred dollars for each seaman
so refused. The certificate of any such consular officer, given under
his hand and official seal, shall be presumptive evidence of such
refusal in any court of law having jurisdiction for the recovery of the
penalty. No master of any vessel shall, however, be obliged to take a
greater number than one man to every one hundred tons burden of the
vessel on any one voyage, or to take any seaman having a contagious
disease. (R. S., 4578; June 26, 1884; sec. 9; June 19, 1886; sec. 18.)
Whenever distressed seamen of the United States are transported from
foreign ports where there is no consular officer of the United States,
to ports of the United States, there shall be allowed to the master or
owner of each vessel, in which they are transported, such reasonable
compensation, in addition to the allowance now fixed by law, as shall be
deemed equitable by the Comptroller of the Treasury. (R. S., 4579.)
Effects of deceased seamen.
Whenever any seaman or apprentice belonging to or sent home on any
merchant vessel, whether a foreign-going or domestic vessel, employed on
a voyage which is to terminate in the United States, dies during such
voyage, the master shall take charge of all moneys, clothes, and effects
which he leaves on board, and shall, if he thinks fit, cause all or any
of such clothes and effects to be sold by auction at the mast or other
public auction, and shall thereupon sign an entry in the official
log-book, and cause it to be attested by the mate and one of the crew,
containing the following particulars:
_First._ A statement of the amount of money so left by the deceased.
_Second._ In case of a sale, a description of each article sold, and
the sum received for each.
_Third._ A statement of the sum due to deceased as wages, and the total
amount of deductions, if any, to be made therefrom. (R. S., 4538.)
In cases embraced by the preceding section, the following rules
shall be observed:
_First._ If the vessel proceeds at once to any port in the United
States, the master shall, within forty-eight hours after his arrival,
deliver any such effects remaining unsold, and pay any money which he
has taken charge of, or received from such sale, and the balance of
wages due to the deceased, to the shipping-commissioner at the port of
destination in the United States.
_Second._ If the vessel touches and remains at some foreign port before
coming to any port in the United States, the master shall report the
case to the United States consular officer there, and shall give to
such officer any information he requires as to the destination of the
vessel and probable length of the voyage; and such officer may, if he
considers it expedient so to do, require the effects, money, and wages
to be delivered and paid to him, and shall, upon such delivery and
payment, give to the master a receipt; and the master shall within
forty-eight hours after his arrival at his port of destination in the
United States produce the same to the shipping-commissioner there. Such
consular officer shall, in any such case, indorse and certify upon the
agreement with the crew the particulars with respect to such delivery
and payment.
_Third._ If the consular officer does not require such payment and
delivery to be made to him, the master shall take charge of the
effects, money, and wages, and shall, within forty-eight hours after
his arrival at his port of destination in the United States, deliver
and pay the same to the shipping-commissioner there.
_Fourth._ The master shall, in all cases in which any seaman or
apprentice dies during the voyage or engagement, give to such officer
or shipping-commissioner an account, in such form as they may
respectively require, of the effects, money, and wages so to be
delivered and paid; and no deductions claimed in such account shall be
allowed unless verified by an entry in the official log-book, if there
be any; and by such other vouchers, if any, as may be reasonably
required by the officer or shipping-commissioner to whom the account is
rendered.
_Fifth._ Upon due compliance with such of the provisions of this
section as relate to acts to be done at the port of destination in the
United States, the shipping-commissioner shall grant to the master a
certificate to that effect. No officer of customs shall clear any
foreign-going vessel without the production of such certificate. (R.
S., 4539.)
Whenever any master fails to take such charge of the money or other
effects of a seaman or apprentice during a voyage, or to make such
entries in respect thereof, or to procure such attestation to such
entries, or to make such payment or delivery of any money, wages, or
effects of any seaman or apprentice dying during a voyage, or to give
such account in respect thereof as is above directed, he shall be
accountable for the money, wages, and effects of the seaman or
apprentice to the district court in whose jurisdiction such port of
destination is situate, and shall pay and deliver the same accordingly;
and he shall, in addition, for every such offense, be liable to a
penalty of not more than treble the value of the money or effects, or,
if such value is not ascertained, not more than two hundred dollars; and
if any such money, wages, or effects are not duly paid, delivered and
accounted for by the master, the owner of the vessel shall pay, deliver,
and account for the same, and such money and wages and the value of such
effects shall be recoverable from him accordingly; and if he fails to
account for and pay the same, he shall, in addition to his liability for
the money and value, be liable to the same penalty which is incurred by
the master for a like offense; and all money, wages, and effects of any
seaman or apprentice dying during a voyage shall be recoverable in the
courts and by the modes of proceeding by which seaman are enabled to
recover wages due to them. (R. S., 4540.)
Whenever any such seaman or apprentice dies at any place out of the
United States, leaving any money or effects not on board of his vessel,
the consular officer of the United States at or nearest the place shall
claim and take charge of such money and effects, and shall, if he thinks
fit, sell all or any of such effects, or any effects of any deceased
seaman or apprentice delivered to him under the provisions of this Title
[R. S., 4501-4613], and shall quarterly remit to the district court for
the district embracing the port from which such vessel sailed, or the
port where the voyage terminates, all moneys belonging to or arising
from the sale of the effects or paid as the wages of any deceased seamen
or apprentices which have come to his hands; and shall render such
accounts thereof as the circuit court requires. (R. S., 4541; Mar. 3,
1897; sec. 4.)
Whenever any seaman or apprentice dies in the United States, and is, at
the time of his death, entitled to claim from the master or owner of any
vessel in which he has served, any unpaid wages or effects, such master
or owner shall pay and deliver, or account for the same, to the
shipping-commissioner at the port where the seaman or apprentice was
discharged, or was to have been discharged, or where he died. (R. S.,
4542; Mar. 3, 1897; sec. 6.)
Every shipping-commissioner in the United States shall, within one week
from the date of receiving any such money, wages, or effects of any
deceased seaman or apprentice, pay, remit, or deliver to the district
court of the district in which he resides, the money, wages, or effects,
subject to such deductions as may be allowed by the district court for
expenses incurred in respect to such money and effects; and should any
commissioner fail to pay, remit, and deliver the same to the district
court, within the time hereinbefore mentioned, he shall incur a penalty
of not more than treble the value of such money and effects. (R. S.,
4543.)
If the money and effects of any seaman or apprentice paid, remitted, or
delivered to the district court, including the moneys received for any
part of his effects which have been sold, either before delivery to the
district court, or by its directions, do not exceed in value the sum of
three hundred dollars, then, subject to the provisions hereinafter
contained, and to all such deductions for expenses incurred in respect
to the seaman or apprentice, or of his money and effects, as the said
court thinks fit to allow, the court may pay and deliver the said money
and effects to any claimants who can prove themselves either to be his
widow or children, or to be entitled to the effects of the deceased
under his will, or under any statute, or at common law, or to be
entitled to procure probate, or take out letters of administration or
confirmation, although no probate or letters of administration or
confirmation have been taken out, and shall be thereby discharged from
all further liability in respect of the money and effects so paid and
delivered; or may, if he thinks fit so to do, require probate, or
letters of administration or confirmation, to be taken out, and
thereupon pay and deliver the said money and effects to the legal
personal representatives of the deceased; and if such money and effects
exceed in value the sum of three hundred dollars, then, subject to
deduction for expenses, the court shall pay and deliver the same to the
legal personal representatives of the deceased. (R. S., 4544.)
A district court, in its discretion, may at any time direct the sale of
the whole or any part of the effects of a deceased seaman or apprentice,
which it has received or may hereafter receive, and shall hold the
proceeds of such sale as the wages of deceased seamen are held. When no
claim to the wages or effects or proceeds of the sale of the effects of
a deceased seaman or apprentice, received by a district court, is
substantiated within six years after the receipt thereof by the court,
it shall be in the absolute discretion of the court, if any subsequent
claim is made, either to allow or refuse the same. Such courts shall,
from time to time, pay any moneys arising from the unclaimed wages and
effects of deceased seamen, which in their opinion it is not necessary
to retain for the purpose of satisfying claims, into the Treasury of the
United States, and such moneys shall form a fund for, and be
appropriated to, the relief of sick and disabled and destitute seamen
belonging to the United States merchant marine service. (R. S., 4545;
Mar. 3, 1897; sec. 7.)
Sick and disabled seamen.
The President is authorized to receive donations of real or personal
property, in the name of the United States, for the erection or support
of hospitals for sick and disabled seamen. (R. S., 4801.)
The term "seaman," wherever employed in legislation relating to the
marine-hospital service, shall be held to include any person employed on
board in the care, preservation, or navigation of any vessel, or in the
service, on board, of those engaged in such care, preservation, or
navigation. (Mar. 3, 1875; sec. 3.)
No person employed in or connected with the navigation, management, or
use of canal-boats engaged in the coasting-trade shall by reason thereof
be entitled to any benefit or relief from the marine-hospital fund. (R.
S., 4804.)
Sick and disabled seamen of foreign vessels and of vessels [not subject
to hospital-dues] may be cared for by the marine-hospital service at
such rates and under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury
may prescribe. (Mar. 3, 1875; sec. 6.)
Sick foreign seamen may be admitted to the marine hospitals within the
United States, if it can with convenience be done, on the application of
the master of any foreign vessel to which any such seaman may belong.
Each seaman so admitted shall be subject to a charge of [seventy-five
cents] per day for each day he may remain in the hospital, which shall
be paid by the master of such foreign vessel to the collector of the
collection-district in which such hospital is situated. And the
collector shall not grant a clearance to any foreign vessel until the
money so due from her master shall be paid. The officer in charge of
each hospital is hereby directed, under penalty of fifty dollars, to
make out the accounts against each foreign seaman that may be placed in
the hospital under his direction, and render the same to the collector.
(R. S., 4805; Mar. 3, 1875; sec. 6.)
Insane patients of said [marine hospital] service shall be admitted into
the Government Hospital for the Insane upon the order of the Secretary
of the Treasury, and shall be cared for therein until cured or until
removed by the same authority; and the charge for each such patient
shall not exceed four dollars and fifty cents a week, which charge shall
be paid out of the marine-hospital fund. (Mar. 3, 1875; sec. 5.)
The privilege of admission to and temporary treatment in the marine
hospitals under the control of the Government of the United States be,
and is hereby, extended to the keepers and crews of the Life-Saving
Service under the same rules and regulations as those governing sailors
and seamen, and for the purposes of this Act members of the Life-Saving
Service shall be received in said hospitals and treated therein, and at
the dispensaries thereof, as are seamen of American registered vessels;
but this Act shall not be so construed as to compel the establishment of
hospitals or dispensaries for the benefit of said keepers and crews, nor
as establishing a home for the same when permanently disabled. (Aug. 4,
1894.)
Jurisdiction over American seamen in foreign ports and foreign seamen in
American ports.
Whenever it is stipulated by treaty or convention between the United
States and any foreign nation that the consul-general, consuls,
vice-consuls, or consular or commercial agents of each nation, shall
have exclusive jurisdiction of controversies, difficulties, or disorders
arising at sea or in the waters or ports of the other nation, between
the master or officers and any of the crew, or between any of the crew
themselves, of any vessel belonging to the nation represented by such
consular officer, such stipulations shall be executed and enforced
within the jurisdiction of the United States as hereinafter declared.
But before this section shall take effect as to the vessels of any
particular nation having such treaty with the United States, the
President shall be satisfied that similar provisions have been made for
the execution of such treaty by the other contracting party, and shall
issue his proclamation to that effect, declaring this section to be in
force as to such nation. (R. S., 4079.)
In all cases within the purview of the preceding section the
consul-general, consul, or other consular or commercial authority of
such foreign nation charged with the appropriate duty in the particular
case, may make application to any court of record of the United States,
or to any judge thereof, or to any commissioner of a district court,
setting forth that such controversy, difficulty, or disorder has arisen,
briefly stating the nature thereof, and when and where the same
occurred, and exhibiting a certified copy or abstract of the
shipping-articles, roll, or other proper paper of the vessel, to the
effect that the person in question is of the crew or ship's company of
such vessel; and further stating and certifying that such person has
withdrawn himself, or is believed to be about to withdraw himself, from
the control and discipline of the master and officers of the vessel, or
that he has refused, or is about to refuse, to submit to and obey the
lawful jurisdiction of such consular or commercial authority in the
premises; and further stating and certifying that, to the best of the
knowledge and belief of the officer certifying, such person is not a
citizen of the United States. Such application shall be in writing and
duly authenticated by the consular or other sufficient official seal.
Thereupon such court, judge, or commissioner shall issue his warrant for
the arrest of the person so complained of, directed to the marshal of
the United States for the appropriate district, or in his discretion to
any person, being a citizen of the United States, whom he may specially
depute for the purpose, requiring such person to be brought before him
for examination at a certain time and place. (R. S., 4080; May 28, 1896.)
If, on such examination, it is made to appear that the person so
arrested is a citizen of the United States, he shall be forthwith
discharged from arrest, and shall be left to the ordinary course of law.
But if this is not made to appear, and such court, judge, or
commissioner finds, upon the papers hereinbefore referred to, a
sufficient prima-facie case that the matter concerns only the internal
order and discipline of such foreign vessels, or, whether in its nature
civil or criminal, does not affect directly the execution of the laws of
the United States, or the rights and duties of any citizen of the United
States, he shall forthwith, by his warrant, commit such person to
prison, where prisoners under sentence of a court of the United States
may be lawfully committed, or, in his discretion, to the master or chief
officer of such foreign vessel, to be subject to the lawful orders,
control, and discipline of such master or chief officer, and to the
jurisdiction of the consular or commercial authority of the nation to
which such vessel belongs, to the exclusion of any authority or
jurisdiction in the premises of the United States or any State thereof.
No person shall be detained more than two months after his arrest, but
at the end of that time shall be set at liberty and shall not again be
arrested for the same cause. The expenses of the arrest and the
detention of the person so arrested shall be paid by the consular
officer making the application. (R. S., 4081.) (See R. S., 5280 as
amended Mar. 4, 1915.)
The district courts, and the United States commissioners, shall have
power to carry into effect, according to the true intent and meaning
thereof, the award, or arbitration, or decree of any consul,
vice-consul, or commercial agent of any foreign nation, made or rendered
by virtue of authority conferred on him as such consul, vice-consul, or
commercial agent, to sit as judge or arbitrator in such differences as
may arise between the captains and crews of the vessels belonging to the
nation whose interests are committed to his charge, application for the
exercise of such power being first made to such court or commissioner by
petition of such consul, vice-consul, or commercial agent. And said
courts and commissioners may issue all proper remedial process, mesne
and final, to carry into full effect such award, arbitration, or decree,
and to enforce obedience thereto, by imprisonment in the jail or other
place of confinement in the district in which the United States may
lawfully imprison any person arrested under the authority of the United
States, until such award, arbitration, or decree is complied with, or
the parties are otherwise discharged therefrom, by the consent in
writing of such consul, vice-consul, or commercial agent, or his
successor in office, or by the authority of the foreign government
appointing such consul, vice-consul, or commercial agent: _Provided,
however_, That the expenses of the said imprisonment, and maintenance of
the prisoners, and the cost of the proceedings, shall be borne by such
foreign government, or by its consul, vice-consul, or commercial agent
requiring such imprisonment. The marshals of the United States shall
serve all such process, and do all other acts necessary and proper to
carry into effect the premises, under the authority of the said courts
and commissioners. (R. S., 728; Mar. 3, 1911; sec. 271.)
Seamen's witness fees.
There shall be paid to each seaman or other person who is sent to the
United States from any foreign port, station, sea, or ocean, by any
United States minister, chargé d'affaires, consul, captain, or
commander, to give testimony in any criminal case depending in any court
of the United States, such compensation, exclusive of subsistence and
transportation, as such court may adjudge to be proper, not exceeding
one dollar for each day necessarily employed in such voyage, and in
arriving at the place of examination or trial. In fixing such
compensation, the court shall take into consideration the condition of
said seaman or witness, and whether his voyage has been broken up, to
his injury, by his being sent to the United States. When such seaman or
person is transported in an armed vessel of the United States no charge
for subsistence or transportation shall be allowed. When he is
transported in any other vessel, the compensation for his transportation
and subsistence, not exceeding in any case fifty cents a day, may be
fixed by the court, and shall be paid to the captain of said vessel
accordingly. (R. S. 851.)
Manning of merchant vessels.
In all merchant vessels of the United States of more than one hundred
tons gross, excepting those navigating rivers, harbors, bays, or sounds
exclusively, the sailors shall, while at sea, be divided into at least
two, and the firemen, oilers, and water tenders into at least three
watches, which shall be kept on duty successively for the performance of
ordinary work incident to the sailing and management of the vessel. The
seamen shall not be shipped to work alternately in the fireroom and on
deck, nor shall those shipped for deck duty be required to work in the
fireroom, or vice versa; but these provisions shall not limit either the
authority of the master or other officer or the obedience of the seamen
when, in the judgment of the master or other officer, the whole or any
part of the crew are needed for the maneuvering of the vessel or the
performance of work necessary for the safety of the vessel or her cargo,
or for the saving of life aboard other vessels in jeopardy, or when in
port or at sea from requiring the whole or any part of the crew to
participate in the performance of fire, lifeboat, and other drills.
While such vessel is in a safe harbor no seaman shall be required to do
any unnecessary work on Sundays or the following-named days: New Year's
Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day,
but this shall not prevent the dispatch of a vessel on regular schedule
or when ready to proceed on her voyage. And at all times while such
vessel is in a safe harbor, nine hours, inclusive of the anchor watch,
shall constitute a day's work. Whenever the master of any vessel shall
fail to comply with this section, the seamen shall be entitled to
discharge from such vessel and to receive the wages earned. But this
section shall not apply to fishing or whaling vessels, or yachts. (Mar.
4, 1915; sec. 2.) (Effective beginning Nov. 4, 1915.)
No vessel of one hundred tons gross and upward, except those navigating
rivers exclusively and the smaller inland lakes and except as provided
in section one of this Act, shall be permitted to depart from any port
of the United States unless she has on board a crew not less than
seventy-five per centum of which, in each department thereof, are able
to understand any order given by the officers of such vessel, nor unless
forty per centum in the first year, forty-five per centum in the second
year, fifty per centum in the third year, fifty-five per centum in the
fourth year after the passage of this Act, and thereafter sixty-five per
centum of her deck crew, exclusive of licensed officers and apprentices,
are of a rating not less than able seaman. Every person shall be rated
an able seaman, and qualified for service as such on the seas, who is
nineteen years of age or upward, and has had at least three years'
service on deck at sea or on the Great Lakes, on a vessel or vessels to
which this section applies, including decked fishing vessels, naval
vessels or coast guard vessels; and every person shall be rated an able
seaman, and qualified to serve as such on the Great Lakes and on the
smaller lakes, bays or sounds, who is nineteen years of age or upward
and has had at least eighteen months' service on deck at sea or on the
Great Lakes or on the smaller lakes, bays, or sounds, on a vessel or
vessels to which this section applies, including decked fishing vessels,
naval vessels, or coast guard vessels; and graduates of school ships
approved by and conducted under rules prescribed by the Secretary of
Commerce may be rated able seamen after twelve months' service at sea:
_Provided_, That upon examination, under rules prescribed by the
Department of Commerce as to eyesight, hearing, and physical condition,
such persons or graduates are found to be competent: _Provided further_,
That upon examination, under rules prescribed by the Department of
Commerce as to eyesight, hearing, physical condition, and knowledge of
the duties of seamanship a person found competent may be rated as able
seaman after having served on deck twelve months at sea, or on the Great
Lakes; but seamen examined and rated able seamen under this proviso
shall not in any case compose more than one-fourth of the number of able
seamen required by this section to be shipped or employed upon any
vessel.
Any person may make application to any board of local inspectors for a
certificate of service as able seaman, and upon proof being made to said
board by affidavit and examination, under rules approved by the
Secretary of Commerce, showing the nationality and age of the applicant
and the vessel or vessels on which he has had service and that he is
entitled to such certificate under the provisions of this section, the
board of local inspectors shall issue to said applicant a certificate of
service, which shall be retained by him and be accepted as prima facie
evidence of his rating as an able seaman.
Each board of local inspectors shall keep a complete record of all
certificates of service issued by them and to whom issued and shall keep
on file the affidavits upon which said certificates are issued.
The collector of customs may, upon his own motion, and shall, upon the
sworn information of any reputable citizen of the United States setting
forth that this section is not being complied with cause a muster of the
crew of any vessel to be made to determine the fact; and no clearance
shall be given to any vessel failing to comply with the provisions of
this section: _Provided_, That the collector of customs shall not be
required to cause such muster of the crew to be made unless said sworn
information has been filed with him for at least six hours before the
vessel departs, or is scheduled to depart: _Provided further_, That any
person that shall knowingly make a false affidavit for such purpose
shall be deemed guilty of perjury and upon conviction thereof shall be
punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or by imprisonment not exceeding
one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, within the discretion
of the court. Any violation of any provision of this section by the
owner, master, or officer in charge of the vessel shall subject the
owner of such vessel to a penalty of not less than $100 and not more
than $500: _And provided further_, That the Secretary of Commerce shall
make such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the
provisions of this section, and nothing herein shall be held or
construed to prevent the Board of Supervising Inspectors, with the
approval of the Secretary of Commerce, from making rules and regulations
authorized by law as to vessels excluded from the operation of this
section. (Mar. 4, 1915; sec. 13.) (Effective on American vessels
beginning Nov. 4, 1915; on vessels of foreign nations not covered by
treaties Mar. 4, 1916; on vessels of other foreign nations after
termination of treaties.)
Undermanning.
In case of desertion or casualty resulting in the loss of one or more of
the seamen, the master must ship, if obtainable, a number equal to the
number of those whose services he has been deprived of by desertion or
casualty, who must be of the same or higher grade or rating with those
whose places they fill, and report the same to the United States consul
at the first port at which he shall arrive, without incurring the
penalty prescribed by the two preceding sections. This section shall not
apply to fishing or whaling vessels or yachts. (R. S., 4516; Dec. 21,
1898; sec. 1; Mar. 4, 1915; sec. 1.) (Effective beginning Nov. 4, 1915.)
Fellow-servant clause.
In any suit to recover damages for any injury sustained on board vessel
or in its service seamen having command shall not be held to be
fellow-servants with those under their authority. (Mar. 4, 1915; sec.
20.) (Effective beginning Nov. 4, 1915.)
Unseaworthy vessels.
If any person knowingly sends or attempts to send or is party to the
sending or attempting to send an American ship to sea, in the foreign or
coastwise trade, in such an unseaworthy state that the life of any
person is likely to be thereby endangered, he shall, in respect of each
offense, be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine not
to exceed one thousand dollars or by imprisonment not to exceed five
years, or both, at the discretion of the court, unless he proves that
either he used all reasonable means to insure her being sent to sea in a
seaworthy state, or that her going to sea in an unseaworthy state was,
under circumstances, reasonable and justifiable, and for the purposes of
giving that proof he may give evidence in the same manner as any other
witness. [This section shall not apply to fishing or whaling vessels or
yachts.—Dec. 21, 1898, sec. 26; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 11.]
War risk insurance.
"SEC. 3_a_. That whenever it shall appear to the Secretary of the
Treasury that the effecting of such insurance is desirable in the
national interest in the case of vessels engaged in any trade, the owner
of every American merchant vessel engaged in such trade shall insure the
master, officers, and crew of such vessel against loss of life or
personal injury from war risks as well as for compensation during
detention by an enemy of the United States following capture.
"Such insurance shall be effected either with the Bureau of War Risk
Insurance or in insurance companies, and on terms satisfactory to the
Secretary of the Treasury.
"Such insurance shall provide, and the Bureau of War Risk Insurance is
authorized to write policies so providing—
"(_a_) In case of death, permanent disability which prevents the person
injured from performing any and every kind of duty pertaining to his
occupation, or the loss of both hands, both arms, both feet, both legs,
or both eyes, or any two thereof, for the payment of an amount
equivalent to one year's earnings, or to twelve times the monthly
earnings of the insured, as fixed in the articles for the voyage
(hereinafter referred to as the principal sum), but in no case shall
such amount be more than $5000 or less than $1500;
"(_b_) In case of any of the following losses, for the payment of the
percentage of the principal sum indicated in the following tables:
"One hand, fifty per centum;
"One arm, sixty-five per centum;
"One foot, fifty per centum;
"One leg, sixty-five per centum;
"One eye, forty-five per centum;
"Total destruction of hearing, fifty per centum;
"That the Bureau of War Risk Insurance may include in its policy
undertakings to pay specified percentages of the principal sum for
other losses or disabilities; and
"(_c_) In case of detention by an enemy of the United States, following
capture, for the payment during the continuance of such detention of
compensation at the same rate as the earnings of the insured
immediately preceding such detention, to be determined in substantially
the same manner as provided in subdivision (_a_) of this section.
"The aggregate payments under this section in respect to any one person
shall not exceed the amount of the principal sum.
"Payments provided for in this section shall be made only to the master,
officer, or member of the crew concerned, except that a payment for loss
of life shall be made to the estate of the insured for distribution to
his family free from liability of debt, and payment on account of
detention by an enemy following capture shall be made to dependents of
the person detained, if designated by him.
"No claim under this section shall be valid unless made by the master,
officer, or member of the crew concerned, or his estate, or a person
designated under this section, within two years after the date on which
the President suspends the operations of this Act in so far as it
authorizes insurance by the United States."
"SEC. 3_b_. That in the event of failure of the owner of any vessel to
effect insurance of the master, officers, and crew of such vessel prior
to sailing, in accordance with section three _a_ of this Act, the
Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to effect such insurance
with the Bureau of War Risk Insurance at the expense of the owner of
such vessel, and the latter shall be liable for such expense, and, in
addition, to a penalty of not exceeding $1000. The amount of such
premium, with interest and of the penalty and of all costs, shall be a
lien on the vessel." (June 12, 1917.)
CHAPTER XXV
DISCIPLINE AT SEA
Authority, to some minds, means oppression and injustice; people so
constituted should stay ashore; a ship has no use for them—they simply
cannot get along.
The orderly man lives his life aboard ship with the greatest freedom.
Discipline at sea is largely a matter of common sense. Officers who know
their business have very little trouble in achieving perfect discipline.
The laws governing lack of ability bear hard on the man who has shipped
to do work he is not qualified for. The disturber has a hard time when
handled by a Master who knows the law and his authority.
The laws relating to offenses on board ship are appended, not as guide
to crime, but to inform the seaman of the fact that the flag and the
laws of the land follow the ship out beyond the three-mile limit.
Some officers have a way with them that carries along the work of the
vessel without friction and with the utmost amount of dispatch. These
officers know their business thoroughly. They are absolutely just, which
means that the slacker and malingerer are given the full brunt of
disapproval. The "coming down" on a loafer, good and hard, helps more to
bring forth respect for an officer than anything else. When this is
coupled by even-handed justice, and a human way of doing things, such as
looking out for the comfort of their men, a happy vessel is bound to be
the result.
Seamen like nothing better than to know that they are under officers who
will run things on the level. It is like being under a decent government
that helps the weak and curbs the strong—there is a fascination to
running things right that merchant officers should cultivate.
Below are the punishments meted out to those that believe in individual
license, and who think that the individual can do as he pleases without
consulting the rest of us. They are wrong, of course, but most of all,
+they are most often, simply ignorant+.
Offenses and punishments.
Whenever any seaman who has been lawfully engaged or any apprentice to
the sea service commits any of the following offenses, he shall be
punished as follows:
_First._ For desertion, by forfeiture of all or any part of the clothes
or effects he leaves on board and of all or any part of the wages or
emoluments which he has then earned.
_Second._ For neglecting or refusing without reasonable cause to join
his vessel or to proceed to sea in his vessel, or for absence without
leave at any time within twenty-four hours of the vessel's sailing from
any port, either at the commencement or during the progress of the
voyage, or for absence at any time without leave and without sufficient
reason from his vessel and from his duty, not amounting to desertion,
by forfeiture from his wages of not more than two days' pay or
sufficient to defray any expenses which shall have been properly
incurred in hiring a substitute.
_Third._ For quitting the vessel without leave, after her arrival at
the port of her delivery and before she is placed in security, by
forfeiture from his wages of not more than one month's pay.
_Fourth._ For willful disobedience to any lawful command at sea, by
being, at the option of the master, placed in irons until such
disobedience shall cease, and upon arrival in port by forfeiture from
his wages of not more than four days' pay, or, at the discretion of the
court, by imprisonment for not more than one month.
_Fifth._ For continued willful disobedience to lawful command or
continued willful neglect of duty at sea, by being, at the option of
the master, placed in irons, on bread and water, with full rations
every fifth day, until such disobedience shall cease, and upon arrival
in port by forfeiture, for every twenty-four hours' continuance of such
disobedience or neglect, of a sum of not more than twelve days' pay, or
by imprisonment for not more than three months, at the discretion of
the court.
_Sixth._ For assaulting any master or mate, by imprisonment for not
more than two years.
_Seventh._ For willfully damaging the vessel, or embezzling or
willfully damaging any of the stores or cargo, by forfeiture out of his
wages of a sum equal in amount to the loss thereby sustained, and also,
at the discretion of the court, by imprisonment for not more than
twelve months.
_Eighth._ For any act of smuggling for which he is convicted and
whereby loss or damage is occasioned to the master or owner, he shall
be liable to pay such master or owner such a sum as is sufficient to
reimburse the master or owner for such loss or damage, and the whole or
any part of his wages may be retained in satisfaction or on account of
such liability, and he shall be liable to imprisonment for a period of
not more than twelve months. (R. S., 4596; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 19; Mar.
4, 1915; sec. 7.) (Effective beginning Nov. 4, 1915.)
Upon the commission of any of the offenses enumerated in the preceding
section an entry thereof shall be made in the official log book on the
day on which the offense was committed, and shall be signed by the
master and by the mate or one of the crew; and the offender, if still in
the vessel, shall, before her next arrival at any port, or, if she is at
the time in port, before her departure therefrom, be furnished with a
copy of such entry, and have the same read over distinctly and audibly
to him, and may thereupon make such a reply thereto as he thinks fit;
and a statement that a copy of the entry has been so furnished, or the
same has been so read over, together with his reply, if any, made by the
offender, shall likewise be entered and signed in the same manner. In
any subsequent legal proceedings the entries hereinbefore required
shall, if practicable, be produced or proved, and in default of such
production of proof the court hearing the case may, at its discretion,
refuse to receive evidence of the offense. (R. S., 4597; Dec. 21, 1898;
sec. 20.)
All clothes, effects, and wages which, under the provisions of this
Title [R. S., 4501-4613], are forfeited for desertion, shall be applied,
in the first instance, in payment of the expenses occasioned by such
desertion, to the master or owner of the vessel from which the desertion
has taken place, and the balance, if any, shall be paid by the master or
owner to any shipping-commissioner resident at the port at which the
voyage of such vessel terminates; and the shipping-commissioner shall
account for and pay over such balance to the judge of the district court
within one month after the commissioner receives the same, to be
disposed of by him in the same manner as is prescribed for the disposal
of the money, effects, and wages of deceased seamen. Whenever any master
or owner neglects or refuses to pay over to the shipping-commissioner
such balance, he shall be liable to a penalty of double the amount
thereof, recoverable by the commissioner in the same manner that
seamen's wages are recovered. In all other cases of forfeiture of wages,
the forfeiture shall be for the benefit of the master or owner by whom
the wages are payable. (R. S., 4604.)
Any master of, or any seaman or apprentice belonging to, any merchant
vessel, who, by willful breach of duty, or by reason of drunkenness,
does any act tending to the immediate loss or destruction of, or serious
damage to such vessel, or tending immediately to endanger the life or
limb of any person belonging to or on board of such vessel; or who, by
willful breach of duty, or by neglect of duty, or by reason of
drunkenness, refuses or omits to do any lawful act proper and requisite
to be done by him for preserving such vessel from immediate loss,
destruction, or serious damage, or for preserving any person belonging
to or on board of such ship from immediate danger to life or limb,
shall, for every such offense, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor,
punishable by imprisonment for not more than twelve months. (R. S.,
4602.)
Sheath knives not allowed.
No seaman in the merchant-service shall wear any sheath-knife on
shipboard. It shall be the duty of the master of any vessel registered,
enrolled, or licensed under the laws of the United States, and of the
person entering into contract for the employment of a seaman upon any
such vessel, to inform every person offering to ship himself of the
provisions of this section, and to require his compliance therewith,
under a penalty of fifty dollars for each omission, to be sued for and
recovered in the name of the United States, under the direction of the
Secretary of Commerce; one half for the benefit of the informer, and the
other half for the benefit of the fund for the relief of sick and
disabled seamen. (R. S. 4608; Feb. 14, 1903; sec. 10.)
Corporal punishment prohibited.
Flogging and all other forms of corporal punishment are hereby
prohibited on board of any vessel, and no form of corporal punishment on
board of any vessel shall be deemed justifiable, and any master or other
officer thereof who shall violate the aforesaid provisions of this
section, or either thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor,
punishable by imprisonment for not less than three months nor more than
two years. Whenever any officer other than the master of such vessel
shall violate any provision of this section, it shall be the duty of
such master to surrender such officer to the proper authorities as soon
as practicable, provided he has actual knowledge of the misdemeanor, or
complaint thereof is made within three days after reaching port. Any
failure on the part of such master to use due diligence to comply
herewith, which failure shall result in the escape of such officer,
shall render the master or vessel or the owner of the vessel liable in
damages for such flogging or corporal punishment to the person illegally
punished by such officer. (R. S., 4611; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 22; Mar. 4,
1915; sec. 9.) (Effective beginning Nov. 4, 1915.)
Procedure.
All penalties and forfeitures imposed by this Title [R. S., 4501-4613],
for the recovery whereof no specific mode is hereinbefore provided, may
be recovered, with costs, in any district court of the United States, at
the suit of any district attorney of the United States, or at the suit
of any person by information to any district attorney in any port of the
United States, where or near to where the offense is committed or the
offender is found; and if a conviction is had, and the sum imposed as a
penalty by the court is not paid either immediately after the
conviction, or within such period as the court at the time of the
conviction appoints, it shall be lawful for the court to commit the
offender to prison, there to be imprisoned for the term hereinbefore
provided in case of such offense, the commitment to be terminable upon
payment of the amount and costs; and all penalties and forfeitures
mentioned in this Title for which no special application is provided,
shall, when recovered, be paid and applied in manner following: So much
as the court shall determine, and the residue shall be paid to the court
and be remitted from time to time, by order of the judge, to the
Treasury of the United States, and appropriated as provided for in
section forty-five hundred and fortyfive: _Provided always_, That it
shall be lawful for the court before which any proceeding shall be
instituted for the recovery of any pecuniary penalty imposed by this
act, to mitigate or reduce such penalty as to such court shall appear
just and reasonable; but no such penalty shall be reduced to less than
one-third of its original amount: _Provided also_, That all proceedings
so to be instituted shall be commenced within two years next after the
commission of the offense, if the same shall have been committed at or
beyond the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn, or within one year if
committed elsewhere, or within two months after the return of the
offender and the complaining party to the United States; and there shall
be no appeal from any decision of any of the district courts, unless the
amount sued for exceeds the sum of five hundred dollars. (R. S., 4610.)
CRIMES
Place of trial.
The trial of all offenses committed upon the high seas or elsewhere, out
of the jurisdiction of any particular State or district, shall be in the
district where the offender is found, or into which he is first brought.
When any offense against the United States is begun in one judicial
district and completed in another, it shall be deemed to have been
committed in either, and may be dealt with, inquired of, tried,
determined, and punished in either district, in the same manner as if it
had been actually and wholly committed therein.
All pecuniary penalties and forfeitures may be used for and recovered
either in the district where they accrue or in the district where the
offender is found.
The crimes and offenses defined in this chapter shall be punished as
herein prescribed:
_First._ When committed upon the high seas, or on any other waters
within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States and
out of the jurisdiction of any particular State, or when committed
within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States and
out of the jurisdiction of any particular State on board any vessel
belonging in whole or in part to the United States or any citizen
thereof, or to any corporation created by or under the laws of the
United States, or of any State, Territory, or District thereof.
_Second._ When committed upon any vessel registered, licensed, or
enrolled under the laws of the United States, and being on a voyage
upon the waters of any of the Great Lakes, namely: Lake Superior, Lake
Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Saint Clair, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, or any
of the waters connecting any of said lakes, or upon the River Saint
Lawrence where the same constitutes the International boundary line.
_Third._ When committed within or on any lands reserved or acquired for
the exclusive use of the United States, and under the exclusive
jurisdiction thereof, or any place purchased or otherwise acquired by
the United States by consent of the legislature of the State in which
the same shall be, for the erection of a fort, magazine, arsenal,
dockyard, or other needful building.
_Fourth._ On any island, rock, or key, containing deposits of guano,
which may, at the discretion of the President, be considered as
appertaining to the United States. (R. S., 730; Mar. 3, 1911; sec. 42;
sec. 43; Mar. 4, 1909; sec. 272; Repeals R. S., 5339.)
Murder.
Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice
aforethought. Every murder perpetrated by poison, lying in wait, or any
other kind of willful, deliberate, malicious, and premeditated killing;
or committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, any
arson, rape, burglary, or robbery; or perpetrated from a premeditated
design unlawfully and maliciously to effect the death of any human being
other than him who is killed, is murder in the first degree. Any other
murder is murder in the second degree. (Sec. 273.)
Manslaughter.
Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice. It
is of two kinds:
_First._ Voluntary—Upon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion.
_Second._ Involuntary—In the commission of an unlawful act not
amounting to a felony, or in the commission of a lawful act which might
produce death, in an unlawful manner, or without due caution and
circumspection.
Every person guilty of murder in the first degree shall suffer death.
Every person guilty of murder in the second degree shall be imprisoned
not less than ten years and may be imprisoned for life. Every person
guilty of voluntary manslaughter shall be imprisoned not more than ten
years. Every person guilty of involuntary manslaughter shall be
imprisoned not more than three years, or fined not exceeding one
thousand dollars, or both. (Sec. 274; Repeals R. S., 5341; sec. 275;
Repeals R. S., 5340, 5343.)
Assault.
Whoever shall assault another with intent to commit murder, or rape,
shall be imprisoned not more than twenty years. Whoever shall assault
another with intent to commit any felony, except murder, or rape, shall
be fined not more than three thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more
than ten years, or both. Whoever, with intent to do bodily harm, and
without just cause or excuse, shall assault another with a dangerous
weapon, instrument, or other thing, shall be fined not more than one
thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
Whoever shall unlawfully strike, beat, or wound another, shall be fined
not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than six
months, or both. Whoever shall unlawfully assault another, shall be
fined not more than three hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than
three months, or both.
Whoever shall attempt to commit murder or manslaughter, except as
provided in the preceding section, shall be fined not more than one
thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than three years. (Sec. 276;
Repeals R. S., 5345, 5346; sec. 277; Repeals R. S., 5342.)
Rape.
Whoever shall commit the crime of rape shall suffer death.
Whoever shall carnally and unlawfully know any female under the age of
sixteen years, or shall be accessory to such carnal and unlawful
knowledge before the fact, shall, for a first offense, be imprisoned not
more than fifteen years, and for a subsequent offense be imprisoned not
more than thirty years. (Sec. 278; Repeals R. S., 5345; sec. 279.)
Seduction.
Every master, officer, seaman, or other person employed on board of any
American vessel who, during the voyage under promise of marriage, or by
threats, or the exercise of authority, or solicitation, or the making of
gifts or presents, seduces and has illicit connection with any female
passenger, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or
imprisoned not more than one year, or both; but subsequent intermarriage
of the parties may be pleaded in bar of conviction.
When a person is convicted of a violation of the section last preceding,
the court may, in its discretion, direct that the amount of the fine,
when paid, be paid for the use of the female seduced, or her child, if
she have any; but no conviction shall be had on the testimony of the
female seduced, without other evidence, nor unless the indictment is
found within one year after the arrival of the vessel on which the
offense was committed at the port of its destination. (Sec. 280; Repeals
R. S., 5349; sec. 281; Repeals R. S., 5350, 5351.)
Death from negligence, misconduct, etc.
Every captain, engineer, pilot, or other person employed on any
steamboat or vessel, by whose misconduct, negligence, or inattention to
his duties on such vessel the life of any person is destroyed, and every
owner, charterer, inspector, or other public officer, through whose
fraud, neglect, connivance, misconduct, or violation of law the life of
any person is destroyed, shall be fined not more than ten thousand
dollars, or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both: _Provided_,
That when the owner or charterer of any steamboat or vessel shall be a
corporation, any executive officer of such corporation, for the time
being actually charged with the control and management of the operation,
equipment, or navigation of such steamboat or vessel, who has knowingly
and willfully caused or allowed such fraud, neglect, connivance,
misconduct, or violation of law, by which the life of any person is
destroyed, shall be fined not more than ten thousand dollars, or
imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. (Sec. 282; Repeals R. S.,
5344, and act Mar. 3, 1905; sec. 5.)
Mayhem.
Whoever, with intent to maim or disfigure, shall cut, bite, or slit, the
nose, ear, or lip, or cut out or disable the tongue, or put out or
destroy an eye, or cut off or disable a limb or any member of another
person; or whoever, with like intent, shall throw or pour upon another
person, any scalding hot water, vitriol, or other corrosive acid, or
caustic substance whatever, shall be fined not more than one thousand
dollars, or imprisoned not more than seven years, or both. (Sec. 283;
Repeals R. S., 5348.)
Robbery.
Whoever, by force and violence, or by putting in fear, shall feloniously
take from the person or presence of another anything of value, shall be
imprisoned not more than fifteen years. (Sec. 284; Repeals R. S., 5370.)
Arson.
Whoever shall maliciously set fire to, burn, or attempt to burn, or by
any means destroy or injure, or attempt to destroy or injure, any
arsenal, armory, magazine, rope-walk, ship house, warehouse, blockhouse,
or barrack, or any storehouse, barn, or stable, not parcel of a dwelling
house, or any other building not mentioned in the section last
preceding, or any vessel built, building, or undergoing repair, or any
light-house, or beacon, or any machinery, timber, cables, rigging, or
other materials or appliances for building, repairing, or fitting out
vessels, or any pile of wood, boards, or other lumber, or any military,
naval, or victualing stores, arms, or other munitions of war, shall be
fined not more than five thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than
twenty years. (Sec. 286; Repeals R. S., 5386.)
Larceny.
Whoever shall take and carry away, with intent to steal or purloin, any
personal property of another, shall be punished as follows: If the
property taken is of a value exceeding fifty dollars, or is taken from
the person of another, by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars,
or imprisonment for not more than ten years, or both; in all other
cases, by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or by
imprisonment not more than one year, or both. If the property stolen
consists of any evidence of debt, or other written instrument, the
amount of money due thereon, or secured to be paid thereby, and
remaining unsatisfied, or which in any contingency might be collected
thereon, or the value of the property the title to which is shown
thereby, or the sum which might be recovered in the absence thereof,
shall be deemed to be the value of the property stolen. (Sec. 287;
Repeals R. S., 5356.)
Receiver of stolen property.
Whoever shall buy, receive, or conceal, any money, goods, bank notes, or
other thing which may be the subject of larceny, which has been
feloniously taken, stolen, or embezzled, from any other person, knowing
the same to have been so taken, stolen, or embezzled, shall be fined not
more than one thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than three years;
and such person may be tried either before or after the conviction of
the principal offender. (Sec. 288; Repeals R. S., 5357.)
Miscellaneous offenses.
Whoever, within the territorial limits of any State, organized
Territory, or District, but within or upon any of the places now
existing or hereafter reserved or acquired, described in section two
hundred and seventy-two of this Act, shall do or omit the doing of any
act or thing which is not made penal by any law of Congress, but which
if committed or omitted within the jurisdiction of the State, Territory,
or District in which such place is situated, by the laws thereof now in
force would be penal, shall be deemed guilty of a like offense and be
subject to a like punishment; and every such State, Territorial, or
District law shall, for the purposes of this section, continue in force,
notwithstanding any subsequent repeal or amendment thereof by any such
State, Territory, or District. (Sec. 289; Repeals R. S., 5891.)
Forgery.
Whoever shall falsely make, forge, counterfeit, or alter any instrument
in imitation of, or purporting to be, an abstract or official copy or
certificate of the recording, registry, or enrollment of any vessel, in
the office of any collector of the customs, or a license to any vessel
for carrying on the coasting trade or fisheries of the United States, or
a certificate of ownership, pass, passport, sea letter, or clearance,
granted for any vessel, under the authority of the United States, or a
permit, debenture, or other official document granted by any collector
or other officer of the customs by virtue of his office; or whoever
shall utter, publish, or pass, or attempt to utter, publish, or pass, as
true, any such false, forged, counterfeited, or falsely altered
instrument, abstract, official copy, certificate, license, pass,
passport, sea letter, clearance, permit, debenture, or other official
document herein specified, knowing the same to be false, forged,
counterfeited, or falsely altered, with an intent to defraud, shall be
fined not more than one thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than
three years. (Sec. 72; Repeals R. S., 5423.)
Ill treatment of crew.
Whoever, being the master or officer of a vessel of the United States,
on the high seas, or on any other waters within the admiralty and
maritime jurisdiction of the United States, beats, wounds, or without
justifiable cause, imprisons any of the crew of such vessel, or
withholds from them suitable food and nourishment, or inflicts upon them
any cruel and unusual punishment, shall be fined not more than one
thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to repeal or modify section
forty-six hundred and eleven of the Revised Statutes. (Sec. 291; Repeals
R. S., 5347.)
Mutiny.
Whoever, being of the crew of a vessel of the United States, on the high
seas, or on any other waters within the admiralty and maritime
jurisdiction of the United States, endeavors to make a revolt or mutiny
on board such vessel, or combines, conspires, or confederates with any
other person on board to make such revolt or mutiny, or solicits,
incites, or stirs up any other of the crew to disobey or resist the
lawful orders of the master or other officer of such vessel, or to
refuse or neglect their proper duty on board thereof, or to betray their
proper trust, or assembles with others in a tumultuous and mutinous
manner, or makes a riot on board thereof, or unlawfully confines the
master or other commanding officer thereof, shall be fined not more than
one thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than five years or both.
(Sec. 292; Repeals R. S., 5359.)
Whoever, being of the crew of a vessel of the United States, on the high
seas, or on any other waters within the admiralty and maritime
jurisdiction of the United States, unlawfully and with force, or by
fraud, or intimidation, usurps the command of such vessel from the
master or other lawful officer in command thereof, or deprives him of
authority and command on board, or resists or prevents him in the free
and lawful exercise thereof, or transfers such authority and command to
another not lawfully entitled thereto, is guilty of a revolt and mutiny,
and shall be fined not more than two thousand dollars and imprisoned not
more than ten years. (Sec. 293; Repeals R. S., 5360.)
Abandonment of seamen.
Whoever, being master or commander of a vessel of the United States,
while abroad, maliciously and without justifiable cause forces any
officer or mariner of such vessel on shore, in order to leave him behind
in any foreign port or place, or refuses to bring home again all such
officers and mariners of such vessel whom he carried out with him, as
are in a condition to return and willing to return, when he is ready to
proceed on his homeward voyage, shall be fined not more than five
hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both. (Sec.
295; Repeals R. S., 5363.)
Barratry.
Whoever, on the high seas, or within the United States, willfully and
corruptly conspires, combines, and confederates with any other person,
such other person being either within or without the United States, to
cast away or otherwise destroy any vessel, with intent to injure any
person that may have underwritten or may thereafter underwrite any
policy of insurance thereon or on goods on board thereof, or with intent
to injure any person that has lent or advanced, or may lend or advance,
any money on such vessel on bottomry or respondentia; or whoever, within
the United States, builds, or fits out, or aids in building or fitting
out, any vessel with intent that the same be cast away or destroyed,
with the intent hereinbefore mentioned, shall be fined not more than ten
thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than ten years. (Sec. 296;
Repeals R. S., 5364.)
Wrecking.
Whoever plunders, steals, or destroys any money, goods, merchandise, or
other effects, from or belonging to any vessel in distress, or wrecked,
lost, stranded, or cast away, upon the sea, or upon any reef, shoal,
bank, or rocks of the sea, or in any other place within the admiralty
and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, shall be fined not more
than five thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than ten years; and
whoever willfully obstructs the escape of any person endeavoring to save
his life from such vessel, or the wreck thereof; or whoever holds out or
shows any false light, or extinguishes any true light, with intent to
bring any vessel sailing upon the sea into danger, or distress, or
shipwreck, shall be imprisoned not less than ten years and may be
imprisoned for life. (Sec. 297; Repeals R. S., 5358.)
Plundering vessel.
Whoever, upon the high seas or on any other waters within the admiralty
and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, by surprise or by open
force, maliciously attacks or sets upon any vessel belonging to another,
with an intent unlawfully to plunder the same, or to despoil any owner
thereof of any moneys, goods, or merchandise laden on board thereof,
shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars and imprisoned not
more than ten years. (Sec. 298; Repeals R. S., 5361.)
Whoever, upon the high seas or on any other waters within the admiralty
and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, and out of the
jurisdiction of any particular State, breaks or enters any vessel, with
intent to commit any felony, or maliciously cuts, spoils, or destroys
any cordage, cable, buoys, buoy-rope, head-fast, or other fast, fixed to
the anchor or moorings, belonging to any vessel shall be fined not more
than one thousand dollars and imprisoned not more than five years.
Casting away vessel.
Whoever, upon the high seas or on any other waters within the admiralty
and maritime jurisdiction of the United States, willfully and corruptly
casts away or otherwise destroys any vessel, of which he is owner, in
whole or in part, with intent to prejudice any person that may
underwrite any policy of insurance thereon, or any merchant that may
have goods thereon, or any other owner of such vessel, shall be
imprisoned for life or for any term of years.