is understood, accords with the views of the Philadelphia Maritime Exchange. This, however, differs but little from the draft adopted by this office.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN M. WILSON,

Brig Gen., Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army.

Hon. DANIEL S. LAMONT,

Secretary of War.

COMPILATION OF EXISTING LAWS RLLATING TO THE PROTECTION, PRESERVATION, AND MAINTENANCE OF THE NAVIGABLE WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Bridges injuring channels or banks of rivers.-Whenever complaint shall be made to the Secretary of War that by reason of the placing in any navigable waters of the United States of any bridge pier or abutment, the current of such waters has been so deflected from its natural course as to cause by producing caving of banks or otherwise serious damage or danger to property, it shall be his duty to make inquiry, and if it shall be ascertained that the complaint is well founded, he shall cause the owners or persons operating such bridge to repair such damage or prevent such danger to property by such means as he shall indicate and within such time as he may name, and in default thereof the owners or persons operating such bridge shall be liable in any court of competent jurisdiction to the persons injured in a sum double the amount of said injury, (Sec. 2, river and harbor act of

August 11, 1888.)

Kemoval of wrecks.-Whenever hereafter the navigation of any river, lake, harbor, or bay, or other navigable water of the United States, shall be obstructed or endangered by any sunken vessel or water craft, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War, upon satisfactory informa tion thereof, to cause reasonable notice, of not less than thirty days, to be given, personally or by publication, at least once a week in the newspaper published nearest the locality of such sunken vessel or craft, to all persons interested in such vessel or craft, or in the cargo thereof, of the purpose of said Secretary, unless such vessel or craft shall be removed as soon thereafter as practicable by the parties interested therein, to cause the same to be removed. If such sunken vessel or craft and cargo shall not be removed by the parties interested therein as soon as practicable after the date of the giving of such notice by publication, or after such personal service of notice, as the case may be, such sunken vessel or craft shall be treated as abandoned and derelict, and the Secretary of War shall proceed to remove the same. Such sunken vessel or craft and cargo and all property therein when so removed shall, after reasonable notice of the time and place of sale, be sold to the highest bidder or bidders for cash, and the proceeds of such sales shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of a fund for the removal of such obstructions to navigation, under the direction of the Secretary of War, and to be paid out for that purpose on his requisition therefor. The provisions of this act shall apply to all such wrecks whether removed under this act or under any other act of Congress. Such sum of money as may be necessary to execute this section of this act is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, to be

paid out on the requisition of the Secretary of War. (Sec. 4, river and harbor act of June 14, 1880.)

The power and authority granted to the Secretary of War under and by virtue of section four of the act of Congress approved June fourteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty, relating to wrecks and sunken vessels be, and the same are hereby, enlarged so that the Secretary of War may, in his discretion, sell and dispose of any such sunken craft, vessel, or cargo, or property therein, before the raising or removal thereof, according to the same regulations that are in the said act prescribed for the sale of the same after the removal thereof; and all laws and parts of laws inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. (River and harbor act of August 2, 1882.)

All wrecks of vessels and other obstructions to the navigation of any port, roadstead, harbor, or navigable river, or other navigable waters of the United States, which may have been permitted by the owners thereof or the parties by whom they were caused to remain to the injury of commerce and navigation for a longer period than two months, shall be subject to be broken up and removed by the Secretary of War, without liability for any damage to the owners of the same. (Sec. 8, river and harbor act of September 19, 1890.)

Bridges obstructing navigation.-Whenever the Secretary of War shall have good reason to believe that any railroad or other bridge now constructed, or which may hereafter be constructed over any of the navi gable water-ways of the United States is an unreasonable obstruction to the free navigation of such waters on account of insufficient height, width of span, or otherwise, or where there is difficulty in passing the draw-opening or the drawspan of such bridge by rafts, steam boats, or other water-craft, it shall be the duty of the said Secretary, first giving the parties reasonable opportunity to be heard, to give notice to the persons or corporations owning or controlling such bridge so to alter the same as to render navigation through or under it reasonably free, easy, and unobstructed; and in giving such notice he shall specify the changes required to be made, and shall prescribe in each case a reasonable time in which to make them. If at the end of such time the alteration has not been made, the Secretary of War shall forthwith notify the United States district attorney for the district in which such bridge is situated, to the end that the criminal proceedings mentioned in the succeeding section may be taken.

If the persons, corporation, or association owning or controlling any railroad or other bridge shall, after receiving notice to that effect as herein before required from the Secretary of War and within the time. prescribed by him, willfully fail or refuse to remove the same, or to comply with the lawful order of the Secretary of War in the premises such persons, corporation, or association shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, and every month such persons, corporation, or association shall remain in default in respect to the removal or alteration of such bridge shall be deemed a new offense, and subject the persons, corporation, or association so offending to the penalties above prescribed. (Secs. 4 and 5, river and harbor act of September 19, 1890.)

Construction of piers, bridges, etc.-It shall not be lawful to build any wharf, pier, dolphin, boom, dam, weir, breakwater, bulkhead, jetty, or structure of any kind outside established harbor lines, or in any navigable waters of the United States where no harbor lines are or may be established, without the permission of the Secretary of War, in any

port, roadstead, haven, harbor, navigable river, or other waters of the United States, in such manner as shall obstruct or impair navigation, commerce, or anchorage of said waters; and it shall not be lawful hereafter to commence the construction of any bridge, bridge draw, bridge piers, and abutments, causeway, or other works over or in any port, road, roadstead, haven, harbor, navigable river or navigable waters of the United States, under any act of the legislative assembly of any State, until the location and plan of such bridge or other works have been submitted to and approved by the Secretary of War, or to excavate or fill, or in any manner to alter or modify the course, location, condition or capacity of any port, roadstead, haven, harbor, harbor of refuge, or inclosure within the limits of any breakwater, or of the channel of any navigable water of the United States unless approved and authorized by the Secretary of War:

Provided: That this section shall not apply to any bridge, bridge draw, bridge piers, and abutments, the construction of which has been heretofore duly authorized by law, or be so construed as to authorize the construction of any bridge, draw bridge, bridge piers, and abutments, or other works under an act of the legislature of any State, over or in any stream, port, roadstead, haven, or harbor, or other navigable water not wholly within the limits of such State. (Sec. 3, river and harbor act of July 13, 1892.)

Depositing material in navigable waters.-It shall not be lawful to cast, throw, empty, or unlade, or cause, suffer, or procure to be cast, thrown, emptied, or unladen, either from or out of any ship, vessel, lighter, barge, boat, or other craft, or from the shore, pier, wharf, furnace, manufacturing establishments, or mills of any kind whatever, any ballast, stone, slate, gravel, earth, rubbish, wreck, filth, slabs, edgings, sawdust, slag, cinders, ashes, refuse, or other waste of any kind, into any port, road, roadstead, harbor, haven, navigable river, or navigable waters of the United States which shall tend to impede or obstruct navigation, or to deposit or place or cause, suffer, or procure to be deposited or placed, any ballast, stone, slate, gravel, earth, rubbish, wreck, filth, slabs, edgings, sawdust, or other waste in any place or situation on the bank of any navigable waters where the same shall be liable to be washed into such navigable waters, either by ordinary or high tides, or by storms or floods, or otherwise, whereby navigation shall or may be impeded or obstructed: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall extend or be construed to extend to the casting out, unlading, or throwing out of any ship or vessel, lighter, barge, boat, or other craft, any stones, rocks, bricks, lime, or other materials used, or to be used, in or toward the building, repairing, or keeping in repair any quay, pier, wharf, weir, bridge, building, or other work lawfully erected or to be erected on the banks or sides of any port, harbor, haven, channel, or navigable river, or to the casting out, unlading, or depositing of any material excavated for the improvement of navigable waters, into such places and in such manner as may be deemed by the United States officer supervising said improvement most judicious and practicable and for the best interests of such improvements, or to prevent the depositing of any substance above mentioned under a permit from the Secretary of War, which he is hereby authorized to grant, in any place designated by him where navigation will not be obstructed thereby. (Sec. 6, river and harbor act of September 19, 1890.)

It shall not be lawful to place, discharge, or deposit, by any process or in any manner, ballast, refuse, dirt, ashes, cinders, mud, sand, dredgings, sludge, acid, or any other matter of any kind other than that

flowing from streets, sewers, and passing therefrom in a liquid state, in the waters of any harbor or river of the United States, for the improvement of which money has been appropriated by Congress, elsewhere than within the limits defined and permitted by the Secretary of War; neither shall it be lawful for any person or persons to move, destroy, or injure in any manner whatever any sea wall, bulkhead, jetty, dike, levee, wharf, pier, or other work built by the United States, in whole or in part, for the preservation and improvement of any of its navi gable waters, or to prevent floods, or as boundary marks, tide gauges, surveying stations, buoys, or other established marks; any and every such act is made a misdemeanor, and every person knowingly engaged in, or who shall knowingly aid, abet, authorize, or instigate a violation of this section shall, upon conviction, be punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, such fine to be not less than two hundred and fifty dollars nor more than twenty-five hundred dollars, and the imprisonment to be not less than thirty days nor more than one year, either or both united, as the judge before whom conviction is obtained shall decide, one-half of said fine to be paid to the person or persons giving information which shall lead to conviction of this misdemeanor. (Sec. 6, river and harbor act of August 18, 1894.)

Any and every master, pilot, and engineer, or person or persons acting in such capacity, respectively, on board of any boat or vessel who may willfully injure or destroy any work of the United States contemplated in section six of this Act, or who shall knowingly engage in towing any scow, boat, or vessel loaded with any such prohibited matter to any point or place of deposit, or discharge in any harbor contemplated in section six of this Act, elsewhere than within the limits defined and permitted by the Secretary of War, shall be deemed guilty of a violation of this Act and shall, upon conviction, be punishable as hereinbefore provided for offenses in violation of section six of this Act, and shall also have his license revoked or suspended for a term to be fixed by the judge before whom tried and convicted.

Any boat, vessel, scow, or other craft used or employed in violating any of the provisions of sections six and seven of this Act shall be liable to the pecuniary penalties imposed thereby, and in addition thereto to the amount of the damages done by said boat, vessel, scow, or other craft, which latter sum shall be placed to the credit of the appropriation for the improvement of the harbor in which the damage occurred, and said boat, vessel, scow, or other craft may be proceeded against summarily by way of libel in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof. (Secs. 7 and 8, river and harbor act of August 18, 1894.)

Unlawful obstructions forbidden and penalties prescribed. The creation of any obstruction, not affirmatively authorized by law, to the navigable capacity of any waters, in respect of which the United States has jurisdiction, is hereby prohibited. The continuance of any such obstruction, except bridges, piers, docks and wharves, and similar structures erected for business purposes, whether heretofore or hereafter created, shall constitute an offense, and each week's continuance of any such obstruction shall be deemed a separate offense. Every person and every corporation which shall be guilty of creating or continuing any such unlawful obstruction in this act mentioned [act of September 19, 1890], or who shall violate the provisions of the last four preceding sections of this act [sections 6, 7, 8, and 9], shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment (in

the case of a natural person) not exceeding one year, or by both such punishments, in the discretion of the court; the creating or continuing of any unlawful obstruction in this act mentioned may be prevented and such obstruction may be caused to be removed by the injunction of any circuit court exercising jurisdiction in any district in which such obstruction may be threatened or may exist; and proper proceedings in equity to this end may be instituted under the direction of the Attorney-General of the United States. (Sec. 10, river and harbor act of September 19, 1890.)

Method of enforcing laws forbidding obstructions to navigation.—It shall be the duty of officers and agents having the supervision, on the part of the United States, of the works in progress for the preservation and improvement of said navigable waters, and, in their absence, of the United States collectors of customs and other revenue officers to enforce the provisions of this act by giving information to the district attorney of the United States for the district in which any violation of any provision of this act shall have been committed. (Sec. 11, river and harbor act of Septem! er 19, 1890.)

Injuries to Government piers, etc.—It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to take possession of or make use for any exclusive purpose, or build upon, alter, deface, destroy, injure, obstruct, or in any other manner impair the usefulness of any sea wall, bulkhead, jetty, dike, levee, wharf, pier or other work built by the United States in whole or in part, for the preservation and improvement of any of its navigable waters, or to prevent floods, or as boundary marks, tide-gauges, surveying stations, buoys, or other established marks, nor remove for ballast or other purposes any stone or other material composing such works. (Sec. 9, river and harbor act of September 19, 1890.)

Harbor lines. Where it is made manifest to the Secretary of War that the establishment of harbor lines is essential to the preservation and protection of harbors, he may, and is hereby authorized, to cause such lines to be established, beyond which no piers, wharves, bulk-heads, or other works shall be extended or deposits made, except under such regulations as may be prescribed from time to time by him; and any person who shall willfully violate the provisions of this section or any rule or regulation made by the Secretary of War in pursuance of this section, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, at the discretion of the court for each offense. (Sec. 12, river and harbor act of September 19, 1890; see also sec. 12, river and harbor act of August 11, 1888.)

No money appropriated for the improvement of rivers and harbors in this act or hereafter shall be expended for dredging inside of harbor lines duly established. (Sec. 5, river and harbor act of July 13, 1892.)

Whenever the Secretary of War grants to any person or persons permission to extend piers, wharves, bulkheads, or other works, or to make deposits in any tidal harbor or river of the United States beyond any harbor lines established under authority of the United States, he shall cause to be ascertained the amount of tide water displaced by any such structure or by any such deposits, and he shall, if he deem it necessary, require the parties to whom the permission is given to make compensation for such displacement either by excavating in some part of the harbor, including tide-water channels between high and low water mark, to such an extent as to create a basin for as much tide water as may be displaced by such structure or by such deposits, or in