CHAPTER II

LAWS AFFECTING THE DUTIES OF THE MASTER

THE principal laws of the United States affecting the duties and responsibilities of the Master are appended. Much of the bulk of the law, having to do with the construction of vessels and their fitting, and regulating the methods of inspection and control are omitted, and only those parts are given that directly affect the Master himself.

Much of the law, to the mind of a sailor, could be boiled down and simplified-perhaps some day sailors will go to Congress and do this—in the mean time the best that can be done is to make an attempt to unscramble the hodgepodge of rules, regulations, specifications, penalties, and what not, that fill the bulky red volume issued by the Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce.

Master's oath of citizenship. Upon making application for registry of a vessel.

If the master of a vessel is within the district where a registry thereof is to be made, when application is made for registering the same, he shall himself, instead of the owner, or of the agent, or attorney, as hereinafter mentioned, make oath touching his being a citizen, and the means whereby or manner in which he is citizen; in which case, if the master shall knowingly swear to anything untrue, no forfeiture of the vessel, on account of such false oath, shall be incurred, but the master shall be liable to a penalty of one thousand dollars. (R. S., 4144.)

Change of master.

When the master or person having the charge or command of a registered vessel is changed, the owner, or one of the owners, or the

new master of such vessel, shall report such change to the collector of the district where the same has happened, or where the vessel shall first be after the same has happened, and shall produce to him the certificate of registry of such vessel, and shall make oath, showing that such new master is a citizen of the United States, and the manner in which or means whereby he is so a citizen. Thereupon the collector shall indorse upon the certificate of registry a memorandum of such change, specifying the name of such new master, and shall subscribe the memorandum with his name; and if other than the collector of the district by whom the certificate of registry was granted, shall transmit a copy of the memorandum to him, with notice of the particular vessel to which it relates; and the collector of the district, by whom the certificate shall have been granted, shall make a like memorandum of such change in his book of registers, and shall transmit a copy thereof to the Commissioner of Navigation. If the change is not reported, or if the oath is not taken, as above directed, the registry of such vessel shall be void, and the master or person having the charge or command of her shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars. (R. S., 4171-July 5, 1884; sec. 2.) Master must produce ship's register when entry is made.

The master or other person having the command or charge of any vessel, recorded in pursuance of this Title [R. S., 4131-4305], shall, on entry of such vessel, produce the certificate of such record to the collector of the district where she is so entered; and in default thereof the vessel shall not be entitled to the privileges of a recorded vessel. (R. S., 4184.)

Offenses against the registry law.

Every collector or officer who knowingly makes, or is concerned in making, any false register or record, or who knowingly grants or is concerned in granting, any false certificate of registry or record of or for any vessel, or any other false document whatever touching the same, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this Title [R. S., 4131-4305], or who designedly takes any other or greater fees than are by this Title allowed, or who receives any voluntary reward or gratuity for any of the services performed, pursuant thereto; and every surveyor or other person appointed to measure any vessel, who willfully delivers to any collector or naval officer a false description of such vessel, to be registered or recorded, shall be punishable by a

fine of one thousand dollars, and be rendered incapable of serving in any office of trust or profit under the United States. (R. S., 4187.)

If any person authorized and required by this Title [R. S., 41314305] to perform, as an officer, any act or thing, willfully neglects to do or perform the same, according to the true intent and meaning of this Title, he shall, if not subject to the penalty and disqualification prescribed in the preceding section, be punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars for the first offense, and by a like fine for the second offense, and shall thenceforth be rendered incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under the United States. (R. S., 4188.)

Whenever any certificate of registry, enrollment, or license, or other record or document granted in lieu thereof, to any vessel, is knowingly and fraudulently obtained or used for any vessel not entitled to the benefit thereof, such vessel, with her tackle, apparel, and furniture, shall be liable to forfeiture. (R. S., 4187.)

No sea-letter or other document certifying or proving any vessel to be the property of a citizen of the United States shall be issued, except to vessels duly registered, or enrolled and licensed as vessels of the United States, or to vessels which shall be wholly owned by citizens of the United States, and furnished with or entitled to sealetters or other custom-house documents. (R. S., 4190.)

Every person who knowingly makes, utters, or publishes any false sea-letter, Mediterranean passport, or certificate of registry, or who knowingly avails himself of any such Mediterranean passport, sea-letter, or certificate of registry, shall be liable to a penalty of not more than five thousand dollars, and, if an officer of the United States, shall thenceforth be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under the authority of the United States. (R. S., 4191.) Provisions and water.

Should any master or owner of any merchant vessel of the United States neglect to provide a sufficient quantity of stores to last for a voyage of ordinary duration to the port of destination, and in consequence of such neglect the crew are compelled to accept a reduced scale, such master or owner shall be liable to a penalty as provided in section forty-five hundred and sixty-eight of the Revised Statutes. (R. S., 4564. Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 12.)

Any three or more of the crew of any merchant-vessel of the United States bound from a port in the United States to any foreign port, or being of the burden of seventy-five tons or upward, and bound from a port on the Atlantic to a port on the Pacific, or vice versa, may complain to any officer in command of any of the vessels of the United States Navy, or consular officer of the United States, or shipping-commissioner or chief officer of the customs, that the provisions or water for the use of the crew are, at any time, of bad quality, unfit for use, or deficient in quantity. Such officer shall thereupon examine the provisions or water, or cause them to be examined; and if, on examination, such provisions or water are found to be of bad quality and unfit for use, or to be deficient in quantity, the person making such examination shall certify the same in writing to the master of the ship. If such master does not thereupon provide other proper provisions or water, where the same can be had, in lieu of any so certified to be of a bad quality and unfit for use, or does not procure the requisite quantity of any so certified to be insufficent in quantity, or uses any provisions or water which have been so certified as aforesaid to be of bad quality and unfit for use, he shall, in every such case, be liable to a penalty of not more than one hundred dollars; and upon every such examination the officers making or directing the same shall enter a statement of the result of the examination in the log-book, and shall send a report thereof to the district judge for the judicial district embracing the port to which such vessel.is bound; and such report shall be received in evidence in any legal proceedings. (R. S., 4565.)

If the officer to whom any such complaint in regard to the provisions or the water is made certifies in such statement that there was no reasonable ground for such complaint, each of the parties so complaining shall forfeit to the master or owner his share of the expense, if any, of the survey. [This section shall not apply to fishing or whaling vessels or yachts-Dec. 21, 1898, sec. 26.] (R. S., 4566. Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 13.)

If any seamen, while on board any vessel, shall state to the master that they desire to make complaint, in accordance with the two preceding sections, in regard to the provisions or the water, to a competent officer, against the master, the master shall, if the vessel is then at a place where there is any such officer, so soon as the service of the vessel will permit, and if the vessel is not then at

such a place, so soon after her first arrival at such place as the service of the vessel will permit, allow such seamen, or any of them, to go ashore, or shall send them ashore, in proper custody, so that they may be enabled to make such complaint; and shall, in default, be liable to a penalty of not more than one hundred dollars. (R. S., 4567.)

If, during a voyage, the allowance of any of the provisions which any seaman is entitled to under section forty-six hundred and twelve of the Revised Statutes is reduced except for any time during which such seamen willfully and without sufficient cause refuses or neglects to perform his duty, or is lawfully under confinement for misconduct either on board or on shore; or if it shall be shown that any of such provisions are, or have been during the voyage, bad in quality or unfit for use, the seaman shall receive, by way of compensation for such reduction or bad quality, according to the time of its continuance, the following sums, to be paid to him in addition to and to be recoverable as wages:

First. If his allowance is reduced by any quantity not exceeding one-third of the quantity specified by law, a sum not exceeding fifty cents a day.

Second. If his allowance is reduced by more than one-third of such quantity, a sum not exceeding one dollar a day.

Third. In respect to bad quality, a sum not exceeding one dollar a day.

But if it is shown to the satisfaction of the court before which the case is tried that any provisions, the allowance of which has been reduced, could not be procured or supplied in sufficient quantities, or were unavoidably injured or lost, or if by reason of its innate qualities any article becomes unfit for use and that proper and equivalent substitutes were supplied in lieu thereof, the court shall take such circumstances into consideration and shall modify or refuse compensation, as the justice of the case may require. [This section shall not apply to fishing or whaling vessels or yachts-Dec. 21, 1898, sec. 26.] (R. S., 4568. Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 14.)

Weights and measures.

Every master shall keep on board proper weights and measures for the purpose of determining the quantities of the several provisions and articles served out, and shall allow the same to be used at the