No. 41.
Mr. Bayard to United States
ministers
.
Department of State,
Washington
,
July 9,
1887.
Circular.]
Sir: In the act of Congress, approved June 19,
1886, 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,”
the following provisions are found:
-
Sec. 11. That section fourteen of
“An act to remove certain burdens on the American merchant
marine and encourage the American foreign carrying trade, and
for other purposes,” approved June twentysixth eighteen hundred
and eighty-four, be amended so as to read as follows:
- “Sec. 14. That in lieu of the tax on
tonnage of thirty cents per ton per annum imposed prior to July
first, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, a duty of three cents
per ton, not to exceed in the aggregate fifteen cents per ton in
any one year, is hereby imposed at each entry on all vessels
which shall be entered in any port of the United States from any
foreign port or place in North America, Central America, the
West India Islands, the Bahama Islands, the Bermuda Islands, or
the coast of South America bordering on the Caribbean Sea, or
the Sandwich Islands, or Newfoundland; and a duty of six cents
per ton, not to exceed thirty cents per ton per annum, is hereby
imposed at each entry upon all vessels which shall be entered in
the United States from any other foreign ports, not, however, to
include vessels in distress or not engaged in trade: Provided, That the President of the
United States shall suspend the collection of so much of the
duty herein imposed, on vessels entered from any foreign port,
as may be in excess of the tonnage and lighthouse dues, or other
equivalent tax or taxes imposed in said port on American vessels
by the Government of the foreign country in which such port is
situated, and shall, upon the passage of this act, and from time
to time thereafter as often as it may become necessary by reason
of changes in the laws of the foreign countries above mentioned,
indicate by proclamation the ports to which such suspension
shall apply, and the rate or rates of tonnage duty, if any, to
be collected under such suspension: Provided
further, That such proclamation shall exclude from the
benefits of the suspension herein authorized the vessels of any
foreign country in whose ports the fees or dues of any kind or
nature imposed on vessels of the United States, or the import or
export duties on their cargoes, are in excess of the fees, dues,
or duties imposed on the vessels of the country in which such
port is situated, or on the cargoes of such vessels; and
sections forty-two hundred and twenty-three and forty-two
hundred and twenty-four, and so much of section forty-two
hundred and nineteen of the Revised Statutes as conflicts with
this section, are hereby repealed.”
-
Sec. 12. That the President be, and
hereby is, directed to cause the Governments of foreign
countries which, at any of their ports, impose on American
vessels a tonnage tax or lighthouse dues, or other equivalent
tax or taxes, or any other fees, charges, or dues, to be
informed of the provisions of the preceding section, and invited
to cooperate with the Government of the United States in
abolishing all lighthouse dues, tonnage taxes, or other
equivalent tax or taxes on, and also all other fees for official
services to, the vessels Of the respective nations employed in
the trade between the ports of such foreign country and the
ports of the United States.
-
Sec. 17. That whenever any foreign
country whose vessels have been placed on the same footing in
the ports of the United States as American vessels (the
coastwise trade excepted) shall deny to any vessels of the
United States any of the commercial privileges accorded to
national vessels in the harbors, ports, or waters of such
foreign country, the President, on receiving satisfactory
information of the continuance of such discriminations against
any vessels of the United States, is hereby authorized to issue
his proclamation excluding, on and after such time as he may
indicate, from the exercise of such commercial privileges in the
ports of the United States as are denied to American vessels in
the ports of such foreign country, all vessels of such foreign
country of a similar character to the vessels of the United
States thus discriminated against, and suspending such
concessions previously granted to the vessels of such [Page 1910] country; and on and
after the date named in such proclamation for it to take effect,
if the master, officer, or agent of any vessel of such foreign
country excluded by said proclamation from the exercise of any
commercial privileges shall do any act prohibited by said
proclamation in the ports, harbors, or waters of the United
States for or on account of such vessel, such vessel, and its
rigging, tackle, furniture, and boats, and all the goods on
board, shall be liable to seizure and to forfeiture to the
United States; and any person opposing any officer of the United
States in the enforcement of this act, or aiding and abetting
any other person in such opposition, shall forfeit eight hundred
dollars, and shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon
conviction, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding two years.
Copies of the act above quoted, and of the prior act of June 26, 1884,
are inclosed herewith for your information. Circumstances having
heretofore delayed the extension of the general invitation authorized by
section 12 of the act of 1886, as above quoted, you are now instructed
to invite the Government of to co operate with the Government of the
United States toward the contemplated ends.
It will be seen that the provisions of the sections above quoted are
broad enough to cover either a reduction or a complete abolition, by
reciprocal action, of tonnage and equivalent charges on navigation; and
it is open to any foreign country, in all or any of whose ports a less
charge is made than that now imposed in the ports of the United States,
to obtain forthwith a reduction of the charge in the United States, on
vessels coming from such port or ports, to an equality with that levied
in the port or ports designated. An example of this is furnished by the
arrangement lately entered into between the Government of the United
States and that of The Netherlands, as shown by the inclosed copy of the
President’s proclamation of April 22, 1887, whereby complete exemption
from tonnage dues is secured to all vessels, of whatever nationality,
entering ports of the United States from the ports of The Netherlands in
Europe, or from certain named ports of the Dutch East Indies.
It is to be observed that the invitation herein contained is extended
equally to all countries, both those having ports within the
geographical zone to which, under the shipping acts of 1884 and 1886,
the rate of 3–15 cents per ton applies and those which have no ports
within that zone, and to which the rate of 6.30 cents per ton now
applies. The rate of 3–15 cents per ton was geographical and involved no
test of flag. The object and intent of the present invitation is to
deal, on the basis of reciprocity, with countries as
nationalities, whether situated within or without the
geographical limits referred to.
Besides extending the invitation herein authorized, you are also
instructed to ascertain whether, in the ports of or in any dependency
thereof, any discrimination exists against vessels of the United States
as compared with the vessels of (other than those engaged in the
coasting or colonial trade) or the vessels of any third country.
If such discrimination be found to exist, its precise nature and extent
should be reported, when this Government will be in a position to
determine how far the commerce between the United States and the ports
of such country (if such ports are found within the defined geographical
limits), or how far the vessels of such country (if it be outside of the
geographical limits aforesaid), are to be restricted in or excluded from
the privileges created, either under the express provisions of the
shipping acts of 1884 and 1886, or under the special arrangements of
reciprocity effected under the authorizations of those acts and
proclaimed by the President.
In communicating the invitation herein contained you will convey the
fullest assurance to the minister for foreign affairs of its entire [Page 1911] friendliness, and the desire
of the United States to treat the commerce and flag of on the footing of
the most complete reciprocity in those matters to which the invitation
relates.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
T. F. Bayard,
Secretary of State.
[Inclosure 1.]
By the President of the United States of
America:
a proclamation.
Whereas satisfactory proof has been given to me by the Government of
The Netherlands, that no lighthouse and light dues, tonnage dues, or
beacon and buoy dues are imposed in the ports of the Kingdom of The
Netherlands; that no other equivalent tax of any kind is imposed
upon vessels in said ports, under whatever flag they may sail; that
vessels belonging to the United States of America, and their
cargoes, are not required, in The Netherlands, to pay any fee or due
of any kind, or nature, or any import due higher or other than is
payable by vessels of The Netherlands or their cargoes; that no
export duties are imposed in The Netherlands; and that in the free
ports of the Dutch East Indies, to wit: Riouw (in the island of
Riouw), Pabean, Sangrit, Loloan, and Tamboekoes (in the island of
Bali), Koepang (in the island of Timor), Makassar, Memido, Kema, and
Gorontalo (in the island of Celebes), Amboina, Saparoa, Banda,
Ternate, and Kajeli (in the Moluccas), Olehleh and Bengkalis (in the
island of Sumatra), vessels are subjected to no fiscal tax, and no
import or export duties are there levied:
Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States
of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by section 11 of
the act of Congress, 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,” approved June nineteenth, one thousand
eight hundred and eighty-six, do hereby declare and proclaim that
from and after the date of this my Proclamation shall be suspended
the collection of the whole of the duty of six cents per ton, not to
exceed thirty cents per ton per annum (which is imposed by said
section of said act) upon vessels entered in the ports of the United
States from any of the ports of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in
Europe, or from any of the abovenamed free ports of the Dutch East
Indies:
Provided, That there shall be excluded from
the benefits of the suspension hereby declared and proclaimed the
vessels of any foreign country in whose ports the fees or dues of
any kind or nature imposed on vessels of the United States, or the
import or export duties on their cargoes, are in excess of the fees,
dues or duties imposed on the vessels of such foreign country, or
their cargoes, or of the fees, dues, or duties imposed on the
vessels of the country in which are the ports mentioned in this
Proclamation, or the cargoes of such vessels.
And the suspension hereby declared and proclaimed shall continue so
long as the reciprocal exemption of vessels belonging to citizens of
the United States, and their cargoes, shall be continued in the said
ports of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in Europe and the said free
ports of the Dutch East Indies, and no longer.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of
Washington
this
twenty-second day of April, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven, and of the
independence of the United States the one hundred and
eleventh.
[
seal.]
Grover Cleveland.
By the President,
T. F. Bayard,
Secretary of State.
[Inclosure 2.]
(Public—No. 67.)
AN ACT to remove certain burdens on the American
merchant marine and encourage the American foreign carrying trade
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That the last clause of section forty-one
hundred and thirty-one of the Revised Statutes be amended so as to
read as follows:
“All the officers of vessels of the United States shall be citizens
of the United States, [Page 1912]
except that in cases where, on a foreign voyage, or on a voyage from
an Atlantic to a Pacific port of the United States, any such vessel
is for any reason deprived of the services of an officer below the
grade of master, his place, or a vacancy caused by the promotion of
another officer to such place, may be supplied by a person not a
citizen of the United States until the first return of such vessel
to its home port; and such vessel shall not be liable to any penalty
or penal tax for such employment of an alien officer.”
Sec. 2. That section forty-five hundred and
eighty of the Revised Statutes be amended so as to read as
follows:
“Sec. 4580. 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 such
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 of any
consular officer upon such discharge of any seaman except as
provided in this act.”
Sec. 3. That section forty-five hundred and
eighty-three of the Revised Statutes be amended so as to read as
follows:
“Sec. 4583. Whenever on the discharge of a
seaman in a foreign country, on his complaint that the voyage is
continued contrary to agreement, the consular officer shall be
satisfied that such voyage has been designedly and unnecessarily
prolonged in violation of the articles of shipment, or whenever a
seaman is discharged by a consular officer in consequence of any
hurt or injury received in the service of the vessel, such consular
officer shall require the payment by the master of one month’s wages
for such seaman over and above the wages due at the time of
discharge.”
Sec. 4. That section forty-five hundred and
sixty-one of the Revised Statutes be amended so as to read as
follows:
“Sec. 4561. The inspectors in their report
shall also state whether, in their opinion, the vessel was sent to
sea unsuitably provided in any important or essential particular, by
neglect or design, or through mistake or accident; and in case it
was by neglect or design, and the consular officer approves of such
finding, he shall discharge such of the crew as request it, and
shall require the payment by the master of one months wages for each
seaman over and above the wages then due. But if, in the opinion of
the inspectors, the defects or deficiencies found to exist have been
the result of mistake or accident, and could not, in the exercise of
ordinary care, have been known and provided against before the
sailing of the vessel, and the master shall, in a reasonable time,
remove or remedy the causes of complaint, then the crew shall remain
and discharge their duty.
Sec. 5. That section forty-five hundred and
eighty-two of the Revised Statutes be amended so as to read as
follows:
“Sec. 4582. 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
the certified list of his ship’s company, and also the shipping
articles, and to pay to said consular officer for every seaman so
discharged one month’s wages over and above the wages which may then
be due to such seaman; but in case the master of the vessel so sold
shall, with the assent of said seaman, 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, then no payment of extra wages shall be required.”
Sec. 6. That section forty-six hundred of
the Revised Statutes be amended so as to read as follows:
“Sec. 4600. It shall be the duty of
consular officers to reclaim deserters and discountenance
insubordination by every means within 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 deserters are apprehended the consular
officer shall inquire into the facts; and if he is satisfied that
the desertion was caused by unusual or cruel treatment, he shall
discharge the seaman, and require the master of the vessel from
which such seaman is discharged to pay one month’s wages over and
above the wages then due; and the officer discharging such seaman
shall enter upon the crewlist and shipping articles the cause of
discharge, and the particulars in which the cruelty or unusual
treatment consisted, and the facts as to his discharge or
reengagement, as the case may be, and subscribe his name thereto
officially.”
Sec. 7. That section forty-five hundred and
eighty-one of the Revised Statutes be amended so as to read as
follows:
“Sec. 4581. 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 [Page 1913] United States to the
full amount thereof. If any seaman, after his discharge, shall have
incurred any expense for board or other necessaries at the place of
his discharge, before shipping again, or for transportation to the
United States, such expense shall be paid out of the arrears of
wages and extra wages received by the consular officer, which shall
be retained for that purpose, and the balance only paid over to such
seamen.”
Sec. 8. That section forty-five hundred and
eighty-four of the Revised Statutes be hereby repealed.
Sec. 9. That section forty-five hundred and
seventy-eight of the Revised Statutes be amended so as to read as
follows:
“Sec. 4578. 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; 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 First 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.”
Sec. 10. That it shall be, and is hereby,
made unlawful in any case to pay any seaman wages before leaving the
port at which such seaman maybe engaged in advance of the time when
he has actually earned the same, or to pay such advance wages to any
other person, or to pay any person, other than an officer authorized
by act of Congress to collect fees for such service, any
remuneration for the shipment of seamen. Any person paying such
advance wages or such remuneration shall be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine not
less than four times the amount of the wages so advanced or
remuneration so paid, and may be also imprisoned for a period not
exceeding six months, at the discretion of the court. The payment of
such advance wages or remuneration shall in no case, except as
herein provided, absolve the vessel, or the master or owner thereof,
from full payment of wages after the same shall have been actually
earned, and shall be no defense to a libel, suit, or action for the
recovery of such wages: Provided, That this
section shall not apply to whalingvessels: And
provided further, That it shall be lawful for any seaman to
stipulate in his shipping agreement for an allotment of any portion
of the wages which he may earn to his wife, mother, or other
relative, but to no other person or corporation. And any person who
shall falsely claim such relationship to any seaman in order to
obtain wages so allotted shall, for every such offense, be
punishable by a fine of not exceeding five hundred dollars, or
imprisonment not exceeding six months, at the discretion of the
court. This section shall apply as well to foreign vessels as to
vessels of the United States; and any foreign vessel the master,
owner, consignee, or agent of which has violated this section, or
induced or connived at its violation, shall be refused a clearance
from any port of the United States.
Sec. 11. That every vessel mentioned in
section forty-five hundred and sixty-nine of the Revised Statutes
shall also be provided with a slop-chest, which shall contain a
complement of clothing for the intended voyage for each seaman
employed, including boots or shoes, hats or caps, under clothing and
outer clothing, oiled clothing, and everything necessary for the
wear of a seaman; also a full supply of tobacco and blankets. Any of
the contents of the slopchest shall be sold, from time to time, to
any or every seaman applying therefor, for his own use, at a profit
not exceeding ten per centum of the reasonable wholesale value of
the same at the port at which the voyage commenced. And if any such
vessel is not provided, before sailing, as herein required, the
owner shall be liable to a penalty of not more than five hundred
dollars. The provisions of this section shall not apply to vessels
plying between the United States and the Dominion of Canada,
Newfoundland, the Bermuda Islands, the Bahama Islands, the West
Indies, Mexico, and Central America.
Sec. 12. That on and after July first,
eighteen hundred and eighty-four, no fees named in the tariff of
consular fees prescribed by order of the President shall be charged
or collected by consular officers for the official services to
American vessels and seamen. Consular officers shall furnish the
master of every such vessel with an itemized statement of such
services performed on account of said vessel, with the fee so
prescribed for each service, and make a detailed report to the
Secretary of the [Page 1914]
Treasury of such services and fees, under such regulations as the
Secretary of State may prescribe; and the Secretary of the Treasury
shall allow consular officers who are paid in whole or in part by
fees such compensation for said services as they would have received
prior to the passage of this act: Provided,
That such services, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury,
have been necessarily rendered; and a sum sufficient for the payment
of such compensation, when thus adjusted by the Secretary of the
Treasury, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury
not otherwise appropriated.
Sec. 13. That section forty-two hundred and
thirteen of the Revised Statutes be amended so as to read as
follows:
“Sec. 4213. It shall be the duty of all
masters of vessels for whom any official services shall be performed
by any consular officer, without the payment of a fee, to require a
written statement of such services from such consular officer, and,
after certifying as to whether such statement is correct, to furnish
it to the collector of the district in which such vessels shall
first arrive on their return to the United States; and if any such
master of a vessel shall fail to furnish such statement, he shall be
liable to a fine of not exceeding fifty dollars, unless such master
shall state under oath that no such statement was furnished him by
said consular officer. And it shall be the duty of every collector
to forward to the Secretary of the Treasury all such statements as
shall have been furnished to him, and also a statement of all
certified invoices which shall have come to his office, giving the
dates of the certificates, and the names of the persons for whom and
of the consular officer by whom the same were certified.”
Sec. 14. That in lieu of the tax on tonnage
of thirty cents per ton per annum heretofore imposed by law, a duty
of three cents per ton, not to exceed in the aggregate fifteen cents
per ton in any one year, is hereby imposed at each entry on all
vessels which shall be entered in any port of the United States from
any foreign port or place in North America, Central America, the
West India Islands, the Bahama Islands, the Bermuda Islands, or the
Sandwich Islands, or Newfoundland; and a duty of six cents per ton,
not to exceed thirty cents per ton per annum, is hereby imposed at
each entry upon all vessels which shall be entered in the United
States from any other foreign ports: Provided, That the President of the United States shall
suspend the collection of so much of the duty herein imposed, on
vessels entered from any port in the Dominion of Canada,
Newfoundland, the Bahama Islands, the Bermuda Islands, the West
India Islands, Mexico, and Central America down to and including
Aspinwall and Panama, as may be in excess of the tonnage and
lighthouse dues, or other equivalent tax or taxes, imposed on
American vessels by the Government of the foreign country in which
such port is situated and shall upon the passage of this act, and
from time to time thereafter as often as it may become necessary by
reason of changes in the laws of the foreign countries above
mentioned, indicate by proclamation the ports to which such
suspension shall apply, and the rate or rates of tonnage duty, if
any, to be collected under such suspension. And
provided further, That all vessels which shall have paid
the tonnage tax imposed by section forty-two hundred and nineteen of
the Revised Statutes for the current year shall not be liable to the
tax herein levied until the expiration of the certificate of last
payment of the said tax. And sections forty-two hundred and
twenty-three and forty-two hundred and twenty-four, and so much of
section forty-two hundred and nineteen of the Revised Statutes as
conflicts with this section are hereby repealed.
Sec. 15. Sections forty-five hundred and
eighty-five, forty-five hundred and eighty-six, and forty-five
hundred and eighty-seven of the Revised Statutes, and all other acts
and parts of acts providing for the assessment and collection of a
hospital tax for seamen, are hereby repealed, and the expense of
maintaining the Marine-Hospital Service shall hereafter be borne by
the United States out of the receipts for duties on tonnage provided
for by this act; and so much thereof as may be necessary is hereby
appropriated for that purpose.
Sec. 16. All articles of foreign production
needed, and actually withdrawn from bonded warehouses, for supplies
not including equipment of vessels of the United States engaged in
the foreign trade, including the trade between the Atlantic and
Pacific ports of the United States, may be so withdrawn free of
duty, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may
prescribe.
Sec. 17. When a vessel is built in the
United States for foreign account, wholly or partly of foreign
materials on which import duties have been paid, there shall be
allowed on such vessel, when exported, a drawback equal in amount to
the duty paid on such materials, to be ascertained under such
regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury.
Ten per centum of the amount of such drawback so allowed shall,
however, be retained for the use of the United States by the
collector paying the same.
Sec. 18. That the individual liability of a
shipowner shall be limited to the proportion of any or all debts and
liabilities that his individual share of the vessel bears to the
whole; and the aggregate liabilities of all the owners of a vessel
on account of [Page 1915] the same
shall not exceed the value of such vessel and freight pending: Provided, That this provision shall not
affect the liability of any owner incurred previous to the passage
of this act, nor prevent any claimant from joining all the owners in
one action; nor shall the same apply to wages due to persons
employed by said shipowners.
Sec. 19. That 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 seaman 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 reengagement.
Sec. 20. That 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, or
to give bond, as required by section forty-five hundred and
seventy-six of the Revised Statutes, to produce said seamen before a
boarding officer on the return of said vessel to the United
States.
Sec. 21. That the word “port,” as used in
sections forty-one hundred and seventy-eight and forty-three hundred
and thirty-four of the Revised Statutes, in reference to painting
the name and port of every registered or licensed vessel on the
stern of such vessel shall be construed to mean either the port
where the vessel is registered or enrolled, or the place in the same
district where the vessel was built or where one or more of the
owners reside.
Sec. 22. That until the provisions of
section one, chapter three hundred and seventy-six, of the laws of
eighteen hundred and eighty-two, shall be made applicable to
passengers coming into the United States by land carriage, said
provisions shall not apply to passengers coming by vessels employed
exclusively in the trade between the ports of the United States and
the ports of the Dominion of Canada or the ports of Mexico.
Sec. 23. That sections thirty-nine hundred
and seventy-six and forty-two hundred and three of the Revised
Statutes of the United States, and all other compulsory laws and
parts of laws that oblige American vessels to carry the mails to and
from the United States arbitrarily, or that prevent the clearance of
vessols until they shall have taken mail matter on board, be and the
same are hereby repealed, but such repeal shall not take effect
until the first day of April, eighteen hundred and eighty five.
Sec. 24. That section twenty-nine hundred
and sixty-six of the Revised Statutes be amended by striking out the
words “propelled in whole or in part by steam;” so that said section
as amended shall read as follows:
“Sec. 2966. When merchandise shall be
imported into any port of the United States from any foreign country
in vessels, and it shall appear by the bills of lading that the
merchandise so imported is to be delivered immediately after the
entry of the vessel, the collector of such port may take possession
of such merchandise and deposit the same in bonded warehouse; and
when it does not appear by the bills of lading that the merchandise
so imported is to be immediately delivered, the collector of the
customs may take possession of the same and deposit it in bonded
warehouse, at the request of the owner, master, or consignee of the
vessel, on three days’ notice to such collector after the entry of
the vessel.”
Sec. 25. That section twenty-eight hundred
and seventy-two of the Revised Statutes be amended by adding thereto
the following:
“When the license to unload between the setting and rising of the sun
is granted to a sailing vessel under this section, a fixed, uniform,
and reasonable compensation may be allowed to the inspector or
inspectors for service between the setting and rising of the sun,
under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may
prescribe, to be received by the collector from the master, owner,
or consignee of the vessel, and to be paid by him to the inspector
or inspectors.”
Sec. 26. That whenever any fine, penalty,
forfeiture, exaction, or charge arising under the laws relating to
vessels or seamen has been paid to any collector of customs or
consular officer, and application has been made within one year from
such payment for the refunding or remission of the same, the
Secretary of the Treasury, if on investigation he finds that such
fine, penalty, forfeiture, exaction, or charge was illegally,
improperly, or excessively imposed, shall have the power, either
before or after the same has been covered into the Treasury, to
refund so much of such fine, penalty, forfeiture, exaction, or
charge as he may think proper from any moneys in the Treasury not
otherwise appropriated.
[Page 1916]
Sec. 27. That section forty-five hundred
and one of the Revised Statutes is hereby amended so as to read as
follows:
“Sec. 4501. The Secretary of the Treasury
shall appoint a commissioner for each port of entry, which is also a
port of ocean navigation, and which, in his judgment, may require
the same; such commissioner to be termed a shipping commissioner,
and may, from time to time, remove from office any such commissioner
whom he may have reason to believe does not properly perform his
duty, and shall then provide for the proper performance of his
duties until another person is duly appointed in his place: Provided, That shipping commissioners now in
office shall continued to perform the duties thereof until others
shall be appointed in their places. Shipping commissioners shall
monthly render a full, exact, and itemized account of their receipts
and expenditures to the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall
determine their compensation, and shall from time to time determine
the number and compensation of the clerks appointed by such
commissioner, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury,
subject to the limitations now fixed by law. The Secretary of the
Treasury shall regulate the mode of conducting business in the
shipping offices to be established by the shipping commissioners as
hereinafter provided, and shall have full and complete control over
the same, subject to the provisions herein contained; and all
expenditures by shipping commissioners shall be audited and adjusted
in the Treasury Department in the mode and manner provided for
expenditures in the collection of customs. All fees of shipping
commissioners shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States
and shall constitute a fund which shall be used under the direction
of the Secretary of the Treasury to pay the compensation of said
commissioners and their clerks and such other expenses as he may
find necessary to ensure the proper administration of their
duties.”
Sec. 28. Before issuing any inspection
certificate to any steamer the collector or other chief officer of
customs for the port or district shall demand and receive from the
owners thereof, as a compensation for the inspection and
examinations made for the year, the following sums, in addition to
the fees for issuing enrollments and licenses now allowed by law,
according to the tonnage of the vessel: For each steamvessel of one
hundred tons or under, ten dollars; and for each and every ton in
excess of one hundred tons, five cents, in lieu of the fees now
provided by law.
Sec. 29. That section twenty-seven hundred
and seventy-six of the Revised Statutes is hereby amended by adding
thereto the following:
“Provided, That vessels arriving at a port of
entry in the United States, laden with coal, salt, railroad-iron,
and other like articles in bulk, may proceed to places within that
collection district to be specially designated by the Secretary of
the Treasury, by general regulations or otherwise, under the
superintendence of customs officers, at the expense of the parties
interested, for the purpose of unlading cargoes of the character
before mentioned.”
Sec. 30. All laws and parts of laws in
conflict with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed; and
this act shall take effect and be in force on and after July first,
eighteen hundred and eighty-four.
[Inclosure 3.]
(Public No. 85.)
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives of the United States of America in Congress
assembled, That on and after July first, eighteen hundred
and eighty-six, no fees shall be charged or collected by collectors
or other officers of customs, or by inspectors of steam-vessels or
shipping commissioners, for the following services to vessels of the
United States, to wit: Measurement of tonnage and certifying the
same; issuing of license or granting of certificate of registry,
record, or enrollment, including all indorsements on the same and
bond and oath; indorsement of change of master; certifying and
receiving manifest, including master’s oath, and permit; granting
permit to vessels licensed for the fisheries to touch and trade;
granting certificate of payment of tonnage dues; recording bill of
sale, mortgage, hypothecation, or conveyance, or the discharge of
such mortgage or hypothecation; furnishing certificate of title;
furnishing the crewlist, including bond; certificate of protection
to seamen; bill of health; shipping or discharging of seamen, as
provided by title fifty-three of the Revised Statutes and section
two of this act; apprenticing boys to the merchant service;
inspecting, examining, and licensing steam-vessels, including
inspection certificate and copies thereof; and licensing of master,
engineer, pilot, or mate of a vessel; and all provisions of laws
authorizing or requiring the collection of fees for such services
are repealed, such repeal to take effect July first, eighteen
hundred and eighty-six. Collectors or other officers of customs,
inspectors of steam [Page 1917]
vessels, and shipping commissioners who are paid wholly or partly by
fees shall make a detailed report of such services, and the fees
provided by law, to the Secretary of the Treasury, under such
regulations as that officer may prescribe; and the Secretary of the
Treasury shall allow and pay, from any money in the Treasury not
otherwise appropriated, said officers such compensation for said
services as each would have received prior to the passage of this
act; also such compensation to clerks of shipping commissioners as
would have been paid them had this act not passed: Provided, That such services have, in the opinion of the
Secretary of the Treasury, been necessarily rendered.
Sec. 2. That 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.
Sec. 3. That section ten of the act
entitled “An act to remove certain burdens on the American merchant
marine and encourage the American foreign carrying trade, and for
other purposes,” approved June twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and
eighty-four, be amended by striking out the words “That it shall be
lawful for any seaman to stipulate in his shipping agreement for an
allotment of any portion of the wages which he may earn to his wife,
mother, or other relative, but to no other person or corporation,”
and inserting in lieu thereof the following: “That it shall be
lawful for any seaman to stipulate in his shipping agreement for an
allotment of all or any portion of the wages which he may earn to
his wife, mother, or other relative, or to an original creditor in
liquidation of any just debt for board or clothing which he may have
contracted prior to engagement, not exceeding ten dollars per month
for each month of the time usually required for the voyage for which
the seaman has shipped, under such regulations as the Secretary of
the Treasury may prescribe, but no allotment to any other person or
corporation shall be lawful.” And said section ten is further
amended by striking out all of the last paragraph after the words
“vessels of the United States,” and inserting in lieu of such words
stricken out the following: “And any master, owner, consignee, or
agent of any foreign vessel who has violated this section shall be
liable to the same penalty that the master, owner, or agent of a
vessel of the United States would be for a similar violation.”
Sec. 4. That section forty-two hundred and
eighty-nine of the Revised Statutes be amended so as to read as
follows:
“Sec. 4289. The provisions of the seven
preceding sections, and of section eighteen of an act entitled ‘An
act to remove certain burdens on the American merchant marine and
encourage the American foreign carryingtrade, and for other
purposes,’ approved June twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and
eighty-four, relating to the limitations of the liability of the
owners of vessels, shall apply to all seagoing vessels, and also to
all vessels used on lakes or rivers or in inland navigation,
including canalboats, barges, and lighters.”
Sec. 5. That section forty-one hundred and
fifty-three of the Revised Statutes be amended by striking out the
last sentence of the last paragraph, and inserting instead the
following: “In every vessel documented as a vessel of the United
States the number denoting her net tonnage shall be deeply carved or
otherwise permanently marked on her main beam, and shall be so
continued; and if the number at any time cease to be continued, such
vessel shall be subject to a fine of thirty dollars on every arrival
in a port of the United States if she have not her tonnage number
legally carved or permanently marked.”
Sec. 6. That from the close of section
forty-one hundred and seventy-seven of said statutes the following
words shall be stricken out, to wit: “Such vessel shall be no longer
recognized as a vessel of the United States;” and in lieu thereof
there shall be inserted the words following: “Such vessel shall be
liable to a fine of thirty dollars on every arrival in a port of the
United States if she have not her proper official number legally
carved or permanently marked.”
Sec. 7. Every vessel of twenty tons or
upwards, entitled to be documented as a vessel of the United States;
other than registered vessels, found trading between district and
district, or between different places in the same district, or
carrying on the fishery, without being enrolled and licensed, and
every vessel of less than twenty tons and not less than five tons
burden found trading or carrying on the fishery as aforesaid without
a license obtained as provided by this title, shall be liable to a
fine of thirty dollars at every port of arrival without such
enrollment or license. But if the license shall have expired while
the vessel was at sea, and there shall have been no opportunity to
renew such license, then said fine of thirty dollars shall not be
incurred. And so much of section four thousand three hundred and
seventy-one of the Revised Statutes as relates to vessels entitled
to be documented as vessels of the United States is hereby
repealed.
[Page 1918]
Sec. 8. That foreign vessels found
transporting passengers between places or ports in the United
States, when such passengers have been taken on board in the United
States, shall be liable to a fine of two dollars for every passenger
landed.
Sec. 9. That the fines imposed by sections
five, six, seven, and eight of this act shall be subject to
remission or mitigation by the Secretary of the Treasury when the
offense was not willfully committed, under such regulations and
methods of ascertaining the facts as may seem to him advisable.
Sec. 10. That the provision of Schedule N
of “An act to reduce internal-revenue taxation, and for other
purposes,” approved March third, eighteen hundred and eighty-three,
allowing a drawback on imported bituminous coal used for fuel on
vessels propelled by steam, shall be construed to apply only to
vessels of the United States.
Sec. 11. That section fourteen of “An act
to remove certain burdens on the American merchant marine and
encourage the American foreign carrying trade, and for other
purposes,” approved June twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and
eighty-four, be amended so as to read as follows:
“Sec. 14. That in lieu of the tax on
tonnage of thirty cents per ton per annum imposed prior to July
first, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, a duty of three cents per
ton, not to exceed in the aggregate fifteen cents per ton in any one
year, is hereby imposed at each entry on all vessels which shall be
entered in any port of the United States from any foreign port or
place in North America, Central America, the West India Islands, the
Bahama Islands, the Bermuda Islands, or the coast of South America
bordering on the Caribbean Sea, or the Sandwich Islands, or
Newfoundland; and a duty of six cents per ton, not to exceed thirty
cents per ton per annum, is hereby imposed at each entry upon all
vessels which shall be entered in the United States from any other
foreign ports, not, however, to include vessels in distress or not
engaged in trade: Provided, That the
President of the United States shall suspend the collection of so
much of the duty herein imposed, on vessels entered from any foreign
port, as may be in excess of the tonnage and lighthouse dues, or
other equivalent tax or taxes, imposed in said port on American
vessels by the Government of the foreign country in which such port
is situated, and shall, upon the passage of this act, and from time
to time thereafter as often as it may become necessary by reason of
changes in the laws of the foreign countries above mentioned,
indicate by proclamation the ports to which such suspension shall
apply, and the rate or rates of tonnage-duty, if any, to be
collected under such suspension: Provided,
further, That such proclamation shall exclude from the
benefits of the suspension herein authorized the vessels of any
foreign country in whose ports the fees or dues of any kind or
nature imposed on vessels of the United States, or the import or
export duties on their cargoes, are in excess of the fees, dues, or
duties imposed on the vessels of the country in which such port is
situated, or on the cargoes of such vessels; and sections forty-two
hundred and twenty-three and forty-two hundred and twenty-four, and
so much of section forty-two hundred and nineteen of the Revised
Statutes as conflict with this section, are hereby repealed.”
Sec. 12. That the President be, and hereby
is, directed to cause the Governments of foreign countries which, at
any of their ports, impose on American vessels a tonnage tax or
lighthouse dues, or other equivalent tax or taxes, or any other
fees, charges, or dues, to be informed of the provisions of the
preceding section, and in vited to cooperate with the Government of
the United States in abolishing all lighthouse dues, tonnage-taxes,
or other equivalent tax or taxes on, and also all other fees for
official services to, the vessels of the respective nations employed
in the trade between the ports of such foreign country and the ports
of the United States.
Sec. 13. That section eleven of “An act to
remove certain burdens on the American merchant marine and encourage
the American foreign carrying-trade, and for other purposes,”
approved June twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, shall
not be construed to apply to vessels engaged in the whaling or
fishing business.
Sec. 14. That section forty-four hundred
and eighteen of the Revised Statutes is hereby amended by striking
out from the nineteenth and following lines thereof the words “and,
to indicate the pressure of steam, suitable steamregisters that will
correctly record each excess of steam carried above the prescribed
limit, and the highest point attained,” and inserting in lieu
thereof the following: “and suitable steam gauges to indicate the
pressure of steam.”
Sec. 15. That the provisions of sections
twenty-five hundred and ten and twenty-five hundred and eleven of
the Revised Statutes, as the sections of Title thirty-three are
numbered in “An act to reduce internal revenue taxation and for
other purposes,” approved March third, eighteen hundred and
eighty-three, and the provisions of sections sixteen of “An act to
remove certain burdens on the American merchant marine and encourage
the American foreign carrying-trade, and for other purposes,”
approved June twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, shall
apply to the construction, equipment, repairs, and supplies of
vessels of the United States employed in the fisheries or in the
whaling business, in the same manner as to vessels of the United
States engaged in the foreign trade.
[Page 1919]
Sec. 16. That rule twelve of section
forty-two hundred and thirty-three of the Revised Statutes shall be
so construed as not to require rowboats and skiffs upon the river
Saint Lawrence to carry lights.
Sec. 17. That whenever any foreign country
whose vessels have been placed on the same footing in the ports of
the United States as American vessels (the coastwise trade excepted)
shall deny to any vessels of the United States any of the commercial
privileges accorded to national vessels in the harbors, ports, or
waters of such foreign country, the President, on receiving
satisfactory information of the continuance of such discriminations
against any vessels of the United States, is hereby authorized to
issue his proclamation excluding, on and after such time as he may
indicate, from the exercise of such commercial privileges in the
ports of the United States as are denied to American vessels in the
ports of such foreign country, all vessels of such foreign country
of a similar character to the vessels of the United States thus
discriminated against, and suspending such concessions previously
granted to the vessels of such country; and on and after the date
named in such proclamation for it to take effect, if the master,
officer, or agent of any vessel of such foreign country excluded by
said proclamation from the exercise of any commercial privileges
shall do any act prohibited by said proclamation in the ports,
harbors, or waters of the United States for or on account of such
vessel, such vessel, and its rigging, tackle, furniture, and boats,
and all the goods on board, shall be liable to seizure and to
forfeiture to the United States; and any person opposing any officer
of the United States in the enforcement of this act, or aiding and
abetting any other person in such opposition, shall forfeit eight
hundred dollars, and shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon
conviction, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding
two years.
Sec. 18. Section nine of “An act to remove
certain burdens on the American merchant marine and encourage the
American foreign carryingtrade, and for other purposes,” approved
June twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, is hereby
amended in the eighth line by inserting after the words “and the
consular officer “the following: “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 the said section is further amended by adding at the end the
following: “or to take any seamen having a contagious disease.”