Chapter 382 1st Session AN ACT To amend the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1937. All 67 Stat. 494. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 2 of the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1937 (50 Stat. 325, 16 U. S. C. 772) is amended as follows: Subsection (a) is amended by deleting the words "29th day of January 1937" and substituting in lieu thereof "2d day of March 1953 and any other treaty or convention which modifies or replaces that Convention" and by deleting the words "of the International Fisheries Commission". Subsection (b) is amended by deleting the words "International Fisheries Commission provided for by article III of the Convention", and substituting in lieu thereof "Commission provided for in the Convention". This Act shall take effect on the date of entry into force of the Effective date. Convention between the United States of America and Canada for the Preservation of the Halibut Fishery of the Northern Pacific. Ocean and Bering Sea, signed at Ottawa, March 2, 1953. Approved August 8, 1953. Chapter 386 1st Session H. R. 2234 AN ACT All 67 Stat. 497. To amend the rules for the prevention of collisions on certain inland waters of the United States and on the western rivers. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of the Navigation on Act entitled "An Act to adopt regulations for preventing collisions inland waters, upon certain harbors, rivers, and inland waters of the United States", etc. approved June 7, 1897, as amended (33 U. S. C. 154), as reads "That 62 Stat. 249. the following regulations for preventing collisions shall be followed by all vessels upon the harbors, rivers, and other inland waters of the United States, except the Great Lakes and their connecting and tributary waters as far east as Montreal, and the waters of the Mississippi River between its source and the Huey P. Long Bridge and all of its tributaries emptying thereinto and their tributaries, and that part of the Atchafalaya River above its junction with the Plaquemine-Morgan City alternate waterway, and the waters of the Mobile River above Choctaw Point and all of its tributaries, and the Red River of the North; and are hereby declared special rules duly made by local authority;" is amended to read as follows: "That the following regulations for preventing collisions shall be followed by all vessels upon the harbors, rivers, and other inland waters of the United States except the Great Lakes and their connecting and tributary waters as far east as Montreal, and the waters of the Mississippi River between its source and the Huey P. Long Bridge and all of its tributaries emptying thereinto and their tributaries, and that part of the Atchafalaya River above its junction with the Plaquemine-Morgan City alternate waterway, and the Red River of the North, and are hereby declared special rules duly made by local authority:". SEC. 2. Section 4233 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended (33 U. S. C. 301), is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 4233. The following regulations for preventing collisions shall be followed by all vessels upon the waters of the Mississippi River between its source and the Huey P. Long Bridge and all of the tributaries emptying thereinto and their tributaries, and that part of the Atchafalaya River above its junction with the PlaquemineMorgan City alternate waterway, and the Red River of the North; and are declared special rules duly made by local authority." Approved August 8, 1953. Chapter 407 1st Session Granting the consent of Congress to a compact between the State of New Jersey and the State of New York known as the Waterfront Commission Compact, 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 consent Waterfront Comof Congress is hereby given to the compact set forth below to all of mission Compact. its terms and provisions, and to the carrying out and effectuation of New York and said compact, and enactments in furtherance thereof: THE WATERFRONT COMMISSION COMPACT BETWEEN ARTICLE I FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS 1. The States of New Jersey and New York hereby find and declare that the conditions under which waterfront labor is employed within the Port of New York district are depressing and degrading to such labor, resulting from the lack of any systematic method of hiring, the lack of adequate information as to the availability of employment, corrupt hiring practices and the fact that persons conducting such hiring are frequently criminals and persons notoriously lacking in moral character and integrity and neither responsive or responsible to the employers nor to the uncoerced will of the majority of the members of the labor organizations of the employees; that as a result waterfront laborers suffer from irregularity of employment, fear and insecurity, inadequate earnings, an unduly high accident rate, subjection to borrowing at usurious rates of interest, exploitation and extortion as the price of securing employment and a loss of respect for the law; that not only does there result a destruction of the dignity of an important segment of American labor, but a direct encouragement of crime which imposes a levy of greatly increased costs on food, fuel and other necessaries handled in and through the Port of New York district. 2. The States of New Jersey and New York hereby find and declare that many of the evils above described result not only from the causes above described but from the practices of public loaders at piers and other waterfront terminals; that such public loaders serve no valid economic purpose and operate as parasites exacting a high and unwarranted toll on the flow of commerce in and through the Port of New York district, and have used force and engaged in discriminatory and coercive practices including extortion against persons not desiring to employ them; and that the function of loading and unloading trucks and other land vehicles at piers and other waterfront terminals can and should be performed, as in every other major American port, without the evils and abuses of the public loader system, and by the carriers of freight by water, stevedores and operators of such piers and other waterfront terminals or the operators of such trucks or other land vehicles. New Jersey. All 67 Stat. 542. 3. The States of New Jersey and New York hereby find and declare that many of the evils above described result not only from the causes above described but from the lack of regulation of the occupation of stevedores; that such stevedores have engaged in corrupt practices to induce their hire by carriers of freight by water and to induce officers and representatives of labor organizations to betray their trust to the members of such labor organizations. 4. The States of New Jersey and New York hereby find and declare that the occupations of longshoremen, stevedores, pier superintendents, hiring agents and port watchmen are affected with a public interest requiring their regulation and that such regulation shall be deemed an exercise of the police power of the two States for the protection of the public safety, welfare, prosperity, health, peace and living conditions of the people of the two States. "The Port of New York district" shall mean the district created by Article II of the compact dated April thirtieth, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-one, between the States of New York and New Jersey, authorized by chapter one hundred fifty-four of the laws of New York of one thousand and nine hundred and twenty-one and chapter one hundred fifty-one of the laws of New Jersey of one thousand nine hundred and twenty-one. "Commission" shall mean the waterfront commission of New York harbor established by Article III hereof. "Pier" shall include any wharf, pier, dock or quay. "Other waterfront terminal" shall include any warehouse, depot or other terminal (other than a pier) which is located within one thousand yards of any pier in the Port of New York district and which is used for waterborne freight in whole or substantial part. "Person" shall mean not only a natural person but also any partnership, joint venture, association, corporation or any other legal entity but shall not include the United States, any State or territory thereof or any department, division, board, commission or authority of one or more of the foregoing. "Carrier of freight by water" shall mean any person who may be engaged or who may hold himself out as willing to be engaged, whether as a common carrier, as a contract carrier or otherwise (except for carriage of liquid cargoes in bulk in tank vessels designed for use exclusively in such service or carriage by barge of bulk cargoes consisting of only a single commodity loaded or carried without wrappers or containers and delivered by the carrier without transportation mark or count) in the carriage of freight by water between any point in the Port of New York district and a point outside said district. "Waterborne freight" shall mean freight carried by or consigned for carriage by carriers of freight by water. "Longshoreman" shall mean a natural person, other than a hiring agent, who is employed for work at a pier or other waterfront terminal, either by a carrier of freight by water or by a stevedore, (a) physically to move waterborne freight on vessels berthed at piers, on piers or at other waterfront terminals, or (b) to engage in direct and immediate checking of any such freight or of the custodial accounting therefor or in the recording or tabulation of the hours worked at piers or other waterfront terminals by natural persons employed by carriers of freight by water or stevedores, or All 67 Stat. 543. (c) to supervise directly and immediately others who are employed as in subdivision (a) of this definition. "Pier superintendent" shall mean any natural person other than a longshoreman who is employed for work at a pier or other waterfront terminal by a carrier of freight by water or a stevedore and whose work at such pier or other waterfront terminal includes the supervision, directly or indirectly, of the work of longshoremen. "Port watchman" shall include any watchman, gateman, roundsman, detective, guard, guardian or protector of property employed by the operator of any pier or other waterfront terminal or by a carrier of freight by water to perform services in such capacity on any pier or other waterfront terminal. "Longshoremen's register" shall mean the register of eligible longshoremen compiled and maintained by the commission pursuant to Article VIII. "Stevedore" shall mean a contractor (not including an employee) engaged for compensation pursuant to a contract or arrangement with a carrier of freight by water, in moving waterborne freight carried or consigned for carriage by such carrier on vessels of such carrier berthed at piers, on piers at which such vessels are berthed or at other waterfront terminals. "Hiring agent" shall mean any natural person, who on behalf of a carrier of freight by water or a stevedore shall select any longshoreman for employment. "Compact" shall mean this compact and rules or regulations lawfully promulgated thereunder. ARTICLE III WATERFRONT COMMISSION OF NEW YORK HARBOR 1. There is hereby created the waterfront commission of New York harbor, which shall be a body corporate and politic, an instrumentality of the States of New York and New Jersey. 2. The commission shall consist of two members, one to be chosen by the State of New Jersey and one to be chosen by the State of New York. The member representing each State shall be appointed by the Governor of such State with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, without regard to the State of residence of such member, and shall receive compensation to be fixed by the Governor of such State. The term of office of each member shall be for three years; provided, however, that the members first appointed shall be appointed for a term to expire June thirtieth, nineteen hundred fifty-six. Each member shall hold office until his successor has been appointed and qualified. Vacancies in office shall be filled for the balance of the unexpired term in the same manner as original appointments. 3. The commission shall act only by unanimous vote of both members thereof. Any member may, by written instrument filed in the office of the commission, designate any officer or employee of the commission to act in his place as a member whenever he shall be unable to attend a meeting of the commission. A vacancy in the office of a member shall not impair such designation until the vacancy shall have been filled. |