R. S., 2158. Mar. 3, 1875. R. S., 2159. R. S., 2160. R. S., 2161. one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both such fine and imprisonment. 339. Revised Statutes as amended March 3, 1875. 66 No citizen of the United States, or foreigner coming into or residing within the same, shall, for himself, or for any other person, either as master, factor, owner, or otherwise, build, equip, load, or otherwise prepare, any vessel, registered, enrolled, or licensed, in the United States, for the purpose of procuring from any port or place the subjects of China, Japan, or of any other oriental country, known as coolies", to be transported to any foreign port, or place, to be disposed of, or sold, or transferred, for any time, as servants or apprentices, or to be held to service or labor. If any person shall knowingly and willfully contract, or attempt to contract, in advance or in pursuance of such illegal importation, to supply to another the labor of cooly or other person brought into the United States in violation of section two thousand one hundred and fifty-eight of the Revised Statutes, or of any other section of the laws prohibiting the cooly-trade or of this act, such person shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, in any United States court, shall be fined in a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars and imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year. If any vessel, belonging in whole or in part to a citizen of the United States, and registered, enrolled, or otherwise licensed therein, be employed in the "cooly-trade," so called, contrary to the provisions of the preceding section, such vessel, her tackle, apparel, furniture, and other appurtenances, shall be forfeited to the United States, and shall be liable to be seized, prosecuted, and condemned in any of the circuit courts or district courts of the United States for the district where the vessel may be found, seized, or carried. Every person who so builds, fits out, equips, loads, or otherwise prepares, or who sends to sea, or navigates, as owner, master, factor, agent, or otherwise, any vessel, belonging in whole or in part to a citizen of the United States, or registered, enrolled, or licensed within the same, knowing or intending that such vessel is to be or may be employed in that trade, contrary to the provisions of section twenty-one hundred and fifty-eight, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding one year. Every citizen of the United States who, contrary to the provisions of section twenty-one hundred and fifty-eight, June 23, 1874. takes on board of any vessel, or receives or transports any such subjects as are described in that section, for the purpose of disposing of them in any way as therein prohibited, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars and be imprisoned not exceeding one year. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to apply to R. S., 2162. any voluntary emigration of the subjects specified in section twenty-one hundred and fifty-eight, or to any vessel carrying such person as passenger on board the same, but a certificate shall be prepared and signed by the consul or consular agent of the United States residing at the port from which such vessel may take her departure, containing the name of such person, and setting forth the fact of his voluntary emigration from such port, which certificate shall be given to the master of such vessel; and the same shall not be given until such consul or consular agent is first personally satisfied by evidence of the truth of the facts therein contained. The President is empowered, in such way and at such R.S., 2163. time as he may judge proper, to direct the vessels of the United States, and the masters and commanders thereof, to examine all vessels navigated or owned in whole or in part by citizens of the United States, and registered, enrolled, or licensed under the laws thereof, whenever, in the judgment of such master or commanding officer, reasonable cause exists to believe that such vessel has on board any subjects of China, Japan, or other oriental country, known as "coolies;" and, upon sufficient proof that such vessel is employed in violation of the preceding provisions, to cause her to be carried, with her officers and crew, into any port or district within the United States, and delivered to the marshal of such district, to be held and disposed of according to law. No tax or charge shall be imposed or enforced by any State upon any person immigrating thereto from a foreign country, which is not equally imposed and enforced upon every person immigrating to such State from any other foreign country. R. S., 2164. In determining whether the immigration of any subject Mar. 8, 1875. of China, Japan, or any Oriental country, to the United States, is free and voluntary, as provided by section two thousand one hundred and sixty-two of the Revised Code, title "Immigration," it shall be the duty of the consulgeneral or consul of the United States residing at the port from which it is proposed to convey such subjects, in any vessels enrolled or licensed in the United States, or any port within the same, before delivering to the masters of any such vessels the permit or certificate provided for in such section, to ascertain whether such immigrant has entered into a contract or agreement for a term of service within the United States, for lewd and immoral purposes; and if there be such contract or agreement, the said consulgeneral or consul shall not deliver the required permit or certificate. If any citizen of the United States, or other person amenable to the laws of the United States, shall take, or cause to be taken or transported, to or from the United Sec. 2. States any subject of China, Japan, or any Oriental country, without their free and voluntary consent, for the purpose of holding them to a term of service, such citizen or other person shall be liable to be indicted therefor, and, on conviction of such offense, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars and be imprisoned not exceeding one year; and all contracts and agreements for a term of service of such persons in the United States. whether made in advance or in pursuance of such illegal importation, and whether such importation shall have been in American or other vessels, are hereby declared void. PART XXVIII.-OCEAN MAIL SERVICE. 340. Special ocean mail contracts. 341. General ocean mail service. 342. United States mail agencies abroad. 340. Special ocean mail contracts. The Postmaster-General is hereby authorized and em- Mar. 3, 1891. powered to enter into contracts for a term not less than five nor more than ten years in duration, with American citizens for the carrying of mails on American steamships, between ports of the United States and such ports in foreign countries, the Dominion of Canada excepted, as in his judgment will best subserve and promote the postal and commercial interests of the United States, the mail service on such lines to be equitably distributed among the Atlantic, Mexican Gulf and Pacific ports. Said contracts shall be made with the lowest responsible bidder for the performance of said service on each route, and the Postmaster-General shall have the right to reject all bids not in his opinion reasonable for the attaining of the purposes named. Before making any contracts for carrying ocean mails in Sec. 2. accordance with this act the Postmaster-General shall give public notice by advertising once a week, for three months, in such daily papers as he shall select in each of the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, Saint Louis, Charleston, Norfolk, Savannah, Galveston and Mobile, and when the proposed service is to be on the Pacific Ocean, then in San Francisco, Tacoma and Portland. Such notice shall describe the route, the time. when such contract will be made, the duration of the same, the size of the steamers to be used, the number of trips a year, the times of sailing, and the time when the service shall commence, which shall not be more than three years after the contract shall be let. The details of the mode of advertising and letting such contracts shall be conducted in the manner prescribed in chapter eight of title [R. S., 2941-2963] forty-six of the Revised Statutes for the letting of inland mail contracts so far as the same shall be applicable to the ocean mail service. The vessels employed in the mail service under the pro- sec. 3. visions of this Act shall be American-built steamships, owned and officered by American citizens, in conformity with the existing laws, or so owned and officered and registered according to law, and upon each departure from the Sec. 4. Sec. 5. United States the following proportion of the crew shall be citizens of the United States, to wit: During the first two years of such contract for carrying the mails, one-fourth thereof; during the next three succeeding years, one-third thereof; and during the remaining time of the continuance of such contract at least one-half thereof; and shall be constructed after the latest and most approved types, with all the modern improvements and appliances for ocean steamers. They shall be divided into four classes. The first shall be iron or steel screw steamships, capable of maintaining a speed of twenty knots an hour at sea in ordinary weather, and of a gross registered tonnage of not less than eight thousand tons. No vessel except of said first class shall be accepted for said mail service under the provisions of this act between the United States and Great Britain. The second class shall be iron or steel steamships, capable of maintaining a speed of sixteen knots an hour at sea in ordinary weather, and of a gross registered tonnage of not less than five thousand tons. The third class shall be iron or steel steamships, capable of maintaining a speed of fourteen knots an hour at sea in ordinary weather, and of a gross registered tonnage of not less than two thousand five hundred tons. The fourth class shall be iron or steel or wooden steam-ships, capable of maintaining a speed of twelve knots an hour at sea in ordinary weather, and of a gross registered tonnage of not less than fifteen hundred tons. It shall be stipulated in the contract or contracts to be entered into for the said mail service that said vessels may carry passengers with their baggage in addition to said mails and may do all ordinary business done by steam-ships. All steamships of the first, second, and third classes employed as above and hereafter built shall be constructed with particular reference to prompt and economical conversion into auxiliary naval cruisers, and according to plans and specifications to be agreed upon by and between the owners and the Secretary of the Navy, and they shall be of sufficient strength and stability to carry and sustain the working and operation of at least four effective rifled cannon of a caliber of not less than six inches, and shall be of the highest rating known to maritime commerce. And all vessels of said three classes heretofore built and so employed shall, before they are accepted for the mail service herein provided for, be thoroughly inspected by a competent naval officer or constructor detailed for that service by the Secretary of the Navy; and such officer shall report, in writing, to the Secretary of the Navy, who shall transmit said report to the Postmaster-General; and no such vessel not approved by the Secretary of the Navy as suitable for the service required shall be employed by the Postmaster-General as provided for in this act. The rate of compensation to be paid for such ocean mail service of the said first-class ships shall not exceed the sum of four dollars a mile, and for the second-class ships two |