R. S., 4442. any provision of this Title [R. S., 4399-4500]. Whenever complaint is made against any engineer holding a license authorizing him to take charge of the boilers and machinery of any steamer, that he has, through negligence or want of skill, permitted the boilers in his charge to burn or otherwise become in bad condition, or that he has not kept his engine and machinery in good working order, it shall be the duty of the inspectors, upon satisfactory proof of such negligence or want of skill, to revoke the license of such engineer and assign him to a lower grade or class of engineers, if they find him fitted therefor. 68. Pilot's license. Whenever any person claiming to be a skillful pilot of steam-vessels offers himself for a license, the inspectors shall make diligent inquiry as to his character and merits, and if satisfied, from personal examination of the applicant, with the proof that he offers that he possesses the requisite knowledge and skill, and is trustworthy and May 28, 1896. faithful, they shall grant him a license for the term of five years to pilot any such vessel within the limits prescribed in the license; but such license shall be suspended or revoked upon satisfactory evidence of negligence, unskillfulness, inattention to the duties of his station, or intemperance, or the willful violation of any provision of this Title [R. S., 4399–4500]. R. S., 4443. R. S., 4445. Mar. 23, 1900. 69. Master or mate acting as pilot. Where the master or mate is also pilot of the vessel, he shall not be required to hold two licenses to perform such duties, but the license issued shall state on its face that he is authorized to act in such double capacity. 70. Oath of officer. Every master, chief mate, engineer, and pilot, who receives a license, shall, before entering upon his duties, make oath before one of the inspectors herein provided for, to be recorded with the certificate, that he will faithfully and honestly, according to his best skill and judgment, without concealment or reservation, perform all the duties required of him by law. Every applicant for license as either master, mate, pilot, or engineer under the provisions of this title [R. S. 43994500 shall make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation, before one of the inspectors referred to in this title, to the truth of all the statements set forth in his application for such license. Any person who shall make or subscribe to any oath or affirmation authorized in this title and knowing the same to be false shall be deemed guilty of perjury. Every licensed master, mate, pilot, or engineer who shall change, by addition, interpolation, or erasure of any kind, any certificate or license issued by any inspector or inspect ors referred to in this title shall, for every such offense, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment at hard labor for a term not exceeding three years. 71. Removal of master. Any person or body corporate having more than one-half R.S., 4250. ownership of any vessel shall have the power to remove a master, who is also part owner of such vessel, as such majority owners have to remove a master not an owner. This section shall not apply where there is a valid written agreement subsisting, by virtue of which such master would be entitled to possession, nor in any case where a master has possession as part owner, obtained before the ninth day of April, eighteen hundred and seventy-two. PART V.-MERCHANT SEAMEN. 72. Definitions. R. S., 4612. Jan. 26, 1903. 72. Definitions. 92. Wages. 93. Vessels exempt from libel for wages. 96. Desertion of seamen abroad. 98. Arbitration before shipping com- 99. Soliciting lodgers. 100. Return of seamen from foreign 101. Effects of deceased seamen. 105. Form of articles of agreement. 108. Certificate of discharge. 110. Jurisdiction over American seamen 111. Seamen's witness fees. sea In the construction of this Title [R. S., 4501-4613], every person having the command of any vessel belonging to any citizen of the United States shall be deemed to be the "master" thereof; and every person (apprentices excepted) who shall be employed or engaged to serve in any capacity on board the same shall be deemed and taken to be a man;" and the term "vessel" shall be understood to comprehend every description of vessel navigating on any sea or channel, lake or river, to which the provisions of this Title may be applicable, and the term "owner" shall be taken and understood to comprehend all the several persons, if more than one, to whom the vessel shall belong. 73. Exemption from militia duty. Pilots, mariners actually employed in the sea service of any citizen or merchant within the United States, and all persons who are exempted by the laws of the respective States or Territories shall be exempted from militia duty, without regard to age. 74. Naturalization and citizenship of seamen. Every seaman, being a foreigner, who declares his inten- R. S., 2174. tion of becoming a citizen of the United States in any competent court, and shall have served three years on board of a merchant vessel of the United States subsequent to the date of such declaration, may, on his application to any competent court, and the production of his certificate of discharge and good conduct during that time, together with the certificate of his declaration of intention to become a citizen, be admitted a citizen of the United States; and every seaman, being a foreigner, shall, after his declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States, and after he shall have served such three years, be deemed a citizen of the United States for the purpose of manning and serving on board any merchant-vessel of the United States, anything to the contrary in any act of Congress notwithstanding; but such seaman shall, for all purposes of protection as an American citizen, be deemed such, after the filing of his declaration of intention to become such citizen. The collector of every district shall keep a book or R. S., 4588. books, in which, at the request of any seaman, being a citizen of the United States of America, and producing proof of his citizenship, authenticated in the manner hereinafter directed, he shall enter the name of such seaman, and shall deliver to him a certificate, in the following form, that is to say: "I, A. B., collector of the district of D., do hereby certify, that E. F., an American seaman, aged years, or thereabouts, of the height of feet day of -"It shall be the duty June 19, 1886. of the collectors to file and preserve the proofs of citizenship so produced. The collector of every port of entry in the United States R. S., 4591. shall send a list of the seamen to whom certificates of citizenship have been granted, once every three months, to the Secretary of State [together with an account of such impressments or detentions, as shall appear, by the protests of the masters, to have taken place]. 75. Shipping officers. The general duties of a shipping-commissioner shall be: R.S., 4508. First. To afford facilities for engaging seamen by keeping a register of their names and characters. Second. To superintend their engagement and discharge, in manner prescribed by law. Third. To provide means for securing the presence on board at the proper times of men who are so engaged. Fourth. To facilitate the making of apprenticeships to the sea service. R. S., 4503. R. S., 4595. Fifth. To perform such other duties relating to merchant seamen or merchant ships as are now or may hereafter be required by law. In any port in which no shipping-commissioner shall have been appointed, the whole or any part of the business of a shipping-commissioner shall be conducted by the collector or deputy collector of customs of such port; and in respect of such business such custom-house shall be deemed a shipping-office, and the collector or deputy collector of customs to whom such business shall be committed, shall, for all purposes, be deemed a shipping-commissioner within the meaning of this Title [R. S., 4501-4613]. Every shipping-commissioner, and every clerk or employé in any shipping-office, who demands or receives any remuneration whatever, either directly or indirectly, for hiring or supplying any seaman for any merchant-vessels, June 19, 1886. excepting the lawful fees payable under this Title [R. S., 4501-4613], shall, for every such offense, be liable to a penalty of not more than two hundred dollars. [Fees payable by individuals abolished June 19, 1886.] R. S., 4523. R. S., 4504. R. S., 4504. 76. Illegal shipments, All shipments of seamen made contrary to the provisions of any act of Congress shall be void; and any seaman so shipped may leave the service at any time, and shall be entitled to recover the highest rate of wages of the port from which the seaman was shipped, or the sum agreed to be given him at his shipment. Any person other than a commissioner under this Title [R. S., 4501-4613], who shall perform or attempt to perform, either directly or indirectly, the duties which are by this Title set forth as pertaining to a shipping-commissioner, shall be liable to a penalty of not more than five hundred dollars. 77. Owners or masters may ship seamen in certain cases. Nothing in this Title [R. S., 4501-4613], however, shall prevent the owner, or consignee, or master of any vessel except vessels bound from a port in the United States to any foreign port, other than vessels engaged in trade between the United States and the British North American possessions, or the West India Islands, or the republic of Mexico, and vessels of the burden of seventy-five tons or upward bound from a port on the Atlantic to a port on the Pacific, or vice versa, from performing, himself, so far as his vessel is concerned, the duties of shipping-commissioner under this Title. Whenever the master of any vessel shall engage his crew, or any part of the same, in any collection-district where no shipping-commissioner shall have been appointed, he may perform for himself the duties of such commissioner. |