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il SS MARCH I5, Igoo. eee eee THE MARINE RECORD. MARINE LEGISLATION. 56rH CONGRESS, IST. SESSION. H. R. gI97. In the House of Representatives, March 6, 1900. Mr. Bou- tell, of Ilinois, introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary and ordered to be printed. A BILL, In relation to suits against steamship companies and other _ carriers of passengers and freight. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever the death of a person, or an injury to any person, shall be caused by the wrongful act, neglect, or de- fault of any ship or navigation company, corporation, indivi- dual, or individuals carrying passengers between the several ports of the United States, or between the ports of the United States and foreign countries, either upon the high seas, or in foreign waters, or the Great Lakes, or whether in foreign or domestic vessels, or caused by or through the wrongful acts, neglect, or default of the servants, officers, or crews of such carrying vessels, actions for damages shall be against such ship or navigation company, corporation, individual, or indi- viduals owning or navigating such vessels, in the courts of the United States, where service can be had on such offend- ing ship or navigation company, corporation, individual, or individuals, under the laws prevailing where suits may be brought, and such suits may be in rem or in personam. Skc. 2. That whenever the death of a person shall be caused by the wrongful acts, neglect, or default set forth in the first section of this Act, an action therefor shall survive and shall be brought by and in the names of the personal representatives of such deceased persons for the benefit of the next of kin of such deceased person, and either party to such actions shall be entitled to a jury as in suits at common law. Sxc. 3. That the United States district courts in admiralty and the circuit courts of the United States in actions on the case shall have jurisdiction in all such suits, and all actions for such deaths or injuries contemplated by this Act shall be instituted within five years from the time the actions ac- crued. 561TH CONGRESS, IST. SESSION. H. R. 9243. In the House of Representatives, March 6, 1900. Mr. Alex- ander introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries and ordered to be printed. A BILL. To provide for regulations to limit the length and width of tows in the United States inland waters. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and empowered, in his discretion, to make, issue, and enforce regulations, which shall have the force of law, to limit the length of hawsers between vessels towing and being towed in train, and the limit of width of tows of vessels abreast, within any of the inland waters of the United States desig- nated as such inland waters by the Secretary of the Treasury, under the provisions of section two of chapter one hundred and two of the laws of the United States, approved February nineteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-five. Any vessel towing or being towed upon which a violation of such regulations shall be committed shall be liable to a penalty of not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hun- dred and. fifty dollars, one-half to go to the informer; and the master, or person acting as master, of such vessel shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be punished by fine or imprisonment, or both; such fine to be not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred and fifty dollars, and the imprisonment not more than six months, at the discretion of the court. : $ The supervisor of any port, or other official designated by the Secretary of the Treasury to enforce such regulations, or his deputy, shall have authority to make such seizure and arrest in the same manner and by the same procedure as ap- ply for seizure and arrest for violations of the revenue laws of the United States : Provided, That whenever such seizure or arrest is made the person or persons so arrested or inter- ested shall be brought forthwith before a commissioner, A LAKE ICE-BREAKER AND RAILROAD CAR FERRY. judge, or court of the United States for examination of the offenses alleged against him, and such commissioner, judge, or court shall act in respect thereto as authorized by law. pe CON Ie ear A SYNDICATE MONOPOLY OF LAKE BOTTOMS. An Associated Press story published a few days ago in the Chicago Chronicle and other dailies, is considerable of a dream, with not even the slightest tangible groundwork for the dreamer to dream from, or upon. The story runs about as follows : “Another field of transportation is to be covered by the syndicates that within the past few months have assumed control of the railroads east of Chicago and St. Louis. Those behind the consolidations have turned their attention to the water lines and are working on a plan to combine the large boat companies on the Great Lakes with the intention of placing these in the big pool with the railroads. “All the big lines are to be brought into the fold anda common set of rates agreed upon that will not conflict or cause trouble to the all-rail lines from here to the East. It is said that Morgan, Rockefeller, Harriman and Hill are the prime movers in the lake deal. “In the lake pool Mr. Rockefeller will place his big fleet of ore boats operating between Cleveland and Buffalo, and the ore ports of Northern Michigan and Wisconsin. Hill will add all the big liners of the Northern Steamship Co., including the passenger boats, the North West and the North Land. Morgan will contribute the vessels owned and oper- ated by the Erie and Lehigh Valley roads, and Harriman will turn over the steamers run in connection with the New York Central railroad system. This will include 95 per cent. of all the big boats on the Great Lakes, both freight and passenger.”’ To those who are thoroughly acquainted with the local conditions ruling the cargo carrying and passenger service on the lakes the foregoing will appear nothing less than ignorantly ridiculous. Perhaps the views expressed by Mr. Fred. P. Gordon, of the Great Lakes Steamship Co., Buffalo, is more directly in line with the situation when correctly — '-stated. Mr. Gordon says: ‘‘The statement regarding a combination in the lake car- rying trade seems to me to be absurd on the face of it. So vast and diversified are the interests involved that I doubt if more than 20 per cent. of the total tonnage on the Great Lakes could be brought into any possible combination. To. say that it could be made to include 95 per cent. of the freight and passenger business of the lakes is an absurdity on the face of it. probable.” The lines that would first be considered in the event of a possible combination are the lake lines that are owned by the railroad companies themselves. They are the Lehigh Transportation Co., the Union Steamboat Co. (ErieR. R.), Western Transit Co. (N. Y. C. R. R.), Lackawanna Trans- portation Co., the Ogdensburg Co., Northern Steamship Co. (Great Northern R. R.), Clover Leaf Union Transit Co., Anchor line (Penn. R. R.), ‘SSoo” line (B. & O.) lake line, Wilson Transit Co., Canadian Transit Co. and the Canadian Atlantic line. The foregoing are package freight lines and are owned by the railroad companies indicated or, in the case of one line at least, are, very closely allied with them. They represent in all, about 100 vessels. The only passen- ger steamers owned by the lines, are the two of the North- ern Steamship Co. and three passenger steamers of the An- chor line. These boats constitute but a small part of the carrying capac- ity of the Great Lakes. Many of’ them are old and of the type that is becoming obsolete on the lakes. With the ex- ception of about 20 vessels the boats belonging to these lines are of 4,000 to 4,500 tons capacity, while the new vessels carry 8,000 tons. In addition to these railroad lines there is the fleet being built by the Rockefeller interest, which now numbers about 20 vessels. It is about five years since Rockefeller became interested in the lake carrying trade. In opposition to this interest is the Carnegie fleet, which is not so large, but is made up of splendid, large new boats, the peer of anything on the water. Constant additions are being made to this fleet as well as to the Rockefeller fleet. How the combination could control the passenger trade is still more difficult to see, as there are at least 75 passenger vessels that would be outside the combination against five in it. Notable among the strong passenger lines that the new combination would have to fight are the Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Co., the Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Co., and the Goodrich Transportation Co., controlling the modern passenger vessels almost exclusively. ——]$§3$— a Admiralty—Maritime Tort.—Admiralty has jurisdiction of an action for injury to one descending from a ship toa wharf by means of the ladder provided therefor, caused by the lad- der being negligently left unfastened to the rail of the ves- sel, it having slipped along the rail while he was descend- ing, and he thrown upon the wharf, and injured there. The Strabo, 98 Fed. Rep. (U.S.) 998. I should consider any combination im-