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Ihe Marine Record. (OFFICIAL) THE NEW SHIPPING LAW. TREASURY DEPARTMENT. ] BUREAU OF NAVIGATION, Wasuinaton, D.C. June, 21, 1886. j The following act to abolish fees, etc., having been approved by the president on the 9th instant, the attention of all officers concerned is invited to its provisions: An act to abolish certain fees for official ser- vices to American vessels, and to amend the laws relating to shipping commissioners, sea. men and, owners of vessels, and for other purposes. CERTAIN FEE8 ABOLISHED. 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 col- lected by collectors or other officers of cus- toms, 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 certify- ing the same; issuing of license or granting of certificate of registry, record, or enroll- ment, including all indorsements on the same and bond and oath; indorsement of change of master; certifying and receiving manifest, including master’s oath, and per- mit; granting permit to ves-els licensed tor the fisheries to touch and trade; granting cer tificate of payment of tonnage dues; record- ing bill of sale, mortgage, hy pothecation, or conveyance, or the discharge of such mortgage or hypothecation ; furnishing cer- tifieate of title; furnishing the crew list, in- cluding bond; certificate of protection to seamen; bill of health; shipping or discharg- ing 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 licens- ing steam vessels, including inspection cer- tificate and copies thereof; and licensing of master, engineer, pilot, or mate of a vessel; and all provisions of laws authorizing or re- quiring the collection of fees tor such ser- vices are repealed, such repeal to take effect July first, eighteen hundred and eighty-six. Collectors or other officers of customs, in- spectors of steam vessel<, and shipping com missioners who are paid wholly or partly by fees shall make a detailed report of such services, and the fees provided by law, to the Seeretary of the Treasury, under such regulations as that officer may’ prescribe; ‘ ‘ . | and fifty-three of the Revised Statutes be | by is, directed to cause the governments of | actually collected at the rate prescribed by amended by striking out the last sentence of the last paragraph, and inserting instead the following: ‘In every vessel docu- mented as a vessel of the United States the number denoting her net tonnage stall 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 continned, such vessel shall be | subject to a fine of thirtv dollars on évery /arrival in a port of the United States if she | have not her tonnage number legally carved or permanently marked.”’ FINE FOR NOT CARVING OR MARKING OF- FICIAL NUMBER ON VESSEL, Sec. 6. That trom the close of section tortv- one hundred and seventy-seven statutes the following words shall be stricken out, to wit: ‘Such vessel shal! 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 ar- rival ina port of the United States, if she have not her proper official number legally carved or permanently marked,”’ FINES ON UNDOCUMENTED VESSELS OF THE UNITED STATES. Sec. 7. Every vessel of twenty tons or upwards, entitled to be documented as a vessel of the United Srates, other than registered vessels, feund trading between district, and district or between different places in the same district, or earrying on the fishery, without being enrolled and licensed, and every vessel of less than twenty tons and not Je<s than five tons burden found trading or carrying on the fishery as afore- said without a license obtained as provided by this title, shall be liable toa 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 oppor- tunity to renew such license, then said fine of thirty dollars shall not be incurred. And so much of section four thousand three bundred and seventy-one of the Revised Statutes as relatesto vessels entitled to be documented as vessels of the United States is hereby repealed. TRANSPORTATION OF PASSENGERS COASTWISE IN FOREIGN VESSELS. See. 8. That foreign vessels found trans- porting passengers between places or ports in the United States, when such. passengers and the Secretary of. the Treasury shall allow and pay, from any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, said officers such compensiation 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, an the opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury, been necessarily rendered. SHIPMENT OF SEAMEN IN THE . COASTING Pie TRADE. - See. 2. That shipping commissioners may ship and discharge crews for any vessel en- gaged in the coast wire trade, or the trade between the United States and the Dominion ef Canada, or Newfoundland, or the West - Indies, or the Republic of Mexico, at the re- have been taken on board inthe United States, shall be liable to a fine of two dollars for every passenger landed. i REMISSION OF FINES. Sec. 9. That fines: imposed hy 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 wilfully committed, under such regulations and methods of ascertaining the facts as may seem to him advisable. DRAWBACK ON BITUMINOUS COAL. See. 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, pro- pelled by steam, shall be construed to apply quest of the master or owner of such vessel, only to vessels of the United States. the shipping and discharging fees in such cases to be one-half that prescribed by sec- tion forty-six hundred and twelve of the - Revised Statutes, for the purpose of de- termining the compensation of shipping commissioners. - t ADVANCE WAGES TO SEAMEN. See. 3. That section ten of the act en- titled ‘‘An act to remove certain burdens on the American merchant marine and en- courage 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 sea- men 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 cor- poration,’ and inserting in lieu thereof the following: ‘That it shall be lawful for any seamen to stipulate in his shipping agree- ment far 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 con- tracted prior to engagement, not exceeding ten dollars per month for each month of the time usually reqaired for the voyage for which the seamau 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 seetion ten is further ameuded by strik- jng 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, own- er. consignee, or agent of any foreign vessel who bas 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,” LIMITATION OF LIABILITY OF VESSELS, Sec. 4. ‘That section forty-twu 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 carry- ing trade, 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 sea-goiny vessels, and also to all ves- sels used on lukes or rivers or in inland navi- gation, including canal boats, barges, and lighters.”? TONNAGE TO BE CARVED ON THE MAIN BEAM. See. 5. That section forty one hundred! Sec. 12. That the President be, and here- services performed had been paid forby fees IX. In case, after proclamation has been TAX ON TONNAGE, See. 11. That section fourteen of ‘‘An act to remove certain burdens on the Amar- ican 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 ton- nage of thirty cents per ton per annum im- posed 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 im- posed at each entry on all vessels which of said | 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 co- operate with the government of the United | States in abolishing all lighthouse dues, ton- nage taxes, or other equivalent tnx or taxes | on, and also all other fees for official services to, the vessels of the respective nations em- ploved in ‘the trade between the ports of such foreign country and the ports of the United States. / FISHING AND WHALING CHESTS ON. Sec. 13. That section eleven of “An act | to remove certain burdens on the American | merchant marine and encourage the Anieri- j can. foreign errrying trade, and for other | purposes,” approved June twenty-sixth, | eighteeen hundred and eighty-four, shall | not be construed toapply to vesse!s engaged in the whaling or fishing business, STEAM-GAUGES, See. 14. That section forty-four hundred and eighteen of the Revised Statutes is here- by amended by striking out from the nine- teenth and foilowing lines thereof the words “and, to indicate the pressure of steam, suitable steam registers that will correctly record each excess of steam carrie! above the prescribed limit, and the highest point attained,’’ and inserting in lieu thereof the following: “and suirable steam gauges to indicate the pressure of steam.”. ARTICLES WITHDRAWN FOR CONSTRUCTION VESSELS—-SLOP- jlaw. Commencing with the Ist proximo, each shipping commissioner, collector of | customs, and surveyor of customs will keep | an accurate record of euch official services in | his office, and a detailed report thereof set- ting forth the services performed, and the | amount that would be due therefor under | the laws prescribing fees will be made out }atthe end of each month. The accounts ' of collectors and surveyors of the customs for their earnings will be forwarded to the first auditor of the treasury. II. The shipping commissioner’s report will specify the date on which their services were performed, the nan e of the vessel for whom the services were rendered, the num- ber of seamen enyvaged, the number of sea- men discharged, the number of apprentices | indentured, the port and country from or to which the vessel sailed, und the amount of the fees. It will be sworn to as follows, and promptly transmitted to the Bureau of Navi- gation. pal! . U.S. Shipping Commis- sioner at , hereby truly and solemnly swear [or affirm] that the above and fore- going report or statement of services to ves- sels and seamen is a true and correct state- ment of the official services performed by me for the vessels above named during the period of time therein mentioned; that said services were actually and _ necessarily AND REPAIR OF FISHING AND WHALING VES- SELS. Sec. 15. That the provisions of sections twenty-five hundred and ten and twenty- five hundred and eleven of the Revised Stat- utes, as the section of Title thirty-three are numbered in **An act to reduce internal revenue taxation and for other purposes,t’ approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and the provisions of section sixteen of “‘An act to remove certain bur- dens 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 fisher- ies or in the whaling business, in the same manner as to vessels of the United States enguged in the foreign trade. ROWBOATS, ETC., ON ST. LAWRENCE RIVER NOT TO CARRY LIGHTS.’ Sec. 16. That rule twelve of section torty- two hundred and thirty-three of the Revised Statutes shall be so construed as not to re- quire row boats and skiffs upon the River St. Lawrencé to earry lights. : EXCLUSION BY PROCLAMATION OF FOREIGN VESSELS KROM CERTAIN PRIVILEGES. 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 coast wise trade excepted) shall deny to any vessels of the United States any of the cewmercial privileges accorded to national vessels in. the harbors, ports, or waters of such foreign country, the President, on receiving satis- factory information of the continuance of such discriminations against any vessels of the United States, is hereby authorized to issue his proclamation exeluding, 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 tothe vessels of such }country; and on and after the date named in such proclamation for it to take effect, if shall be entered in any port of the United | the master, officer, or agent of any vessel, States from any toreign port or place in North America, Central America, the West of such foreign country excluded by said proclamation from the exercise of any com- India Islands, the Bahama Islands, the | Mereial privileges shall do any act prohib- Bermuda Islands, or the coast of South | ited by said proclamation in the ports, har- America bordering on the Caribbean Sea, or the Sandwich Islands, or Newfoundland; and a duty of six cents per ton, not to ex- ceed thirty cents per ton per annun, is here- all by imposed at each entry upén 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: Proyided, That the President of the United States shall suspend the col- lection of so much of the duty herein. im- posed, on vessels entered from any foreign port, a8 may be in excess of the tonnage and lighthouse dues, or other equivalent tax or taxes, imposee in said port on American vessels by the Government.of the foreign county 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 perts to which such suspension shall apply, and the rate or rates of tonnage duty, if any, to be collected under such suspension: Pro- vided further, That such proclamation shall exclude trom the benefits of the suspension herein authorized the vessels.of any foreign couatry 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 situ- ated, or on the cargoes of such vessels; an sections forty-two hundred and twenty-three and forty-two hundred and twenty-four, bors, or waters of the United States tor or on account of such vessel, such vessel, and its rigging, tackle, furniture, and boats, and 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, shal be liable to imprisonment for a term not ex- ceeding two years. TRANSPORTATION OF DESTITUTE AMERICAN SEAMEN, Sec. 18. Section nine of ‘An act to re- move certain burdens ov the Awerican mer- chant marine and encouage the American toreign-carrying trade, and for other pur- poses,” approved June 26, 1884, is hereby amended in the eighth jine by inserting after the words “and a consular officer’’ the following: ‘When the transportation is by x sailing vessel; and the regular steerage- passenger rate, not to exceed two cents per mileywhen the transportation is by steamer.” And the said section is further amended by adding at the end the following: “or to take any seaman having a contagious dis- ease.”’ - 1, The first section abolishes the collection of the fees therein mentioned on and after the first day of July, 1886, and provides for the payment tothe officers concerned of such compensation for their services as each rendered by me; that no services are herein reported except such as were so actually and neceszarily rendered in accordance with the provisions of Acts of Congress, and that the amounts of the respective fees herein stated are in accordance with the tariff of ship- ping commissioner’s fees prescribed by law.” The expense accounts of shipping com- missioners will be forwarded as heretofore, but the heading and debit side will be changed to suit the circumstances, and so as to show the value of the services performed, instead of the amount deposited. The authorized compensation for the clerks will be included; but neither rent nor any other similar expenses will be charged for after the 380th instant with a view to their allowance, though they will be mentioned under the head of miscellaneous expenses, as in the case of expenses formerly not allowed from fees, III. No fees are to be collected by commis- sioners, under section 2 of the act, from the masters of vessels engaged in the coastwise trade or the trade with Canada, or New- foundland, or the West Indies, or Mexico, for the shipment or discharge of seamen or ap- prentices. Services performed for such mas- ters will be reported by the shipping com- missioners in the same manner as other ser- vices, and will be plainly designated in the report in such a way as to show the country to or from which the vessel sailed. In these cases but one-half of the fee prescrited by law for other shipments and discharges will be reported as above indicated, and in- cluded in the computation in the expense account of the amounts’ due the commis- sioner and clerks, : IV. Forms for the detailed reports of services performed by shipping commission- ers, and by the other officers mentioned in the act, will be furnished on requisition in the usual manner. ' Y. Allotments to original creditors, un- der section 3 of the act, on account of food or clothing owed for by the seaman at the time ot his engagement, cannot be mace to exceed ten dollars per month for the time usually required for the voyage for which he has shipped. The allotment must be specified in the shipping agreement, the amount thereof per month and the number of months for which it is to be paid being ex- pressly stipulated. To render such allot- ments uniform, itis direction that they shall not be allowed for periods exceeding these mentioned in the following” schedule, re- spectively: 5 : f VI. Section 7 imposes a fine in lieu of additional tonnage dues upon undocumented American vessels, entitled to be documented under the laws on compliance . with the usual requirements, It repeals section 4371. Revised Statutes, to the extent only that it relates to American vessels. So far as sec- tion 4871 may concern toreign vessels, it still remains in force. VII. Section 1l of the act amends. sec- | tion 14 of the act of June 26, 1884, so that — vessels trom the coast of South America bordering on the Caribbean Sea may be entered in the United States on payment of a tax at the rate of three cents per ton.” VIII. Customs officers will take no action under the proviso of section 11 relating to a suspension of collection of tax until they have been informed that. such suspension has been authorized by a proclamation of the President. ‘They are requested, however, * and so much of section forty-two hundred | would have received prior to the passage of | to forward any authentic information they and nineteen of the Revised Statutes as con flicts with this section, are hereby re- peuled.” CO-OPERATION OF FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS IN ABOLISHING TONNAGE TAX FEES, ETC, the act, and also for compensation to the clerks of shipping commissioners. The com, been allowed had the act not passed and the Oh RY _ circumstances have so changed us to demand pensation is to be the same as would have | a withdrawal of any privilege given in re may receive, showing whether or nota proclamation might be proper, or that the gard to the matter, capo, eR ree 4 q ty ; LA a ed