Chapter XXVI: Section 4511: shall not apply to masters of vessels where the seamen are (1)

by custom or agreement entitled to participate in the profits or result of a cruise or voyage, nor to masters of coastwise nor to masters of lake-going vessels that touch at foreign ports; but seamen may, by agreement, serve on board such vessels a definite time, or, on the return of any vessel to a port in the United States, may reship and sail in the same vessel on another voyage, without the payment of additional fees to the shipping-commissioner.

[NOTE.—Sec. 4511, however, does apply in part to masters of coastwise vessels whose crews are shipped under provisions of the act of Feb. 18, 1895.] (R. S., 4513; Feb. 18, 1895; June 19, 1886.)

The master shall, at the commencement of every voyage or engagement, cause a legible copy of the agreement, omitting signatures, to be placed or posted up in such part of the vessel as to be accessible to the crew; and on default shall be liable to a penalty of not more than one hundred dollars. (R. S., 4519.)

Period of engagement.

A master of a vessel in the foreign trade may engage a seaman at any port in the United States, in the manner provided by law, to serve on a voyage to any port, or for the round trip from and to the port of departure, or for a definite time, whatever the destination. The master of a vessel making regular and stated trips between the United States and a foreign country may engage a seaman for one or more round trips, or for a definite time, or on the return of said vessel to the United States may reship such seamen for another voyage in the same vessel, in the manner provided by law, without the payment of additional fees to any officer for such reshipment or re-engagement. (June 26, 1884; sec. 19.)

Penalty for shipment without agreement.

If any person shall be carried to sea, as one of the crew on board of any vessel making a voyage as hereinbefore specified, without entering into an agreement with the master of such vessel, in the form and manner, and at the place and times in such cases required, the vessel shall be held liable for each such offense to a penalty of not more than two hundred dollars. But the vessel shall not be held liable for any person carried to sea, who shall have secretly stowed away himself without the knowledge of the master, mate, or of any of the officers of the vessel, or who shall have falsely personated himself to the master, mate, or officers of the vessel, for the purpose of being carried to sea. (R. S., 4514.)

If any master, mate, or other officer of a vessel knowingly receives, or accepts, to be entered on board of any merchant-vessel, any seaman who has been engaged or supplied contrary to the provisions of this Title [R. S., 4501-4613], the vessel on board of which such seaman shall be found shall, for every such seaman, be liable to a penalty of not more than two hundred dollars. (R. S., 4515.)

Shipment in foreign ports before consuls.

Every master of a merchant-vessel who engages any seaman at a place out of the United States, in which there is a consular officer or commercial agent, shall, before carrying such seaman to sea, procure the sanction of such officer, and shall engage seamen in his presence; and the rules governing the engagement of seamen before a shipping-commissioner in the United States, shall apply to such engagements made before a consular officer or commercial agent; and upon every such engagement the consular officer or commercial agent shall indorse upon the agreement his sanction thereof, and an attestation to the effect that the same has been signed in his presence, and otherwise duly made. (R. S., 4517.)

Every master who engages any seaman in any place in which there is a consular officer or commercial agent, otherwise than as required by the preceding section, shall incur a penalty of not more than one hundred dollars, for which penalty the vessel shall be held liable.

Every master of a vessel in the foreign trade may engage any seaman at any port out of the United States, in the manner provided by law, to serve for one or more round trips from and to the port of departure, or for a definite time, whatever the destination; and the master of a vessel clearing from a port of the United States with one or more seamen engaged in a foreign port as herein provided shall not be required to reship in a port of the United States the seamen so engaged. (R. S., 4518; June 26, 1884; sec. 20; Mar. 3, 1897; sec. 3.)

Crew list.

Before a clearance is granted to any vessel bound on a foreign voyage or engaged in the whale-fishery, the master thereof shall deliver to the collector of the customs a list containing the names, places of birth and residence, and description of the persons who compose his ship's company; to which list the oath of the captain shall be annexed, that the list contains the names of his crew, together with the places of their birth and residence, as far as he can ascertain them; and the collector shall deliver him a certified copy thereof. (R. S., 4573; June 19, 1886.)

In all cases of private vessels of the United States sailing from a port in the United States to a foreign port, the list of the crew shall be examined by the collector for the district from which the vessel shall clear, and if approved of by him, shall be certified accordingly. No person shall be admitted or employed on board of any such vessel unless his name shall have been entered in the list of the crew, approved and certified by the collector for the district from which the vessel shall clear. The collector, before he delivers the list of the crew, approved and certified, to the master or proper officer of the vessel to which the same belongs, shall cause the same to be recorded in a book by him for that purpose to be provided, and the record shall be open for the inspection of all persons, and a certified copy thereof shall be admitted in evidence in any court in which any question may arise under any of the provisions of this Title [R. S., 4501-4613.] (R. S., 4574.)

Failure to produce crew.

The master of every vessel bound on a foreign voyage or engaged in the whale fishery shall exhibit the certified copy of the list of the crew to the first boarding officer at the first port in the United States at which he shall arrive on his return, and also produce the persons named therein to the boarding officer, whose duty it shall be to examine the men with such list and to report the same to the collector; and it shall be the duty of the collector at the port of arrival, where the same is different from the port from which the vessel originally sailed, to transmit a copy of the list so reported to him to the collector of the port from which such vessel originally sailed. For each failure to produce any person on the certified copy of the list of the crew the master and owner shall be severally liable to a penalty of four hundred dollars, to be sued for, prosecuted, and disposed of in such manner as penalties and forfeitures which may be incurred for offenses against the laws relating to the collection of duties; but such penalties shall not be incurred on account of the master not producing to the first boarding officer any of the persons contained in the list who may have been discharged in a foreign country with the consent of the consul, vice-consul, commercial agent, or vice-commercial agent there residing, certified in writing, under the hand and official seal, to be produced to the collector with the other persons composing the crew, nor on account of any such person dying or absconding or being forcibly impressed into other service of which satisfactory proof shall also be exhibited to the collector. (R. S., 4576; Mar. 3, 1897; sec. 3.)

Papers relating to crew.

The following rules shall be observed with reference to vessels bound on any foreign voyage:

_First._ The duplicate list of the ship's company, required to be made out by the master and delivered to the collector of the customs, under section forty-five hundred and seventy-three, shall be a fair copy in one uniform handwriting, without erasure or interlineation.

_Second._ It shall be the duty of the owners of every such vessel to obtain from the collector of the customs of the district from which the clearance is made, a true and certified copy of the shipping-articles, containing the names of the crew, which shall be written in a uniform hand, without erasures or interlineations.

_Third._ These documents, which shall be deemed to contain all the conditions of contract with the crew as to their service, pay, voyage, and all other things, shall be produced by the master, and laid before any consul, or other commercial agent of the United States, whenever he may deem their contents necessary to enable him to discharge the duties imposed upon him by law toward any mariner applying to him for his aid or assistance.

_Fourth._ All interlineations, erasures, or writing in a hand different from that in which such duplicates were originally made, shall be deemed fraudulent alterations, working no change in such papers, unless satisfactorily explained in a manner consistent with innocent purposes and the provisions of law which guard the rights of mariners.

_Fifth._ If any master of a vessel shall proceed on a foreign voyage without the documents herein required, or refuse to produce them when required, or to perform the duties imposed by this section, or shall violate the provisions thereof, he shall be liable to each and every individual injured thereby in damages, to be recovered in any court of the United States in the district where such delinquent may reside or be found, and in addition thereto be punishable by a fine of one hundred dollars for each offense.

_Sixth._ It shall be the duty of the boarding-officer to report all violations of this section to the collector of the port where any vessel may arrive, and the collector shall report the same to the Secretary of Commerce and to the United States attorney in his district. (R. S., 4575; Feb. 14. 1903; sec. 10.)

Shipment of seamen in the coasting or near-by foreign trade.

None of the provisions of an act entitled "An act to authorize the appointment of shipping commissioners by the several circuit courts of the United States to superintend the shipping and discharge of seamen engaged in merchant ships belonging to the United States, and for the further protection of seamen" shall apply to sail or steam vessels engaged in the coastwise trade, (except the coastwise trade between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts,) or in the lake-going trade touching at foreign ports or otherwise, or in the trade between the United States and the British North American possessions, or in any case where the seamen are by custom or agreement entitled to participate in the profits or result of a cruise, or voyage. (June 9, 1874; June 19, 1886; Feb. 18, 1895.)

Shipping commissioners may ship and discharge crews for any vessel engaged in the coastwise trade, or the trade between the United States and the Dominion of Canada, or Newfoundland, or the West Indies, or the Republic of Mexico, at the request of the master or owner of such vessel, the shipping and discharging fees in such cases to be one-half that prescribed by section forty-six hundred and twelve of the Revised Statutes, for the purpose of determining the compensation of shipping commissioners. (June 19, 1886; sec. 2.)

When a crew is shipped by a shipping commissioner for any American vessel in the coastwise trade, or the trade between the United States and the Dominion of Canada, or New Foundland, or the West Indies, or Mexico, as authorized by section two of an Act approved June nineteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, entitled "An Act to abolish certain fees for official services to American vessels, and to amend the laws relating to shipping commissioners, seamen, and owners of vessels, and for other purposes," an agreement shall be made with each seaman engaged as one of such crew in the same manner as is provided by Sections four thousand five hundred and eleven and four thousand five hundred and twelve of the Revised Statutes, not however including the sixth and eighth items of Section four thousand five hundred and eleven; and such agreement shall be posted as provided in Section four thousand five hundred and nineteen, and such seamen shall be discharged and receive their wages as provided by the first clause of Section four thousand five hundred and twenty-nine and also by Sections four thousand five hundred and twenty-six, four thousand five hundred and twenty-seven, four thousand five hundred and twenty-eight, four thousand five hundred and thirty, four thousand five hundred and thirty-five, four thousand fine hundred and thirty-six, four thousand five hundred and forty-two, four thousand five hundred and forty-three, four thousand five hundred and forty-four, four thousand five hundred and forty-five, four thousand five hundred and forty-six, four thousand five hundred and forty-seven, four thousand five hundred and forty-nine, four thousand five hundred and fifty, four thousand five hundred and fifty-one, four thousand five hundred and fifty-two, four thousand five hundred and fifty-three, four thousand five hundred and fifty-four and four thousand six hundred and two of the Revised Statutes; but in all other respects such shipments of seamen and such shipping agreement shall be regarded as if both shipment and agreement had been entered into between the master of a vessel and a seaman without going before a shipping commissioner. (Feb. 18,1895; Mar. 3,1897; sec. 8; Dec. 21,1898; sec. 25; Mar. 3, 1897; sec. 8.)

Agreement in coasting trade not before commissioner.

Every master of any vessel of the burden of fifty tons or upward, bound from a port in one State to a port in any other than an adjoining State, except 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, shall, before he proceeds on such voyage, make an agreement in writing or in print, with every seaman on board such vessel except such as shall be apprentice or servant to himself or owners, declaring the voyage or term of time for which such seaman shall be shipped. (R. S., 4520.)

If any master of such vessel of the burden of fifty tons or upward shall carry out any seaman or mariner, except apprentices or servants, without such contract or agreement being first made and signed by the seamen, such master shall pay to every such seaman the highest price or wages which shall have been given at the port or place where such seaman was shipped, for a similar voyage, within three months next before the time of such shipping, if such seaman shall perform such voyage; or if not, then for such time as he shall continue to do duty on board such vessel; and shall moreover be liable to a penalty of twenty dollars for every such seaman, recoverable, one-half to the use of the person prosecuting for the same, and the other half to the use of the United States. Any seaman who has not signed such a contract shall not be bound by the regulations nor subject to the penalties and forfeitures contained in this Title [R. S., 4501-4613]. (R. S., 4521.)

At the foot of every such contract to ship upon such a vessel of the burden of fifty tons or upward there shall be a memorandum in writing of the day and the hour when such seamen who shipped and subscribed shall render himself on board to begin the voyage agreed upon. If any seaman shall neglect to render himself on board the vessel for which he has shipped at the time mentioned in such memorandum without giving twenty-four hours' notice of his inability to do so, and if the master of the vessel shall, on the day in which such neglect happened, make an entry in the log book of such vessel of the name of such seaman, and shall in like manner note the time that he so neglected to render himself after the time appointed, then every such seaman shall forfeit for every hour which he shall so neglect to render himself one-half of one day's pay, according to the rate of wages agreed upon, to be deducted out of the wages. If any such seaman shall wholly neglect to render himself on board of such vessel, or having rendered himself on board shall afterwards desert, he shall forfeit all of his wages or emoluments which he has then earned. [This section shall not apply to fishing or whaling vessels or yachts, Dec. 21, 1898, sec. 26.] (R. S., 4522; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 2.)

Discharge in foreign trade.

All seamen discharged in the United States from merchant vessels engaged in voyages from a port in the United States to any foreign port, or, being of the burden of seventy-five tons or upward, from a port on the Atlantic to a port on the Pacific, or vice versa, shall be discharged and receive their wages in the presence of a duly authorized shipping-commissioner under this Title [R. S., 4501-4613], except in cases where some competent court otherwise directs; and any master or owner of any such vessel who discharges any such seaman belonging thereto, or pays his wages within the United States in any other manner, shall be liable to a penalty of not more than fifty dollars. (R. S., 4549.)

Every master shall, not less than forty-eight hours before paying off or discharging any seaman, deliver to him, or, if he is to be discharged before a shipping-commissioner, to such shipping-commissioner, a full and true account of his wages, and all deductions to be made therefrom on any account whatsoever; and in default shall, for each offense, be liable to a penalty of not more than fifty dollars. No deduction from the wages of any seaman except in respect of some matter happening after such delivery shall be allowed, unless it is included in the account delivered; and the master shall, during the voyage, enter the various matters in respect to which such deductions are made, with the amounts of the respective deductions as they occur, in the official log-book, and shall, if required, produce such book at the time of the payment of wages, and, also, upon the hearing, before any competent authority, of any complaint or question relating to such payment. (R. S., 4550.)

Upon the discharge of any seaman, or upon payment of his wages, the master shall sign and give him a certificate of discharge, specifying the period of his service and the time and place of his discharge, in the form marked Table B in the schedule annexed to this Title [R. S., 4501-4613]; and every master who fails to sign and give to such seaman such certificate and discharge, shall, for each such offense, incur a penalty not exceeding fifty dollars. But whenever the master shall discharge his crew or any part thereof in any collection-district where no shipping-commissioner has been appointed, he may perform for himself the duties of such commissioner. (R. S., 4551.)

Discharge in foreign ports.

Upon the application of the master of any vessel to a consular officer to discharge a seaman, or upon the application of any seaman for his own discharge, if it appears to such officer that said seaman has completed his shipping agreement, or is entitled to his discharge under any act of Congress or according to the general principles or usages of maritime law as recognized in the United States, such officer shall discharge said seaman, and require from the master of said vessel, before such discharge shall be made, payment of the wages which may then be due said seaman; but no payment of extra wages shall be required by any consular officer upon such discharge of any seaman except as provided in this act. (R. S., 4580; June 26, 1884; sec. 2.)

If any consular officer, when discharging any seaman, shall neglect to require the payment of and collect the arrears of wages and extra wages required to be paid in the case of the discharge of any seaman, he shall be accountable to the United States for the full amount thereof. The master shall provide any seaman so discharged with employment on a vessel agreed to by the seaman, or shall provide him with one month's extra wages, if it shall be shown to the satisfaction of the consul that such seaman was not discharged for neglect of duty, incompetency, or injury incurred on the vessel. If the seaman is discharged by voluntary consent before the consul, he shall be entitled to his wages up to the time of his discharge, but not for any further period. If the seaman is discharged on account of injury or illness, incapacitating him for service, the expenses of his maintenance and return to the United States shall be paid from the fund for the maintenance and transportation of destitute American seamen: _Provided_, That at the discretion of the Secretary of Commerce, and under such regulations as he may prescribe, if any seaman incapacitated from service by injury or illness is on board a vessel so situated that a prompt discharge requiring the personal appearance of the master of the vessel before an American consul or consular agent is impracticable, such seaman may be sent to a consul or consular agent, who shall care for him and defray the cost of his maintenance and transportation, as provided in this paragraph. (R. S., 4581; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 16; Mar. 4, 1915; sec. 19.) (Effective beginning Nov. 4, 1915.)

Whenever a vessel of the United States is sold in a foreign country and her company discharged, it shall be the duty of the master to produce to the consular officer a certified list of the ship's company, and also the shipping articles, and besides paying to each seaman or apprentice the wages due him, he shall either provide him with adequate employment on board some other vessel bound to the port at which he was originally shipped, or to such other port as may be agreed upon by him, or furnish the means of sending him to such port, or provide him with a passage home, or deposit with the consular officer such a sum of money as is by the officer deemed sufficient to defray the expenses of his maintenance and passage home; and the consular officer shall indorse upon the agreement with the crew of the ship which the seaman or apprentice is leaving the particulars of any payment, provision, or deposit made under this section. A failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall render the owner liable to a fine of not exceeding fifty dollars. (R. S., 4582, Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 17.)

Whenever on the discharge of a seaman in a foreign country by a consular officer on his complaint that the voyage is continued contrary to agreement, or that the vessel is badly provisioned or unseaworthy, or against the officers for cruel treatment, it shall be the duty of the consul or consular agent to institute a proper inquiry into the matter, and, upon his being satisfied of the truth and justice of such complaint, he shall require the master to pay to such seaman one month's wages over and above the wages due at the time of discharge, and to provide him with adequate employment on board some other vessel, or provide him with a passage on board some other vessel bound to the port from which he was originally shipped, or to the most convenient port of entry in the United States, or to a port agreed to by the seaman. (R. S., 4583; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 18.)

Wages.

No seaman shall, by any agreement other than is provided by this Title [R. S., 4501-4613], forfeit his lien upon the ship, or be deprived of any remedy for the recovery of his wages to which he would otherwise have been entitled; and every stipulation in any agreement inconsistent with any provision of this Title, and every stipulation by which any seaman consents to abandon his right to his wages in the case of the loss of the ship, or to abandon any right which he may have or obtain in the nature of salvage, shall be wholly inoperative. (R. S., 4535.)

The following rules shall be observed with respect to the settlement of wages:

_First._ Upon the completion, before a shipping-commissioner, of any discharge and settlement, the master or owner and each seaman, respectively, in the presence of the shipping-commissioner, shall sign a mutual release of all claims for wages in respect of the past voyage or engagement, and the shipping-commissioner shall also sign and attest it, and shall retain it in a book to be kept for that purpose, provided both the master and seaman assent to such settlement, or the settlement has been adjusted by the shipping-commissioner.

_Second._ Such release, so signed and attested, shall operate as a mutual discharge and settlement of all demands for wages between the parties thereto, on account of wages, in respect to the past voyage or engagement.

_Third._ A copy of such release, certified under the hand and seal of such shipping-commissioner to be a true copy, shall be given by him to any party thereto requiring the same, and such copy shall be receivable in evidence upon any future question touching such claims, and shall have all the effect of the original of which it purports to be a copy.

_Fourth._ In cases in which discharge and settlement before a shipping-commissioner are required, no payment, receipt, settlement, or discharge otherwise made shall operate as evidence of the release or satisfaction of any claim.

_Fifth._ Upon payment being made by a master before a shipping-commissioner, the shipping-commissioner shall, if required, sign and give to such master a statement of the whole amount so paid; and such statement shall, between the master and his employer, be received as evidence that he has made the payments therein mentioned. (R. S., 4552.)

Upon every discharge effected before a shipping-commissioner, the master shall make and sign, in the form given in the table marked "B," in the schedule annexed to this Title [R. S., 4501-4613], a report of the conduct, character, and qualifications of the persons discharged; or may state in such form, that he declines to give any opinion upon such particulars, or upon any of them; and the commissioner shall keep a register of the same, and shall, if desired so to do by any seaman, give to him or indorse on his certificate of discharge a copy of so much of such report as concerns him. (R. S., 4553.)

A seaman's right to wages and provisions shall be taken to commence either at the time at which he commences work, or at the time specified in the agreement for his commencement of work or presence on board, whichever first happens. (R. S., 4524.)

No right to wages shall be dependent on the earning of freight by the vessel; but every seaman or apprentice who would be entitled to demand and receive any wages if the vessel on which he has served had earned freight, shall, subject to all other rules of law and conditions applicable to the case, be entitled to claim and recover the same of the master or owner in personam, notwithstanding that freight has not been earned. But in all cases of wreck or loss of vessel, proof that any seaman or apprentice has not exerted himself to the utmost to save the vessel, cargo, and stores, shall bar his claim. (R. S., 4525.)

In cases where the service of any seaman terminates before the period contemplated in the agreement, by reason of the loss or wreck of the vessel, such seaman shall be entitled to wages for the time of service prior to such termination, but not for any further period. Such seaman shall be considered as a destitute seaman and shall be treated and transported to port of shipment as provided in sections forty-five hundred and seventy-seven, forty-five hundred and seventy-eight, and forty-five hundred and seventy-nine of the Revised Statutes of the United States. [This section shall not apply to fishing or whaling vessels or yachts—Dec. 21, 1898, sec. 26.] (R. S., 4526; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 3.)

Any seaman who has signed an agreement and is afterward discharged before the commencement of the voyage or before one month's wages are earned, without fault on his part justifying such discharge, and without his consent, shall be entitled to receive from the master or owner, in addition to any wages he may have earned, a sum equal in amount to one month's wages as compensation, and may, on adducing evidence satisfactory to the court hearing the case, of having been improperly discharged, recover such compensation as if it were wages duly earned. (R. S., 4527.)

No seaman or apprentice shall be entitled to wages for any period during which he unlawfully refuses or neglects to work when required, after the time fixed by the agreement for him to begin work, nor, unless the court hearing the case otherwise directs, for any period during which he is lawfully imprisoned for any offense committed by him. (R. S., 4528.)

The master or owner or any vessel making coasting voyages shall pay to every seaman his wages within two days after the termination of the agreement under which he was shipped, or at the time such seaman is discharged, whichever first happens; and in case of vessels making foreign voyages, or from a port on the Atlantic to a port on the Pacific, or vice versa, within twenty-four hours after the cargo has been discharged, or within four days after the seaman has been discharged, whichever first happens; and in all cases the seaman shall be entitled to be paid at the time of his discharge on account of wages a sum equal to one-third part of the balance due him. Every master or owner who refuses or neglects to make payment in the manner hereinbefore mentioned without sufficient cause shall pay to the seaman a sum equal to two days' pay for each and every day during which payment is delayed beyond the respective periods, which sum shall be recoverable as wages in any claim made before the court; but this section shall not apply to masters or owners of any vessel the seamen of which are entitled to share in the profits of the cruise or voyage. [This section shall not apply to fishing or whaling vessels or yachts—Dec. 21, 1898, sec. 26—but this section shall apply to all vessels engaged in the taking of oysters—June 28, 1906, sec. 4.] (R. S. 4529; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 4; June 28, 1906; sec. 4. Mar. 4, 1915; sec. 3.) (Effective beginning Nov. 4, 1915.)

Every seaman on a vessel of the United States shall be entitled to receive on demand from the master of the vessel to which he belongs one-half part of the wages which he shall have then earned at every port where such vessel, after the voyage has been commenced, shall load or deliver cargo before the voyage is ended and all stipulations in the contract to the contrary shall be void: _Provided_, Such a demand shall not be made before the expiration of, nor oftener than once in five days. Any failure on the part of the master to comply with this demand shall release the seaman from his contract and he shall be entitled to full payment of wages earned. And when the voyage is ended every such seaman shall be entitled to the remainder of the wages which shall then be due him, as provided in section forty-five hundred and twenty-nine of the Revised Statutes: _Provided further_, That notwithstanding any release signed by any seaman under section forty-five hundred and fifty-two of the Revised Statutes any court having jurisdiction may upon good cause shown set aside such release and take such action as justice shall require: _And provided further_, That this section shall apply to seamen on foreign vessels while in harbors of the United States, and the courts of the United States shall be open to such seamen for its enforcement. [This section shall not apply to fishing or whaling vessels or yachts—Dec. 21, 1898, sec. 26.] (R. S., 4530; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 5; Mar. 4, 1915, sec. 4.) (Effective on American vessels beginning Nov. 4, 1915; on vessels of foreign nations not covered by treaties Mar. 4, 1916; on vessels of other foreign nations after termination of treaties.)

Whenever the wages of any seaman are not paid within ten days after the time when the same ought to be paid according to the provisions of this Title [R. S., 4501-4613], or any dispute arises between the master and seamen touching wages, the district judge for the judicial district where the vessel is, or in case his residence be more than three miles from the place, or he be absent from the place of his residence, then, any judge or justice of the peace, or any commissioner of a district court, may summon the master of such vessel to appear before him, to show cause why process should not issue against such vessel, her tackle, apparel, and furniture, according to the course of admiralty courts, to answer for the wages. (R. S., 4546; May 28, 1896.)

If the master against whom such summons is issued neglects to appear, or, appearing, does not show that the wages are paid or otherwise satisfied or forfeited, and if the matter in dispute is not forthwith settled, the judge or justice or commissioner shall certify to the clerk of the district court that there is sufficient cause of complaint whereon to found admiralty process; and thereupon the clerk of such court shall issue process against the vessel. In all cases where the matter in demand does not exceed one hundred dollars the return day of the monition or citation shall be the first day of a stated or special session of court next succeeding the third day after the service of the monition or citation, and on the return of process in open court, duly served, either party may proceed therein to proofs and hearing without other notice, and final judgment shall be given according to the usual course of admiralty courts in such cases. In such suits all the seamen having cause of complaint of the like kind against the same vessel may be joined as complainants, and it shall be incumbent on the master to produce the contract and log book, if required to ascertain any matter in dispute; otherwise the complainants shall be permitted to state the contents thereof, and the burden of proof of the contrary shall be on the master. But nothing herein contained shall prevent any seaman from maintaining any action at common law for the recovery of his wages, or having immediate process out of any court having admiralty jurisdiction wherever any vessel may be found, in case she shall have left the port of delivery where her voyage ended before payment of the wages, or in case she shall be about to proceed to sea before the end of the ten days next after the day when such wages are due, in accordance with section forty-five hundred and twenty-nine of the Revised Statutes. [This section shall not apply to fishing or whaling vessels or yachts—Dec. 21, 1898, sec. 26—but this section shall apply to all vessels engaged in the taking of oysters—June 28, 1906, sec. 4.] (R. S., 4547; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 6; June 28, 1906; sec. 4.)

Moneys paid under the laws of the United States, by direction of consular officers or agents, at any foreign port or place, as wages, extra or otherwise, due American seamen, shall be paid in gold or its equivalent, without any deduction whatever any contract to the contrary notwithstanding. (R. S., 4548.)

Any question concerning the forfeiture of, or deductions from, the wages of any seaman or apprentice, may be determined in any proceeding lawfully instituted with respect to such wages, notwithstanding the offense in respect of which such question arises, though hereby made punishable by imprisonment as well as forfeiture, has not been made the subject of any criminal proceeding. (R. S., 4603.)

Whenever in any proceeding relating to seamen's wages it is shown that any seaman or apprentice has, in the course of the voyage, been convicted of any offense by any competent tribunal, and rightfully punished therefor, by imprisonment or otherwise, the court hearing the case may direct a part of the wages due to such seaman not exceeding fifteen dollars, to be applied in reimbursing any costs properly incurred by the master in procuring such conviction and punishment. (R. S., 4605.)

Advances and allotments of wages.

(_a_) It shall be, and is hereby, made unlawful in any case to pay any seaman wages in advance of the time when he has actually earned the same, or to pay such advance wages, or to make any order, or note, or other evidence of indebtedness therefor to any other person, or to pay any person, for the shipment of seamen when payment is deducted or to be deducted from a seaman's wages. Any person violating any of the foregoing provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $100, and may also be imprisoned for a period of not exceeding six months, at the discretion of the court. The payment of such advance wages or allotment shall in no case except as herein provided absolve the vessel or the master or the owner thereof from the full payment of wages after the same shall have been actually earned, and shall be no defense to a libel suit or action of the recovery of such wages. If any person shall demand or receive, either directly or indirectly, from any seaman or other person seeking employment, as seaman, or from any person on his behalf, any remuneration whatever for providing him with employment, he shall for every such offense be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be imprisoned not more than six months or fined not more than $500.

(_b_) It shall be lawful for any seaman to stipulate in his shipping agreement for an allotment of any portion of the wages he may earn to his grandparents, parents, wife, sister, or children.

(_c_) No allotment shall be valid unless in writing and signed by and approved by the shipping-commissioner. It shall be the duty of the said commissioner to examine such allotments and the parties to them and enforce compliance with the law. All stipulations for the allotment of any part of the wages of a seaman during his absence which are made at the commencement of the voyage shall be inserted in the agreement and shall state the amounts and times of the payments to be made and the persons to whom the payments are to be made.

(_d_) No allotment except as provided for in this section shall be lawful. Any person who shall falsely claim to be such relation, as above described, of a seaman under this section shall for every such offense be punished by a fine not exceeding $500 or imprisonment not exceeding six months, at the discretion of the court.

(_e_) This section shall apply as well to foreign vessels while in waters of the United States, as to vessels of the United States, and any master, owner, consignee, or agent of any foreign vessel who has violated its provisions shall be liable to the same penalty that the master, owner, or agent of a vessel of the United States would be for similar violation.

The master, owner, consignee, or agent of any vessel of the United States, or of any foreign vessel seeking clearance from a port of the United States, shall present his shipping articles at the office of clearance, and no clearance shall be granted any such vessel unless the provisions of this section have been complied with.

(_f_) Under the direction of the Secretary of Commerce the Commissioner of Navigation shall make regulations to carry out this section. [This section shall not apply to fishing or whaling vessels or yachts—Dec. 21, 1898, sec. 26—but this section shall apply to all vessels engaged in the taking of oysters—June 28, 1906, sec. 4.] (Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 24; Apr. 26, 1904; June 28, 1906; sec. 4; Mar. 4, 1915; sec. 11.) (Effective on American vessels beginning Nov. 4, 1915; on vessels of foreign nations not covered by treaties Mar. 4, 1916; on vessels of other foreign nations after termination of treaties.)

Wages and clothing exempt from attachment.

No wages due or accruing to any seaman or apprentice shall be subject to attachment or arrestment from any court, and every payment of wages to a seaman or apprentice shall be valid in law, notwithstanding any previous sale or assignment of wages or of any attachment, encumbrance, or arrestment thereon; and no assignment or sale of wages or of salvage made prior to the accruing thereof shall bind the party making the same, except such allotments as are authorized by this title. This section shall apply to fishermen employed on fishing vessels as well as to seamen: _Provided_, That nothing contained in this or any preceding section shall interfere with the order by any court regarding the payment by any seaman of any part of his wages for the support and maintenance of his wife and minor children. (Mar. 4, 1915; sec. 12.) (Effective beginning Nov. 4, 1915.)

The clothing of any seaman shall be exempt from attachment, and any person who shall detain such clothing when demanded by the owner shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be imprisoned not more than six months or fined not more than five hundred dollars, or both. (Feb. 18, 1895; Apr. 11, 1904.)

No sum exceeding one dollar shall be recoverable from any seaman, by any one person, for any debt contracted during the time such seaman shall actually belong to any vessel, until the voyage for which such seaman engaged shall be ended. (R. S., 4537.)

Desertion of seamen abroad.

It shall be the duty of all consular officers to discountenance insubordination by every means in their power and, where the local authorities can be usefully employed for that purpose, to lend their aid and use their exertions to that end in the most effectual manner. In all cases where seamen or officers are accused, the consular officer shall inquire into the facts and proceed as provided in section forty-five hundred and eighty-three of the Revised Statutes; and the officer discharging such seaman shall enter upon the crew list and shipping articles and official log the cause of such discharge and the particulars in which the cruel or unusual treatment consisted and subscribe his name thereto officially. He shall read the entry made in the official log to the master, and his reply thereto, if any, shall likewise be entered and subscribed in the same manner. (R. S., 4600; Dec. 21, 1898; sec. 21; Mar. 4, 1915; sec. 8.) (Effective beginning Nov. 4, 1915.)

Desertion of foreign seamen in the United States.

On application of a consul or vice-consul of any foreign government having a treaty with the United States stipulating for the restoration of seamen deserting, made in writing, stating that the person therein named has deserted from a vessel of any such government, while in any port of the United States, and on proof by the exhibition of the register of the vessel, ship's roll, or other official document, that the person named belonged, at the time of desertion, to the crew of such vessel, it shall be the duty of any court, judge, commissioner of any circuit court, justice, or other magistrate, having competent power, to issue warrants to cause such person to be arrested for examination. If, on examination, the facts stated are found to be true, the person arrested not being a citizen of the United States, shall be delivered up to the consul or vice-consul, to be sent back to the dominions of any such government, or, on the request and at the expense of the consul or vice-consul, shall be detained until the consul or vice-consul finds an opportunity to send him back to the dominions of any such government. No person so arrested shall be detained more than two months after his arrest; but at the end of that time shall be set at liberty, and shall not be again molested for the same cause. If any such deserter shall be found to have committed any crime or offense, his surrender may be delayed until the tribunal before which the case shall be depending, or may be cognizable, shall have pronounced its sentence, and such sentence shall have been carried into effect. (R. S., 5280.)

Repeal of treaties and conventions.

In the judgment of Congress articles in treaties and conventions of the United States, in so far as they provide for the arrest and imprisonment of officers and seamen deserting or charged with desertion from merchant vessels of the United States in foreign countries, and for the arrest and imprisonment of officers and seamen deserting or charged with desertion from merchant vessels of foreign nations in the United States and the Territories and possessions thereof, and for the cooperation, aid, and protection of competent legal authorities in effecting such arrest or imprisonment and any other treaty provision in conflict with the provisions of this Act, ought to be terminated, and to this end the President be, and he is hereby, requested and directed, within ninety days after the passage of this Act, to give notice to the several Governments, respectively, that so much as hereinbefore described of all such treaties and conventions between the United States and foreign Governments will terminate on the expiration of such periods after notices have been given as may be required in such treaties and conventions. (Mar. 4, 1915; sec. 16.)

Upon the expiration after notice of the periods required, respectively, by said treaties and conventions and of one year in the case of the independent State of the Kongo, so much as hereinbefore described in each and every one of said articles shall be deemed and held to have expired and to be of no force and effect, and thereupon section fifty-two hundred and eighty and so much of section four thousand and eighty-one of the Revised Statutes as relates to the arrest or imprisonment of officers and seamen deserting or charged with desertion from merchant vessels of foreign nations in the United States and Territories and possessions thereof, and for the cooperation, aid, and protection of competent legal authorities in effecting such arrest or imprisonment, shall be, and is hereby, repealed. (Sec. 17.)

Arbitration before shipping commissioner.

Every shipping-commissioner shall hear and decide any question whatsoever between a master, consignee, agent, or owner, and any of his crew, which both parties agree in writing to submit to him; and every award so made by him shall be binding on both parties, and shall, in any legal proceedings which may be taken in the matter, before any court of justice, be deemed to be conclusive as to the rights of parties. And any document under the hand and official seal of a commissioner purporting to be such submission or award, shall be prima-facie evidence thereof. (R. S., 4554; Aug. 19, 1890.)

In any proceeding relating to the wages, claims, or discharge of a seaman, carried on before any shipping-commissioner, under the provisions of this Title [R. S., 4501-4613], such shipping-commissioner may call upon the owner, or his agent, or upon the master, or any mate, or any other member of the crew, to produce any log-books, papers, or other documents in their possession or power, respectively, relating to any matter in question in such proceedings, and may call before him and examine any of such persons, being then at or near the place, on any such matter; and every owner, agent, master, mate, or other member of the crew who, when called upon by the shipping-commissioner, does not produce any such books, papers, or documents, if in his possession or power, or does not appear and give evidence, shall, unless he shows some reasonable cause for such a default, be liable to a penalty of not more than one hundred dollars for each offense; and, on application made by the shipping-commissioner, shall be further punished, in the discretion of the court, as in other cases of contempt of the process of the court. (R. S., 4555.)

Soliciting lodgers.

If, within twenty-four hours after the arrival of any vessel at any port in the United States, any person, then being on board such vessel, solicits any seaman to become a lodger at the house of any person letting lodgings for hire, or takes out of such vessel any effects of any seaman, except under his personal direction, and with the permission of the master, he shall, for every such offense, be punishable by a fine of not more than fifty dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than three months. This section shall apply to vessels of the United States engaged in the foreign trade and to foreign vessels. (R. S., 4607; Apr. 13, 1904.)

Return of seamen from foreign ports, Alaska, and insular ports.

It shall be the duty of the consuls, vice-consuls, commercial agents, and vice-commercial agents, from time to time, to provide for the seamen of the United States, who may be found destitute within their districts, respectively, sufficient subsistence and passages to some port in the United States, in the most reasonable manner, at the expense of the United States, subject to such instructions as the Secretary of State shall give. The seamen shall, if able, be bound to do duty on board the vessels in which they may be transported, according to their several abilities. (R. S., 4577.)

Relief and protection of American seamen in foreign countries, and shipwrecked American seamen in the Territory of Alaska, in the Hawaiian Islands, Porto Rico, the Panama Canal Zone, and the Philippine Islands, $20,000. (Mar. 4, 1915.)

All masters of vessels of the United States, and bound to some port of the same, are required to take such destitute seamen on board their vessels, at the request of consular officers, and to transport them to the port in the United States to which such vessel may be bound, on such terms, not exceeding ten dollars for each person for voyages of not more than thirty days, and not exceeding twenty dollars for each person for longer voyages, as may be agreed between the master and the consular officer, when the transportation is by a sailing vessel; and the regular steerage passenger rate not to exceed two cents per mile when the transportation is by steamer; and said consular officer shall issue certificates for such transportation, which certificates shall be assignable for collection. If any such destitute seaman is so disabled or ill as to be unable to perform duty, the consular officer shall so certify in the certificate of transportation, and such additional compensation shall be paid as the Comptroller of the Treasury shall deem proper. Every such master who refuses to receive and transport such seamen on the request or order of such consular officer shall be liable to the United States in a penalty of one hundred dollars for each seaman so refused. The certificate of any such consular officer, given under his hand and official seal, shall be presumptive evidence of such refusal in any court of law having jurisdiction for the recovery of the penalty. No master of any vessel shall, however, be obliged to take a greater number than one man to every one hundred tons burden of the vessel on any one voyage, or to take any seaman having a contagious disease. (R. S., 4578; June 26, 1884; sec. 9; June 19, 1886; sec. 18.)

Whenever distressed seamen of the United States are transported from foreign ports where there is no consular officer of the United States, to ports of the United States, there shall be allowed to the master or owner of each vessel, in which they are transported, such reasonable compensation, in addition to the allowance now fixed by law, as shall be deemed equitable by the Comptroller of the Treasury. (R. S., 4579.)

Effects of deceased seamen.