518. No master or captain of any ship or vessel is Limitation of obliged to take a greater number than two men to number of pasevery one hundred tons burden of the said ship or vessel on any one voyage. senger seamen. seamen. 519. It is further provided, that if any such cap- Penalty for retain or master shall refuse the same on the request or fusing to take order of the consular officer, such captain or master shall forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred dollars for each mariner or seaman so refused, to be recovered for the benefit of the United States in any court of competent jurisdiction. evidence in 520. The certificate of any such consular officer, A consular cergiven under his hand and official seal, shall be prima tificate to be facie evidence of such refusal in any court of law court. having jurisdiction for the recovery of the penalty aforesaid. tion to the des 521. The act does not impose the duty of trans- Construction of portation upon every American vessel found in a the act in relaforeign port. For obvious reasons, such a require- tination of vesment might, under many circumstances, operate op- sels. pressively upon masters and owners. But the provision is limited in its application to such vessels found in a foreign port as shall belong to citizens of the United States, and as shall be bound to some port thereof; and it does not apply to vessels bound to another foreign port, and thence to some port of the United States; such a construction would apply the provisions of the act to every vessel belonging to citizens of the United States, wherever bound, if destined ultimately to return home. The act does not require that masters of vessels should transport destitute seamen, except in cases in which such vessels are bound direct to some port in the United States. 522. The consular officer is the exclusive judge, in A consular offi- such cases, of the ship in which he will send destitute cer to decide in American seamen to the United States under the conditions named above.1 what vessels to ship seamen. Entries to be 523. Whenever a mariner is discharged by a conmade in cases sular officer, an official entry thereof shall be made upon the list of the crew and the shipping articles. of discharge. Entries to be made when seamen are to be shipped. Penalty for not complying with certain legal requirements. to consular offi 524. Whenever any master shall ship a mariner in a foreign port, he is required forthwith to take the list of his crew and the duplicate of the shipping articles to the consular officer at that port, who will make the proper entries thereon, setting forth the contract, and describing the person of the mariner; and thereupon the bond originally given for the return of the men shall embrace each person so shipped.2 525. It is provided by the nineteenth section of the act approved July 20, 1840, that if any master of a vessel shall proceed on a foreign voyage without the documents required by the first and second sections of the act, or refuse to produce them when required, or to perform the duties imposed by the said act, or shall violate the provisions thereof, he shall be liable to each and every individual injured thereby in damages, and shall, in addition thereto, be liable to pay a fine of one hundred dollars for each and every offence, to be recovered by any person suing therefor in any court of the United States in the district where such delinquent may reside or be found. Masters re- 526. By the twenty-eighth section of the act of quired to apply August 18, 1856, it is provided, that it shall be the cers for the per- duty of every master and commander of a ship or formance of vessel of the United States, whenever he shall have official services. occasion for any consular or other official service which any consular officer of the United States shall be authorized by law or usage officially to perform, and for which any fee shall be allowed by the said rates or tariffs of fees as aforesaid, to apply to such one of the said officers as may then be officially residing at the consulate or commercial agency, if any there be where such service shall be required, to perform such service; and the said master or commander shall pay to the consular officer such fees as shall be allowed for such service by the tariff of fees prescribed by the President, and if any such master or commander shall omit so to do, he shall be liable to the United States for the amount of the fees lawfully chargeable for such services, as though the said services had been performed by such officer. in certain con 527. All consular officers are authorized and re- Ships' papers quired to retain in their possession the papers of to be retained ships and vessels deposited with them as directed by tingencies. law, till payment shall be made of all demands and wages on account of such ships and vessels.1 1 Statutes at Large, vol. xi. p. 63. Relief of sea men. What lieved. seamen CHAPTER XXVI. DUTIES OF CONSULAR OFFICERS IN RELATION TO SEAMEN OF THE UNITED STATES. 528. By the fourth section of the act of February 28, 1803, it is made the duty of consular officers to provide for American mariners and seamen who may be found destitute within their districts sufficient subsistence and passage to 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; and it also provides for the manner in which such mariners are to be transported to the United States.1 Relief and discharge of Seamen. in of 529. In order that consuls may understand what are to be re-seamen are embraced within the provisions of the several acts of Congress relative to the relief of destitute seamen, the payment of extra wages case of discharges from vessels, and the passage destitute seamen to the United States, they are instructed that all seamen who are citizens of the United States, except such as are regularly shipped in foreign vessels, and all foreigners regularly shipped in American vessels at any port in the United States, 1 Statutes at Large, vol. ii. p. 204. are to be regarded as American seamen and citizens within the provisions of the said acts.1 530. The relief to be provided includes board, Kind of relief. lodging, and clothing, also medical attendance, when necessary; all to be on the most reasonable scale consistent with the comfort and proper support of the individual. 531. Seamen applying for relief must be exam- Examination of ined touching the manner of their being left desti- seamen. tute, and the name of the vessel, and her master, on board of which they last shipped, and the time and place, and cause of discharge; and if it shall appear from such examination that they have been discharged from any American vessel contrary to the provisions of the third section of the act of February 28, 1803, or of any other provisions of the said act or other laws of the United States, in every such case it shall be the duty of the consular officer to report the facts to the Department of State, with such other information as may enable it to cause prosecution to be instituted for such breach of the laws, taking care to designate the places at which the necessary witnesses may be found. relieved to be 532. Every consular officer is required to keep a List of seamen detailed list of all mariners discharged by him, in ac- discharged and cordance with the prescribed form, (No. 16,) specify- kept. ing their names and the names of the vessels from which they were discharged, and the payments, if any, afterwards made on account of each, and to make quarterly official returns of the said list to the Fifth Auditor of the Treasury. 533. In all cases of relief afforded, whether the Account to be seamen who have received it be returned to the kept of sums 1 See decision of Judge Minot, late Fifth Auditor. MS. expended in re lieving seamen. |