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to lift a burden from itself of which the stronger and better organized steam-coasting interests long ago rid themselves.

The relief proposed is limited in its operations and considers all possible dangers to navigation. Only sail vessels of which the masters or mates have passed the examination prescribed for and obtained the license awarded to masters and mates as pilots of steam vessels are to be exempt from pilotage when no pilot is in fact employed. It will be a considerable gain to safety in navigation under any circumstances thus to require masters and mates of sail vessels to qualify as pilots.

The expenditure of many millions of dollars by Congress in improving channels and removing bars at the ports where pilotage charges are still obligatory on sail vessels, has reduced the necessity for such charges, unless services are rendered. These improvements have generally resulted in a considerable increase in shipping engaged in foreign trade, and the revenue derived by pilots from this increase should be sufficient to maintain an adequate pilotage service, especially when supplemented by the contributions of vessels in the coasting trade which employ pilots. Thus the combined entries and clearances of vessels in the foreign trade has increased at New Orleans from 1,448,648 tons in 1888 to 3,240,517 tons in 1898, and during the same decade at Galveston from 221,564 tons to 1,571,302 tons; at Pensacola, from 599,011 tons to 780,098 tons; at Savannah, from 335,990 tons to 695,071 tons; at Mobile, from 149,863 tons to 633,932 tons; at Fernandina, from 36,116 tons to 192,256 tons; at Brunswick, from 192,410 tons to 567,625 tons; and at Norfolk and Newport News, from 142,526 tons to 589,317 tons. At the thirteen principal ports in the States named the annual tonnage in foreign trade has increased in ten years from 2,730,207 tons to 9,084,883 tons.

It is contended that Congress is the proper tribunal to which to appeal for a correction of this unfair discrimination

First, because the Constitution vests in Congress the right to regulate commerce, of which pilotage is essentially a feature, and Congress, by its first act relating to pilotage, reserved to itself the power to regulate it as occasion requires;

Second, because Congress, by exempting steam vessels from State pilotage charges, except for services rendered, itself created the discrimination which now calls for correction;

Third, because Congress, by its liberal appropriations for improvements of the harbors in the nine States which still exact pilotage fees from coasting sailing vessels where services are not now rendered, has removed the reason by which such charges were formerly justified. A bill in conformity with these suggestions is published in Appendix A.

BOARDING OF VESSELS.

The recommendation in the report of the Bureau for 1898, concerning legislation in regard to the boarding of vessels, is respectfully renewed. The past year has again shown its necessity. The most serious obstacle which has been encountered in the enforcement of the new seamen's law of December 21, 1898, has been the lack of a stringent law concerning the boarding of vessels. In the report last year it was stated:

Investigation conducted by the Bureau has disclosed the fact that the practice of boarding vessels before they have been docked or the unlading of cargo has begun, admits of serious abuses of various kinds at some ports. Other ports seem to be free from these abuses. The laws on the subject are insufficient. Section 9 of chapter 374, Statutes of 1882 (the passenger act) imposes a penalty of $1,000 on the master of "any such steamship or other vessel" who permits his ship to be boarded in the

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United States by any person except the pilot, customs or health officers, consuls, or agents of the vessel until it has been put in charge of the customs officer, or thereafter, unless with the consent of the customs officer. Turning to the first section of the act of 1882, one will find that the vessels to which this act applies are a steamship or other vessel whereon immigrant passengers or passengers other than cabin passengers have been taken at any port or place in a foreign country or dominion (ports or places in foreign territory contiguous to the United States excepted)." In brief this law concerning the boarding of vessels applies only to the limited number which carry immigrants. Section 4606 of the Revised Statutes subjects any person who boards a vessel without the master's consent, except an officer authorized to do so by law, to a fine of $200 and imprisonment for not over six months. Under the quarantine act of 1893 the Secretary of the Treasury has power to regulate the boarding of vessels until they have passed a sanitary inspection.

Reports received from shipping commissioners and other Treasury officers (Appendix N) show that at New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore it is a practice of runners for sailors' boarding houses, clothing stores, and other concerns to board vessels, especially sailing vessels in the oversea trade, and solicit seamen to come ashore before the vessel is docked or has come to regular anchorage. Masters connive at the practice, because thereby the seamen may be put down as deserters, and forfeitures or deductions from wages may be made. The practice is not confined to American vessels, but extends to those of other nationalities, and is a natural subject of complaint in the reports of British consuls elsewhere printed. It is reported that these runners at times bring liquor aboard with them and spread demoralization among the crew. No law can be devised to prevent seamen so disposed from a drinking bout at the end of a long voyage, but a law can be drawn which will prevent the beginning of that bout on shipboard before the vessel has been brought to the place in port from which its cargo is to be discharged, and before they have received the wages due them. On this score it is not necessary to add anything to the instructive reports of shipping commissioners and others who have made the investigation (Appendix N). The evil is not confined to the demoralization and plunder of seamen. There is reason to believe that in some instances and at some ports, smuggling, especially of prohibited articles, is covertly carried on, and that seamen are encouraged to violate the revenue laws, and the Government is thus defranded. The way is open also to the violation of other laws of the United States. As a desirable measure of protection to seamen in American ports it is recommended that the Secretary of the Treasury be empowered to frame and enforce regulations concerning the boarding of vessels, and that suitable penalties for the violation of those regulations be prescribed. By vesting discretionary power in the Secretary, regulations can be framed to meet abuses, and can be modified from time to time, if necessary, to meet differing conditions in different ports. The draft of the bill proposed may be found in Appendix A. Numerous precedents in the laws for the bestowal of this discretionary power can be cited, if necessary.

LIGHTS FOR STEAM PILOT VESSELS.

The revised international regulations for preventing collisions at sea and the law of the United States for preventing collisions on inland waters contain no distinctive light for a steam pilot vessel when engaged on her station. For such vessels in British waters the British Government, by an order in council, dated August 18, 1892, and again July 7, 1897, provided a red light 8 feet below the masthead light. The question of fixing a distinctive light for such vessels in American waters, raised by the Philadelphia Maritime Exchange, has been submitted by the Bureau to the American delegates to the International Marine Conference of Washington. They unite, with one exception, in recommending that the lights for steam pilot boats in American waters be the same as in British waters. Their opinions and the British regulation are printed in Appendix K, and a bill, in accord with those opinions, is printed in Appendix A.

It has been suggested that the red light below the white masthead light might be mistaken for the port light of a small tug under way. While there does not seem to be much force in the objection, the British board of trade, through the usual channels, has been asked whether any practical difficulties have been discovered in the regulation which

has been in force for several years in British waters. It is expected that a reply will be received before Congress will be prepared to consider the bill.

TIMBER RAFTS AND LONG TOWS.

The increasing use of long tows of coal barges along the North Atlantic coast, and of large timber rafts along the Pacific coast is a menace to navigation which has attracted the attention of our maritime associations. At least so far as the towing of timber rafts is concerned any successful attempt to remove the danger will require the cooperation of the Canadian authorities, for those rafts are made up usually in British Columbia. The interests to be considered are various, and at points conflicting. By correspondence with these interests the Bureau hopes to be able to submit suggestions before the close of the coming session of Congress.

CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.

For obvious reasons, bills of sale, mortgages, hypothecations, and other documents relating to the title of ownership of vessels are recorded in the custom-houses. These records are open to inspection, and by section 4194, Revised Statutes, collectors are required to furnish to applicants certificates of material facts of record relating to ownership. Up to 1886 collectors were authorized to charge a fee of $1 for a search of title and the certificate of record. The act of June 19, 1886, abolished the payment by parties in interest of many fees which were burdensome on navigation, but provided that such fees, as a rule, should be payable from the Treasury. The fee of $1 above referred to was included in the fees mentioned by the act of 1886. The search of title and certificate of record of a vessel's ownership are not essentially public services, and there is no reason why fees for this purpose should be a charge on the revenues. During the last Congress the Senate passed unanimously a bill providing that this fee of $1 shall be paid by the parties directly concerned and not by the Government. It has since been objected that local assessors frequently require such certificates in making out rolls of taxable property and that they should not be required to pay the fee in the discharge of their duties. As all the facts which the certificate sets forth are matters of record, open to inspection, the objection does not seem valid. If assessors or private persons require copies of records from customs officers, they, rather than the Government, should pay the reasonable fee charged for clerical work. A bill in accord with these views is published in Appendix A.

LOG ENTRY OF COLLISIONS.

In accord with the recommendations of the American delegates to the Washington International Marine Conference, it is suggested that, wherever practicable, masters be required to make entries in the log book of collisions while all the circumstances are fresh in memory. The utility of such a law will be evident to anyone who has read the testimony in cases of collisions. The provisions in regard to entries in logs are contained in section 4290, Revised Statutes. The desired result can be obtained by the enactment of the bill in Appendix A.

CONCLUSION.

A new edition of the navigation laws, bringing the compilation down to the present day, has been prepared and is issued as Part II of this report. Several thousand copies are allotted by law to Congress. The edition issued in 1895 was exhausted and the many changes in the law, made by Congress during the past four years, rendered a new edition desirable. The Code List of American Vessels for 1899 has been forwarded to all owners of American seagoing vessels with signal letters, and the List of Merchant Vessels is expected in a few days from the printing office.

I wish to record my thanks to Mr. Thomas B. Sanders, deputy commissioner, and to the clerks of the office for the prompt dispatch of the work of the Bureau.

Respectfully, yours,

EUGENE TYLER CHAMBERLAIN,

Hon. LYMAN J. GAGE,

Secretary of the Treasury.

Commissioner.

APPENDIXES.

APPENDIX A.

LEGISLATION.

Following is the text of bills referred to in the foregoing text:

1. SENATE BILL 5590, FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, THIRD SESSION.

[In the Senate of the United States, February 28, 1899.-Mr. Frye, from the Committee on Commerce, reported, in lieu of S. 5024, the following bill; which was read the first and second times by unanimous consent.]

A BILL to promote the commerce and increase the foreign trade of the United States and to provide auxiliary cruisers, transports, and seamen for Government use when necessary.

Whereas the profitable employment of the surplus productive power of the farms, factories, mines, forests, and fisheries of the United States imperatively demands the expansion of its foreign commerce; and

Whereas the merchant vessels, officers, engineers, machinists, electricians, and seamen necessary to the expansion of the commerce of the United States are also essential as auxiliary to the forces of the United States in time of war, and otherwise, and to the better security of the nation and the protection of its possessions; and Whereas it is deemed especially expedient to make immediate provision to these ends: Therefore

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the first day of July, anno Domini eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, there shall be paid, subject to the provisions hereinafter contained, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to the owner or owners of any vessel duly registered by a citizen or citizens of the United States, including as such citizens corporations created under the laws of the United States or any of the States thereof, and being at the time of entry engaged in the foreign trade of the United States, which shall be entered in the United States from a foreign port, or from any port belonging to the United States the trade between which and the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coast ports of the United States shall happen not to be confined to vessels of the United States, compensation as hereinafter provided; that is to say:

The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to contract with the owner or owners of any vessel of the United States herein before described, and registered for foreign trade, for the payment to said owner or owners for a period of twenty years, and subject to the provisions of this act, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sums following, namely:

(a) On each entry of a sail or steam vessel, not exceeding sixteen entries in any twelve consecutive months, subject to paragraph (e) of section six of this act, one and one-half cents per gross ton for each one hundred nautical miles not exceeding one thousand five hundred nautical miles sailed outward bound, and one and onehalf cents per gross ton for each one hundred nautical miles not exceeding one thousand five hundred nautical miles sailed homeward bound, and one cent per gross ton for each additional one hundred nautical miles sailed.

(b) Steam vessels which may be suitable for carrying the mails of the United States or as auxiliaries to the forces of the United States in time of war or other need, if of the following tonnages and capable of maintaining the following rates of speed under the conditions hereinafter provided, shall, in addition to the compensation provided in paragraph (a) of this section, receive compensation per gross ton, for each one hundred nautical miles sailed, at the following rates, namely: Vessels over one thousand five hundred gross tons:

First. Fourteen knots and less than fifteen knots, one cent per gross ton.

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