of Commerce reviewing generally the merchant marine and suggesting amendments to the navigation laws.

(b) Office of the Deputy Commissioner.-The Deputy Commissioner supervises the routine operations of the bureau and the field services under its jurisdiction. He reviews letters and regulations prepared for the signature of the Commissioner. Under the direction of the Commissioner, he prepares general letters and circulars of instruction for the guidance of customs officers, shipping commissioners, radio inspectors, navigation inspectors, and navigation officers, and he aids the Commissioner in reviewing cases presented for his decision. He considers questions relating to ships and crews submitted through the State Department by consular officers, and drafts correspondence relating to such questions. He examines the reports submitted by the field services, prepares the estimates of appropriations required by the Bureau of Navigation, and in general aids the Commissioner in the performance of his duties. He acts as Commissioner in the absence or incapacity of that officer.

(c) Office of the Chief Radio Inspector.-Under the supervision of the Commissioner of Navigation this officer superintends the enforcement of the radio communication laws and the international radio regulations; formulates administrative rules to govern the enforcement of such laws and regulations; prepares instructions for the guidance of radio inspection officers in the field; receives, reviews, and records their monthly reports; and in general supervises the work of such officers. It prepares correspondence relating to cases of violation of the radio communication laws or regulations. It assigns radio call letters to all commercial land and ship stations of the United States, and records particulars of these stations. It prepares licenses for ship and shore radio stations, and performs the administrative work involved in the issue, renewal, and cancellation of such licenses. It supervises the examination by radio inspectors of applicants for licenses as radio operators and prepares licenses for successful applicants. In cases of appeal, it reviews examination papers of applicants who fail to qualify. It keeps a card index of all licensed radio stations and operators. It compiles and edits the official publications concerning them (see "Publications," post) and annually prepares the statistical data required for publication by the International Telegraphic Bureau at Berne, Switzerland.

(d) Office of the Adjuster of Admeasurements.-The Adjuster of Admeasurements, under the direction of the Commissioner, drafts the rules and regulations under the admeasurement laws, to govern the admeasurement of vessels for United States registry and for Suez Canal and Panama Canal tonnage certificates. For the purpose of obtaining uniformity at the various ports, he generally superintends the work of admeasurers of vessels in the Customs Service. Through personal visits and correspondence, he instructs admeasurers of vessels on duty at shipbuilding ports, and he reviews plans and specifications of vessels under construction as a check upon the action of the admeasurers. He prepares decisions on questions arising out of the administration of the admeasurement law.

(e) The Motorboat Section.-This section has charge of the details of administration involved in the enforcement of the Motorboat Act.8 It prepares cor

respondence relating to the enforcement of this act and to cases of its violation, and aids in drafting decisions in questions arising out of the administration of the act. It handles matters of administrative detail involved in the supervision of the motorboat patrol.

(f) The Tonnage Division. The Tonnage Division is responsible for the preparation of the statistics relating to the American merchant marine published by the Bureau of Navigation in its Annual Report and compiles certain publications of marine statistics. (See "Publications," post.)

The Tonnage Division is also the repository for the official records evidencing sales, transfers, and other transactions involving the ownership of American vessels. It receives, reviews, and files the records of such transactions transmitted by customs officers; receives and verifies quarterly reports submitted by customs officers of the tonnage of vessels; makes records of the entry of new vessels into the merchant marine and the elimination of vessels from the existing lists; prepares and forwards notices to customs collectors of the surrender of marine documents, and maintains temporary files of surrendered documents; and prepares papers necessary to the assignment of official numbers of signal letters to American merchant vessels upon application by the builder

or owner.

(g) Office of the Chief Clerk.-The Chief Clerk assists in the preparation of correspondence relating to the collection or refund of tonnage taxes, to the disposition of the effects and wages of deceased seamen, to the documenting of vessels, and to changes of the names of the vessels. He assists in the preparation of statistical tables for the periodical reports of the Bureau of Navigation, and supervises the following administrative units:

(gl) The Accounts Section keeps the appropriation accounts of the Bureau of Navigation and audits the salary and expense accounts of the bureau and its field services. It examines all bonds, contracts, and leases negotiated by the bureau.

(g2) The Revenue Audit Section examines and verifies the accounts of customs officers relating to tonnage taxes and navigation fees, fines, and forfeitures. It compiles statistics relating to such revenues for the Commissioner's annual report.

(g3) The Personnel and Supplies Section keeps the administrative records involved in the appointment, promotion, transfer or separation from the service, and the annual and sick leave, of the personnel of the bureau, both departmental and field. It checks the pay rolls prepared by the Accounts Section. It receives and checks the property requisitions of the field service, and keeps records of the issue, receipt, and distribution of supplies.

(g4) The Mails and Files Section keeps the correspondence files of the bureau. It dispatches outgoing mail and routes incoming mail. It maintains files of all navigation fine cases, which average about 10,000 a year. It prepares monthly statements of the changes of the names of merchant vessels and distributes these statements among shipping companies and interested government agencies.

(2) Field Services. (a) Radio Inspection Districts.-For purposes of the enforcement of the radio inspection laws, the United States is divided into nine

districts. At least one office is located in each district, to which are attached local radio inspectors. The radio inspectors classify and examine for .license radio stations erected in their respective districts, and they examine applicants for licenses as radio operators. They inspect radio equipment on vessels and the equipment installed in radio stations on land. They report violations of the radio communication laws and regulations to the Commissioner of Navigation.

(b) Motorboat Patrol.-The Motorboat Patrol consists of five motor boats capable of deep sea navigation.. These vessels cruise within areas fixed by the Bureau of Navigation. They inspect ships within their respective areas, to see that they are complying with the navigation laws. They assist internal revenue officers in the collection of taxes imposed upon the transportation of cargoes and passengers, and report cases of the noncollection of the motorboat tax. They occasionally aid in the enforcement of the regulations relating to the anchorage of vessels in harbors, and the regulations relating to the policing of regattas and marine parades.

(c) Shipping Commissioners.—Shipping Commissioners are specially appointed by the Secretary of Commerce for the twelve most important ports of entry. At other ports, excepting those on the Great Lakes, Collectors of Customs act as Shipping Commissioners ex officio. The Shipping Commissioners, under the direction of the Commissioner of Navigation, supervise the making and fulfillment of contracts between seamen and masters or owners of merchant ships, and enforce the laws governing the shipment, payment, and discharge of seamen. They, or their representatives, board vessels entering port, to see that the seamen are properly paid off, and in some cases they actually receive money from the shipping companies and pay it to the crew, accounting for such moneys to the shipping companies under bond. They arbitrate disputes between crews and officers of vessels, and assist the owners or masters of vessels about to sail in obtaining crews. They take charge of the effects of deceased seamen, together with any wages due them, accounting in these matters to the federal courts having jurisdiction. They maintain records of the shipment and discharge of seamen; assist in the location of missing seamen for relatives and consuls; examine food on vessels; assist sick seamen to enter marine hospitals; investigate cases of alleged "shanghaiing"; and distribute books and magazines to ships. They arbitrate and settle disputes arising between masters and seamen on questions involving wages, fines, discipline, and similar matters. such cases their decisions as to matters of fact are final.

In

(d) Navigation Inspectors.-During the summer months, officers known as Navigation Inspectors are on duty at sixteen ports of entry. Their primary duty is to prevent the overcrowding of passenger and excursion vessels. They incidentally report upon violations of the navigation, motorboat, and steamboat inspection laws.

13. Publications

(a) Annual Report of the Commissioner of Navigation.

(b) Navigation Laws of the United States. Issued quadrennially by the Commissioner of Navigation, with an annual Supplement. These publications

serve as a manual for the collectors and inspectors of customs, shipping commissioners, United States attorneys, the owners, masters, and agents of vessels. seamen, and others interested in navigation in its various aspects. It includes the laws relating to the registry, enrollment, and license, official numbers, and names of merchant vessels and vessels engaged in the fisheries, undocumented vessels, and yachts; admeasurement laws for ascertaining gross and net tonnage, crew accommodations, and propelling power; detailed statutory requirements concerning the issue of marine documents, bills of sale, mortgages, and records; laws relating to the officers and crews of merchant vessels, including those which govern agreements, shipment and discharge, offenses and punishments, legal scale of provisions, and return and relief of distressed seamen; the laws to determine seaworthiness and inspection, provisions, medicines, and log books, and statutes fixing the liability of owners, masters, and shippers; the Passenger Act of 1882 with amendments, prescribing measures in detail for the comfort of steerage passengers, the general pilot laws, laws governing motorboats, and provisions concerning tonnage duties, discrimination, and retaliation; statutes governing entry and clearance, manifests, boarding and search of vessels; the laws concerning the coastwise trade and particular statutes affecting trade with Hawaii, Porto Rico, Alaska, the Philippines, and the Canal Zone; the power of the Secretary of Commerce to mitigate and remit penalties incurred by the owners and masters of vessels on the ocean, on inland waters, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi and its tributaries, and those defining the powers of the Secretary of Commerce over the movements of vessels; the regulation of radio communication; the appointment of shipping commissioners and radio inspectors, and various other statutes. Price, $1.

(c) Radio Service Bulletin. Price 5 cents; 25 cents annually.

(d) List of Amateur Radio Stations in the United States. 25 cents.

(e) Radio Communication Laws and Regulations of the United States. 15

cents.

(f) Annual List of Merchant Vessels containing a classified list of all American vessels. $1.25.

(g) Annual Code List containing seagoing vessels arranged according to their signal numbers. 35 cents.

(h) List of American Documented Seagoing Merchant Vessels of 500 gross tons and over; published monthly. 10 cents; 75 cents per annum.

(i) Rules and Regulations Governing the Movement of Anchorage of Ves sels in St. Mary's river.

(j) Measurement of Vessels.-Regulations interpreting laws relating to admeasurement of vessels, together with laws of United States and Suez Canal regulations. 15 cents.

(k) Commercial and Government Radio Stations of the United States. 15

cents.

453

1. Mission

CHAPTER 44

STEAMBOAT INSPECTION SERVICE

The mission of the Steamboat Inspection Service is, in general, to enforce the steamboat inspection laws and certain other statutory provisions designed to insure the safety of passengers and cargoes transported by water.

2. History

In 1838 Congress passed an act "to provide for the better security of the lives of passengers on board of vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam."1 By this act seagoing steam vessels and steam vessels plying the Great Lakes, were required to be equipped with lifeboats, life protection equipment, and signal lights. The act also provided for an annual inspection of the hulls of all steam vessels, and a semiannual inspection of their boilers and machinery. For this purpose United States District Judges were required to appoint persons "skilled and competent" to make such inspections, upon the application of masters or

owners.

The act of 1838 was continued in effect without substantial modification until 1852. By the Act of August 30, 1852, Congress laid the foundation of the present Steamboat Inspection Service. This act added materially to the restrictions imposed upon owners and masters of vessels in the interest of the security of passengers and cargoes; but it also provided more permanent and substantial machinery for the administration of the laws relating to the inspection of vessels. It established the Steamboat Inspection Service, under the Treasury Department, consisting of the local inspectors of hulls and boilers and nine Supervising Inspectors, to be appointed by the President, with the consent of the Senate. The act provided for the division of the country into inspection districts, to be in charge of the respective Supervising Inspectors, whose duty it was to superintend and direct the work of the local inspectors within their districts. Local inspectors were no longer to be appointed solely by the District Judges, but by a board or committee consisting of the Supervising Inspector for the district and the Collector or other chief officer of customs for the particular port of entry involved, in addition to the District Judge. The local inspectors, sitting as a board, were authorized to examine and license engineers and pilots.

By the Act of February 28, 1871, a Supervising Inspector General was authorized, to be appointed by the President, with the consent of the Senate. His duty was to superintend generally the administration of the steamboat inspection laws. The same act established a board, composed of the Supervising Inspectors

15 Stat. 304.

210 Stat. 63.

3 See Act June 8, 1864 (13 Stat. 120), and Act July 2, 1918 (40 Stat. 739), increasing the number of inspectors.

4 16 Stat. 440. See, also, Act Feb. 26, 1907 (34 Stat. 989).