SEC. 4187. Every collector or officer who knowingly makes, or is concerned in making, any false register or record, or who knowingly grants or is concerned in granting, any faise certificate of registry or record of or for any vessel, or any other false document whatever touching the same, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this Title, or who designedly takes any other or greater fees than are by this Title allowed, or who receives any voluntary reward or gratuity for any of the services performed, pursuant thereto; and every surveyor or other person appointed to measure any vessel, who willfully delivers to any collector or naval officer a false description of such vessel, to be registered or recorded, shall be punishable by a fine of one thousand dollars, and be rendered incapable of serving in any office of trust or profit under the United States.

SEC. 4188. If any person authorized and required by this Title to perform, as an officer, any act or thing, willfully neglects to do or perform the same, according to the true intent and meaning of this Title, he shall, if not subject to the penalty and disqualification prescribed in the preceding section, be punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars for the first offense, and by a like fine for the second offense, and shall thenceforth be rendered incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under the United States.

SEC. 4189. Whenever any certificate of registry, enrollment, or license, or other record or document granted in lieu thereof, to any vessel, is knowingly and fraudulently obtained or used for any vessel not entitled to the benefit thereof, such vessel, with her tackle, apparel, and furniture, shall be liable to forfeiture.

SEC. 4190. No sea-letter or other document certifying or proving any vessel to be the property of a citizen of the United States shall be issued, except to vessels duly registered, or enrolled and licensed as vessels of the United States, or to vessels which shall be wholly owned by citizens of the United States, and furnished with or entitled to sea-letters or other custom-house documents.

SEC. 4191. Every person who knowingly makes, utters, or publishes any false sea-letter, Mediterranean passport, or certificate of registry, or who knowingly avails himself of any such Mediterranean passport, sealetter, or certificate of registry, shall be liable to a penalty of not more than five thousand dollars, and, if an officer of the United States, shall thenceforth be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under the authority of the United States.

SEC. 4192. No bill of sale, mortgage, hypothecation, or conveyance of any vessel, or part of any vessel, of the United States, shall be valid against any person other than the grantor or mortgagor, his heirs and devisees, and persons having actual notice thereof, unless such bill of sale, mortgage, hypothecation, or conveyance is recorded in the office of the collector of the customs where such vessel is registered or enrolled.

shall have passed entriely into ownership of citizens of the United States, she becomes entitled to documenting as a vessel of the United States, provided the steps necessary to constitute her a "recorded" vessel have been observed. The builder must make oath of the facts before the collector of the district in which the vessel was built, and must countersign the custom-house certificate of measurement. The latter must also be countersigned by an owner or his authorized agent, or by the master. The collector must thereupon issue a certificate of record, keeping a copy thereof in a book. A memorandum of every change of master or of the name of the vessel must be indorsed upon the certificate of record by the collector of the district where the vessel may be at the time of the change, or into which she shall first. arrive. Upon the entrance of the vessel the certificate of record must be produced to the collector of the district.

The lien by bottomry on any vessel, created during her voyage, by a loan of money or materials necessary to repair or enable her to prosecute a voyage, shall not, however, lose its priority, or be in any way affected by the provisions of this section.

* SEC. 4193. The collectors of the customs shall record all such bills of sale, mortgages, hypothecations, or conveyances, and, also, all certifi cates for discharging and canceling any such conveyances, in books to be kept for that purpose, in the order of their reception; noting in such books, and also on the bill of sale, mortgage, hypothecation, or conveyance, the time when the same was received; and shall certify on the bill of sale, mortgage, hypothecation, or conveyance, or certificate of discharge or cancellation, the number of the book and page where recorded; and shall receive, for so recording such instrument of conveyance or certificate of discharge, fifty cents; but no bill of sale, mortgage, hypothecation, conveyance, or discharge of mortgage or other incumbrance of any vessel, shall be recorded, unless the same is duly acknowl edged before a notary public or other officer authorized to take acknowledgment of deeds.

SEC. 4194. The collectors of the customs shall keep an index of such records, inserting alphabetically the names of the vendor or mortgagor, and of the purchaser or mortgagee, and shall permit such index and books of records to be inspected during office-hours, under such reasonable regulations as they may establish, and shall, when required, furnish to any person a certificate, setting forth the names of the owners of any vessel registered or enrolled, the parts or proportions owned by each, if inserted in the register or enrollment, and also the material facts of

Recording bills, mortgages, &c.: Bills of sale and mortgages are invalid against subsequent grantees or mortgagees, who have no actual notice, unless the bill of sale be recorded. The record should be at the home port; that is, the port to which it belongs to grant permanent marine documents.

Foreign-built ressels owned by citizens: The Treasury Department has authorized a certain undefined recognition of vessels which are not entitled to marine documents, although they belong wholly to citizens of the United States, so that they may have "the protection of the authorities and flag of the United States, as the property of American citizens." The regulations on the subject were promulgated before the enactment of the Revised Statutes (to section 4190 of which attention has been called), and while the limitation clause of Chapter XIX, act March 26, 1810, to vessels which might on the 30th of June, 1810, by previous usage, be entitled to sea letters, without being qualified to have marine documents, was of unquestioned force. As they could not have marine documents nor sea letters, it is not apparent under what documents they could be navigated. The passport was designed to be in aid of marine documents, not as a substitute for them. It must have been contemplated that they would sail under marine documents granted by the authorities of some other nation; but the use of the United States flag in such cases would be inappro priate; although there would be no inconsistency in giving protection of United States authorities to the vessels as property of citizens of the United States. The regulations of 1874 upon the subject are as follows:

ART. 93. Foreign-built vessels purchased and wholly owned by citizens of the United States, whether purchased by belligerents or neutrals during a war to which the United States are not a party, or in peace, of foreign owners, are entitled to the protection of the authorities and flag of the United States, as the property of American citizens, although no register, enrollment, license, or other marine document, prescribed by the laws of the United States, can be lawfully issued to such vessels. ART. 94. To enable, however, the owners of a vessel so circumstanced to protect their rights, if molested or questioned, the collector of the customs, though forbidden by law to grant any marine document or certificate of ownership, may lawfully make record of the bill of sale in his office, authenticate its validity in form and substance, and deliver to the owner a certificate to that effect; certifying, also, that the owner is a citizen of the United States. These facts, thus authenticated, if the transfer was in good faith, entitle the vessel to protection as the lawful property of a citizen of the United States; and the authentication of the bill of sale and of citizenship will be prima facie proof of such good faith.

any existing bill of sale, mortgage, hypothecation, or other incumbrance upon such vessel, recorded since the issuing of the last register or enrollment, viz, the date, amount of such incumbrance, and from and to whom or in whose favor made. The collector shall receive for each such certificate one dollar.

SEC. 4195. The collectors of the customs shall furnish certified copies of such records, on the receipt of fifty cents for each bill of sale, mortgage, or other conveyance.

SEC. 4196. All bills of sale of vessels registered or enrolled, shall set forth the part of the vessel owned by each person selling, and the part conveyed to each person purchasing.

CHAP. 106.-An act to amend the act entitled "An act relating to the enrollment and license of certain vessels."

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the provisions of the act relating to the enrollment and license of vessels navigating the western rivers and the waters on the northern, northeastern, and northwestern frontiers of the United States, otherwise than by sea, approved Febru ary twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, are hereby extended to include all vessels of the United States navigating the waters of the United States.

Approved, April 17, 1874.

CHAP. 110.-An act to amend the act entitled "An act for enrolling and licensing ships or vessels to be employed in the coasting trade and fisheries, and for regulating the same," passed February eighteen, seventeen hundred and ninety-three.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act to which this is a supplement shall not be so construed as to extend the provisions of the said act to canal boats or boats employed on the internal waters or canals of any State; and all such boats, excepting only such as are

A majority in interest of the owners may appoint or remove the master of a vessel. A change of master of a vessel must be reported to the collector of customs, and an oath of citizenship be taken by the new master, and an indorsement of the change made upon the register.

Change of master: Any person or body corporate having more than one-half ownership of any vessel shall have the same power to remove a master who is also part owner of such vessel as such majority of owners have to remove a master who is not an owner. This section not to apply where there is a valid written agreement subsisting by virtue of which such master would be entitled to possession, nor in case where a master has possession as part owner, obtained before the 19th day of April, 1872. (Sec. 4250.)

Change of master abroad: "Cases have occurred in which consular officers have, with the subsequent approval of the Department of State, removed masters of vessels and appointed others in their places to complete the voyage. The exercise of this extreme power has been deemed to be justified by the gross incompetency of the master, endangering the lives of the passengers and crew; his misconduct, or collusion with others to the serious injury of the owners or insurers; or when he has been guilty of flagrant tyranny toward the passengers or crew. In other instances the insanity or permanently disabling illness of the master has called for his removal. The gravity of the proceedings will suggest to the consular officer that they should be taken only after careful deliberation and for good and sufficient cause, and that they should be promptly and fully reported to the Department." (Regulations for the Consular Service, 1881, § 214.)

No canal-boat, without masts or steam-power, which is required to be registered, licensed, or enrolled and licensed, shall be subject to be libeled in any of the United States courts for the wages of any person who may be employed on board thereof, or in navigating the same. (Sec. 4251.)

provided with sails or propelling machinery of their own adapted to lake or coastwise navigation, and excepting such as are employed in trade with the Canadas, shall be exempt from the provisions of the said act, and from the payment of all customs and other fees under any act of Congress.*

Approved, April 18, 1874.

CHAP. 467.-An act to authorize the use of gilt letters for the names of vessels.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section three of the act entitled "An act concerning the registering and recording of ships and vessels." approved December thirty-first, seventeen hundred and ninetytwo, is hereby so amended as to allow the name of any vessel to be painted upon her stern in yellow or gilt letters.

Approved, June 23, 1874.

CHAP. 54.—An act relating to vessels not propelled by sail or internal motive power of their own and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the provisions of title fifty of the Revised Statutes of the United States shall not be so construed as to require the payment of any fee or charge for the enrolling or licensing of vessels, built in the United States and owned by citizens thereof, not propelled by sail or by internal motive power of their own, and not in any case carrying passengers, whether navigating the internal waters of a state or the navigable waters of the United States, and not engaged in trade with contiguous foreign territory, nor shall this or any existing law be construed to require the enrolling, registering or licensing of any flat boat, barge or like craft for the carriage of freight, not propelled by sail or by internal motive power of its own, on the rivers or lakes of the United States.

Approved, June 30, 1879.

CHAP. 107.--An act to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to change the name of vessels under certain circumstances.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and hereby is, authorized to permit the owner or owners of any vessel duly enrolled and found seaworthy and free from debt to change the name of the same when in his opinion there shall be sufficient cause for so doing.

SEC 2. That the Secretary of the Treasury shall establish such rules and regulations and procure such evidence as to the age, condition, where built, and pecuniary liability of the vessel as he may deem necessary to prevent injury to public or private interests: and when permission is granted by the Secretary he shall cause the order for the change of name to be published at least in four issues in some daily or weekly

The act of April, 1874, chap. 110, does not exempt from the license required by Sec. 4371, R. S., a vessel of more than five tons burden answering to the description of a canal boat which is engaged in trade between different ports or districts on navigable waters of the United States, and which has never been used on a canal, was not intended to be used there, and does not in its present employment enter a canal. Opinion of Oct. 19, 1875, to that extent overruled. (Opinion of Attorney-General, Jan. 13, 1879.) It is the use made of the vessel, not its mechanical structure, which determines whether it is or not entitled to exemption allowed by the act. (Ibid.)

paper at the place of register; and the cost of procuring evidence and advertising the change of name to be paid by the person or persons desiring such change of name.

Approved, March 2, 1881.

CHAP. 398.—An act to provide for deductions from the gross tonnage of vessels of the United States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section forty-one hundred and fifty-three of the Revised Statutes of the United States be amended by inserting before the last paragraph thereof the following words:

"That from the gross tonnage of every vessel of the United States there shall be deducted the tonnage of the spaces or compartments occupied by or appropriated to the use of the crew of the vessel, but the deduction for crew space shall not, in any case, exceed five per centum of the gross tonnage. And in every such vessel propelled by steam or other power requiring engine-room, there shall also be deducted from the gross tonnage of the vessel the tonnage of the space or spaces actually occupied by or required to be inclosed for the proper working of the boilers and machinery, including the shaft trunk or alley in screwsteamers, with the addition in the case of vessels propelled with paddlewheels of fifty-per centum, and in the case of vessels propelled by screws of seventy-five per centum of the tonnage of such space, but in no case shall the deductions from the gross tonnage exceed fifty per centura of such tonnage; and the proper deductions from the gross tonnage having been made, the remainder shall be deemed the net or register tonnage of such vessels."

"That the register or other official certificate of the tonnage or nationality of a vessel of the United States in addition to what is now required by law to be expressed therein, shall state separately the deductions made from the gross tonnage, and shall also state the net or register tonnage of the vessel. But the outstanding registers or enrollments of vessels of the United States shall not be rendered void by the addition of such new statement of her tonnage, unless voluntarily surrendered, but the same may be added to the outstanding document, or by an appendix thereto, with a certificate of a collector of customs that the original estimate of tonnage is amended."

SEC. 2. That section forty-one hundred and fifty-four of the Revised Statutes be, and hereby is, repealed, and instead thereof the following is substituted, to wit:

"SEC. 4154. Whenever it is made to appear to the Secretary of the Treasury that the rules concerning the measurement for tonnage of vessels of the United States have been substantially adopted by the government of any foreign country, he may direct that the vessels of such foreign country be deemed to be of the tonnage denoted in their certifi cates of register or other national papers, and thereupon it shall not be necessary for such vessels to be remeasured at any port in the United States; and when it shall be necessary to ascertain the tonnage of any vessel not a vessel of the United States, the said tounage shall be ascertained in the manner provided by law for the measurement of vessels of the United States."

SEC. 3. That the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to make all needful regulations to carry into effect the provisions