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PART III.

BRITISH captains should understand that the Government of the United States is peculiar in this: while its Congress has power and does pass statutes which fix and control duties and custom-house regulations, each State of the Union takes care, by Acts passed in its own legislature and by ordinances emanating from corporations in seaboard cities, to have protective regulations relative to local matters; as, for instance, quarantine, wharfage, pilotage, &c.

It will be thus seen that matters relating to customhouses and duties are general and alike in all the ports of the United States; but masters must get at local matters by reference to Acts of the local legislatures and corporation ordinances.

In an after portion of the present part of our work, the master will find such things as apply solely to specified ports.

We now go on with matter which will be useful to him in whatever port he may enter.

1. ENTERING PORT OF DESTINATION.

After a British ship has arrived within any maritime district of the United States, she must not depart or attempt to depart, unless further inward, or by stress of weather, or from pursuit of enemies, before she has reported and entered with the collector, under forfeiture of four hundred dollars; and she can be brought back if she attempts to do so.*

* Act of Congress, March 2, 1799, Section 29.

And when a British vessel first comes within a port of the United States an inspector is put on board to examine the cargo, superintend its delivery, and perform such other lawful duties as may be directed.

The inspector makes known to the master the duties he has to perform, and suffers no goods to be landed or removed without a permit in writing from the collector, or naval officer, or both. This inspector attends to the delivery of cargoes under his care. Inspectors may board vessels, not only in port, but within four leagues of the coast if bound to the United States, for the purpose of demanding manifests and of examining and searching the vessel. They are to have free access to every part of her; and if any box, trunk, chest, cask, or other package be found in the cabin, steerage, or forecastle, or in any other place separate from the residue of the cargo, the officer will, as in duty bound, take particular account of it, and may, if he judges proper, put a seal upon it; and he reports it to the collector of the district to which the vessel is bound. If, on the vessel's arrival, any articles be missing or seals broken, the master forfeits for every article missing, or of which the seals are broken, two hundred dollars.

The inspector is required to secure, after sunset on each evening, or previous to his quitting the vessel, the hatches and other communications with the hold, or any part he may think necessary, with locks or other proper fastenings. If any of the fastenings be broken or removed before sunrise, in the absence of the inspector, or without license first had, or if anything be clandestinely landed, notice is to be immediately given by the inspector to the collector and naval officer; and the master for each offence forfeits five hundred dollars.*

Owners and masters must understand that vessels cannot go into United States ports with any more tackle, apparel, and furniture than really belong to them. Although no part of the proper equipment of a vessel

* Act of March 2, 1799, Section 54.

arriving in the United States is liable to duty, such equipment is not to comprehend more than the usual quantity of spare sails or other articles, and any redundancy becomes liable to duty. If new sails or other articles procured abroad be claimed as a part of such equipment, it must be shown to the satisfaction of the collector that they are necessary, with those on board, to complete her proper equipment, and are intended in good faith for the exclusive use of the vessel, and to be retained by her for that use. If brought into the United States for the purpose of being sold or transferred to another vessel, or for any purpose other than the use of the vessel bringing them, such sails or other articles procured abroad must be considered as merchandise, and subject either to the payment of duty or to seizure, as the facts may warrant.*

2. QUARANTINE.

A master must remember that each port of the United States has its own rules in relation to quarantine, established by statutes of the State in which it may be placed, or under ordinances of the city forming part of the particular port. And all the master will have to do, with a view to know what are his duties in regard to quarantine when arriving at a fixed port-for instance, New York or Boston-will be to refer to New York or Boston, as the case may be, embraced by the second portion of this part of the present work, or to refer to the index.

3. ENTRY AT CONSULATE ON ARRIVAL.

Within forty-eight hours after his vessel's arrival in a port of the United States, the master of a British ship is required, under a penalty of not less than five hundred dollars, nor exceeding two thousand dollars, to lodge in the Consulate of his nation the certificate of registry or

* Andross's (U.S.) Customs' Guide, 126, referring to General Regulations, Article 939.

other document in lieu thereof, together with the clearance and other papers granted by the officers of the customs at the port from which he arrives.*

In addition to the certificate of registry the master must likewise, under a penalty of twenty pounds sterling, deliver at the same time to his Consul the agreement with his crew or shipping articles, and also all indentures and assignments of apprenticeship, or such of these documents as the ship may have.†

The master must remember that papers thus lodged with the Consul cannot be returned to him until his departure and the production by him to the Consul of a clearance in due form from the collector at the port where the vessel has entered.‡

Upon these papers being duly deposited with the Consul, he will issue to the master a certificate that this requirement of the law has been complied with, and that the vessel is entitled to all the rights and privileges secured to British ships by existing treaty stipulations between Great Britain and the United States.

On entering at the Consulate, the master should be prepared to supply the Consul with information upon the following points :

1. The name or names of the owner or owners of his vessel.

2. The port from which the vessel last cleared.

3. The name and address of the consignee of the vessel (not of the cargo) at the port of arrival.

4. The nature of the cargo.

5. The number of crew, all told, employed in navigating the vessel.

6. The sum total of the invoice value of cargo.

The Consul will generally require to make an entry of

* Act of Congress, March 3, 1817, Section 1; and 3 U.S. Statutes at large, 362.

+ Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, Section 279. + Ibid.

these particulars before supplying his certificate for entrance at the custom-house.

And upon his first report at the Consulate, the master should, if circumstances have required it, and his vessel or cargo be insured in Great Britain, note his protest. Her Majesty's Consulate, not the United States custom-house, is the proper place under these circumstances to note such protest.

If any of his crew have died during the voyage, the master must be careful to report the fact to the Consul as soon as possible after his arrival, and to take the Consul's instructions as to the disposition which is to be made of any wages or effects of the deceased remaining in his hands. In this case the Consul will require that the official log-book (in which the entries as prescribed by the Merchant Shipping Act must previously have been made) be produced, and will investigate the circumstances of the death, reporting to the Board of Trade the result of such investigation (as we have in another place stated).

Besides entering his vessel at Her Majesty's Consulate, and making report there of any circumstances worthy of notice, which have occurred during his voyage, the master, while in port, should not fail to apply to the Consul, where advice, or such assistance as can be rendered, may be required by him in reference to his ship or crew. It is a part of the Consul's duty to give such counsel or assistance; and the master will, as a general rule, find it advisable to abide by counsel so given, even when it may be at variance with his own views; as the Consul, for many reasons, is more likely to be able to form a fair and equitable opinion than one who most probably will not be an entirely disinterested party. Under any circumstances, should the master incur blame for having acted in violation of law or contrary to his owner's interest, the fact that he has been guided by the Consul should tend to extenuate, if not to wholly excuse, his error.