The Postmaster-General may, if he deem it for the pub. R. S., 3970. lic interest, make contracts for any period not exceeding one year, for carrying the mails in steamships between any of the ports of the United States. The master of any steamboat passing between ports or places in the United States, and arriving at any such port or place where there is a post-office, shall deliver to the postmaster, within three hours after his arrival, if in the day-time, and if at night, within two hours after the next sunrise, all letters and packets brought by him, or within his power or control and not relating to the cargo, addressed to or destined for such port or place, for which he shall receive from the postmaster two cents for each letter or packet so delivered, unless the same is carried under a contract for carrying the mails; and for every failure to so deliver such letters and packets, the master or owner of the steamboat shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred and fifty dollars. The Postmaster-General may pay, to the master or owner of any vessel not regularly employed in carrying the mail, two cents for each letter carried by such vessel between ports or places in the United States, or from any foreign port to any port in the United States; but all such letters shall be deposited in the post-office at the port of arrival. R. S., 3977. R. S., 3978. No vessel departing from the United States for any for- R. S., 3987. eign port shall receive on board or convey any letter or packet originating in the United States which has not been regularly received from the post-office at the port of departure, and which does not relate to the cargo of such vessel, except as provided in section three thousand nine hundred and ninety-three; and every collector, or other officer of the port empowered to grant clearances, shall require from the master of such vessel, as a condition of clearance, an oath that he has not received on board, has not under his care or control, and will not receive or convey any letter or packet contrary to the provisions of this section. No vessel arriving within any port or collection-district of R. S., 3988. the United States shall be allowed to make entry or break bulk until all letters on board are delivered at the nearest post-office, and the master thereof has signed and sworn to the following declaration, before the collector or other proper customs officer: ་ད arriving from and "I, A. B., master of the now lying in the port of do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have, to the best of my knowledge and belief, delivered, at the post office at -, every letter, and every bag, packet, or parcel of letters, which were on board the said vessel during her last voyage, or which were in my possession or under my power or control." And any master who shall break bulk before he has delivered such letters shall be liable to a penalty of not more than one hundred dollars, recoverable, one-half to the officer making the seizure, and the other to the use of the United States. R. S., 3989. R. S., 3990. R. S., 3991. R. S., 3992. R. S., 4006. R. S., 4007. R. S., 4008. R. S., 4009. Any special agent of the Post-Office Department, when instructed by the Postmaster-General to make examinations and seizures, and the collector or other customs officers of any port, without special instructions, shall carefully search all vessels for letters which may be on board or which have been conveyed contrary to law. Any special agent of the Post-Office Department, collector, or other customs officer, or United States marshal or his deputy, may at all times seize all letters and bags, packets or parcels, containing letters which are being carried contrary to law on board any vessel or any post-route, and convey the same to the nearest post-office, or may, by the direction of the Postmaster-General or Secretary of the Treasury, detain them until two months after the final determination of all suits and proceedings which may, at any time within six months after such seizure, be brought against any person for sending or carrying such letters. Every package or parcel seized by any special agent of the Post-Office Department, collector, or other customs officer, or United States marshal or his deputies, in which any letter is unlawfully concealed, si.all be forfeited to the United States, and the same proceedings may be had to enforce the forfeiture as are authorized in respect to goods, wares, and merchandise forfeited for violation of the revenue laws; and all laws for the benefit and protection of customs officers making seizures for violating the revenue laws shall apply to officers making seizures for violating the postal laws. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prohibit the conveyance or transmission of letters or packets by private hands without compensation, or by special messenger employed for the particular occasion only. The Postmaster-General, after advertising for proposals, may enter into contracts or make suitable arrangements for transporting the mail through any foreign country, between any two points in the United States, and such transportation shall be by the speediest, safest, and most economical route; and all contracts therefor may be revoked whenever any new road or canal shall be opened affording a speedier, more economical, and equally safe transportation between the same points; but in case of the revocation of any such contract, a fair indemnity shall be awarded to the contractor. The Postmaster General may, after advertising for proposals, enter into contracts for the transportation of the mail between the United States and any foreign country whenever the public interests will thereby be promoted. The mail between the United States and any foreign port, or between ports of the United States touching at a foreign port, shall be transported in steamships; but the Postmaster-General may have such transportation performed by sailing-vessels when the service can be facilitated thereby. For transporting the mail between the United States and any foreign port, or between ports of the United States touching at a foreign port, the Postmaster-General may allow as compensation, if by a United States steamship, any sum not exceeding the sea and United States inland postage; and if by a foreign steamship or by a sailing vessel, any sum not exceeding the sea-postage, on the mail so transported. [Amended by March 3, 1891, above.] The Postmaster-General may impose fines on contractors for transporting the mail between the United States and any foreign country, for any unreasonable or unnecessary delay in the departure of such mail, or the performance of the trip; but the fine for any one default shall not exceed one-half the contract price for the trip. R. S., 4010. Every contract for transporting the mail between the R. S., 4011. United States and any foreign country shall contain, besides the usual stipulation for the right of the Postmaster-General to discontinue the same, the further stipulation that it may be terminated by Congress. The Postmaster-General may, by and with the advice and R. S., 4012. consent of the President, make any arrangements which may be deemed just and expedient for allowing the mails of Canada, or any other country adjoining the United States, to be transported over the territory of the United States from one point in such country to any other point in the same, at the expense of the country to which the mail belongs, upon obtaining a like privilege for the transportation of the United States mail through the country to which the privilege is granted; but such privilege may at any time be annulled by the President or Congress from and after one month succeeding the day on which notice of the act of the President or Congress is given to the chief executive or head of the post-office department of the country whose privilege is to be annulled. The Postmaster-General, under the direction of the Presi- R. S., 4015. dent of the United States, is hereby authorized and empow ered to charge upon, and collect from, all letters and other mailable matter carried to or from any port of the United States, in any foreign packet-ship or other vessel, the same rate or rates of charge for American postage which the government to which such foreign packet or other vessel belongs imposes upon letters and other mailable matter conveyed to or from such foreign country in American packets or other vessels as the postage of such government, and at any time to revoke the same; and all custom-house officers and other United States agents designated or appointed for that purpose shall enforce or carry into effect the foregoing provision, and aid or assist in the collection of such postage, and to that end it shall be lawful for such officers and agents, on suspicion of fraud, to open and examine, in the presence of two or more respectable persons, being citizens of the United States, any package or packages supposed to contain mailable matter found on board such packets or other vessels or elsewhere, and to prevent, if necessary, such packets or other vessels from entering, breaking bulk, or making clearance until such letters or other mailable matter are duly delivered into the United States post-office. R. S., 4021. R. S., 4022. R. S., 4023. 289. United States mail agencies abroad. The Postmaster-General may establish resident mailagencies at the ports of Panama and Aspinwall, in New Granada; Havana, in Cuba; at Saint Thomas, and at such other foreign ports at which United States mail steamers touch to land and receive mails, as may, in his judgment, promote the efficiency of the foreign mail-service; and may pay the agents employed by him at such ports, out of the appropriation for transportation of the mail, a reasonable compensation for their services, and the necessary expenses for office-rent, clerk-hire, office-furniture, and other incidentals, to be allowed him at each of such agencies. The Postmaster-General may appoint an agent in charge of the mail on board of each of the mail-steamers on the routes between San Francisco, Japan, and China; between San Francisco and Honolulu, in the Hawaiian Islands, and between New York and Rio Janeiro, who shall be allowed, out of the appropriation for transportation of the mail, a salary of two thousand dollars a year each. The Postmaster-General may establish, in connection with the mail-steamship service to Japan and China, a general postal agency at Shanghai, in China, or at Yokohama, in Japan, with such branch agencies at any other ports in China and Japan as he shall deem necessary for the prompt and efficient management of the postal service in those countries; and he may pay the postal agents employed thereat a reasonable compensation for their services, in addition to the necessary expenses for rent, furniture, clerk-hire, and incidental expenses. 290. Report of wrecks. 291. Canadian wrecks. PART XXIV.-WRECKS. 292. Wrecks in foreign waters. 290. Report of wrecks. From and after the first day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, whenever any vessel of the United States has sustained or caused any accident involving the loss of life, the material loss of property, or any serious injury to any person, or has received any material damage affecting her seaworthiness or her efficiency, the managing owner, agent, or master of such vessel shall within five days after the happening of such accident or damage, or as soon thereafter as possible, send, by letter to the collector of customs of the district wherein such vessel belongs or of that within which such accident or damage occurred, a report thereof, signed by such owner, agent, or master, stating the name and official number (if any) of the vessel, the port to which she belongs, the place where she was, the nature and probable occasion of the casualty, the number and names of those lost, and the estimated amount of loss or damage to the vessel or cargo; and shall furnish, upon the request of either of such collectors of customs, such other information concerning the vessel, her cargo, and the casualty as may be called for; and if he neglect or refuse to comply with the foregoing requirements after a reasonable time, he shall incur a penalty of one hundred dollars. June 20, 1874. Whenever the managing owner or agent of any vessel of Sec. 11. the United States has reason, owing to the non-appearance of such vessel, or to any other circumstance, to apprehend that such vessel has been lost, he shall, as soon as conveniently may be, send notice, in writing, to the collector of customs of the port to which said vessel belonged, of such loss, and the probable occasion thereof stating the name and the official number (if any) of the vessel, and the names of all persons on board, so far as the same can be ascertained, and shall furnish, upon request of the collector of such port, such additional information as he may be able; and if he neglect to comply with the above requirements within a reasonable time, he shall incur a penalty of one hundred dollars. |