advance securities as are authorized by this Title [R. S., 4501-4613].

Feb. 18, 1895.

The clothing of any seaman shall be exempt from attachment, and any person who shall detain such cloth- Apr. 11, 1904. ing when demanded by the owner shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be imprisoned not more than six months or fined not more than five hundred dollars, or both.

No sum exceeding one dollar shall be recoverable from R. S., 4537. any seaman, by any one person, for any debt contracted during the time such seaman shall actually belong to any vessel, until the voyage for which such seaman engaged shall be ended.

96. Desertion of seamen abroad.

June 26, 1884.
Sec. 6.

Dec. 21, 1898.

Sec. 21.

It shall be the duty of all consular officers to reclaim R. S., 4600. deserters, discountenance insubordination by every means in their power, and, where the local authorities can be usefully employed for that purpose, to lend their aid and use their exertions to that end in the most effectual manner. In all cases where seamen or officers are accused the consular officer shall inquire into the facts and proceed as provided in section forty-five hundred and eighty-three of the Revised Statutes; and the officer discharging such seamen shall enter upon the crew list and shipping articles and official log the cause of discharge and the particulars in which the cruel or unusual treatment consisted, and subscribe his name thereto officially. He shall read the entry made in the official log to the master, and his reply thereto, if any, shall likewise be entered and subscribed in the same manner.

97. Desertion of foreign seamen in the United States.

On application of a consul or vice-consul of any foreign R. S., 5280. government having a treaty with the United States stipulating for the restoration of seamen deserting, made in writing, stating that the person therein named has deserted from a vessel of any such government, while in any port of the United States, and on proof by the exhibition of the register of the vessel, ship's roll, or other official document, that the person named belonged, at the time of desertion, to the crew of such vessel, it shall be the duty of any court, judge, commissioner of any circuit court, justice, or other magistrate, having competent power, to issue warrants to cause such person to be arrested for examination. If, on examination, the facts stated are. found to be true, the person arrested not being a citizen of the United States, shall be delivered up to the consul or vice-consul, to be sent back to the dominions of any such government, or, on the request and at the expense of the consul or vice-consul, shall be detained until the consul or vice-consul finds an opportunity to send him back to the dominions of any such government. No person

R. S., 4554.

R. S., 4555.

R. S., 4607.

so arrested shall be detained more than two months after
his arrest; but at the end of that time shall be set at lib-
erty, and shall not be again molested for the same cause.
If any such deserter shall be found to have committed
any crime or offense, his surrender may be delayed until
the tribunal before which the case shall be depending, or
may be cognizable, shall have pronounced its sentence,
and such sentence shall have been carried into effect.
98. Arbitration before shipping-commissioner.

Every shipping-commissioner shall hear and decide any
question whatsoever between a master, consignee, agent,
or owner, and any
of his crew, which both parties agree in
writing to submit to him; and every award so made by
him shall be binding on both parties, and shall, in any
legal proceedings which may be taken in the matter, be-
fore any court of justice, be deemed to be conclusive as to
the rights of parties. And any document under the hand
and official seal of a commissioner purporting to be such
submission or award, shall be prima-facie evidence
thereof.

In any proceeding relating to the wages, claims, or discharge of a seaman, carried on before any shipping-commissioner, under the provisions of this Title [R. S., 45014613], such shipping-commissioner may call upon the owner, or his agent, or upon the master, or any mate, or any other member of the crew, to produce any log-books, papers, or other documents in their possession or power, respectively, relating to any matter in question in such proceedings, and may call before him and examine any of such persons, being then at or near the place, on any such matter; and every owner, agent, master, mate, or other member of the crew who, when called upon by the shipping-commissioner, does not produce any such books, papers, or documents, if in his possession or power, or does not appear and give evidence, shall, unless he shows some reasonable cause for such a default, be liable to a penalty of not more than one hundred dollars for each offense; and, on application made by the shipping-commissioner, shall be further punished, in the discretion of the court, as in other cases of contempt of the process of the court.

99. Soliciting lodgers.

If, within twenty-four hours after the arrival of any Apr. 13, 1904. vessel at any port in the United States, any person, then being on board such vessel, solicits any seaman to become a lodger at the house of any person letting lodgings for hire, or takes out of such vessel any effects of any seaman, except under his personal direction, and with the permission of the master, he shall, for every such offense, be punishable by a fine of not more than fifty dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than three months. This sec

tion shall apply to vessels of the United States engaged in the foreign trade and to foreign vessels.

100. Return of seamen from foreign ports, Alaska, and insular ports.

It shall be the duty of the consuls, vice-consuls, commercial agents, and vice-commercial agents, from time to time, to provide for the seamen of the United States, who may be found destitute within their districts, respectively, sufficient subsistence and passages to some port in the United States, in the most reasonable manner, at the expense of the United States, subject to such instructions as the Secretary of State shall give. The seamen shall, if able, be bound to do duty on board the vessels in which they may be transported, according to their several abilities.

R. S., 4577.

R. S., 4578.

June 26, 1884.

Sec. 9.

June 19, 1886.

Sec. 18.

Relief and protection of American seamen in foreign Feb. 22, 1907. countries, and shipwrecked American seamen in the Territory of Alaska, in the Hawaiian Islands, Porto Rico, the Panama Canal Zone, and the Philippine Islands, thirty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary. All masters of vessels of the United States, and bound to some port of the same, are required to take such destitute seamen on board their vessels, at the request of consular officers, and to transport them to the port in the United States to which such vessel may be bound, on such terms, not exceeding ten dollars for each person for voyages of not more than thirty days, and not exceeding twenty dollars for each person for longer voyages, as may be agreed between the master and the consular officer, when the transportation is by a sailing vessel; and the regular steerage passenger rate not to exceed two cents per mile when the transportation is by steamer; and said consular officer shall issue certificates for such transportation, which certificates shall be assignable for collection. If any such destitute seaman is so disabled or ill as to be unable to perform duty, the consular officer shall so certify in the certificate of transportation, and such additional compensation shall be paid as the Comptroller of the Treasury shall deem proper. Every such master who refuses to receive and transport such seamen on the request or order of such consular officer shall be liable to the United States in a penalty of one hundred dollars for each seaman so refused. The certificate of any such consular officer, given under his hand and official seal, shall be presumptive evidence of such refusal in any court of law having jurisdiction for the recovery of the penalty. No master of any vessel shall, however, be obliged to take a greater number than one man to every one hundred tons burden of the vessel on any one voyage, or to take any seaman having a contagious disease.

Whenever distressed seamen of the United States are transported from foreign ports where there is no consular

9108-08-6

R. S., 4579.

R. S., 4538.

R. S., 4539.

officer of the United States, to ports of the United States, there shall be allowed to the master or owner of each vessel, in which they are transported, such reasonable compensation, in addition to the allowance now fixed by law, as shall be deemed equitable by the Comptroller of the Treasury.

101. Effects of deceased seamen.

Whenever any seaman or apprentice belonging to or sent home on any merchant vessel, whether a foreigngoing or domestic vessel, employed on a voyage which is to terminate in the United States, dies during such voyage, the master shall take charge of all moneys, clothes, and effects which he leaves on board, and shall, if he thinks fit, cause all or any of such clothes and effects to be sold by auction at the mast or other public auction, and shall thereupon sign an entry in the official log-book, and cause it to be attested by the mate and one of the crew, containing the following particulars:

First. A statement of the amount of money so left by the deceased.

Second. In case of a sale, a description of each article sold, and the sum received for each.

Third. A statement of the sum due to deceased as wages, and the total amount of deductions, if any, to be made therefrom.

In cases embraced by the preceding section, the following rules shall be observed:

First. If the vessel proceeds at once to any port in the United States, the master shall, within forty-eight hours after his arrival, deliver any such effects remaining unsold, and pay any money which he has taken charge of, or received from such sale, and the balance of wages due to the deceased, to the shipping-commissioner at the port of destination in the United States.

Second. If the vessel touches and remains at some foreign port before coming to any port in the United States, the master shall report the case to the United States consular officer there, and shall give to such officer any information he requires as to the destination of the vessel and probable length of the voyage; and such officer may, if he considers it expedient so to do, require the effects, money, and wages to be delivered and paid to him, and shall, upon such delivery and payment, give to the master a receipt; and the master shall within forty-eight hours after his arrival at his port of destination in the United States produce the same to the shipping-commissioner there. Such consular officer shall, in any such case, indorse and certify upon the agreement with the crew the particulars with respect to such delivery and payment.

Third. If the consular officer does not require such payment and delivery to be made to him, the master shall take charge of the effects, money, and wages, and shall, within

forty-eight hours after his arrival at his port of destination in the United States, deliver and pay the same to the shipping-commissioner there.

Fourth. The master shall, in all cases in which any seaman or apprentice dies during the voyage or engagement, give to such officer or shipping-commissioner an account, in such form as they may respectively require, of the effects, money, and wages so to be delivered and paid; and no deductions claimed in such account shall be allowed unless verified by an entry in the official log-book, if there be any; and by such other vouchers, if any, as may be reasonably required by the officer or shipping-commissioner to whom the account is rendered.

Fifth. Upon due compliance with such of the provisions of this section as relate to acts to be done at the port of destination in the United States, the shipping-commissioner shall grant to the master a certificate to that effect. No officer of customs shall clear any foreign-going vessel without the production of such certificate.

Whenever any master fails to take such charge of the money or other effects of a seaman or apprentice during a voyage, or to make such entries in respect thereof, or to procure such attestation to such entries, or to make such payment or delivery of any money, wages, or effects of any seaman or apprentice dying during a voyage, or to give such account in respect thereof as is above directed, he shall be accountable for the money, wages, and effects of the seaman or apprentice to the circuit court in whose jurisdiction such port of destination is situate, and shall pay and deliver the same accordingly; and he shall, in addition, for every such offense, be liable to a penalty of not more than treble the value of the money or effects, or, if such value is not ascertained, not more than two hundred dollars; and if any such money, wages, or effects are not duly paid, delivered, and accounted for by the master, the owner of the vessel shall pay, deliver, and account for the same, and such money and wages and the value of such effects shall be recoverable from him accordingly; and if he fails to account for and pay the same, he shall, in addition to his liability for the money and value, be liable to the same penalty which is incurred by the master for a like offense; and all money, wages, and effects of any seaman or apprentice dying during a voyage shall be recoverable in the courts and by the modes of proceeding by which seamen are enabled to recover wages due to them.

Whenever any such seaman or apprentice dies at any place out of the United States, leaving any money or effects not on board of his vessel, the consular officer of the United States at or nearest the place shall claim and take charge of such money and effects, and shall, if he thinks fit, sell all or any of such effects, or any effects of any deceased seaman or apprentice delivered to him under the

R. S., 4540.

R. S., 4541.
Mar. 3, 1897.

Sec. 4.