184 



CONGRESS. (COMMERCE AND NAVIOA i 



strued to repeal or modify section 4611 of the Re- 



Whieh those wise gentlemen never had read, 

 r> was passed in 1850. and ni 

 ginx on bt*rd of vessels of commerce 10 hereby 

 ::.-!: In order to relieve those wise men. 

 we hare contented that an amendment *hall be 

 added u. thU section that we .1.. n..t intend 

 tore flogging in the merchant manm* by r. 

 in* section 4611. I trust tlmt that will be entirely 

 no inntit-r how craxy he 



A* to what mar be jiutiflaMe causes for ajsanlt- 



me 



a sailor the follow me -,.ll...|uy aroee: 



I should like lo kn..w from the 

 Maine. who is familiar with these 

 especial I r matters of eomm- i- . . \vhat cir- 

 Mi u, . justify the assault of a sailor, 

 -on shore or on a vessel!" 



Mr. President. there arc any 



quaii .it would justify if. 



If n sailor with a sheath knife cam.- at the captain. 

 K ..uM lie his' duty to knock him down; if !.< 

 was on duty at the wheel and umli -Honk t- 

 away the ship, or run it on a rock, it would lc the 

 duty of the captain to deprive him of the po\\ 

 doing so. There are any quantity of < -in tun- 



Mr. Allen : " I understand that quite well : l.nt I 

 want to know if there are any circumstances. aside 

 from ' fact that it OOOVrsd upon a 



which may be thrown upon the rocks, or cast aside 

 from its course, and so forth whether there are 

 n- u instances on board a vessel that will jus- 

 tn assault upon a sailor that would not justify 

 an assault on land by one private citizen upon an- 

 other t 



Mr. Fry.- : Yes, I think so; because if a gale of 

 wind was seen approaching and the captain >f the 

 ship should order the sailors to reef sails, and they 

 refused, when there are lives in his charge and 

 when there is an immense amount of property en- 

 dangered. I have no doubt the captain would he 

 justified in making an assault upon a sailor who 

 " 



The Congress also passed and the President ap- 

 proved a law for the inspection of small craft kept 

 for hire, as follows : 



. That all vessels of above 15 

 tons burden, carrying freight or passengers for 

 hire, propelled by gas, fluid, naphtha, or electric 

 motors, snail be, 'and are hereby, made subject to 

 all the provisions of section 4426 of the K- 

 Statutes of the United States, relating to the in- 

 spection of hulls and boilers and requiring engineers 

 and pilot*; and all vessels so propelled, without re- 

 gard to tonnage or use. shall be subject to the pro- 

 visions of section 4412 of the Revised Statutes of 

 the United States, relating to the regulation of 

 team vessels in passing each other; and to so 

 much of sections 4288 and 4284 of the Revised Stat- 

 ut. relating to lights, fog signals, steering, and 

 sailing rule*, as the Board of fcipervising Inspect. 

 on shall, by their regulations, deem applicable 

 and practicable for their safe navigat 



A mea-ure ,-ntitlM -.\n Ad f,, r the protection 

 of Ameriean yacht owners and shipbuilders'' was 

 pawed by the Congress, and became a law without 

 the approval of \\ l( . President. It 



tnericans who become member* of fop-urn 

 yacht clubs from having vessels built abroad, an. 1 

 the dLial.il, he* of owners of other for- 



A bill amending the laws relating to An 

 oeamen passed the House, and in the S-nate a sub- 

 stitute was proposed which contained the following 

 clause : 



the Revised Statutes be, 

 and so as to read as follows : 



At the foot ,.f rxcry such contract 



p upon such a \o-cl of the Im'nlcn of .'m tons 



or upward there shall le a memorandum in writing 



of th. i the hour when Mich seaman who 



>hi|ped and subscribed shall render himself on 



i the voyage agree*) upon. If any 



seaman shall i render himself on 



A Inch he has shipped at the time 



mentioned in such memorandum without irmi,.r 



twenty-four hour-' i i- inaliilit 



and if the master of the vesvd shall, on the day in 



which such ne.u'led happened, make an entry in 



the loi; hook of Mich vessel of the name . 



man. and shall in like manner note the lime t hat 

 he so neglected to render himself after the tune 

 appointed, then c\cry Midi seaman shall forfeit, for 

 . hour which he shall so neglect to render him- 

 self, one half of one day's pay. accord im; to ih 

 of wages agreed opon, to l>'e de.iu.-:.d out ,,f 1,1- 



Wages. If an\ Midi >.-aman shall wholly iie-1. 

 rvnder himself mi lioard of su h veSSelt OF ha\iiiL,' 

 rendered liims'lf on board shall afterward i 

 he shall forfeit all of the wages or emoluments 

 which he 1 irned ; and, also, in the l 



lion of the court, lie shall lie lialile to ini] : 

 merit for not more than one month.' " 



The forfeit of wages and the summary impri-on- 

 m-nt are the new features in tin- Statute, and Mr. 

 . >aid in defense of the policy of the 

 amendment : 



" I dc.sirv to call the at tent ion of the Senate to this 

 matter. It is said that foreign countries ha\e 

 nothing of this kind, (ireal I'.ritain has a law to- 

 day that if a sailor signs the paper- of a ship and 

 then declines to serve on that ship the master may 

 call on MIV jM.liceman who is in view or who CaB 

 be found to take the sailor and carry him on !< ani 

 the ship, put him in irons, and keep him there un- 

 til the ship sails. 



"What are ships gnini: to do without somo 

 such provision as this bill makes f Ton can not 

 run a ship as you can a coach ; you can not run a 

 ship as you can a railroad. Here is a ship loaded 

 for sea, the crew engaged, the papers signed, sin- 

 is subject to a demurrage of hundreds of dollars a 

 day for every day she is detained. A sailor ha\ ine; 

 brought and put on board of that ship, the 

 ne\t m- rniii^, without the slightest cat. 

 and thus the ship is left without the requisite crew, 

 and she is obliged to pay demurrage for every day 

 she is detained. A storm may arise, and she may 

 be delayed by head winds for a week, a fortnight, 

 or three weeks. There is nothing of the kindaliout 

 a coach; there is nothing of the, kind aln.ut a 

 railroad. I wish to say rL'ht hep- that I have had 

 something ! do with' these sailors. There j s a 

 sailors' union in California which has had its attor- 

 ney here for the last six years, and he is here now 

 a sailor. There is a sailors' union in Phila- 

 delphia; there is a sailors' unions in New York. If 

 Senators suppose th nlor- are not l.ein^ 



taken care of. they are entirely mistaken. Tl, 

 not a port where there is not a sailors' lawyer. The 

 sailor has every ad vantage of the .-hip and 

 advantage of the shipmaster in any port jni,, which 

 a vessel may go. The ships are entitled to some 

 consideration. They carry ourcoinn 



When the hill was pending two Congresse- 

 in the first place, I had conferences with 

 sailor* and tne sailors' union. They lasted over 

 three or four da\-: c;..v. Dingley was with me; 

 and we finally drew up that which -eemcd to satisfy 

 the sailor from California, and it was enacted into 

 law. Hut then- is no satisfying them without giv- 

 ing them the earth ; you cau not do it 



