222 



CONGRESS. (PROTECTION OF AMERICAN SEAMEN.) 



ner hereinbefore mentioned without sufficient 

 cause shall pay to the seaman a sum equal to 

 one day's pay for each and every day during 

 which payment is delayed beyond the respective 

 periods, which sum shall be recoverable as wages 

 in any claim made before the court; but this 

 section shall not apply to the masters or owners 

 of any vessel the seamen on which are entitled 

 to share in the profits of the cruise or voyage.' 



" SEC. 5. That section 4530 of the Revised Stat- 

 utes be, and is hereby, amended to read as 

 follows: 



" ' SEC. 4530. Every seaman on a vessel ot the 

 United States shall be entitled to receive from 

 the master of the vessel to which he belongs one 

 half part of the wages which shall be due him 

 at every port where such vessel, after the voyage 

 has commenced, shall load or deliver cargo be- 

 fore the voyage is ended unless the contrary be 

 expressly stipulated in the contract; and when 

 the voyage is ended every such seaman shall be 

 entitled to the remainder of the wages which 

 shall then be due him as provided in section 4529 

 of the Revised Statutes.' 



" SEC. 6. That section 4547 of the Revised Stat- 

 utes be, and is hereby, amended to read as 

 follows: 



" ' SEC. 4547. If the master against whom such 

 summons is issued neglects to appear, or, ap- 

 pearing, does not show that the wages are paid 

 or otherwise satisfied or forfeited, and if the 

 matter in dispute is not forthwith settled, the 

 judge or justice or commissioner shall certify 

 to the clerk of the district court that there is 

 sufficient cause of complaint whereon to found 

 admiralty process; and thereupon the clerk of 

 such court shall issue process against the vessel. 

 In all cases where the matter in demand does not 

 exceed $100 the return day of the monition or 

 citation shall be the first day of a stated or 

 special session of court next succeeding the third 

 day after the service of the monition or citation, 

 and on the return of process in open court, duly 

 served, either party may proceed therein to proofs 

 and hearing without other notice, and final judg- 

 ment shall be given according to the usual course 

 of admiralty courts in such cases. In such suits 

 all the seamen having cause of complaint of the 

 like kind against the same vessel may be joined 

 as complainants, and it shall be incumbent on 

 the master to produce the contract and log book, 

 if required to ascertain any matter, in dispute; 

 otherwise the complainants "shall be permitted to 

 state the contents thereof, and the burden of 

 proof of the contrary shall be on the master. 

 But nothing herein contained shall prevent any 

 seaman from maintaining any action at common 

 law for the recovery of his wages, or having im- 

 mediate process out* of any court having admiral- 

 ty jurisdiction wherever any vessel may be found, 

 in case she shall have left the port of delivery 

 where her voyage ended before payment of the 

 wages, or in case she shall be about to proceed 

 to sea before the end of the ten days next after 

 the day when such wages are due, in accordance 

 with section 4529 of the Revised Statutes.' 



" SEC. 7. That section 4556 of the Revised Stat- 

 utes be, and hereby is, amended so as to read as 

 follows: 



' ' SEC. 4556. If the first and second officers 

 under the master or a majority of the crew of 

 any vessel bound on any voyage shall, before the 

 vessel shall have left the harbor, discover that 

 the vessel is too leaky or is otherwise unfit in 

 her crew, body, tackle, apparel, furniture, pro- 

 visions, or stores to proceed on the intended voy- 

 age, and shall require such unfitness to be in- 



quired into, the master shall, upon the request 

 of the first and second officers under the master 

 or such majority of the crew, forthwith apply 

 to the judge of the district court of that judicial 

 district, if he shall there reside, or if not, to some 

 justice of the peace of the city, town, or place 

 for the appointment of surveyors, as in section 

 4557 provided, taking with him two or more of 

 the crew who shall have made such request; and 

 any master refusing or neglecting to comply with 

 these provisions shall be liable to a penalty of 

 $500.' 



" SEC. 8. That section 4557 of the Revised Stat- 

 utes be, and hereby is, amended to read as. 

 follows : 



" ' SEC. 4557. The judge, or justice, in a domes- 

 tic port, shall, upon such application of the mas- 

 A ter or commander, issue his precept, directed to- 

 three persons in the neighborhood, the most ex- 

 perienced and skillful in maritime affairs that 

 can be procured; and whenever such complaint 

 is about the provisions one of such surveyors, 

 shall be a physician or a surgeon of the Marine- 

 Hospital Service, if such service is established 

 at the place where the complaint is made. It 

 shall be the duty of such surveyors to repair on 

 board such vessel and to examine the same in 

 respect to the defects and insufficiencies com- 

 plained of, and make reports to the judge, or 

 justice, as the case may be, in writing, under 

 their hands or the hands of two of them, whether 

 in any or in what respect the vessel is unfit to 

 proceed on the intended voyage, and what addi- 

 tion of men, provisions, or stores, or what repairs- 

 or alterations in the body, tackle, or apparel will 

 be necessary; and upon such report the judge or 

 justice shall adjudge and shall indorse on his 

 report his judgment whether the vessel is fit to 

 proceed on the intended voyage, and, if not, 

 whether such repairs can be made or deficiencies 

 supplied where the vessel then lies, or whether 

 it is necessary for her to proceed to the nearest 

 or most convenient place where such supplies can 

 be made or deficiencies supplied; and the master 

 and the crew shall, in all things, conform to the 

 judgment. The master or commander shall, in 

 the first instance, pay all the costs of such re- 

 view, report, or judgment, to be taxed and al- 

 lowed on a fair copy thereof, certified by the 

 judge or justice. But if the complaint of the 

 crew shall appear upon the report and judgment 

 to have been without foundation, the master or 

 commander, or the owner or consignee of such 

 vessel, shall deduct the amount thereof, and of 

 reasonable damages for the detention, to be as- 

 certained by the judge or justice, out of the 

 wages of the complaining seamen.' 



" SEC. 9. That section 4558 of the Revised Stat- 

 utes be, and hereby is, amended to read as 

 follows: 



" ' SEC. 4558. If, after judgment that such ves- 

 sel is fit to proceed on her intended voyage, or 

 after procuring such men, provisions, stores, re- 

 pairs, or alterations as may be directed, the sea- 

 men, or either of them, shall refuse to'*proceed on 

 the voyage, he shall forfeit any w T ages that may 

 be due him.' 



" SEC. 10. That section 4559 of the Revised 

 Statutes be, and hereby is, amended to read as- 

 follows: 



" ' SEC. 4559. Upon a complaint in writing, 

 signed by the first or second officer and a ma- 

 jority of the crew of any vessel while in a for- 

 eign port, that such vessel is in an unsuitable 

 condition to go to sea because she is leaky or 

 insufficiently supplied with sails, rigging, an- 

 chors, or any other equipment, or that the crew 



