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SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That each and every collector of the customs, to whom such manifest or list of passengers as aforesaid shall be delivered, shall quarter-yearly return copies thereof to the Secretary of State of the United States, by whom statements of the same shall be laid before Congress at each and every session.

SEC. 14. And be it further enacted, That in case there shall have occurred on board any ship or vessel arriving at any port or place within the United States or its territories, any death. or deaths among the passengers, (other than cabin passengers,) the master, or captain, or owner, or consignee of such ship or vessel shall, within twenty-four hours after the time within which the report and list or manifest of passengers mentioned in section 12 of this act is required to be delivered to the collector of the customs, pay to the said collector the sum of ten dollars for each and every passenger above the age of eight years who shall have died on the voyage by natural disease; and the said collector shall pay the money thus received, at such times and in such manner as the Secretary of the Treasury, by general rules, shall direct, to any board or commission appointed by and acting under the authority of the State within which the port where such ship or vessel arrived is situated, for the care and protection of sick, indigent, or destitute emigrants, to be applied to the objects of their appointment; and if there be more than one board or commission who shall claim such payment, the Secretary of the Treasury, for the time being, shall determine which is entitled to receive the same, and his decision in the premises shall be final and without appeal: Provided, That the payment shall, in no case, be awarded or made to any board, or commission, or association formed for the protection or advancement of any particular class of emigrants, or emigrants of any particular nation or creed; and if the master, captain, owner, or consignee of any ship or vessel refuse or neglect to pay to the collector the sum and sums of money required, and within the time prescribed by this section, he or they shall severally forfeit and pay the sum of fifty dollars, in addition to such sum of ten dollars for each and every passenger upon whose death the same has become payable, to be recovered by the United States in any circuit or district court of the United States where such vessel may arrive, or such master, captain, owner, or consignee may reside; and when recovered, the said money shall be disposed of in the same manner as is directed with respect to the sum and sums required to be paid to the collector of customs.

SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That the amount of the several penalties imposed by the foregoing provisions regulating the carriage of passengers in merchant vessels shall be liens on the vessel or vessels violating those provisions, and such vessel or vessels shall be libelled therefor in any circuit or district court of the United States where such vessel or vessels shall arrive.

SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That all and every vessel or vessels which shall or may be employed by the American Colonization Society, or the Colonization Society of any State, to transport, and which shall actually transport, from any port or ports of the United States to any colony or colonies on the west coast of Africa, colored emigrants to reside there, shall be, and the same are hereby, subjected to the operation of the foregoing provisions, regulating the carriage of passengers in merchant vessels.

SEC. 17. And be it further enacted, That the collector of the customs shall examine each emigrant ship or vessel, on its arrival at his port, and ascertain and report to the Secretary of the Treasury the time of sailing, the length of the voyage, the ventilation, the number of passengers, their space on board, their food, the native country of the emigrants, the number of deaths, the age and sex of those who died during the voyage; together with his opinion of the cause of the mortality, if any, on board, and, if none, what precautionary measures, arrangements, or habits are supposed to have had any, and what agency in causing the exemption.

SEC. 18. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect, with respect to vessels sailing from ports in the United States on the eastern side of the continent, within thirty days from the time of its approval; and with respect to vessels sailing from ports in the United States on the western side of the continent, and from ports in Europe, within sixty days from the time of its approval; and with respect to vessels sailing from ports in other parts of the world, within six months from the time of its approval.

And it is hereby made the duty of the Secretary of State to give notice, in the ports of Europe and elsewhere, of this act, in such manner as he shall deem proper.

SEC. 19. And be it further enacted, That from and after the time that this act shall take effect with respect to any vessels, then, in respect to such vessels, the act of second March, eighteen hundred and nineteen, entitled "An act regulating passenger ships and vessels;" the act of twenty-second of February,

eighteen hundred and forty-seven, entitled "An act to regulate the carriage of passengers in merchant vessels;" the act of second March, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to regulate the carriage of passengers in merchant vessels,' and to determine the time when said act shall take effect;" the act of thirty-first January, eighteen hundred and forty-eight, entitled "An act exempting vessels employed by the American Colonization Society in transporting colored emigrants from the United States to the coast of Africa from the provisions of the acts of the twentysecond February and second of March, eighteen hundred and forty-seven, regulating the carriage of passengers in merchant vessels;" the act of seventeenth May, eighteen hundred and forty-eight, entitled "An act to provide for the ventilation of passenger vessels, and for other purposes;" and the act of third March, eighteen hundred and forty-nine, entitled "An act to extend the provisions of all laws now in force relating to the carriage of passengers in merchant vessels, and the regulation thereof," are hereby repealed. But nothing in this act contained shall in any wise obstruct or prevent the prosecution, recovery, distribution, or remission of any fines, penalties, or forfeitures which may have been incurred in respect to any vessels prior to the day this act goes into effect, in respect to such vessels under the laws hereby repealed, for which purpose the said laws shall continue in force.

But the Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, and upon such conditions as he shall think proper, discontinue any such prosecutions, or remit or modify such penalties.* Approved March 3, 1855.

*The passenger laws of the United States apply only to passengers whilst on their voyage, and until they shall have landed. After the landing of passengers, the laws of the United States do not come in conflict with the laws of a State, which oblige security to be given against their becoming chargeable as paupers; and for their removal out of the State, in the event of their not becoming so chargeable. City of New York v. Miln, 11 Peters, 102.

Persons are not the subject of commerce; and not being imported goods, they do not fall within the reasoning founded upon the construction of a power given to Congress to regulate commerce, and the prohibition of the States from imposing a duty on foreign goods.-Ibid.

In estimating the number of passengers in a vessel, no deduction is to be made for children or persons not paying; but those employed in navigating the vessel are not to be included.-United States v. the Louisa Barbara, Gilpin's D. C. R. 332.

In estimating the tonnage of a vessel bringing passengers from a foreign country, the measurement of the custom-house, in the port of the United States where the vessel arrives, is to be taken.-Ibid.

LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES

PROVIDING FOR

THE BETTER SECURITY OF THE LIVES OF PASSENGERS
ON BOARD OF VESSELS PROPELLED IN WHOLE
OR IN PART BY STEAM.

AN ACT to provide for the better security of the lives of passengers on board of vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be the duty of all owners of steamboats, or vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam, on or before the first day of October, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight, to make a new enrolment of the same, under the existing laws of the United States, and take out from the collector or surveyor of the port, as the case may be, where such vessel is enrolled, a new license, under such conditions as are now imposed by law, and as shall be imposed by this act.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall not be lawful for the owner, master, or captain of any steamboat or vessel propelled in whole or in part by steam, to transport any goods, wares, and merchandise, or passengers, in or upon the bays, lakes, rivers, or other navigable waters of the United States, from and after the said first day of October, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight; without having first obtained, from the proper officer, a license under the existing laws, and without having complied with the conditions imposed by this act; and for each and every violation of this section, the owner or owners of said vessel shall forfeit and pay to the United States the sum of five hundred dollars, one-half for the use of the informer; and for which sum or sums the steamboat or vessel so engaged shall be liable, and may be seized and proceeded against summarily, by way of libel, in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the offence.

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