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(ACT of July 20th, 1790.)

same, the other half to the use of the United States; and no sum exceeding one dollar, shall be recoverable from any seaman or mariner, by any one person, for any debt contracted during the time such seaman or mariner shall actually belong to any ship or vessel, until the voyage, for which such seaman or mariner engaged, shall be ended.

5. SEC. v. If any seaman or mariner who shall have subscribed such contract as is hereinbefore described, shall absent himself from on board the ship or vessel, in which he shall so have shipped, without leave of the master or officer commanding on board; and the mate, or other officer having charge of the logbook, shall make an entry therein of the name of such seaman or mariner, on the day on which he shall so absent himself, and if such seaman or mariner shall return to his duty within forty-eight hours, such seaman or mariner shall forfeit three days' pay for every day which he shall so absent himself, to be deducted out of his wages: but if any seaman or mariner shall absent himself for more than forty-eight hours at one time, he shall forfeit all the wages due to him, and all his goods and chattels which were on board the said ship or vessel, or in any store where they may have been lodged at the time of his desertion, to the use of the owners of the ship or vessel, and moreover shall be liable to pay to him or them, all damages which he or they may sustain by being obliged to hire other seamen or mariners in his or their place; and such damages shall be recovered with costs, in any court, or before any justice or justices, having jurisdiction of the recovery of debts to the value of ten dollars, or upwards.

6. SEC. VI. Every seaman or mariner shall be entitled to demand and receive, from the master or commander of the ship or vessel to which they belong, one-third part of the wages which shall be due to him, at every port where such ship or vessel shall unlade and deliver her cargo, before the voyage be ended, unless the contrary be expressly stipulated in the contract: and as soon as the voyage is ended, and the cargo or ballast be fully discharged at the last port of delivery, every seaman or mariner shall be entitled to the wages which shall be then due according to his contract: and if such wages shall not be paid within ten days after such discharge, or if any dispute shall arise between the master and seamen or mariners, touching, the said wages, it shall be lawful for the judge of the district where the said ship or vessel shall be, or in case his residence be more than three miles from the place, or of his absence from the place of his residence, then for any judge or justice of the peace, to summon the master of such ship or vessel to appear before him, to show cause why process should not issue against such ship or vessel, her tackle, furniture, and apparel, according to the course of admiralty courts, to answer for the said wages: and if the master shall neglect to appear, or appearing, shall not show that the wages are paid, or otherwise satisfied or forfeited, and if the matter in dispute shall not be

(ACT of July 20th, 1790.)

forthwith settled, in such case the judge or justice shall certify to the clerk of the court of the district, that there is sufficient cause of complaint whereon to found admiralty process, and thereupon the clerk of such court shall issue process against the said ship or vessel, and the suit shall be proceeded on in the said court, and final judgment be given according to the course of admiralty courts in such cases used; and in such suit all the seamen or mariners (having cause of complaint of the like kind against the same ship or vessel) shall be joined as complainants; and it shall be incumbent on the master or commander to produce the contract and logbook, if required, to ascertain any matters in dispute; otherwise the complainants shall be permitted to state the contents thereof, and the proof of the contrary shall lie on the master or commander; but nothing herein contained shall prevent any seaman or mariner from baving or maintaining any action at common law, for the recovery of his wages, or from immediate process out of any court having admiralty jurisdiction, wherever any ship or vessel may be found, in case she shall 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 delivery of her cargo or ballast.

7. SEC. VII. If any seaman or mariner, who shall have signed a contract to perform a voyage, shall, at any port or place, desert, or shall absent himself from such ship or vessel, without leave of the master, or officer commanding in the absence of the master, it shall be lawful for any justice of the peace within the United States (upon the complaint of the master) to issue his warrant to apprehend such deserter, and bring him before such justice; and if it shall then appear, by due proof, that he has signed a contract within the intent and meaning of this act, and that the voyage agreed for is not finished, altered, or the contract otherwise dissolved, and that such seaman or mariner has deserted the ship or vessel, or absented himself without leave, the said justice shall commit him to the house of correction, or common gaol of the city, town, or place, there to remain until the said ship or vessel shall be ready to proceed on her voyage, or till the master shall require his discharge, and then to be delivered to the said master, he paying all the cost of such commitment, and deducting the same out of the wages due to such seaman or mariner.

8. SEC. VII. Every ship or vessel, belonging to a citizen or citizens of the United States, of the burthen of one hundred and fifty tons or upwards, navigated by ten or more persons in the whole, and bound on a voyage without the limits of the United States, shall be provided with a chest of medicines, put up by some apothecary of known reputation, and accompanied by directions for administering the same; and the said medicines shall be examined by the same or some other apothecary, once, at least, in every year, and supplied with fresh medicines in the place of such as shall have been used or spoiled; and in default of having such medicine

(ACT of May 28th, 1796.)

chest so provided, and kept fit for use, the master or commander of such ship or vessel shall provide and pay for all such advice, medicine, or attendance of physicians, as any of the crew shall stand in need of in case of sickness, at every port or place where the ship or vessel may touch or trade at during the voyage, without any deduction from the wages of such sick seaman or mariner. 9. SEC. IX. Every ship or vessel, belonging as aforesaid, bound on a voyage across the Atlantic ocean, shall, at the time of leaving the last port from whence she sails, have on board, well secured under deck, at least sixty gallons of water, one hundred pounds of salted flesh meat, and one hundred pounds of whole. some shipbread, for every person on board such ship or vessel, over and besides such other provisions, stores, and live stock, as shall, by the master or passengers, be put on board, and in like proportion for shorter or longer voyages; and in case the crew of any ship or vessel, which shall not have been so provided, shall be put upon short allowance in water, flesh, or bread, during the voyage, the master or owner of such ship or vessel shall pay to each of the crew, one day's wages beyond the wages agreed on, for every day they shall be so put to short allowance, to be recovered in the same manner as their stipulated wages.

ACT of May 28, 1796. 2 Bioren, 549.

An act for the relief and protection of American seamen,

10. SEC. IV. The collector of every district shall keep a book or books, in which, at the request of any seaman, being a citizen of the United States of America, and producing proof of his citizenship, authenticated in the manner hereinafter directed, he shall enter the name of such seaman, and shall deliver to him a certificate, in the following form, that is to say: "I, A B, collector of the district of D, do hereby certify, That E F, an American sea man, aged years, or thereabouts, of the height of -feet inches, [describing the said seaman as particularly as may be,] has, this day, produced to me proof, in the manner directed in the act, entitled "An act for the relief and protection of American seamen;" and, pursuant to the said act, I do hereby certify, that the said E F is a citizen of the United States of America: In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and

seal of office, this day of —.” And it shall be the duty of the collectors aforesaid, to file and preserve the proofs of citizenship, produced as aforesaid. And for each certificate delivered, as aforesaid, the said collectors shall be entitled to receive, from the seaman applying for the same, the sum of twenty-five cents.

11. SEC. v. And, in order that full and speedy information may be obtained of the seizure or detention, by any foreign power, of any seamen employed on board any ship or vessel of the United States, it shall, and hereby is declared to be, the duty of the master of every ship or vessel of the United States, any of the crew whereof, shall have been impressed or detained by any foreign

(ACT of July 16th, 1798.)

power, at the first port at which such ship or vessel shall arrive, if such impressment or detention happened on the high seas, or if the same happened within any foreign port, then in the port in which the same happened, immediately to make a protest, stating the manner of such impressment or detention; by whom made, together with the name and place of residence of the person impressed or detained; distinguishing, also, whether he was an American citizen; and if not, to what nation he belonged. And it shall be the duty of such master, to transmit by post, or otherwise, every such protest made in a foreign country, to the nearest consul or agent, or to the minister of the United States resident in such country, if any such there be; preserving a duplicate of such protest, to be by him sent, immediately after his arrival within the United States, to the secretary of state, together with information to whom the original protest was transmitted: And in case such protest shall be made within the United States, or any foreign country, in which no consul, agent, or minister, of the United States resides, the same shall, as soon thereafter as practicable, be transmitted, by such master, by post or otherwise, to the secretary of state.

SEC. VI. A copy of this law shall be transmitted, by the secretary of state, to each of the ministers and consuls of the United States resident in foreign countries, and, by the secretary of the treasury, to the several collectors of the districts of the United States, whose duty it is hereby declared to be, from time to time, to make known the provisions of this law to all masters of ships and vessels of the United States entering or clearing at their several offices. And the master of every such ship or vessel shall, before he is admitted to an entry, by any such collector, be required to declare on oath, whether any of the crew of the ship or vessel under his command have been impressed or detained, in the course of his voyage, and how far he has complied with the directions of this act: And every such master as shall wilfully neglect or refuse to make the declarations herein required, or to perform the duties enjoined by this act, shall forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred dollars. And it is hereby declared to be the duty of every such collector, to prosecute for any forfeiture that may be incurred under this act.

SEC. VII. The collector of every port of entry in the United States shall send a list of the seamen registered under this act, once every three months, to the secretary of state, together with an account of such impressments or detentions as shall appear by the protests of the masters to have taken place.

ACT of July 16, 1798. 3 Bioren, 109.

An act for the relief of sick and disabled seamen.

12. SEC. I. From and after the first day of September next, the master or owner of every ship or vessel of the United States, arriving from a foreign port into any port of the United States,

(ACT of July 16th, 1798.)

shall, before such ship or vessel shall be admitted to an entry, render to the collector a true account of the number of seamen that shall have been employed on board such vessel since she was last entered at any port in the United States, and shall pay, to the said collector, at the rate of twenty cents per month for every seaman so employed; which sum he is hereby authorised to retain out of the wages of such seamen.

SEC. II. From and after the first day of September next, no collector shall grant to any ship or vessel whose enrolment or license, for carrying on the coasting trade has expired, a new enrolment or license, before the master of such ship or vessel shall first render a true account to the collector, of the number of seamen, and the time they have severally been employed on board such ship or vessel, during the continuance of the license which has so expired, and pay to such collector twenty cents per month for every month such seamen have been severally employed as aforesaid; which sum the said master is hereby authorised to retain out of the wages of such seamen. And if any such master shall render a false account of the number of men, and the length of time they have severally been employed, as is herein required, he shall forfeit and pay one hundred dollars.

SEC. III. It shall be the duty of the several collectors to make a quarterly return of the sums collected by them, respectively, by virtue of this act, to the secretary of the treasury; and the president of the United States is hereby authorised, out of the same, to provide for the temporary relief and maintenance of sick or disabled seamen, in the hospitals or other proper institutions now established in the several ports of the United States, or in ports where no such institutions exist, then in such other manner as he shall direct: Provided, That the moneys collected in any one district, shall be expended within the same. [Infra, 13.]

SEC. IV. If any surplus shall remain of the moneys to be collected by virtue of this act, after defraying the expense of such temporary relief and support, that the same, together with such private donations as may be made for that purpose, (which the president is hereby authorised to receive,) shall be invested in the stock of the United States, under the direction of the president; and when, in his opinion, a sufficient fund shall be accumulated, he is hereby authorised to purchase or receive cessions or donations of ground or buildings, in the name of the United States, and to cause buildings, when necessary, to be erected as hospitals for the accommodation of sick and disabled seamen.

SEC. V. The president of the United States is hereby, authorised to nominate and appoint, in such ports of the United States as he may think proper, one or more persons, to be called directors of the marine hospital of the United States, whose duty it shall be to direct the expenditure of the fund assigned for their respective ports, according to the third section of this act; to provide for the accommodation of sick and disabled seamen, under such general instructions as shall be given by the president of the Uni

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