teenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, and such regulations when approved by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall have the force of law. (35 Stat. 428.)

This section and the section next following were the last two sections of an act to amend the laws relating to navigation, etc., cited above.

Act Feb. 19, 1895, c. 102, § 2, mentioned in this section, is set forth post, § 7972.

§ 7970. (Act May 28, 1908, c. 212, § 15.) Violation of regulations by master of towing vessel; penalty.

The master of the towing vessel shall be liable to the suspension or revocation of his license for any willful violation of regulations issued pursuant to section fourteen in the manner now prescribed for incompetency, misconduct, or unskillfulness. (35 Stat. 429.)

§ 7971. (Act Feb. 19, 1895, c. 102, § 1.) Rules for preventing collisions extended to harbors, etc.

On and after March first, eighteen-hundred and ninety-five, the provisions of sections forty-two hundred and thirty-three, forty-four hundred and twelve, and forty-four hundred and thirteen of the Revised Statutes and regulations pursuant thereto shall be followed on the harbors, rivers and inland waters of the United States. The provisions of said sections of the Revised Statutes and regulations. pursuant thereto are hereby declared special rules duly made by local authority relative to the navigation of harbors, rivers and inland waters as provided for in Article thirty, of the Act of August nineteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, entitled "An Act to adopt regulations for preventing collisions at sea." (28 Stat. 672.)

This section and the three sections next following were an act entitled "An act to adopt special rules for the navigation of harbors, rivers, and inland waters of the United States, except the Great Lakes and their connecting and tributary waters as far east as Montreal, supplementary to the Act of August nineteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, entitled 'An act to adopt regulations for preventing collisions at sea.'"

R. S. § 4233, mentioned in this section, establishing rules for preventing collisions on the water, is set forth ante, § 7942; and R. S. §§ 4412, 4413, also mentioned in this section, authorizing the making of regulations for steamvessels, and prescribing penalties for their violation, are set forth post, §§ 8166, 8167.

Act Aug. 19, 1890, c. 802, mentioned in the title of this act, and also this section, establishing rules for preventing collisions on the high seas and their connecting waters, including article 30 thereof authorizing the establishing of special rules by local authority, is set forth ante, §§ 7834-7871.

§ 7972. (Act Feb. 19, 1895, c. 102, § 2.) Secretary of the Treasury to define the lines dividing the high seas from rivers, harbors,

etc.

The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized, empowered and directed from time to time to designate and define by suitable bearing or ranges with light houses, light vessels, buoys or coast objects, the lines dividing the high seas from rivers, harbors and inland waters. (28 Stat. 672.)

(3538)

§ 7973. (Act Feb. 19, 1895, c. 102, § 3.) Signal lights; penalty for violation.

Collectors or other chief officers of the customs shall require all sail vessels to be furnished with proper signal lights.

Every such vessel that shall be navigated without complying with the Statutes of the United States, or the regulations that may be lawfully made thereunder, shall be liable to a penalty of two hundred dollars, one-half to go to the informer; for which sum the vessel so navigated shall be liable, and may be seized and proceeded against by way of libel in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction of the offense. (28 Stat. 672.)

§ 7974. (Act Feb. 19, 1895, c. 102, § 4.) Inland waters defined.

The words "inland waters" used in this Act shall not be held to include the Great Lakes and their connecting and tributary waters. as far east as Montreal; and this Act shall not in any respect modify or affect the provisions of the Act entitled "An Act to regulate navigation on the Great Lakes and their connecting and tributary waters," approved February eighth, eighteen hundred and ninetyfive. (28 Stat. 672.)

Act Feb. 8, 1895, c. 64, mentioned in this section, establishing rules for preventing collisions on the Great Lakes and their connecting and tributary waters, is set forth ante, §§ 7910-7941.

(R. S. § 4234. Repealed.)

This section provided that all collectors or other chief customs officers should require all sail-vessels to be furnished with proper signal lights, and such vessels should, on the approach of any steam-vessel during the nighttime, show a lighted torch on the point or quarter to which the steam-vessel should be approaching, and vessels failing to comply with this section and with R. S. § 4233, should be liable to a penalty of $200, and might be libeled in any district court having jurisdiction of the offense. It was expressly repealed by Act March 3, 1897, c. 389, § 16, 29 Stat. 691.

DUTIES AFTER COLLISION OR OTHER ACCIDENT § 7975. (Act June 20, 1874, c. 344, § 10.) Reports by owners, etc.,. or masters of vessels, of accidents; penalty.

From and after the first day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, whenever any vessel of the United States has sustained or caused any accident involving the loss of life, the material loss of property, or any serious injury to any person, or has received any material damage affecting her seaworthiness or her efficiency, the managing owner, agent, or master of such vessel, shall within five days after the happening of such accident or damage, or as soon thereafter as possible, send, by letter to the collector of customs of the district wherein such vessel belongs or of that within which such accident or damage occurred, a report thereof, signed by such owner, agent, or master, stating the name and official number (if any) of the vessel, the port to which she belongs, the place where she was, the nature and probable occasion of the casualty, the number and names of those lost, and the estimated amount of loss or damage to the vessel or cargo; and shall furnish, upon the re

quest of either of such collectors of customs, such other information concerning the vessel, her cargo, and the casualty as may be called for; and if he neglect or refuse to comply with the foregoing requirements after a reasonable time, he shall incur a penalty of one hundred dollars. (18 Stat. 128.)

This section and the three sections next following were part of Act June 20, 1874, c. 344, entitled "An act to provide for the establishment of lifesaving stations and houses of refuge upon the sea and lake coasts of the United States, and to promote the efficiency of the Life-Saving Service." Other sections of said act are set forth post, under Title LV A, "The Life-Saving Service."

The General Superintendent of the Life-Saving Service was required to collect and compile statistics of marine disasters contemplated by this section, by Act June 18, 1878, c. 265, § 7, post, § 8461.

§ 7976. (Act June 20, 1874, c. 344, § 11.) Notice by owners, etc., of vessels, of probable loss; penalty.

Whenever the managing owner or agent of any vessel of the United States has reason, owing to the non-appearance of such vessel, or to any other circumstance, to apprehend that such vessel has been lost, he shall, as soon as conveniently may be, send notice, in writing, to the collector of customs of the port to which said vessel belonged, of such loss, and the probable occasion thereof stating the name and the official number (if any) of the vessel, and the names of all persons on board, so far as the same can be ascertained, and shall furnish, upon request of the collector of such port, such additional information as he may be able; and if he neglect to comply with the above requirements within a reasonable time, he shall incur a penalty of one hundred dollars. (18 Stat. 128.)

§ 7977. (Act June 20, 1874, c. 344, § 12.) Reports by collectors of

customs.

It shall be the duty of the collectors of customs to immediately transmit to the Secretary of the Treasury such reports and information as they may receive under the provisions of the two preceding sections, and they shall also report to the Secretary of the Treasury any neglect or refusal on the part of the managing owner, agent, or master of any vessel of the United States to comply with the requirements thereof. (18 Stat. 128.)

§ 7978. (Act June 20, 1874, c. 344, § 13, as amended, Act March 3, 1897, c. 389, § 11.) Remission of penalties; recovery.

The Secretary of the Treasury may, upon application therefor, remit or mitigate any penalty provided for in this Act, or discontinue any prosecution to recover the same, upon such terms as he, in his discretion, shall think proper, and shall have authority to ascertain the facts upon all such applications in such manner and under such regulations as he may think proper. All penalties herein provided may be sued for, prosecuted, recovered, and disposed of in the manner prescribed by section forty-three hundred and five of the Revised Statutes. (18 Stat. 128. 29 Stat. 690.)

This section was amended by Act March 3, 1897, c. 389, § 11, cited above, by striking out, after the words "as he may think proper," the words "All penalties hereinbefore provided shall be prosecuted by indictment or infor

mation before the proper district court for the use of the United States," and inserting, in place thereof, the words "All penalties herein provided," etc., to the end of the section as set forth here.

The penalties referred to in this section were the penalties prescribed by sections 10 and 11 of this act, ante, §§ 7975, 7976.

R. S. § 4305, mentioned in this section, providing that penalties incurred under Title XLVIII, "Commerce and Navigation," might be sued for, prosecuted, and recovered in such court, and be disposed of in such manner, as penalties incurred for offenses against the customs laws, except when otherwise prescribed, is set forth post, § 8051.

§ 7979. (Act Sept. 4, 1890, c. 875, § 1.)

in case of collision.

Duties of master of vessel

In every case of collision between two vessels it shall be the duty of the master or person in charge of each vessel, if and so far as he can do so without serious danger to his own vessel, crew, and passengers (if any), to stay by the other vessel until he has ascertained that she has no need of further assistance, and to render to the other vessel, her master, crew, and passengers (if any) such assistance as may be practicable and as may be necessary in order to save them from any danger caused by the collision, and also to give to the master or person in charge of the other vessel the name of his own vessel and her port of registry, or the port or place to which she belongs, and also the name of the ports and places from which and to which she is bound. If he fails so to do, and no reasonable cause for such failure is shown, the collision shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be deemed to have been caused by his wrongful act, neglect, or default. (26 Stat. 425.)

This section and the section next following were an act entitled "An act in regard to collision at sea."

Section 3 of this act provided that the act should take effect at a time to be fixed by the President by proclamation issued for that purpose. The act was made to take effect December 15, 1890, by the President's proclamation of November 18, 1890, 26 Stat. 1561.

§ 7980. (Act Sept. 4, 1890, c. 875, § 2.) Failure to comply with act; penalty.

Every master or person in charge of a United States vessel who fails, without reasonable cause, to render such assistance or give such information as aforesaid shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable to a penalty of one thousand dollars, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years; and for the above sum the vessel shall be liable and may be seized and proceeded against by process in any district court of the United States by any person; one-half such sum to be payable to the informer and the other half to the United States. (26 Stat. 425.)

REGULATION OF PILOTS AND PILOTAGE

§ 7981. (R. S. § 4235.) State regulation of pilots.

Until further provision is made by Congress, all pilots in the bays, inlets, rivers, harbors, and ports of the United States shall continue to be regulated in conformity with the existing laws of the

States respectively wherein such pilots may be, or with such laws as the States may respectively enact for the purpose.

Act Aug. 7, 1789, c. 9, § 4, 1 Stat. 54.

§ 7982. (R. S. § 4236.) Pilots on boundaries between States.

The master of any vessel coming into or going out of any port situate upon waters which are the boundary between two States, may employ any pilot duly licensed or authorized by the laws of either of the States bounded on such waters, to pilot the vessel to or from such port.

Act March 2, 1837, c. 22, 5 Stat. 153.

§ 7983. (R. S. § 4237.) No discrimination in rates of pilotage. No regulations or provisions shall be adopted by any State which shall make any discrimination in the rate of pilotage or half-pilotage between vessels sailing between the ports of one State and vessels sailing between the ports of different States, or any discrimination against vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam, or against national vessels of the United States; and all existing regulations or provisions making any such discrimination are annulled and abrogated.

Act July 13, 1866, c. 177, 14 Stat. 93.

WRECKS AND SALVAGE

§ 7984. (R. S. § 4238.) Vessels stranded on foreign coasts. Consuls and vice-consuls, in cases where vessels of the United States are stranded on the coasts of their consulates respectively, shall, as far as the laws of the country will permit, take proper measures, as well for the purpose of saving the vessels, their cargoes and appurtenances, as for storing and securing the effects and merchandise saved, and for taking inventories thereof; and the merchandise and effects saved, with the inventories thereof so taken, shall, after deducting therefrom the expenses, be delivered to the owners. No consul or vice-consul shall have authority to take possession of any such merchandise, or other property, when the master, owner, or consignee thereof is present or capable of taking possession of the same.

Act April 14, 1792, c. 24, § 3, 1 Stat. 255.

Provisions for the removal of vessels sunk in navigable waters or harbors, etc., were enacted by Act March 3, 1899, c. 425, §§ 19, 20, post, §§ 9924, 9925. Provisions requiring the owners of vessels sunk in navigable channels to mark them with a beacon during the day and a lantern during the night until the vessels are removed or abandoned were enacted by Act March 3, 1899, c. 425, § 15, post, § 9920.

7985. (R. S. § 4239.) Property wrecked on coast of Florida.

All property, of any description whatsoever, which shall be taken from any wreck, from the sea, or from any of the keys and shoals, within the jurisdiction of the United States, on the coast of Florida, shall be brought to some port of entry within the jurisdiction of the United States.

Act March 3, 1825, c. 107, § 2, 4 Stat. 133.

Provisions for the entry of merchandise saved from vessels wrecked at sea