Page:History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce (Volume 3).djvu/52

 seaman is not permitted to land; whereupon, the consul must proceed on board, and act as the law directs. In all cases where deserters are apprehended the consul is required to investigate the facts, and, if satisfied that the desertion was caused by unusual or cruel treatment, the mariner shall be, in such case, not merely discharged, but shall receive, in addition to his wages, three months' pay, and the whole act is required to be entered upon the crew-*list and shipping articles, with full particulars of the nature of this treatment. Any consul or commercial agent of the United States neglecting or omitting to perform his duties, or guilty of malversation or abuse of power, is liable to an action from the parties aggrieved; and, for corrupt conduct in office, he is liable to indictment, and on conviction may be fined from one to ten thousand dollars, and be imprisoned not less than one, or more than five, years.

Although Congress possesses the power to make the laws necessary for the regulation of Pilots, and the whole business of pilotage is within its authority, there is no general law for these purposes, and the superintendence of pilots is left to the legislation of the individual States. By the Act of 7 August, 1789, it was enacted that all pilots in the bays, inlets, rivers, harbours, and ports of the United States should continue to be regulated by the existing laws of the States respectively, until further legislative proceeding by Congress. The licensing of pilots and fixing rates of pilotage were therefore thus arranged at first; but, as some difficulties arose, it was enacted by the Act 2 March, 1837, that it was lawful for the master or commander of any vessel coming into, or