Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/357

* NAVIGATION LAWS. 313 NAVIGATION LAWS. policy and tlioir .-iilare ui iiiUueiici- were {greatly txleniicil. Knglaiul, France, [Spain, l'oitii{;al, and Holland by tlieir restrictions proliiljitcd all com- mercial intercourse between their colonies and other nations; and Spain even treated the crews of foreign ships wrecked upon her coasts as pirates. In 1045 the English Parliament passed an act prohibiting the importation into England of whale oil and other products of the whale fisheries, in any vessels except such as were owned in England and were manned by English seamen. This act was the first of a long series of acts which are known collectively in history as "The Navigation Acts." The acts of 1051 and 1000 — the latter of which is known officially as "The Fii;st Navigation Act" — served as the basis of the British legislation in this field for almost two hundred years. In general, the objects of these acts, as of the succeeding ones, were to protect the shipping of England and her colonies, and to exploit the trade of the colonies in the interest of the mother country. The chief feature of the acts of 1051 and 1000 was the prohibition of the importation into England of foreign products except in Englisli ships or in tlie ships of the country of production. In 100.3, by what is usuallv known as the 'Second Navi- gation Act,' it was ordered that "none of the products of the English plantations or fac- tories ... in Asia, Africa, or America shall be carried anywhere (except to other planta- tions) till they be first landed in England, under the forfeiture of ships and cargoes." The Eng- lish restrictive measures neither destroyed the Dutch commerce of the seventeenth century nor stamped out American shipping interests of the eighteenth. The Lloyd's register of 1775 re- turned for the three years next preceding, 2311 vessels of American build as against 3908 of British construction. The chief features of the British Navigation Code, which was essentially identical with that of all maritime nations, as it existed down to the time of its repeal in 1849, required: That no foreigner could own. wholly or in part, an English ship; the captain and three- fourths of the crew must be British sub- jects; foreign products must be imported in British ships or in ships of the country of pro- duction: products of Asia, Africa, and America could not be imported into Great Britain from any Etiropcati port in any ship whatsoever, and such products could be imported from any other place only in British ships or those of the coun- fn' of production. No coastwise trade was per- mitted in foreign ships to the United Kingdom or between different British possessions, and trade of any kind was permitted only by special au- thorization. The effort to evade these restric- tions involved great waste of capital, while the adoption of a jnore liberal policy has resulted in no diminution of the prosperity of the British Merchant Marine. The American navigation policy began with the treaty of commerce entered into with France in 1778, which included a provision to take as the "basis of their agreement the mo.st perfect equal- ity and reciprocity." But the liberal tone of this instrument was discontinued when, under the influence of the New England representatives the framers of the Constitution in 178!) gave to Con- gress an unrestricted power to enact navigation laws (U. S. Con., Art. I.. § viii.. clause 3). In 1789-92 the foundation of the American svstem was laid by the levying of tonnage dues and im- port ta.xes after the English custom so drastic in nature as to give American shipmenis a practical monopoly of American commerce. This was fol- lowed by a registration act (1792) and the clos- ing of the coasting trade to foreign shipping in 1793. After the close of the War of 1812 the two countries somewhat modified their altitude to- ward each other, and a treaty was entered into placing their ships upon a reciprocal footing in the ports of the United States ami Great Britain and suspending .somewhat the discriminating duties charged upon the goods carried. This tendency gradually resulted in England in the Reciprocity Acts of 1824 and the final repeal of her navigation laws. The American system continued practically unchanged. In addition to those already stated, some of its more vexatious provisions which pre- vailed for three-quarters of the nineteenth cen- tury forbade or restricted the registration of foreign-built or foreign-owned vessels, the repair of vessels abroad, without payment of duty on materials used in repairs, or foreign vessels in the United States, without duty on entry of repairs, and compelled all vessels to first report at a port of entry and conform to the customs regulations before they could proceed to the port of delivery to discharge their cargoes; and for- eign vessels could discharge only at the port of entry. Meanwhile, American shipping had undergone various changes consonant with the economic forces in operation during this period. From 1815 to 1842 with an al)undant natural supply of building material coupled with American in- genuity, it increased 70 per cent., but with the change from wooden to iron vessels, this advan- tage was shifted in England's favor and during the period following the Civil War the depression in freight rates and the more lucrative oppor- tunity furnished for the investment of American capital in other directions resulted in the de- crease of the American merchant marine. The decrease was also accentuated by the law for- bidding any but American-built vessels to carry the American flag. The changed conditions of the past decade, however, and the modification of the statutory restrictions — by an act of 1892 foreign-built vessels of 8000 tons burden, and a speed of twenty knots an hour, which are owned in a certain part by Americans, can fly the American flag — have invigorated ship-building and shipping interests generally in the United States. Under the provisions of the .act of 1884 ow'ners can now fill vacancies in the positiims of officers below captain by aliens when in foreign voyages; seamen can be discharged at foreign ports on mutual application of master and seaman with- out payment of additional wages; seamen are al- lowed only one montli's pay in case of injury to the vessel : consular fees for services to vessels and seamen are paid by the Ignited States Treas- ury. Ship-building is encouraged by permit- ting a drawback on imported materials equal in amount to the dutj' paid, if the vessel is built for export. Vessels must now have the port of registry, or the place where the owner resides, if in the same district, painted upon their sterns. Vessels in trade with contiguous foreign territory no longer are re<piired to pay a capitation tax on passengers, thus putting vessels trading with k