Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 2.djvu/239



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That before a clearance be granted to any vessel bound on a foreign voyage, the master thereof shall deliver to the collector of the customs, a list, containing the names, places of birth and residence, and a description of the persons who compose his ship’s company, to which list the oath or affirmation of the captain shall be annexed, that the said list contains the names of his crew, together with the places of their birth and residence, as far as he can ascertain them, and the said collector shall deliver him a certified copy thereof, for which the collector shall be entitled to receive the sum of twenty-five cents; and the said master shall moreover enter into bond with sufficient security, in the sum of four hundred dollars, that he shall exhibit the aforesaid certified copy of the list to the first boarding officer, at the first port in the United States, at which he shall arrive on his return thereto, and then and there also produce the persons named therein, to the said boarding officer, whose duty it shall be to examine the men with such list, and to report the same to the collector, and it shall be the duty of the collector at the said port of arrival, (where the same is different from the port from which the vessel originally sailed) to transmit a copy of the list so reported to him, to the collector of the port from which said vessel originally sailed: Provided, that the said bond shall not be forfeited on account of the said master not producing to the first boarding officer, as aforesaid, any of the persons contained in the said list, who may be discharged in a foreign country with the consent of the consul, vice-consul, commercial agent, or vice-commercial agent there residing, signified in writing, under his hand and official seal, to be produced to the collector with the other persons composing the crew as aforesaid; nor on account of any such person dying or absconding, or being forcibly impressed into other service, of which satisfactory proof shall be then also exhibited to the collector.

. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of every master or commander of a ship or vessel, belonging to the citizens of the United States, who shall sail from any port of the United States, after the first day of May next, on his arrival at a foreign port, to deposit his register, sea letter, and Mediterranean passport with the consul, vice-consul, commercial agent, or vice-commercial agent, (if any there be at such port;) that in case of refusal or neglect of the said master or commander, to deposit the said papers as aforesaid, he shall forfeit and pay five hundred dollars, to be recovered by the said consul, vice-consul, commercial agent, or vice-commercial agent, in his own name, for the benefit of the United States, in any court of competent jurisdiction; and it shall be the duty of such consul, vice-consul, commercial agent, or vice-commercial agent, on such master or commander producing to him a clearance from the proper officer of the port, where his ship or vessel may be, to deliver to the said master or commander all of his said papers: Provided, such master or commander shall have complied with the provisions contained in this act, and those of the.

. And be it further enacted, That whenever a ship or vessel belonging to a citizen of the United States, shall be sold in a foreign country, and her company discharged, or when a seaman or mariner, a citizen of the United States, shall, with his own consent, be discharged in a foreign country, it shall be the duty of the master or commander to produce to the consul, vice-consul, commercial agent, or vice-commercial agent, the list of his ship’s company, certified as aforesaid; and to pay