Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 30.djvu/796

 758 FIFT Y-FIFTH CONGRESS. Sess. III. Ch. 28. 1898. her provisions, stores, and supplies are not, or have not been during the voyage, sufficient and wholesome; thereupon, in any of these or like cases, the consul, or a commercial agent who may discharge any duties of a consul, shall cause to be appointed three persons, of like qualifications with those described in section forty-five hundred and fifty-seven, who shall proceed to examine into the causes of complaint, and they shall be governed in all their proceedings and proceed as pro~ vided in section forty~five hundred and fifty-seven." Sec. 11. That section forty-five hundred and sixty-one of the Revised Statutes be, and is hereby, amended to read as follows: nmnmgecrwimsu “SEo. 4561. The inspectors in their report shall also state whether Q'},;‘§§‘j,‘;§§ Qf §‘Q;§§‘ in their opinion the vessel was sent to sea unsuitably provided in any R- S-. nw- 4561. r- important or essential particular, by neglect or design, or through mis- °°°*‘“'°"d°°‘ take or accident; and in case it was by neglect or design, and the consular officer approves of such finding, he shall discharge such of the crew as request it, and shall require the payment by the master of one month’s wages for each seaman over and above the wages then due, or sufficient money for the return of such of the crew as desire to be discharged to the nearest and most convenient port of the United States, or by furnishing the seamen who so desire to be discharged with when defect is rm- employment on a ship agreed to by them. But if in the opinion of the {‘,$§“m°* °"°" *° "' inspectors the defects or denciencies found to exist have been the result of mistake or accident, and could not, in the exercise of ordinary care, have been known and provided against before the sailing of the vessel, and the master shall in a reasonable time remove or remedy the causes mlaontlgdgr ::3; of complaint, then the crew shall remain and discharge their duty. If ..5,5., ,;,:,,5,.,..;., any person knowingly sends or attempts to send or is party to the sending or attempting to send an American ship to sea, in the foreign _ or coastwise trade, in such an unseaworthy state that the life of any person is likely to be thereby endangered, he shall, in respect of each oiiense, be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a une not to exceed one thousand dollars or by imprisonment not to exceed five years, or both, at ‘the discretion of the court, unless he proves that either he used all reasonable means to insure her being sent to sea in a seaworthy state, or that her going to sea in an unseaworthy state was, under the circumstances, reasonable and justifiable, and for the purposes of giving that proof he may give evidence in the same manner as any other witness." Sec. 12. That section forty-five hundred and sixty-four of the Revised Statutes be, and is hereby, amended to read as follows: rsmiiy rm- raum **81:0. 4564. Should any master or owner of any merchant vessel of f,‘{,,$?Q§§{jL‘f ““'""'”"‘ the United States neglect to provide a sufficient quantity of stores to s8;<,_;;n3•; 4564- p- last for a voyage of ordinary duration to the port of destination, and in ‘ ‘ consequence of such neglect the crew are compelled to accept a reduced scale, such master or owner shall be liable to a penalty as provided in section forty-tive hundred and sixty-eight of the Revised Statutes." Sec. 13. That section forty-tive hundred and sixty-six of the Revised _ _ Statutes be, and is hereby, amended to read as follows: c__K';Qj}Qflf"° '°’ ""*° “Sec. 4566. If the officer to whom any such complaint in regard to the as-.—-··.4a•s6.p.»»s4, provisions or the water is made ccrtities in such statement that there “"‘“"d°‘l‘ was no reasonable ground for such complaint, each of the parties so complaining shall forfeit to the master or owner his share of the expense, if any, of the survey." Sec. 14. That section forty-nve hundred and si xtyeight of the Revised _ _ V Statutes be, and is hereby, amended to read as follows: mg(j};{jf,:·¤¤,j;¤¤I,,0g·,f “Sec. 4568. It} during a voyage, the allowance of any of the provisions say. __ __ which any seaman is entitled to under section forty-six hundred and ,,f;,j_·,·jf“·‘°"*·I’·`°‘* twelve of the Revised Statutes is reduced except for any time during MB}:-.~qE24612· p. aus; which such seaman willfully and without sufficient cause refuses or ’ "" ‘ neglects to perform his duty, or is lawfully under confinement for misconduct either on board or on shore; or if it shall be shown that any of such provisions are, or have been during the voyage, had in quality or