Passports and Protection of American Citizens.

be deemed and taken to be a citizen. The recognition of this citizenship will be subject to the qualification above referred to.

117..Passports should be numbered, commencing with No. 1, and so continuing consecutively until the end of the incumbent's term of office.

ARTICLE XII.

Reciprocal Duties of Consular Officers and Masters of American Vessels.

118..Every master of an American vessel shall, on his arrival at a foreign port, deposit his register, sea letter, and Mediterranean passport with the Consular Officer of the United States, if there be one at the port, under a penalty of five hundred dollars, which the Consular Officer may recover in his own name for the use of the United States.

119..A vessel putting into a foreign port to get information only, and not entering, or breaking bulk, or discharging seamen, or requiring new seamen, or needing the aid of the Consul in any respect, cannot be said to make an arrival at that port within the meaning of the law.

120..Vessels driven into a port are not required to deposit their papers with the Consular Officer, unless formal entry be afterward made or consular services required.

121..It is the duty of a Consular Officer on the arrival of an American vessel, should the master neglect to deliver his ship's papers, as he is directed by law, to inform him of the necessity of so doing, by showing him the law that requires it, and apprising him of the penalty he will incur by refusal or neglect. If he fail to comply, a certificate of the fact, under the consular seal, (see Form No. 12,) must be immediately sent to the Department of State, giving a description of the vessel, the port to which she belongs, where bound, and the usual residence of the master. In such a case, it is desirable that the Consul should send some other evidence of the arrival and departure of the delinquent master with his vessel besides that of his own certificate, as it has been held that such evidence of any fact is not sufficient, unless expressly or impliedly made so by statute.

122.. When the ship's papers are received, they are to be kept

Duties as to Masters of Vessels.

together in as safe a place as possible, to guard against fire and other accidents; and the Consul, on receiving such papers, shall give a certificate of the fact, (see Form 13,) or a receipt under seal, and make an entry in his consular record, specifying the time of delivery, the name of the vessel, the master, and the character of the papers deposited.

123.. Whenever the master shall produce the clearance of his vessel from the proper officer of the port, and shall pay the fees due to the Consular Officer for his services, and shall pay to him three months' pay additional to wages due, for every seaman discharged at his port, and shall take on board, at the request of the Consular Officer, such destitute mariners as shall be designated by him for transportation to the United States, then he shall be entitled to the return of all the ship's papers deposited with the Consul. On return of certificate as in Form No. 13, there should be given with the papers a new certificate as in Form No. 14.

124.. Until all these provisions of law are complied with, the Consul may retain the papers, although the clearance may be regular and in due form.

125..It is the duty of every master and commander of a ship or vessel of the United States, whenever he shall have occasion for any consular or other official service which any Consular Officer of the United States shall be authorized by law or usage officially to perform, and for which any fee shall be allowed by the said rates or tariffs of fees as prescribed by regulation, to apply to such one of the said officers as may then be officially residing at the Consulate or Commercial Agency, if any there be where such service shall be required, to perform such service; and the said master or commander shall pay to the Consular Officer such fees as shall be allowed for such service by the tariff of fees prescribed by the President; and if any such master or commander shall omit so to do, he shall be liable to the United States for the amount of the fees lawfully chargeable for such services, as though the said services had been performed by such officer.

126..In case of a sale or transfer of any vessel of the United States, in any foreign port or water, it is made the duty of the Consul, by the act of April 29, 1851, to collect of the master or agent of

Duties as to Masters of Vessels.

the vessel, for hospital duty, 40 cents per month for each seaman employed on the vessel, from the date of its last entry into any port of the United States, as payment of hospital dues there, and to return the same to the Fifth Auditor of the Treasury, at the same time with the account required to be rendered quarterly to the same office for relief and protection of American seamen. (See Form 119 for the mode of making this return.) The Consul may retain the papers of the vessel until this sum is paid.

127..Whenever any master ships a seaman at a foreign port, it is his duty to take the list of his crew and the duplicate of the shipping articles forthwith to the Consular Officer at the port; and it is that officer's duty to make the proper entries thereon, setting forth the contract, and describing the person of the mariner.

ARTICLE XIII.

Discharge, Relief, and Return of Seamen,

128..All seamen regularly shipped in American vessels, are to be regarded as American seamen, within the provision of the act of 1803, and the other acts making provisions for the discharge and relief of seamen.

DISCHARGE OF SEAMEN.

129..A master of a vessel of the United States, clearing from one of its ports, assumes the responsibility of returning all the ship's company to the United States, or of accounting for them in the manner required by law.

130..It is in the power of a Consul in a foreign port to relieve a master of this responsibility, only in the manner authorized by law. 131..The statutory authority of the Consul to act in this respect is limited to-1st. The sale in a foreign country of a ship or vessel belonging to a citizen of the United States. 2d. The discharge, with his own consent, of a seaman or mariner, being a citizen of the United States. 3d. A discharge under the act of 1840, after a survey of the vessel, and finding the same unseaworthy.

132..In the first of these cases, the Consul acts for the purpose of subsequently affording the relief granted by law, and for the purpose of securing the payment of the extra wages required by law.

Discharge of Seamen.

133..In the second case the Consul acts as the lawfully authorized guardian of the American seaman, to hear and examine his complaints, and to afford him the only protection or measure of justice which the representative of his country can give him on foreign soil, viz, the termination of his connection with the ship.

134..The master is required by law to give the crew full liberty to lay their complaints before the Consul, and not to restrain them from landing, without some sufficient and valid objection exist thereto; in which case, if any mariner desire to see the Consul, it shall be the duty of the master to acquaint him with it forthwith, stating the reason why the mariner is not permitted to land, and that he is desired to come on board. The Consul, on receiving such information, will forthwith repair on board, inquire into the causes of the complaint, and proceed therein as the law directs.

135.. The investigation of these cases is often tedious, the evidence is apt to be conflicting, and the Consul will require the use of all his good judgment, forbearance, discretion, and good temper. 136.. When the Consul discharges seamen he should attach a certificate thereof to the crew list and shipping articles, and also give a certificate to the seaman. (See Forms 15 and 16.)

137..If the first officer, or any officer, and a majority of the crew, of any vessel make complaint in writing that she is in an unsuitable condition to go to sea, because she is leaky, or insufficiently supplied with sails, rigging, anchors, or any other equipment, or that the crew is insufficient to man her, or that 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 Consular Officer of the port is required to appoint two disinterested, competent, practical men, acquainted with maritime affairs, to examine into the causes of complaint, who must, in their report, state what defects and deficiencies, if any, they find to be well founded, as well as what, in their judgment, ought to be done to put the vessel in order for the continuance of her voyage.

138..The inspectors so appointed have full power to examine the vessel and whatever is aboard of her, so far as is pertinent to their inquiry, and also to hear and receive any other proofs which the ends of justice may require; and if, upon a view of the whole proceedings, the Consular Officer be satisfied therewith, he may approve

Discharge of Seamen.

the whole or any part of the report, and shall certify such approval, and if he dissents, shall also certify his reasons for so dissenting.

139.. If the inspectors report that the vessel was sent to sea unsuitably provided in any important or essential particular, by neglect or design, and the Consular Officer approves of such finding, he shall discharge such of the crew as require it, each of whom shall be entitled to three months' pay in addition to his wages up to the time of discharge, which amount is to be paid to them, provided no expenses have been incurred by a Consular Officer on their account.

140..The forms of proceedings in case of surveys relate to proceedings referred to under Article XX. They are, however, sufficiently detailed to enable a Consul to frame the necessary papers. (See Forms Nos. 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, and 42.)

141..If the deficiency complained of by the crew is reported by the inspectors to 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 of complaint, then the crew shall remain and discharge their duty.

142.. But if the master does not, in a reasonable time, remove or remedy the cause of complaint, then the crew shall, upon their request, be discharged, and they shall receive, each, one month's wages in addition to the pay up to the time of the discharge."

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143..The master is required to pay all such reasonable charges in the premises as shall be officially certified to him under the hand of the Consular Officer; but in case the inspectors report that the complaint is without good and sufficient cause, the master may retain from the wages of the complainants, in proportion to the pay of each, the amount of such charges, with such reasonable damages for detention on that account as the Consular Officer directing the inquiry may officially certify.

144..Although not authorized by statute, it has been the practice for Consuls to discharge seamen, and also officers on good cause shown, against their consent, on the application of the master; and this jurisdiction has been sustained by the courts.

145..The Consul will not exercise this power for slight or venial