great guns, and furnished with as full a complement of small arms for its crew as any ship of war. Its officers are required to be proficient in military drill, and possess a thorough knowledge of the uses of both great and small arms. Its crews are required to be instructed from day to day at the great guns and in the use of the carbine, pistol, and cutlass. Commanding officers are required, while boarding vessels arriving in ports of the United States, in case of the failure or refusal of any such vessel, on being hailed, to come to, and submit to the proper inspection by an officer of the service, to fire, first across her bows as a warning, and in case of persistent refusal, to resort to shot or shell to compel obedience. In the performance of this work, they are likely at any time to receive injuries, and be subjected to the same dangers in time of peace as the force employed on naval vessels. * * "By the act of March 2, 1779, it is provided that 'the revenue cutters shall, whenever the President so directs, cooperate with the Navy.' It will be observed that the cooperation of the two services prescribed in the act above quoted is not contingent upon a state of war or other particular perilous conditions. On the contrary, it may take place in time of peace and for pacific purposes, and when less hazard is involved to the two services than pertains to the discharge by a revenue vessel of its ordinary duties. It is difficult to conceive that discrimination could be made by the law between services subjected to equally hazardous and equally important military duties, both in time of peace and in time of war. *Objection to granting pensions for the Revenue-Marine officers and seamen has been made on the ground that such action would be extending this bounty to civil employees of the Government, a policy to which our legislative traditions, so to speak, are opposed. But if in legal theory they are civil employees, are they so in fact? Are they less positively a part of our military force in time of war than the Army or Navy? It is true revenue vessels are not to be ordered into action on purely military service, offensive or defensive, except the President so direct; neither are vessels of the Navy.” * * The above clear and precise statement, showing that the so-called Revenue Marine is simply a coast navy, is without doubt correct and just. It is because it forms a part of Government work in which officers and seamen are employed to navigate Government vessels at sea, from port to port, that it may fitly become a part of the Naval Establishment. If the present system of military instruction is so defective that the officers of the Revenue Navy are not made naval officers, it would seem that some other system should be adopted to that end, seeing that they are "subjected to equally important and equally hazardous military duties, both in time of peace and in time of war," and that they are no less positively "a part of our military force in time of war than the Army or Navy." If, on the other hand, naval officers now have too little practice in coast navigation, a method should be devised of giving them such practice at once, for there is nothing more essential than this to success in the operations of modern warfare. The plan proposed with these objects in view included the transfer to the Navy Department of the cruising cutters, their officers and seamen. Mr. Chandler's recommendation was based in part at least upon a paper, which, upon his order, was prepared by Mr. George H. Peters, under the title of "The Revenue-Marine Service," which was published in his annual report for 1882. Following is a copy of this paper: 1. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY. The necessity for a Revenue-Marine Service was early recognized. At the second session of the First Congress, in an act providing "more effectually for the collection of the duties on imports" (Aug. 4, 1790), the following provision was adopted: "That the President of the United States be empowered to cause to be built and equipped so many boat and cutters, not exceeding ten, as may be necessary to be employed for the protection of the revenue, the expense whereof shall not exceed ten thousand dollars, which shall be paid out of the product of the duties on goods, wares, and merchandise imported into the United States, and on the tonnage of ships or vessels." 1 The next section provided that there should be to each of the said boats or cutters one master and not more than three mates-first, second, and third-four mariners, and two boys, and provided for their compensation and subsistence. Section 64 of the same act provided that the officers of the said boats or cutters should be appointed by the President of the United States, and should be deemed officers of the customs, and it prescribed the power and authority of said officers. 1 Stat. L., ch. xxxv, sec. 62, vol. 1, p. 175. The expense of constructing new revenue cutters, authorized by Congress from time to time, was defrayed in the manner prescribed in section 62 of this act unti! March 3, 1845. The provisions of section 64 of the above act were reenacted, with additions, in section 99 of the act of March 2, 1799.1 That these small vessels might be very usefully employed in the public service in various ways, in addition to their duties as revenue vessels, soon became apparent. The first recognition of this by Congress is found in a joint resolution approved March 20, 1794, which authorized the President to employ as dispatch boats such of the revenue cutters of the United States as the public exigencies might require. The act of May 6, 1796,2 again increased the compensation of officers and crews of revenue cutters, and provided that one-half of the penalties, fines, and forfeitures resulting from information given by any officer of a revenue cutter should go to the officers of such cutter. The same act authorized the President to cause such vessels as became unfit for service to be sold, and to cause others to be built or purchased in their place. The provisions of this act, which authorized the sale of inefficient vessels and their replacement by new ones, were reenacted in section 100 of the act of March 2, 1799.3 This policy is well worthy of consideration; to it is due, in a great degree, the efficient public service afterwards performed by these vessels. Our troubled foreign relations, particularly with France, caused the passage of the act of July 1, 1797, providing a naval armament, in the twelfth section of which authority was given to the President to increase the strength of the several revenue cutters, so that the number of men employed did not exceed 30 marines and seamen to each cutter; "and cause the said revenue cutters to be employed to defend the seacoast and to repel any hostility to their vessels and commerce within their jurisdiction, having due regard to the duty of the said cutters in the protection of revenue." An act of June 22, 1798, amended the foregoing by authorizing the President to increase the strength of any revenue cutter, for the purpose of defense against hostilities near the seacoast, by employing on board the same not exceeding 70 marines and seamen. The few but judicious enactments heretofore mentioned had thus placed in the public service a number of just such vessels as were then necessary for special service in our naval squadrons as tenders and dispatch boats. The functions of the executive departments of the Government were more elastic than now, not having become fixed by many years of routine and precedent, and the President was able to give his personal attention more fully to details; and a special limited transfer of authority from one department to another in time of war could be more easily effected than at present. The efficiency and value of the revenue cutters for naval purposes was apparent, and accordingly, by section 3 of "An act for the augmentation of the Navy," approved February 25, 1799, the President was authorized: "To place on the naval establishment, and employ accordingly, all or any of the vessels which as revenue cutters have been increased in force and employed in the defense of the seacoast; * * and thereupon the officers and crews of such vessels * may be allowed, at the discretion of the President of the United States, the pay, subsistence, advantages, and compensations, proportionably to the rates of such vessels, and shall be governed by the rules and discipline which are or which shall be established for the Navy of the United States." Certain civil duties which still remain in force were given the revenue cutters by the act approved the same day as the preceding, February 25, 1799. This act authorizes and requires the masters of revenue cutters, as well as certain other officers of the United States, to aid in the execution of quarantine and health laws as they may be directed, from time to time, by the Secretary of the Treasury. The act of March 2, 1799, entitled "An act to regulate the collection of duties on imports and tonnage,' " passed at the third session of the Fifth Congress, repealed preceding acts relating to the same subject, and contained, in sections 97, 98, 99, 100, and 102,7 more specific and detailed legislation relative to the Revenue-Cutter Service than had been before adopted. As much of this legislation still remains in force, these sections are transcribed: 1 An act supplementary to the first mentioned (Mar. 2, 1793, Stat. L., session II, chap. xxiv, v. 1, p. 336) provided, in section 7, that the President might increase the complement of mariners to the cutters. This act also increased the compensation of officers and mariners and authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to contract for the supply of rations. Stat. L., ch. xxii, vol. 1, p. 462. s Ibid., p. 700. 4 Ibid., p. 525. 5 Ibid., p. 621. Stat. L., vol. 1, p. 627. 7 Ibid., pp. 699, 700. "SEC. 97. And be it further enacted, That the President of the United States be empowered, for the better securing the collection of the duties imposed on goods, wares, and merchandise imported into the United States, and on the tonnage of ships or vessels, to cause to be built and equipped so many revenue cutters, not exceeding ten, as may be necessary to be employed for the protection of the revenue, the expense whereof shall be paid out of the products of the duties on goods, wares, and merchandise imported into the United States, and on the tonnage of ships or vessels. "SEC. 98. And be it further enacted, That there shall be to each of the said revenue cutters one captain or master, and not more than three lieutenants or mates, first, second, and third, and not more than seventy men, including noncommissioned officers, gunners, and mariners. And the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to cause contracts to be made for the supply of rations for the officers and men of the said revenue cutters: Provided, That the said revenue cutters shall, whenever the President of the United States shall so direct, cooperate with the Navy of the United States, during which time they shall be under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, and the expenses thereof shall be defrayed by the agents of the Navy Depart ment. "SEC. 99. And be it further enacted, That the officers of the said revenue cutters shall be appointed by the President of the United States, and shall respectively be deemed officers of the customs, and shall be subject to the direction of such collectors of the revenue, or other officers thereof, as from time to time shall be designated for that purpose; they shall have power and authority, and are hereby required and directed, to go on board all ships or vessels which shall arrive within the United States or within four leagues of the coast thereof, if bound for the United States, and to search and examine the same, and every part thereof, and to demand, receive, and certify the manifests hereinbefore required to be on board certain ships or vessels, and to affix and put proper fastenings on the hatches and other communications with the hold of any ship or vessel, and to remain on board the said ships and vessels until they arrive at the port or place of their destination. It shall likewise be the duty of the master or other person having at any time the command of any of the said revenue cutters to make a weekly return to the collector, or other officer of the district under whose direction they are placed, of the transactions of the cutter under their command, specifying therein the vessels that have been boarded, their names and descriptions, the names of the masters, and from what port or place they last sailed, whether laden or in ballast, whether ships or vessels of the United States, or to what other nation belonging, and whether they have the necessary manifest or manifests of their cargoes on board, and generally all such matters as it may be necessary for the collectors or other officers of the customs to be made acquainted with; and the officers of the said cutters shall likewise execute and perform such other duties for the collection and security of the revenue as from time to time shall be enjoined and directed by the Secretary of the Treasury not contrary to law and the provisions hereinbefore contained. "SEC. 100. And be it further enacted, That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized to cause other revenue cutters to be built or purchased in lieu of such as are or shall from time to time become unfit for further service, and to cause such as are so become unfit for further service to be sold at public auction, and the proceeds of such sales to be paid into the Treasury of the United States. And the expense of purchasing other cutters as aforesaid, as well as all future expenses of building, purchasing, or repairing revenue cutters, shall be paid out of the product of the duties on goods, wares, or merchandise imported into the United States, and on the tonnage of ships or vessels. "SEC. 102. And be it further enacted, That the cutters and boats employed in the service of the revenue shall be distinguished from other vessels by an ensign and pendant, with such marks thereon as shall be prescribed and directed by the President of the United States; and in case any ship or vessel liable to seizure or examination shall not bring to on being required or being chased by any cutter or boat having displayed the pendant and ensign prescribed for vessels in the revenue service, it shall be lawful for the captain, master, or other person having command of such cutter or boat to fire at or into such vessel which shall not bring to after such pendant and ensign shall be hoisted and a gun shall have been fired by such cutter or boat as a signal; and such captain, master, or other person as aforesaid, and all persons acting by or under his direction, shall be indemnified from any penalties or actions for damages for so doing; and if any persons shall be killed or wounded by such firing, and the captain, master, or other person aforesaid shall be prosecuted or arrested therefor, such captain, master, or other person shall be forthwith admitted to bail. And if any ship, vessel, or boat not employed in the service of the revenue shall, within the jurisdiction of the United States, carry or hoist any pendant or ensign prescribed for vessels in the service afore said, the master or commander of the ship or vessel so offending shall forfeit and pay one hundred dollars." Duties in connection with the suppression of the slave trade arose under the act of May 10, 1800, which forbids citizens of the United States to have any interest in vessels engaged in the slave trade, or to serve on board such vessels, and authorizes the seizure of vessels violating said act by "any of the commissioned vessels of the United States." An act of March 22, 1794,2 had already prohibited the building or fitting out of any vessel in the United States to engage in the slave trade. More than a decade of years now passed by without any legislation relative to the Revenue Marine, except that the act of March 2, 1807, contained further provisions relative to the use of the public armed vessels in the suppression of the slave trade,3 and that by an act of January 6, 1809, the President was authorized to procure 12 additional revenue cutters. The services of the officers and crews of the revenue cutters, whilst cooperating with the Navy in the public defense, had been such as to merit recognition and reward from the Government, and an act was approved April 18, 1814, which provided "That the officers and seamen of the revenue cutters of the United States, who have been or may be wounded or disabled in the discharge of their duty whilst cooperating with the Navy by order of the President of the United States, shall be entitled to be placed on the Navy pension list, at the same rate of pension and under the same regulations and restrictions as are now provided by law for the officers and seamen of the Navy." This is to-day the only general provision of law authorizing the payment of pensions in the Revenue-Marine Service. Again, a long term of years elapsed during which no legislation was adopted with reference to the Revenue-Marine Service. During this period several acts were passed, however, incidentally prescribing new duties for the revenue cutters, to which brief reference will be made. They are the following: The act of March 1, 1817, relative to the public timber reservations, section 3 provides that any vessel unlawfully taking on board timber from the public lands shall be wholly forfeited. The neutrality law, enacted April 20, 1818.7 The act of March 3, 1819,8 authorizing the President to employ the public armed vessels to protect merchant vessels from piratical aggressions, and the act of May 15, 1820, continuing the same provisions in force, and further defining piracy. Both these soon expired by limitation. The act of March 3, 1825, 10 providing for the forfeiture of any vessel engaged in carrying to a foreign port any property taken from wrecks on the coast of Florida, and providing that such property shall be brought to a port of entry of the United States. 11 The act of March 2, 1833, section 3 of which provides for the preventing by officers of the customs of depredations on the live-oak timber growing on the public lands of the United States. An act was approved December 22, 1837,12 under which it has been customary to assign a most important duty to certain revenue cutters. This act provides "That the President of the United States be, and hereby is, authorized to cause any suitable number of public vessels, adapted to the purpose, to cruise upon the coast, in the severe portion of the season, when the public service will allow of it, and to afford such aid to distressed navigators as their circumstances and necessities may require; and such public vessels shall go to sea prepared fully to render such assistance." After the passage of the foregoing act several naval vessels were ordered on this service with eight of the cutters, but the men-of-war proved to be too large and unwieldy for the coast service and were soon withdrawn. Certain defects in the mode of defraying the expenses of constructing or procuring revenue cutters, which had been in force since 1790, led to the passage of An act relating to revenue cutters and steamers, over the President's veto, March 3, 1845.13 It provides "That no revenue cutter or revenue steamer shall hereafter be built (except such as are now in the course of building and equipment) nor purchased, unless an appropriation be first made by law therefor." 1 Stat. L., ch. 51, vol. 2, pp. 70, 71. Ibid., ch. 22, vol. 3, p. 347. Ibid., ch. 77, vol. 3, pp. 510, 511. 10 Ibid., ch. 107, vol. 4, pp. 132, 133. Under this act specific appropriations have been made from time to time for the construction and equipment of new revenue cutters, as shown by the following statement of amounts appropriated for this purpose: Dec. 20, 1864, for not more than six cutters, service on the Lakes Mar. 3, 1869, for four cutters... Dec. 22, 1870, for (no number specified) cutters. Mar. 6, 1882, for rebuilding one cutter1. $90,000 90,000 60, 000 45,000 150, 000 450, 000 1, 000, 000 300, 000 300,000 200, 000 125,000 75,000 75,000 25, 000 75,000 16,000 The first provision for the appointment of engineers in the Revenue Service appeared in the naval appropriation act approved March 3, 1845, which authorized the appointment of six engineers by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to be employed in the Revenue Service of the United States, and for the appointment of six assistant engineers by the Secretary of the Treasury, to be employed in the like service; one engineer and one assistant engineer to be assigned to each steamer, if the same should be deemed necessary by the Secretary of the Treasury, who was authorized to prescribe the duties of these officers. Provision was also made for their pay, engineers to receive the same pay as first lieutenants in the Revenue Service, and assistant engineers the same pay as third lieutenants in the Revenue Service.2 An act of March 2, 1855, after appropriating money for several new vessels, provides that no person shall be appointed to the office of captain, first, second, or third lieutenant of any revenue cutter who does not adduce competent proof of proficiency and skill in navigation and seamanship.3 This provision still remains in force. By an act of August 18, 1856, authority was given to sell two revenue cutters then on the Great Lakes, and the proceeds, with $45,000 in addition, were appropriated to be used for building six cutters of about 50 tons each for service on the Lakes. Section 3 of this act fixed the complement of officers for each of these cutters at two, one to be a captain or first lieutenant, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury. By an act of June 1, 1860,5 the benefits of the Government Hospital for the Insane were extended to insane persons in the Revenue-Cutter Service. The war-collection act of July 13, 1861, provides that the President may employ such other suitable vessels as may in his judgment be required, in addition to the revenue cutters in service, to execute the revenue laws. Thus provision was made for employing naval vessels to perform the work assigned to revenue cutters in time of peace. The experience of the past has shown that it is necessary for the Government in cases of emergency to be able to employ every one of the public vessels in just that kind of public service for which each particular vessel may be best fitted. Before the outbreak of the rebellion, Congress had been dilatory about appropriating, under the act of March 3, 1845, money for steamers of the class rendered necessary by the wonderful advance in steam navigation. A number of very small steamers had been authorized at various times, but the usefulness of these for general purposes was past. Only one steamer adapted to the changed conditions of navigation was in the service, and this was too valuable for naval service not to be so utilized. Under these circumstances it became necessary to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to dispose of the antiquated sailing craft and inefficient steam launches then in service and replace them with more modern vessels, and accordingly the act of July 25, 1861,7 was passed. Section 1 increased the compensation of officers and provided for two grades of pay, duty pay, and leave of absence or waiting orders pay. 1 The W. P. Fessenden. 2 Stat. L., ch. 77, sec. 7, vol. 5, p. 794. Ibid., ch. 66, vol. 12, p. 23. |