third part of the wages which shall be due to him at every port where such ship or vessel shall unlade and deliver her cargo before the voyage be ended, unless the contrary be expressly stipulated in the contract; and as soon as the voyage is ended, and the cargo or ballast be fully discharged at the last port of delivery, every seaman or mariner shall be entitled to the wages which shall be then due according to his contract ; and if such wages shall not be paid within ten days after such discharge, or if any dispute shall arise between the master and seamen or mariners, touching the said wages, it shall be lawful for the judge of the district where the said ship or vessel shall be, or in case his residence be more than three miles from the place, or of his absence from the place of his residence, then for any judge or justice of the peace, to summon the master of such ship or vessel to appear before him, to show cause why process should not issue against such ship or vessel, her tackle, furniture, and apparel, according to the course of admiralty courts, to answer to the said wages; and if the master shall neglect to appear, or appearing shall not show that the wages are paid or otherwise satisfied, or forfeited, and if the matter in dispute shall not be forthwith settled, in such case the judge or justice shall certify to the clerk of the court of the district, that there is sufficient cause of complaint whereon to found admiralty process against the said ship or vessel, and the suit shall be proceeded on in the said court, and final judgment be given according to the course of admiralty courts in such cases used; and in such suit all the seamen or mariners, (having cause of complaint of the like kind against the same ship or vessel,) shall be joined as complainants; and it shall be incumbent on the master or commander to produce the contract and log-book, if required, to ascertain any matters in dispute, otherwise the complainants shall be permitted to state the contents thereof, and the proof of the contrary shall lie on the master or commander; but nothing herein contained shall prevent any seaman or mariner from having or maintaining any action at common law for the recovery of his wages, or from immediate process out of any court, having admiralty jurisdiction, wherever any ship or vessel may be found, in case she shall have left the port of delivery where the voyage ended before payment of wages, or in case she shall be about to proceed to sea before the end of the ten days next after the delivery of her cargo or ballast.

SECT. 7. And be it enacted, That if any seaman or mariner, who shall have signed a contract to perform a voyage, shall at any port or place desert, or shall absent himself from such ship or vessel without leave of the master, or officer commanding in the absence of the master, it shall be lawful for any justice of

the peace within the United States, (upon the complaint of the master,) to issue his warrant to apprehend such deserter, and bring him before such justice; and if it shall then appear by due proof that he has signed a contract within the intent and meaning of this act, and that the voyage agreed for is not finished, altered, or the contract otherwise dissolved, and that such seaman or mariner has deserted the ship or vessel, or absented himself without leave, the said justice shall commit him to the house of correction, or common jail of the city, town, or place, there to remain until the said ship or vessel shall be ready to proceed on her voyage, or till the master shall require his discharge, and then to be delivered to the said master, he paying all the costs of such commitment, deducting the same out of the wages due to such seaman or mariner.

SECT. 8. And be it enacted, That every ship or vessel belonging to a citizen or citizens of the United States, of the burthen of one hundred and fifty tons or upwards, navigated by ten or more persons in the whole, and bound on a voyage without the limits of the United States, shall be provided with a chest of medicines, put up by some apothecary of known reputation, and accompanied by directions for administering the same; and the said medicines shall be examined by the same, or some other apothecary, once at least in every year, and supplied with fresh medicines in the place of such as shall have been used or spoiled and in default of having such medicine-chest so provided, and kept fit for use, the master or commander of such ship or vessel shall provide and pay for all such advice, medicine, or attendance of physicians, as any of the crew shall stand in need of, in case of sickness, at every port or place where the ship or vessel may touch or trade at, during the voyage, without any deduction from the wages of such sick seaman or mariner.

SECT. 9. And be it enacted, That every ship or vessel belonging as aforesaid, bound on a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, shall, at the time of leaving the said port from whence she sails, have on board, well secured under deck, at least sixty gallons of water, one hundred pounds of salted flesh meat, and one hundred pounds of wholesome ship-bread, for every person on board such ship or vessel, over and besides such other provisions, stores, and live stock, as shall by the master or passengers be put on board, and in like proportion for shorter or longer voyages; and in case the crew of any ship or vessel which shall not have been so provided, shall be put on short allowance in water, flesh, or bread, during the voyage, the master or owner of such ship or vessel shall pay to each of the crew one day's wages beyond the wages agreed on, for every

day they shall be so put upon short allowance, to be recovered in the same manner as their stipulated wages.

FREDERICK AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG,

Speaker of the House of Representatives. JOHN ADAMS,

Vice President of the United States, and President of the Senate. APPROVED, July 20, 1790,

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GEORGE WASHINGTON,

President of the United States.

An Act concerning Consuls and Vice Consuls, and for the protection of American Seamen.

SECT. 1. 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 shall produce the persons named therein to the said boarding officer, whose duty it shall be to examine the men with such list, and 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 vesssel 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.

SECT. 2. And be it enacted, That it shall be the duty of every master or commander of a ship or vessel, belonging to 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, or vice consul, commercial agent, (if any there be at such port) and 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 the ship or vessel may be, to deliver to the said master or commander all his said papers: Provided, such master or commander shall have complied with the provisions contained in this act, and those of the act to which this is a supplement.

SECT. 3. And be it 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 seamen 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 to such consul, vice consul, commercial agent, or vice commercial agent for every seamen or mariner so discharged, being designated on such list as a citizen of the United States, three month's pay over and above the wages which may be due to such mariner or seaman, two thirds thereof to be paid by such consul or commercial agent, to each seaman or mariner so discharged, upon his engagement on board of any vessel to return to the United States, and the other remaining third to be retained for the purpose of creating a fund for the payment of the passages of seamen or mariners, citizens of the United States, who may be desirous of returning to the United States, and for the maintenance of American seamen who may be destitute, and may be in such foreign port, and the several sums retained for such fund shall be accounted for with the treasury every six months by the persons receiving the same.

SECT. 4. And be it enacted, That it shall be the duty of the consuls, vice consuls, commercial agents, and vice commercial agents of the United States, from time to time, to provide for the mariners and seamen of the United States, who may be found destitute within their districts respectively, sufficient subsistence, and passages to some port in the United States, in the most reasonable manner, at the expense of the United States, subject to such instructions as the secretary of state shall give; and that all masters and commanders of vessels belonging to citizens of the United States, and bound to some port of the same, are hereby required and enjoined to take such mariners or seamen on board of their ships or vessels, at the request of the said consuls, vice consuls, commercial agents, or vice commercial agents, respectively, and to transport them to the port in the United States, to which such ships or vessels may be bound, on such terms, not exceeding ten dollars for each person, as may be agreed between the said master and consul, or commercial agent. And the said mariners or seamen shall, if able, be bound to do duty on board such ships or vessels according to their several abilities: Provided, That no master or captain of any ship or vessel shall be obliged to take a greater number than two men to every one hundred tons burthen of the said ship or vessel, on any one voyage; and if any such captain or master shall refuse the same on the request or order of the consul, vice consul, commercial agent, or vice commercial agent, such captain or master shall forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred dollars for each mariner or seamen so refused, to be recovered for the benefit of the United States, in any court of competent jurisdiction. And the certificate of any such consul or commercial agent, given under his hand and official seal, shall be prima facie evidence of such refusal in any court of law having jurisdiction for the recovery of the penalty aforesaid.

SECT. 5. And be it further enacted, That the seventh and eighth sections of the act entitled "An act concerning consuls and vice consuls," be, and the same are hereby repealed: and that the secretary of state be authorized to reimburse the consuls, vice consuls, commercial agents, or vice commercial agents, such reasonable sums as they may heretofore have advanced for the relief of seamen, though the same should exceed the rate of twelve cents a man per diem.

SECT. 6. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for every consul, vice consul, commercial agent, or vice commercial agent of the United States, to take and receive, for every certificate of discharge of any seamen or mariner in a foreign port, fifty cents; and for commission on paying and receiving the amount of wages payable on the discharge of seamen in foreign ports, two and a half per cent.