shall be applied, in the first instance, in payment of the expenses occasioned by such desertion, to the master or owner of the vessel from which the desertion has taken place, and the balance, if any, shall be paid by the master or owner to any shipping-commissioner resident at the port at which the voyage of such vessel terminates; and the shipping-commissioner shall account for and pay over such balance to the judge of the circuit court within one month after the commissioner receives the same, to be disposed of by him in the same manner as is prescribed for the disposal of the money, effects, and wages of deceased seamen. Whenever any master or owner neglects or refuses to pay over to the shipping-commissioner such balance, he shall be liable to a penalty of double the amount thereof, recoverable by the commissioner in the same manner that seamen's wages are recovered. In all other cases of forfeiture of wages, the forfeiture shall be for the benefit of the master or owner by whom the wages are payable. R. S. 4604.

Notes of Decisions.

Sale of clothing and other effects and disposition of proceeds.-Four seamen deserted from an American merchant vessel in a foreign port, leaving in the hands of the master, besides what was due them as wages, some clothing and other effects, all of which the master delivered to the United States consul at the port on the demand of the latter. By instructions from the State Department, the consul sold the clothing, etc., and forwarded the proceeds thereof, with the amount due the seamen as wages, to that department. No proceedings have been instituted against the seamen for the offense of desertion. Upon the question as to what disposition should be made by the department of the money, advised, that the funds, together

with a statement of such facts touching the case as may be in the possession of the Department, be transmitted to the dir cuit judge for the district wherein the port is in which the vessel is owned or at which her voyage terminated. (1875) 14 Op. Atty. Gen. 520.

Consul's authority to demand money and effects. A consul has no authority to de mand and receive from the master of a vessel the money and effects belonging to a deserter from the vessel. (1875) 14 Op. Atty. Gen. 520.

Disposition of property by master.-The steps which should be taken by the master with reference to the disposition of such property indicated. (1875) 14 Op. Atty. Gen. 520.

1371. Corporal punishment of seamen prohibited.-Flogging and all other forms of corporal punishment are hereby prohibited on board of any vessel, and no form of corporal punishment on board of any vessel shall be deemed justifiable, and any master or other officer thereof who shall violate the aforesaid provisions of this section, or either thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment for not less than three months nor more than two years. Whenever any officer other than the master of such vessel shall violate any provision of this section, it shall be the duty of such master to surrender such officer to the proper authorities as soon as practicable, provided he has actual knowledge of the misdemeanor, or complaint thereof is made within three days after reaching port. Any failure on the part of such master to use due diligence to comply herewith, which failure shall result in the escape of such officer, shall render the master or vessel or the owner of the vessel liable in damages for such flogging or corporal punishment to the person illegally punished by such officer. R. S. 4611, as amended by sec. 9, act of March 4, 1915 (38 Stat. 1167).

Notes of

Construction of statute.-This section is not a penal law, and no indictment can be framed on it. U. S. v. Cutler (C. C. 1853), Fed. Cas. No. 14910.

Decisions.

Punishment within statute.-Master has no right to flog seaman, though acting under the honest belief that the men had conspired to poison him. The Josephine, Fed. Cas. No. 7544.

Any punishment which, in substance and effect, amounts to corporal punishment by stripes inflicted with a cat, is within the provision of the statute, irrespective of its degree. U. S. r. Cutler (C. C. 1853), Fed. Cas. No. 14910.

Although this provision abolished punishment by flogging, it did not curtail the authority of the master in other respects, even as to reasonable corporal punishment. Dorrell v. Schwerman (D. C. 1901), 111 Fed. 209, 210.

Enforcement of commands by blows when necessary to safety of vessel.-Prompt obedience by the crew of a ship to the commands of the officer on deck is es

sential to the safety of the vessel, and may be enforced by the officer, even by blows, when necessary; and a court will not hold him liable in damages therefor where he uses no weapons, and there is no evidence of malice, or excessive punishment. Stout v. Weedin (D. C. 1899), 95 Fed. 1001.

Flogging deck hand or roustabout.-The officers of a steamboat are liable for injuries caused by severely beating a deck hand or roustabout. Riley v. Allen (D. C. 1885), 23 Fed. 46, 47.

The mate of a steamboat has no legal right to enforce his orders by beating one of the crew. The General Rucker (D. C. 1888), 35 Fed. 152.

1372. Removal of captains by owners of vessels.-Any person or bodycorporate having more than one-half ownership of any vessel shall have the same power to remove a master, who is also part owner of such vessel, as such majority owners have to remove a master not an owner. This section shall not apply where there is a valid written agreement subsisting, by virtue of which such master would be entitled to possession, nor in any case where a master has possession as part owner, obtained before the nineteenth day of April, eighteen hundred and seventy-two. R. S. 4250.

Section four thousand two hundred and fifty is amended by striking out, in line seven, "nineteenth," and inserting "ninth." Act of Feb. 18, 1875 (18 Stat. 320), amending R. S. 4250.

1373. Penalty for boarding vessels without permission.-Every person who, not being in the United States service, and not being duly authorized by law for the purpose, goes on board any vessel about to arrive at the place of her destination, before her actual arrival, and before she has been completely moored, without permission of the master, shall, for every such offense, be punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars, and by imprisonment for not more than six months; and the master of such vessel may take any such person so going on board into custody, and deliver him up forthwith to any constable or police-officer, to be by him taken before any justice of the peace, to be dealt with according to the provisions of this Title. R. S. 4606.

Notes of Decisions.

Validity of statute.-This section, making it an offense to board a vessel without permission of her master, before she has actually arrived at her destination, and has been moored held valid. U. S. r. Anderson (C. C. 1872), Fed. Cas. No. 14447.

Application to foreign vessels.-This sec tion is intended to protect foreign vessels as well as vessels of the United States. T. 8. r. Anderson (C. C. 1872), Fed. Cas. No. 14447,

This section applies to foreign vessels. U. S. r. Sullivan (C. C. 1890), 43 Fed. 602.

Act within prohibition of statute.-ClimbIng on the rail of the vessel from a boat, in the act of entering on the vessel without permission. is within the prohibition. U. S. r. Anderson (C. C. 1872), Fed. Cas. No. 14447.

CHAPTER 25.

RULES FOR NAVIGATION.

Sound signals, 1462. Speed slackened, 1463. Steering and sailing rules

Sailing vessels approaching one an-
other, 1464.

Steam vessels meeting end on, 1465.
Steam vessels crossing, 1466.

Steam and sailing vessels meeting,
1467.

Which vessel to keep her course and
speed, 1468.

Which vessel to slacken speed, 1469.
Overtaking vessel, 1470.

Whistle signals, 1471.

Right of way in narrow channels and rivers, 1472.

Steam vessels, 1473.

Steam vessel refusing to pass, 1474. Obedience and construction, 1475. Negligence, 1476.

Penalty for violation of rules, 1477. Regulations by Secretary of Treasury and Board of Supervising Inspectors, 1478.

Towage of seagoing barges within inland waters, 1506.

Lights on sailing vessels required by offcers of the customs, 1507.

Rules for preventing collisions extended to
harbors, 1508.

High seas defined, 1509.
Inland waters defined, 1510.
Pilots:

State regulation, 1511.

On boundaries between States, 1512.
Rates, 1513

HISTORICAL NOTE.

By direction of the Secretary of War, Apr. 26, 1918, an Admiralty and Maritime Section was constituted, in the office of the Judge Advocate General, to have charge of all claims arising in connection with the operation of vessels and vessel property under the War Department.

The original rules for the prevention of collisions on the water were contained in R. S. 4233, which consisted of 26 rules, R. S. 4412, which authorized the board of supervising inspectors to establish such regulations to be observed by all steam vessels in