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Art. XIII.

Liberty of cr-w to complain.

Investigation of complaint.

Discharge.

Complaints under statute of 1840.

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.

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 17 and 18.)

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 proecedings, the Consular Officer be satisfied therewith, he may approve the whole or any part of the report, aud 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 XIX. They are, however, sufficiently detailed to enable a Consul to frame the necessary papers. (See Forms Nos. 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, and 49.)

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."

Art. XIIL

Art. XIII.

Discharge of

officers.

Discharge of

masters.

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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. But when a seaman is discharged in consequence of misconduct, the Consular Officer may remit so much of the wages as is paid to the seaman discharged, if relief can be immediately offered to such seaman by reshipment without expense to the United States.

145.. The Consul will not exercise this power for slight or venial offenses, nor for a single offense, unless of a very aggravated character.

146..He must be satisfied that the officer or seaman is either absolutely incompetent to perform the work he has contracted to do, that he has been guilty of such acts of insubordination as to make him dangerous to a man of ordinary firmness, or that his habitual misconduct (such as drunkenness, for instance) amounts to unfitness for duty, or, if an officer, that he has been guilty of habitual cruelty.

147..Cases have occurred, also, in which Consuls have, with the subsequent approval of the Department, removed masters of vessels and appointed others in their place to complete the voyage. Good cause must be shown for the exercise of this extreme power. (See Form 19 for the certificate to the new master in such case.) DEMAND OF THREE MONTHS' EXTRA WAGES. 148..It is the duty of all Consular Officers of the manded on dis- United States, when seamen or mariners are thus

When extra

wages to be de

charge.

discharged within their jurisdiction, to collect of the vessel three months' pay over and above the wages which may then be due to such mariner or seamen, in the following cases: 1st. When a ship or vessel belonging to a citizen of the United States shall be sold in a foreign country and her company discharged. 2d. When a seamen or mariner, a citizen of the United States shall, with his own consent, be discharged in a foreign country. 3d. When a vessel has been condemned by inspectors, as above stated. 4th. When, on the complaint of a mariner that the voyage is continued contrary to his agreement, or that he has fulfilled his contract, the complaint is found to be well founded and the mariner is discharged; but in this case, if the Consul is satisfied that the contract has expired, that the voyage has been protracted by circumstances beyond the control of the master, and without any design on his part to violate the articles of shipment, he may, if he deems it just, discharge the mariner without directing the three months' extra pay. No payment of extra wages is to be required in cases of wrecked or stranded ships or vessels, or ships or vessels condemned as unfit for serviee.

149.. With these exceptions and the excepton named in paragraph 151, the Consul must in all cases exact the three months' extra wages, as he is made by law personally accountable therefor. It is the object of the law to secure the humane care of the seaman while under the protection of the Consul, and his speedy return to the United States.

150..He will also exact and collect all arrears of wages then due the discharged mariners or seamen in gold or its equivalent without any deduction whatever, any contract to the contrary notwithstanding, and he will pay this to the persons entitled to it without any deduction. It is the duty of the master to exhibit the list of the ship's company to the Consul, to enable him to comply with this request.

151..Of the extra wages collected one-third belongs to the United States, the other two-thirds to the discharged seaman; except in the case of a vessel con

Art. XIII.

Two-thirds to

seaman, unless, &c.; one-third to

United States.

Art. XIII.

When to be paid to seaman.

Whaling-ships.

Condition: of re

hef.

demned by inspectors on complaint of the officers and crew, in which case all belongs to the seaman. (For receipt see Form 20.) But when the seaman is shipped on another vessel at once, or the Consul is otherwise satisfied that he will not become a charge upon the United States, and the seaman waives his right to the portion of the extra wages which would be coming to him, the Consul is authorized to collect only the one months' extra wages which, under the law, would belong to the United States. (See Form 21.)

152.. The discharged seaman is not to be paid unless he has engaged on board of some other vessel as a seaman, or to return to the United States, and does not, previous to his sailing, become a charge upon the Consulate. In the latter case only the residue of the two month's extra wages is to be paid to him.

153..Seamen discharged in foreign ports are sometimes credited on the ship's books at a merely nominal rate, and the relief-fund not unfrequently suffers detriment in consequence of this device to avoid the payment of extra wages in full. Consuls will therefore be watchful to thwart such practices in future, and in any case where the return made by the master fraudulently disagrees with the customary schedule of compensation in the marine service, they are instructed to exact the highest rate of wages paid to any seaman shipped for the voyage, or the sum actually agreed to be given him at his shipment, if it can be ascertained, whatever may be the sum falsely stated in the article.

154..When seamen have been shipped on board of American vessels without the rate of their wages being specified on the shipping articles, as on board of whaling-ships where they are shipped by the "lay," they shall be entitled, upon their discharge at a foreign port, to the sum of fifteen dollars per month as "extra wages," payable in gold coin of the United States or its equivalent.

RELIEF OF DESTITUTE SEAMEN.

155..Two things are necessary to entitle the claimant to relief: 1st. That he is a seaman of the United States

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