Sec. 5. Sec. 6. Sec. 7. Sec. 8. Sec. 9. Sec. 10. The master of any fishing vessel who shall not keep his implements or nets at a distance of at least one nautical mile from a vessel engaged in laying or repairing a cable; or the master of any fishing vessel who shall not keep his implements or nets at a distance of at least a quarter of a nautical mile from a buoy or buoys intended to mark the position of a cable when being laid or when out of order or broken, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten days, or to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars, or to both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court: Provided, however, That fishing vessels, on perceiving or being able to perceive the said signals displayed on a telegraph ship, shall be allowed such time as may be necessary to obey the notice thus given, not exceeding twenty-four hours, during which period no obstacles shall be placed in the way of their operations. For the purpose of carrying into effect the convention, a person commanding a ship of war of the United States or of any foreign state for the time being bound by the convention, or a ship specially commissioned by the Government of the United States or by the Government of such foreign state, may exercise and perform the duties vested in and imposed on such officer by the convention. Any person having the custody of the papers necessary for the preparation of the statements provided for in article ten of the convention who shall refuse to exhibit them or shall violently resist persons having authority according to article ten of said convention to draw up statements of facts in the exercise of their functions, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be liable to im prisonment not exceeding two years, or to a fine not exceed ing five thousand dollars, or to both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court. The penalties provided in this act for the breaking or injury of a submarine cable shall not be a bar to a suit for damages on account of such breaking or injury. When an offense against this act shall have been committed by means of a vessel, or of any boat belonging to a vessel, the master of such vessel shall, unless some other person is shown to have been in charge of and navigating such vessel or boat, be deemed to have been in charge of and navigating the same, and be liable to be punished accordingly. Unless the context of this act otherwise requires, the term "vessel" shall be taken to mean every description of vessel used in navigation, in whatever way it is propelled; the term "master" shall be taken to include every person having command or charge of a vessel; and the term "person" to include a body of persons, corporate or incorporate. The term "convention" shall be taken to mean the International Convention for the Protection of Submarine Cables, made at Paris on the fourteenth day of May, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, and proclaimed by the President of the United States on the twenty-second day of May, eighteen hundred and eighty-five. The provisions of the Revised Statutes, from section forty- Sec. 11. three hundred to section forty-three hundred and five, inclusive, for the summary trial of offenses against the navigation laws of the United States, shall extend to the trial of offenses against the provisions of sections four and five of this act. The provisions of this act shall be held to apply only to Sec. 12. cables to which the convention for the time being applies. The district courts of the United States shall have juris- Sec. 13. diction over all offenses against this act and of all suits of a civil nature arising thereunder, whether the infraction complained of shall have been committed within the territorial waters of the United States or outside of the said waters: Provided, That in case such infraction is committed outside of the territorial waters of the United States the vessel on board of which it has been committed is a vessel of the United States. From the decrees and judgments of the district courts in actions and suits arising under this act appeals and writs of error shall be allowed as now provided by law in other cases. Criminal actions and proceedings for a violation of the provisions of this act shall be commenced and prosecuted in the district court for the district within which the offense was committed, and when not committed within any judicial district, then in the district court for the district within which the offender may be found; and suits of a civil nature may be commenced in the district court for any district within which the defendant may be found and shall be served with process. PART XLV.-ADMINISTRATIVE AND EXECUTIVE OFFICES. 367. Bureau of Navigation. 368. Shipping commissioners. 370. Steamboat Inspection Service. July 5, 1884. Sec. 2. Sec. 3. Sec. 4. 367. Bureau of Navigation. 373. Life-Saving Service. 377. Coast and Geodetic Survey. There shall be in the Department of the Treasury of the United States a Bureau of Navigation, under the immediate charge of a Commissioner of Navigation. The Commissioner of Navigation, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall have general superintendence of the commercial marine and merchant seamen of the United States, so far as vessels and seamen are not, under existing laws, subject to the supervision of any other officer of the Government. He shall be specially charged with the decision of all questions relating to the issue of registers, enrollments, and licenses of vessels, and to the filing and preserving of those documents; and wherever in title forty-eight [R. S., 4131-4305] or fifty [R. S., 4311-4390] of the Revised Statutes any of the above-named documents are required to be surrendered or returned to the Register of the Treasury, such requirement is hereby repealed, and such documents shall be surrendered and returned to the Commissioner of Navigation. Said Commissioner shall have charge of all similar documents now in the keeping of the Register of the Treasury, and shall perform all the duties hitherto devolved upon said Register relating to navigation. The Commissioner of Navigation shall be charged with the supervision of the laws relating to the admeasurement of vessels, and the assigning of signal letters thereto, and of designating their official number; and on all questions of interpretation growing out of the execution of the laws relating to these subjects, and relating to the collection of tonnage tax, and to the refund of such tax when collected erroneously or illegally, his decision shall be final. The Commissioner of Navigation shall annually prepare and publish a list of vessels of the United States belong ing to the commercial marine, specifying the official number, signal letters, names, rig, tonnage, home port, and place and date of building of every vessel, distinguishing in such list sailing-vessels from such as may be propelled by steam or other motive power. He shall also report annually to the Secretary of the Treasury the increase of vessels of the United States, by building or otherwise, specifying their number, rig, and motive power. He shall also investigate the operations of the laws relative to navigation, and annually report to the Secretary of the Treasury such particulars as may, in his judg ment, admit of improvement or may require amendment. The Commissioner of Navigation shall, under the direc- Sec. 5. tion of the Secretary of the Treasury, be empowered to change the names of vessels of the United States, under such restrictions as may have been or shall be prescribed by act of Congress. The Commissioner of Navigation shall be appointed by Sec. 6. the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall receive a salary of four thousand dollars per annum. And the Secretary of the Treasury shall have power to transfer from existing Bureaus or divisions of the Treasury one clerk, to be desig nated as deputy commissioner of navigation, to act with the full powers of said Commissioner during his temporary absence from his official duty for any cause, and such additional clerks as he may consider necessary to the successful operation of the Bureau of Navigation, without impairing the efficiency of the Bureaus or divisions whence such clerks may be transferred. 368. Shipping Commissioners. June 26, 1881. The Secretary of the Treasury shall appoint a commis. R. S., 4501. sioner for each port of entry, which is also a port of ocean navigation, and which, in his judgment, may require the same; such commissioner to be termed a shipping commis sioner, and may, from time to time, remove from office any such commissioner whom he may have reason to believe does not properly perform his duty, and shall then provide for the proper performance of his duties until another person is duly appointed in his place: Provided, That Shipping Commissioners now in office shall continue to perform the duties thereof until others shall be appointed in their places. Shipping Commissioners shall monthly render a full, exact, and itemized account of their receipts and expenditures to the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall determine their compensation, and shall from time to time determine the number and compensation of the clerks appointed by such commissioner, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, subject to the limitations now fixed by law. The Secretary of the Treasury shall regulate the mode of conducting business in the shipping offices to be established by the shipping commissioners as hereinafter provided, and shall have full and complete control over the same, subject to the provisions herein contained; and all expenditures by shipping commissioners shall be June 19, 1886. audited and adjusted in the Treasury Department in the mode and manner provided for expenditures in the collection of customs. R. S., 4502. R. S., 4505. R. S., 4506. R. S., 4507. R. S., 4594. R. S., 2621. Every shipping-commissioner so appointed shall give bond to the United States, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of his office, for a sum, in the discretion of the circuit judge, of not less than five thousand dollars, with two good and sufficient sureties therefor, to be approved by such judge; and shall take and subscribe the following oath before entering upon the duties of his office: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and that I will truly and faithfully discharge the duties of a shipping commissioner to the best of my ability, and according to law." Such oath shall be indorsed on the commission or certificate of appointment, and signed by him, and certified by the officer before whom such oath shall have been taken. Any shipping-commissioner may engage clerks to assist him in the transaction of the business of the shipping-office, at his own proper cost, and may, in case of necessity, depute such clerks to act for him in his official capacity; but the shipping-commissioner shall be held responsible for the acts of every such clerk or deputy, and will be personally liable for any penalties such clerk or deputy may incur by the violation of any of the provisions of this Title [R. S.,45014613]; and all acts done by a clerk, as such deputy, shall be as valid and binding as if done by the shipping-commissioner. Each shipping-commissioner shall provide a seal with which he shall authenticate all his official acts, on which seal shall be engraved the arms of the United States, and the name of the port or district for which he is commissioned. Any instrument, either printed or written, purporting to be the official act of a shipping-commissioner, and purporting to be under the seal and signature of such shipping-commissioner, shall be received as presumptive evidence of the official character of such instrument, and of the truth of the facts therein set forth. Every shipping-commissioner shall lease, rent, or procure, at his own cost, suitable premises for the transaction of business, and for the preservation of the books and other documents connected therewith; and these premises shall be styled the shipping-commissioner's office. In no case shall the salary, fees, and emoluments of any officer appointed under this Title [R. S., 4501-4613] be more than five thousand dollars per annum; and any additional fees shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States. 369. Customs officers. At each of the ports to which there are appointed a collector, naval officer, and surveyor, it shall be the duty of the collector: |