Part XXXIX.-GUANO ISLANDS.

Guano Islands.

Whenever any citizen of the United States discovers a deposit of guano on any island, rock, or key, not within the lawful jurisdiction of any other government, and not occupied by the citizens of any other government, and takes peaceable possession thereof, and occupies the same, such island, rock, or key may, at the discretion of the President, be considered as appertaining to the United States. (R. S., 5570.)

The discoverer shall, as soon as practicable, give notice, verified by affidavit, to the Department of State, of such discovery, occupation, and possession, describing the island, rock, or key, and the latitude and longitude thereof, as near as may be, and showing that such possession was taken in the name of the United States; and shall furnish satisfactory evidence to the State Department that such island, rock, or key was not, at the time of the discovery thereof, or of the taking possession and occupation thereof by the claimants, in the possession or occupation of any other government or of the citizens of any other government, before the same shall be considered as appertaining to the United States. (R. S., 5571.)

If the discoverer dies before perfecting proof of discovery or fully complying with the provisions of the preceding section, his widow, heir, executor, or administrator, shall be entitled to the benefits of such discovery, upon complying with the provisions of this Title [R. S., 5570-5578]; but nothing herein shall be held to impair any rights of discovery or any assignment by a discoverer heretofore recognized by the United States. (R. S. 5572.)

The discoverer, or his assigns, being citizens of the United States, may be allowed, at the pleasure of Congress, the exclusive right of occupying such island, rocks, or keys, for the purpose of obtaining guano, and of selling and delivering the same to citizens of the United States, to be used therein, and may be allowed to charge and receive for every ton thereof delivered alongside a vessel, in proper tubs, within reach of ship's tackle, a sum not exceeding eight dollars per ton for the best quality, or four dollars for every ton taken while in its native place of deposit. (R. S., 5573.)

No guano shall be taken from any such island, rock, or key, except for the use of the citizens of the United States or of persons resident therein. The discoverer, or his widow, heir, executor, administrator, or assigns, shall enter into bond, in such penalty and with such sureties as may be required by the President, to deliver the guano to citizens of the United States, for the purpose of being used therein, and to none others, and at the price prescribed, and to provide all

necessary facilities for that purpose within a time to be fixed in the bond; and any breach of the provisions thereof shall be deemed a forfeiture of all rights accruing under and by virtue of this Title [R. S., 5570-5578]. This section shall, however, be suspended in relation to all persons who have complied with the provisions of this Title, for five years from and after the fourteenth day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-two. (R. S., 5574.)

The introduction of guano from such islands, rocks, or keys, shall be regulated as in the coasting trade between different parts of the United States, and the same laws shall govern the vessels concerned therein. (R. S., 5575.)

All acts done, and offenses or crimes committed, on any such island, rock, or key, by persons who may land thereon, or in the water adjacent thereto, shall be deemed committed on the high seas, on board a merchant-ship or vessel belonging to the United States; and shall be punished according to the laws of the United States relating to such ships or vessels and offenses on the high seas, which laws for the purpose aforesaid are extended over such islands, rocks, and keys. (R. S., 5576.)

The President is authorized, at his discretion, to employ the land and naval forces of the United States to protect the rights of the discoverer or of his widow, heir, executor, administrator, or assigns. (R. S., 5577.)

Nothing in this Title [R. S., 5570-5578] contained shall be construed as obliging the United States to retain possession of the islands, rocks, or keys, after the guano shall have been removed from the same. (R. S., 5578.)

The crimes and offenses defined in this chapter [chap. 11, act Mar. 4, 1909; see pp. 391-398] shall be punished as herein described:

*

On any island, rock, or key, containing deposits of guano, which may, at the discretion of the President, be considered as appertaining to the United States. (Mar. 4, 1909, sec. 272.)

The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to cause to be prepared medals of honor, with suitable devices, to be distinguished as life-saving medals of the first and second class, which shall be bestowed upon any persons who shall hereafter endanger their own lives in saving, or endeavouring to save lives from perils_of_the sea, within the United States, or upon any American vessel: Provided, That the medal of the first class shall be confined to cases of extreme and heroic daring; and that the medal of the second class shall be given in cases not sufficiently distinguished to deserve the medal of the first class: Provided, also, That no award of either medal shall be made to any person until sufficient evidence of his deserving shall have been filed with the Secretary of the Treasury and entered upon the records of the Department. (June 20, 1874, sec. 7.)

The life-saving medals of the first and second class authorized by the provisions of the seventh section of the act of July twentieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, shall be hereafter designated as the gold and silver life-saving medal respectively, and any person who has received or may hereafter receive either of said medals under the provisions of said section, or the twelfth section of the act of June eighteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, and who shall again perform an act which would entitle him to a medal of the same class under said provisions, shall receive, and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to award, in lieu of a second medal, a bar, suitably inscribed, of the same metal as the medal to which said person would be entitled, to be attached to a ribbon of such description as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, which may be fastened to the medal already bestowed upon said person; and for every such additional act an additional bar may

be added. And the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized, in his discretion, whenever any person becomes entitled to a bar representing a gold medal, to award him, in addition to said bar, such token as it is customary to award in acknowledgment of the services of masters and crews of foreign vessels in rescuing American citizens from shipwreck. (May 4, 1882, sec. 9.)

The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to bestow the life-saving medal of the second class upon persons making such signal exertions in rescuing and succoring the shipwrecked and saving persons from drowning, as, in his opinion, shall merit such recognition. (June 18, 1878, sec. 12.)

So much of the acts relating to the Life-Saving Service approved June twentieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, June eighteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, and May fourth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, as provide for the award of life-saving medals shall be construed so as to empower the Secretary of the Treasury to bestow such medals upon persons making signal exertions in rescuing and succoring the shipwrecked and saving persons from drowning in the waters over which the United States has jurisdiction, whether the said persons making such exertions were or were not members of a life-saving crew, or whether or not such exertions were made in the vicinity of a life-saving station. (Jan. 21, 1897.) Rescuing Shipwrecked American Seamen or Citizens.

Expenses which may be incurred in the acknowledgment of the services of masters and crews of foreign vessels in rescuing American seamen or citizens from shipwreck or other catastrophe at sea, $3,000. (Jan. 3, 1923.)

The President of the United States be, and he is hereby, authorized to present, but not in the name of Congress, a medal of merit of appropriate design with a bar and ribbon, together with a rosette or other device to be worn in lieu thereof, to any person who in the merchant marine of the United States between the 6th day of April, 1917, and the 11th day of November, 1918, distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism or distinguished service at sea in the line of duty.

SEC. 2. That no more than one medal of merit shall be issued to any one person, but for each succeeding deed or service sufficient to justify the award of a medal, the President may award a suitable bar or other suitable emblem or insignia to be worn with the decoration and the corresponding rosette or other device.

SEC. 3. That, except as otherwise prescribed herein, no medal or bar or suitable emblem or insignia in lieu of said medal shall be issued to any person after three years from the passage of this Act, unless a specific statement or report distinctly setting forth the act or distinguished service and suggesting or recommending official recognition thereof shall have been made and substantiated at the time of the act or service or within three years after the passage of this Act.

SEC. 4. That in case an individual who shall distinguish himself dies before the making of the award to which he may be entitled, the award nevertheless may be made and the medal or bar or other emblem or insignia presented to such representative of the deceased as the President may designate.

SEC. 5. The President is authorized to make from time to time any and all rules, regulations, and orders which he shall deem necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this act. (Dec. 22, 1920.)

School Ships.

The Secretary of the Navy, to promote nautical education, is hereby authorized and empowered to furnish, upon the application in writing of the governor of a State, a suitable vessel of the navy, with all her apparel, charts, books, and instruments of navigation, provided the same can be spared without detriment to the naval service, to be used for the benefit of any nautical school, or school or college having a nautical branch, established at each of the following ports of the United States: Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, Baltimore, Detroit, Saginaw, Michigan, Norfolk, and Corpus Christi, upon the condition that there shall be maintained at such port a school or branch of a school for the instruction of youths in navigation, steamship-marine engineering, and all matters pertaining to the proper construction, equipment, and sailing of vessels or any particular branch thereof.

A sum not exceeding the amount annually appropriated by any State or municipality for the purpose of maintaining such a marine school or schools or the nautical branch thereof is hereby authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of aiding in the maintenance and support of such school or schools: Provided, however, That appropriations shall be made for one school in any port heretofore named in section one and that the appropriation for any one year shall not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars for any one school. (Sec. 2.)

The President of the United States is hereby authorized, when in his opinion the same can be done without detriment to the public service, to detail proper officers of the navy as superintendents of or instructors in such schools: Provided, That if any such school shall be discontinued, or the good of the naval service shall require, such vessel shall be immediately restored to the Secretary of the Navy and the officers so detailed recalled: And provided further, That no person shall be sentenced to or received at such schools as a punishment or commutation of punishment for crime. (Mar. 4, 1911, c. 265, sec. 3.)

STATE MARINE SCHOOLS: To reimburse the State of New York $25,000, the State of Massachusetts $25,000, and the State of Washington $25,000, for expenses incurred in the maintenance and support of marine schools in those States in accordance with section 2 of the Act entitled "An Act for the establishment of marine schools, and for other purposes," approved March 4, 1911; in all, $75,000. (July 11, 1919.)

Instruction at Military Schools.

The President be, and he is hereby, authorized, upon the application of the governor of any State having seacoast line or bordering on one or more of the Great Lakes, to direct the Secretary of the Navy to furnish to one well-established military school in that State, desiring to afford its cadets instruction in elementary seamanship, one fully equipped man-of-war's cutter for every twenty-five cadets in actual attendance, and such other equipment as may be