Every person, partnership, or association guilty of a violation of this Act shall be liable to a fine of not more than $500, and in addition such fine shall be a lien against the vessel or boat on which the offense is committed, and said vessel or boat shall be seized and proceeded against by process of libel in any court having jurisdiction of the offense. (Sec. 3.)

Any violation of this Act shall be prosecuted in the district court of the United States of the district wherein the offender is found or into which he is first brought. (Sec. 4.)

It shall be the duty of the Secretary of Commerce to enforce the provisions of this Act, and he is authorized to empower such officers and employees of the Department of Commerce as he may designate, or such officers and employees of other departments as may be detailed for the purpose, to make arrests and seize vessels and sponges, and upon his request the Secretary of the Treasury may employ the vessels of the Revenue Cutter Service or the employees of the Customs Service to that end. (Aug. 15, 1914, sec. 5.)

Liens on Vessels.

Any person furnishing repairs, supplies, or other necessaries, including the use of dry dock or marine railway, to a vessel, whether foreign or domestic, upon the order of the owner or owners of such vessel, or of a person by him or them authorized, shall have a maritime lien on the vessel which may be enforced by a proceeding in rem, and it shall not be necessary to allege or prove that credit' was given to the vessel. (Sec. 1.)

The following persons shall be presumed to have authority from the owner or owners to procure repairs, supplies, and other necessaries for the vessel: The managing owner, ship's husband, master, or any person to whom the management of the vessel at the port of supply is intrusted. No person tortiously or unlawfully in possession or charge of a vessel shall have authority to bind the vessel. (Sec. 2.)

The officers and agents of a vessel specified in section two shall be taken to include such officers and agents when appointed by a charterer, by an owner pro hac vice, or by an agreed purchaser in possession of the vessel, but nothing in this Act shall be construed to confer a lien when the furnisher knew, or by the exercise of reasonable diligence could have ascertained, that because of the terms of a charter party, agreement for sale of the vessel, or for any other reason, the person ordering the repairs, supplies, or other necessaries was without authority to bind the vessel therefor. (Sec. 3.)

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent a furnisher of repairs, supplies, or other necessaries from waiving his right to a lien at any time, by agreement or otherwise, and this Act shall not be construed to affect the rules of law now existing, either in regard to the right to proceed against a vessel for advances, or in regard to laches in the enforcement of liens on vessels, or in regard to the priority or rank of liens, or in regard to the right to proceed in personam. (Sec. 4.)

This Act shall supersede the provision of all state statutes conferring liens on vessels in so far as the same purport to create rights of action to be enforced by proceedings in rem against vessels for repairs, supplies, and other necessaries. (June 23, 1910,1 sec. 5.)

Enforcement of Navigation Laws.

To enable the Secretary of Commerce to provide and operate such motor boats and employ thereon such persons as may be necessary for the enforcement, under his direction by customs officers, of laws relating to the navigation and inspection of vessels, boarding of vessels, and counting of passengers on excursion boats, $75,000.

To enable the Secretary of Commerce to employ temporarily, in addition to those now provided for by law, such other persons as may be necessary, of whom not more than two at any one time may be employed in the District of Columbia, to enforce the laws to prevent overcrowding of passenger and excursion vessels, and all necessary expenses in connection therewith, $10,000. Jan. 5, 1923, c. 24.) Licensing of Customhouse Brokers.

The collector or chief officer of the customs at any port of entry or delivery shall, upon application, issue to any person of good moral character, being a citizen of the United States a license to transact business as a custom-house broker in the collection district in which such license is issued, and on and after sixty days from the approval of this Act no person shall transact business as a custom-house broker without a license granted in accordance with this provision; but this Act shall not be so construed as to prohibit any person from transacting business at a custom-house pertaining to his own importations. (Sec. 1.)

The collector or chief officer of the customs may at any time, for good and sufficient reasons, serve notice in writing upon any customhouse broker so licensed to show cause why said license shall not be revoked, which notice shall be in the form of a statement specifically setting forth the grounds of complaint. The collector or chief officer of customs shall within ten days thereafter notify the custom-house broker in writing of a hearing to be held before him within five days upon said charges. At such hearing the custom-house broker may be represented by counsel, and all proceedings, including the proof of the charges and the answer thereto, shall be presented, with right of cross-examination to both parties, and a stenographic record of the same shall be made and a copy thereof shall be delivered to the custom-house broker. At the conclusion of such hearing the collector or chief officer of customs shall forthwith transmit all papers and the stenographic report of the hearing, which shall constitute the record in the case, to the Secretary of the Treasury for his action. Thereupon the said Secretary of the Treasury shall have the right to revoke the license of any custom-house broker, in which case formal notice shall be given such custom-house broker within ten days. (Sec. 2.)

Any licensed custom-house broker aggrieved by the decision of the Secretary of the Treasury may, within thirty days thereafter,

1 Act June 23, 1910, was repealed by subsection X of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, but provisions not inconsistent with the subsection were reenacted.

and not afterwards, apply to the United States district court for the district in which the collection district is situated for a review of such decision. Such application shall be made by filing in the office of the clerk of said court a petition praying relief in the premises. Thereupon the court shall immediately give notice in writing of such application to the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall forthwith transmit to said court the record and evidence taken in the case, together with a statement of his decision therein. The filing of such application shall operate as a stay of the revocation of the license. The matter may be brought on to be heard before the said court in the same manner as a motion, by either the United States district attorney or the attorney for the custom-house broker, and the decision of said United States district court for the district in which the collection district is situated shall be upon the merits as disclosed by the record and be final, and the proceeding remanded to the Secretary of the Treasury for further action to be taken in accordance with the terms of the decree. (Sec. 3.)

The Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe regulations necessary or convenient for carrying this Act into effect. (Sec. 4.)

The word person wherever used in this Act shall include persons, copartnerships, associations, joint stock associations and corporations. (June 10, 1910, sec. 5.)

Hereafter when there is cargo space available without displacing military supplies, transportation [or army transport] may be provided for merchandise of American production consigned to residents and mercantile firms of the island of Guam, rates and regulations therefor to be prescribed by the Secretary of War. (Mar. 3, 1911.)

Assistance and Salvage at Sea.

The right to remuneration for assistance or salvage services shall not be affected by common ownership of the vessels rendering and receiving such assistance or salvage services. (Sec. 1.)

The master or person in charge of a vessel shall, so far as he can do so without serious danger to his own vessel, crew, or passengers, render assistance to every person who is found at sea in danger of being lost; and if he fails to do so, he shall, upon conviction, be liable to a penalty of not exceeding one thousand dollars or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both. (Sec. 2.)

Salvors of human life, who have taken part in the services rendered on the occasion of the accident giving rise to salvage, are entitled to a fair share of the remuneration awarded to the salvors of the vessel, her cargo, and accessories. (Sec. 3.)

A suit for the recovery of remuneration for rendering assistance or salvage services shall not be maintainable if brought later than two years from the date when such assistance or salvage was rendered, unless the court in which the suit is brought shall be satisfied that during such period there had not been any reasonable opportunity of arresting the assisted or salved vessel within the jurisdiction of the court or within the territorial waters of the country in which the libelant resides or has his principal place of business. (Sec. 4.)

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Nothing in this Act shall be construed as applying to ships of war or to Government ships appropriated exclusively to a public service. (Aug. 1, 1912, sec. 5.)

That hereafter the Secretary of the Navy is authorized to cause vessels under his control adapted to the purpose, to afford salvage service to public or private vessels in distress: Provided, That when such salvage service is rendered by a vessel specially equipped for the purpose or by a tug, the Secretary of the Navy may determine and collect reasonable compensation therefor. (July 1, 1918.) Suits Against the United States in Admiralty, etc.

No vessel owned by the United States or by any corporation in which the United States or its representatives shall own the entire outstanding capital stock or in the possession of the United States or such corporation or operated by or for the United States or such corporation, and no cargo owned or possessed by the United States or by such corporation, shall hereafter, in view of the provision herein made for a libel in personam, be subject to arrest or seizure by judicial process in the United States or its possessions: Provided, That this Act shall not apply to the Panama Railroad Company (Sec. 1.)

In cases where if such vessel were privately owned or operated, or if such cargo were privately owned and possessed, a proceeding in admiralty could be maintained at the time of the commencement of the action herein provided for, a libel in personam may be brought against the United States or against such corporation, as the case may be, provided that such vessel is employed as a merchant vessel or is a tug boat operated by such corporation. Such suits shall be brought in the district court of the United States for the district in which the parties so suing, or any of them, reside or have their principal place of business in the United States, or in which the vessel or cargo charged with liability is found. The libelant shall forthwith serve a copy of his libel on the United States attorney for such district and mail a copy thereof by registered mail to the Attorney General of the United States, and shall file a sworn return of such service and mailing. Such service and mailing shall constitute valid service on the United States and such corporation. In case the United States or such corporation shall file a libel in rem or in personam in any district, a cross-libel in personam may be filed or a set-off claimed against the United States or such corporation with the same force and effect as if the libel had been filed by a private party. Upon application of either party the cause may, in the discretion of the court, be transferred to any other district court of the United States. (Sec. 2.)

Such suits shall proceed and shall be heard and determined according to principles of law and to the rules of practice obtaining in like cases between private parties. A decree against the United States or such corporation may include costs of suit, and when the decree is for a money judgment, interest at the rate of 4 per centum per annum until satisfied, or at any higher rate which shall be stipulated in any contract upon which such decree shall be based. Interest shall run as ordered by the court. Decrees shall be subject to appeal and revision as now provided in other cases of admiralty and

maritime jurisdiction. If the libelant so elects in his libel the suit may proceed in accordance with the principles of libels in rem whereever it shall appear that had the vessel or cargo been privately owned and possessed a libel in rem might have been maintained. Election so to proceed shall not preclude the libelant in any proper case from seeking relief in personam in the same suit. Neither the United States nor such corporation shall be required to give any bond or admiralty stipulation on any proceeding brought hereunder. Any such bond or stipulation heretofore given in admiralty causes by the United States, the United States Shipping Board, or the United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation, shall become void and be surrendered and canceled upon the filing of a suggestion by the Attorney General or other duly authorized law officer that the United States is interested in such cause, and assumes liability to satisfy any decree included within said bond or stipulation, and thereafter any such decree shall be paid as provided in section 8 of this Act. (Sec. 3.)

If a privately owned vessel not in the possession of the United States or of such corporation is arrested or attached upon any cause of action arising or alleged to have arisen from previous possession, ownership, or operation of such vessel by the United States or by such corporation, such vessel shall be released without bond or stipulation therefor upon the suggestion by the United States, through its Attorney General or other duly authorized law officer, that it is interested in such cause, desires such release, and assumes the liability for the satisfaction of any decree obtained by the libelant in such cause, and thereafter such cause shall proceed against the United States in accordance with the provisions of this Act. (Sec. 4.) Suits as herein authorized may be brought only on causes of action arising since April 6, 1917, provided that suits based on causes of action arising prior to the taking effect of this Act shall be brought within one year after this Act goes into effect; and all other suits hereunder shall be brought within two years after the cause of action arises. (Sec. 5.)

The United States or such corporation shall be entitled to the benefits of all exemptions and of all limitations of liability accorded by law to the owners, charterers, operators, or agents of vessels. (Sec. 6.)

If any vessel or cargo within the purview of sections 1 and 4 of this Act is arrested, attached, or otherwise seized by process of any court in any country other than the United States, or if any suit is brought therein against the master of any such vessel for any cause of action arising from, or in connection with, the possession, operation, or ownership of any such vessel, or the possession, carriage, or ownership of any such cargo, the Secretary of State of the United States in his discretion, upon the request of the Attorney General of the United States, or any other officer duly authorized by him, may direct the United States consul residing at or nearest the place at which such action may have been commenced to claim such vessel or cargo as immune from such arrest, attachment, or other seizure, and to execute an agreement, undertaking, bond, or stipulation for and on behalf of the United States, or the United States Shipping Board, or such corporation as by said court