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a preliminary examination of the facts of the case, the said Director shall be of the opinion that reasonable ground exists for believing the conclusions of such reporting officer to be correct, he shall notify the person or persons who submitted the said plans and specifications and the board of local inspectors of the Bureau who shall not issue the vessel's certificate of inspection until the discrepancy has been corrected to the satisfaction of the said Director. The final decision of the Director shall be reached with as little delay as the proper consideration of the question will permit. The owner of any vessel coming within the provisions of this Act shall notify the Director of any material alterations proposed to be made on such vessel, and should any such alteration be made on such vessel before the plans and specifications for such alteration have received the approval of the said Director the owners shall, in addition to any suspension of the certificate of inspection which the Director may determine to be necessary, incur a penalty of $500 for which the vessel shall be liable and which may be mitigated or remitted by the Secretary of Commerce on such condition as he may deem proper. (d) That the words "plans and specifications" wherever used in this Act shall be held to include prints of all general contract plans and copies of the specifications and other matters of a similar nature, as necessary to the purposes of this Act for any vessel to which this Act applies. The said plans and specifications of all passenger ships of one hundred gross tons and over shall specify for fire-retardant material in their construction so far as reasonable and practicable.

(e) That any person or persons who shall alter, deface, obliterate, remove, or destroy any plans or specifications approved as provided in this Act, with intent to deceive or delay any officer of the United States in the discharge of his duties under this Act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction shall be punished by a fine of not to exceed $5,000 or by imprisonment for not to exceed five years, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.

(f) This section shall not take effect as to vessels under five hundred gross tons until three months, nor as to vessels of five hundred gross tons and over until thirty days, after its enactment.

SEO. 6. That the Secretary of Commerce shall fix a reasonable rate of extra compensation for overtime services of local inspectors of steam vessels and their assistants, United States shipping commissioners and their deputies and assistants, who may be required to remain on duty between the hours of 5 o'clock postmeridian and 8 o'clock antemeridian or on Sundays or holidays to perform services in connection with the inspection of vessels or their equipment, supplying or signing on or discharging crews of vessels on the basis of one-half day's additional pay for each two hours or fraction thereof of at least one hour that the overtime extends beyond 5 o'clock postmeridian (but not to exceed two and one-half days' pay for the full period from 5 o'clock postmeridian to 8 o'clock antemeridian) and two additional days' pay for Sunday or holiday duty. The said extra compensation for overtime services shall be paid by the master, owner, or agent of such vessel to the local United States collector of customs or his representative who shall deposit such collection into the Treasury of the United States to an appro

priately designated receipt account. The amount of the receipts so covered during the fiscal year 1936 is hereby authorized to be appropriated and made available for payment of extra compensation for overtime services to the several employees entitled thereto according to rates fixed therefor by the Secretary of Commerce: Provided, That effective July 1, 1936 and thereafter, the amounts of such collections received by the said collector of customs or his representative shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts; and the payments of such extra compensation to the several employees entitled thereto shall be made from the annual appropriations for salaries and expenses of the Bureau: Provided further, That to the extent that the annual appropriations, which are hereby authorized to be made from the general fund of the Treasury, are insufficient, there are hereby authorized to be appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury such additional amounts as may be necessary, to the extent that the amounts of such receipts are in excess of the amounts appropriated: Provided, That such extra compensation shall be paid if such officers or employees have been ordered to report for duty and have so reported, whether the actual inspection of the vessel or her equipment, or the supplying, or signing on, or discharging crews takes place or not: Provided further, That in those ports where customary working hours are other than those herein above mentioned, the local inspectors of steam vessels or United States shipping commissioners, as the case may be, are vested with authority to regulate the hours of such employees so as to agree with prevailing working hours in said ports, but nothing contained in this proviso shall be construed in any manner to alter the length of a working day for the local inspectors, their assistants, the United States shipping commissioners and their deputies and assistants, or the overtime pay herein fixed.

SEC. 7. The Secretary of Commerce may make such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 8. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums

as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 9. That all laws or parts of laws insofar as they are in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.

[S. 3467]

AN ACT

Amending the Shipping Act, 1916, as amended.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 16 of the Shipping Act, 1916, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 edition, title 46, section 815), is hereby amended to read as follows:

SEO. 16. That it shall be unlawful for any shipper, consignor, consignee, forwarder, broker, or other person, or any officer, agent, or employee thereof, knowingly and willfully, directly or indirectly, by means of false billing, false classification, false weighing, false report of weight, or by any other unjust or unfair device or means to obtain or attempt to obtain transportation by water for property at less than the rates or charges which would otherwise be applicable. "That it shall be unlawful for any common carrier by water, or other person subject to this Act, either alone or in conjunction with any other person, directly or indirectly

"First. To make or give any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any particular person, locality, or description of traffic in any respect whatsoever, or to subject any particular person, locality, or description of traffic to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect whatsoever.

"Second. To allow any person to obtain transportation for property at less than the regular rates or charges then established and enforced on the line of such carrier by means of false billing, false classification, false weighing, false report of weight, or by any other unjust or unfair device or means.

"Third. To induce, persuade, or otherwise influence any marine insurance company or underwriter, or agent thereof, not to give a competing carrier by water as favorable a rate of insurance on vessel or cargo, having due regard to the class of vessel or cargo, as is granted to such carrier or other person subject to this Act.

"Whoever violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 for each offense."

Approved, June 16, 1936.

[8. 4655]

AN ACT

Relative to limitation of shipowners' liability.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 4283 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 ed., title 46, sec. 183; Supp. I, title 46, sec. 183), is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 4288. (a) The liability of the owner of any vessel, whether American or foreign, for any embezzlement, loss, or destruction by any person of any property, goods, or merchandise shipped or put on board of such vessel, or for any loss, damage, or injury by collision, or for any act, matter, or thing, loss, damage, or forfeiture, done, occasioned, or incurred, without the privity or knowledge of such owner or owners, shall not, except in the cases provided for in subsection (b) of this section, exceed the amount or value of the interest of such owner in such vessel, and her freight then pending. "(b) In the case of any seagoing vessel, if the amount of the owner's liability as limited under subsection (a) is insufficient to pay all losses in full, and the portion of such amount applicable to the payment of losses in respect of loss of life or bodily injury is less than $60 per ton of such vessel's tonnage, such portion shall be increased to an amount equal to $60 per ton, to be available only for the payment of losses in respect of loss of life or bodily injury. If such portion so increased is insufficient to pay such losses in full, they shall be paid therefrom in proportion to their respective

amounts.

"(c) For the purposes of this section the tonnage of a seagoing steam or motor vessel shall be her gross tonnage without deduction on account of engine room, and the tonnage of a seagoing sailing vessel shall be her registered tonrage: Provided, That there shall not be included in such tonnage any space occupied by seamen or apprentices and appropriated to their use.

"(d) The owner of any such seagoing vessel shall be liable in respect of loss of life or bodily injury arising on distinct occasions to the same extent as if no other loss of life or bodily injury had arisen.

"(e) In respect of loss of life or bodily injury the privity or knowledge of the master of a seagoing vessel or of the superintendent or managing agent of the owner thereof, at or prior to the commencement of each voyage, shall be deemed conclusively the privity or knowledge of the owner of such vessel.

"(f) As used in subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) of this section and in section 4283A, the term 'seagoing vessel' shall not include pleasure yachts, tugs, towboats, towing vessels, tank vessels, fishing vessels or their tenders, self-propelled lighters, nondescript selfpropelled vessels, canal boats, scows, car floats, barges, lighters, or

nondescript non-self-propelled vessels, even though the same may be seagoing vessels within the meaning of such term as used in section 4289 of this chapter, as amended."

SEC. 2. Chapter 6 of title 48 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, is hereby amended by inserting after section 4283A the following

new section:

"SEO. 4283B. STIPULATIONS LIMITING LIABILITY FOR NEGLIGENCE INVALID.-It shall be unlawful for the manager, agent, master, or owner of any vessel transporting passengers between ports of the United States or between any such port and a foreign port to insert in any rule, regulation, contract, or agreement any provision or limitation (1) purporting, in the event of loss of life or bodily injury arising from the negligence or fault of such owner or his servants, to relieve such owner, master, or agent from liability, or from liability beyond any stipulated amount, for such loss or injury, or (2) purporting in such event to lessen, weaken, or avoid the right of any claimant to a trial by court of competent jurisdiction on the question of liability for such loss or injury, or the measure of damages therefor. All such provisions or limitations contained in any such rule, regulation, contract, or agreement are hereby declared to be against public policy and shall be null and void and of no effect." SEC. 8. Section 4285 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. C., 1934 ed., title 46, sec. 185) is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 4285. The vessel owner, within six months after a claimant shall have given to or filed with such owner written notice of claim, may petition a district court of the United States of competent jurisdiction for limitation of liability within the provisions of this chapter, as amended, and the owner (a) shall deposit with the court, for the benefit of claimants, a sum equal to the amount or value of the interest of such owner in the vessel and freight, or approved security therefor, and in addition such sums, or approved security therefor, as the court may from time to time fix as necessary to carry out the provisions of section 4283, as amended, or (b) at his option shall transfer, for the benefit of claimants, to a trustee to be appointed by the court his interest in the vessel and freight, together with such sums, or approved security therefor, as the court may from time to time fix as necessary to carry out the provisions of section 4283, as amended. Upon compliance with the requirements of this section all claims and proceedings against the owner with respect to the matter in question shall cease."

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SEO. 4. Section 4289 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (U. S. C., 1934 ed., title 46, sec. 188), is hereby amended to read as follows: "SEC. 4289. Except as otherwise specifically provided therein, the provisions of the nine preceding sections and of section 18 of the Act entitled 'An Act to remove certain burdens on the American merchant marine and encourage the American foreign carrying trade and for other purposes', approved June 26, 1884 (23 Štat. 57; U. S. C., 1934 ed., title 46, sec. 189), shall apply to all seagoing vessels, and also to all vessels used on lakes or rivers or in inland navigation, including canal boats, barges, and lighters."

SEO. 5. Section 2 of the Act entitled "An Act relative to limitation of shipowners' liability", approved August 29, 1935 (U. S. C., 1934 ed., Supp. I, sec. 183a), is hereby repealed.

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