types, with all the modern improvements and appliances for ocean steamers.

They shall be divided into four classes. The first shall be iron or steel screw steamships, capable of maintaining a speed of twenty knots an hour at sea in ordinary weather, and of a gross registered tonnage of not less than eight thousand tons. No vessel except of said first class shall be accepted for said mail service under the provisions of this act between the United States and Great Britain. The second class shall be iron or steel steamships, capable of maintaining a speed of sixteen knots an hour at sea in ordinary weather, and of a gross registered tonnage of not less than five thousand tons. The third class shall be iron or steel steamships, capable of maintaining a speed of fourteen knots an hour at sea in ordinary weather, and of a gross registered tonnage of not less than two thousand five hundred tons. The fourth class shall be iron or steel or wooden steam-ships, capable of maintaining a speed of twelve knots an hour at sea in ordinary weather, and of a gross registered tonnage of not less than fifteen hundred tons. It shall be stipulated in the contract or contracts to be entered into for the said mail service that said vessels may carry passengers with their baggage in addition to said mails and may do all ordinary business done by steam-ships. (R. S. 4132; Mar. 3, 1891, sec. 3; Aug. 24, 1912, sec. 5; Aug. 18, 1914.)

All steamships of the first, second, and third classes employed as above and hereafter built shall be constructed with particular reference to prompt and economical conversion into auxiliary naval cruisers, and according to plans and specifications to be agreed upon by and between the owners and the Secretary of the Navy, and they shall be of sufficient strength and stability to carry and sustain the working and operation of at least four effective rifled cannon of a caliber of not less than six inches, and shall be of the highest rating known to maritime commerce. And all vessels of said three classes heretofore built and so employed shall, before they are accepted for the mail service herein provided for, be thoroughly inspected by a competent naval officer or constructor detailed for that service by the Secretary of the Navy; and such officer shall report, in writing, to the Secretary of the Navy, who shall transmit said report to the Postmaster-General; and no such vessel not approved by the Secretary of the Navy as suitable for the service required shall be employed by the Postmaster-General as provided for in this act. (Sec. 4.)

The rate of compensation to be paid for such ocean mail service of the said first-class ships shall not exceed the sum of four dollars a mile, and for the second-class ships two dollars a mile, by the shortest practicable route, for each outward voyage; for the thirdclass ships not to exceed one dollar a mile, and for the fourth-class ships two-thirds of one dollar a mile, for the actual number of miles required by the Post Office Department to be traveled on each outward bound voyage: Provided, That in the case of failure from any cause to perform the regular voyages stipulated for in said contracts or any of them, a pro rata deduction shall be made from the compensation on account of such omitted voyage or voyages; and that suitable fines and penalties may be imposed for delays or irreg

ularities in the due performance of service according to the contract, to be determined by the Postmaster-General: Provided further, That no steamship so employed and so paid for carrying the United States mails shall receive any other bounty or subsidy from the Treasury of the United States. (Sec. 5.)

Upon each of said vessels the United States shall be entitled to have transported, free of charge, a mail-messenger, whose duty it shall be to receive, sort, take in charge and deliver the mails to and from the United States, and who shall be provided with suitable room for the accommodation of himself and the mails. (Sec. 6.)

The officers of the United States Navy may volunteer for service on said mail vessels, and when accepted by the contractor or contractors, may be assigned to such duty by the Secretary of the Navy whenever in his opinion such assignment can be made without detriment to the service, and while in said employment they shall receive furlough pay from the Government, and such other compensation from the contractor or contractors as may be agreed upon by the parties: Provided, That they shall only be required to perform such duties as appertain to the merchant service. (Sec. 7.)

Said vessels shall take, as cadets or apprentices, one Americanborn boy, under twenty-one years of age for each one thousand tons gross register, and one for each majority fraction thereof, who shall be educated in the duties of seamanship, rank as petty officers, and receive such pay for their services as may be reasonable. (Sec. 8.)

Such steamers may be taken and used by the United States as transports or cruisers, upon payment to the owners of the fair actual value of the same at the time of the taking, and if there shall be a disagreement as to the fair actual value of the same at the time of the taking, and if there shall be a disagreement as to the fair actual value between the United States and the owners, then the same shall be determined by two impartial appraisers, one to be appointed by each of said parties, they at the same time selecting a third, who shall act in said appraisement in case the two shall fail to agree. (Mar. 3, 1891, sec. 9.)

General Ocean Mail Service.

For transportation of foreign mails by steamship, aircraft, or otherwise, $7,000,000: Provided, That not to exceed $150,000 of this sum may be expended for carrying foreign mail by aircraft: Provided further, That the Postmaster General shall be authorized to expend such sums as may be necessary, not to exceed $150,000, to cover the cost to the United States for maintaining sea post service on ocean steamships conveying the mails to and from the United States. (Feb. 14, 1923.)

The Postmaster-General may cause the mail to be carried in any steamboat or other vessel used as a packet on any of the waters of the United States. (R. S., 3969.)

The Postmaster-General may, if he deem it for the public interest, make contracts for any period not exceeding one year, for carrying the mails in steamships between any of the ports of the United States. (R. S., 3970.)

Upon the entry of every such vessel returning from any foreign port, the master thereof shall make oath that he has promptly delivered all the mail placed on board said vessel before clearance from

the United States; and if he shall fail to make such oath the vessel shall not be entitled to the privileges of a vessel of the United States. (R. S., 3976; June 26, 1884, sec. 23.)

The master or other person having charge or control of any steamboat or other vessel passing between ports or places in the United States, arriving at any such port or place where there is a post-office, shall deliver to the postmaster or at the post-office within three hours after his arrival, if in the daytime, and if at night, within two hours after the next sunrise, all letters and packages brought by him or within his power or control and not relating to the cargo, addressed to or destined for such port or place, for which he shall receive from the postmaster two cents for each letter or package so delivered, unless the same is carried under a contract for carrying the mail; and for every failure so to deliver such letters or packages, the master or other person having charge or control of such steamboat or other vessel, shall be fined not more than one hundred and fifty dollars. (Mar. 4, 1909, sec. 200.)

The Postmaster-General may pay, to the master or owner of any vessel not regularly employed in carrying the mail, two cents for each letter carried by such vessel between ports or places in the United States, or from any foreign port to any port in the United States; but all such letters shall be deposited in the post-office at the port of arrival. (R. S., 3978.)

No vessel departing from the United States for any foreign port shall receive on board or convey any letter or packet originating in the United States which has not been regularly received from the post-office at the port of departure, and which does not relate to the cargo of such vessel, except as provided in section three thousand nine hundred and ninety-three; and every collector, or other officer of the port empowered to grant clearances, shall require from the master of such vessel, as a condition of clearance, an oath that he has not received on board, has not under his care or control, and will not receive or convey any letter or packet contrary to the provisions of this section. (R. S., 3987.)

No vessel arriving within a port or collection district of the United States shall be allowed to make entry or break bulk until all letters on board are delivered to the nearest post-office, and the master or other person having charge or control thereof has signed and sworn to the following declaration before the collector or other proper customs officer:

I, A. B., master

of the

arriving from

and

now lying in the port of do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have to the best of my knowledge and belief delivered to the postoffice at every letter and every bag, packet, or parcel of letters which was on board the said vessel during her last voyage, or which were in my possession or under my power or control.

And any master or other person having charge or control of such vessel who shall break bulk before he has delivered such letters shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars. (Mar. 4, 1909, sec. 204.) Any special agent of the Post-Office Department, when instructed by the Postmaster-General to make examinations and seizures, and the collector or other customs officers of any port, without special

instructions, shall carefully search all vessels for letters which may be on board or which have been conveyed contrary to law. (R. S., 3989.)

Any special agent of the Post-Office Department, collector, or other customs officer, or United States marshal or his deputy, may at all times seize all letters and bags, packets or parcels, containing letters which are being carried contrary to law on board any vessel or any post-route, and convey the same to the nearest post-office, or may, by the direction of the Postmaster-General or Secretary of the Treasury, detain them until two months after the final determination of all suits and proceedings which may, at any time within six months after such seizure, be brought against any person for sending or carrying such letters. (R. S., 3990.)

Every package or parcel seized by any special agent of the PostOffice Department, collector, or other customs officer, or United States marshal or his deputies, in which any letter is unlawfully concealed, shall be forfeited to the United States, and the same proceedings may be had to enforce the forfeiture as are authorized in respect to goods, wares, and merchandise forfeited for violation of the revenue laws; and all laws for the benefit and protection of customs officers making seizures for violating the revenue laws shall apply to officers making seizures for violating the postal laws. (R. S., 3991.)

Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prohibit the conveyance or transmission of letters or packets by private hands without compensation, or by special messenger employed for the particular occasion only. (R. S., 3992.)

The Postmaster-General, after advertising for proposals, may enter into contracts or make suitable arrangements for transporting the mail through any foreign country, between any two points in the United States, and such transportation shall be by the speediest, safest, and most economical route; and all contracts therefor may be revoked whenever any new road or canal shall be opened affording a speedier, more economical, and equally safe transportation between the same points; but in case of the revocation of any such contract, a fair indemnity shall be awarded to the contractor. (R. S., 4006.)

The Postmaster-General may, after advertising for proposals, enter into contracts for the transportation of the mail between the United States and any foreign country whenever the public interests will thereby be promoted. (R. S., 4007.)

The mail between the United States and any foreign port, or between ports of the United States touching at a foreign port, shall be transported in steamships; but the Postmaster-General may have such transportation performed by sailing vessels when the service. can be facilitated thereby. (R. S., 4008.)

For transporting the mail between the United States and any foreign port, or between ports of the United States touching at a foreign port, the Postmaster-General may allow as compensation, if by a United States steamship, any sum not exceeding the sea and United States inland postage; and if by a foreign steamship or by a sailing vessel, any sum not exceeding the sea-postage, on the mail so transported. [Amended, Mar. 3, 1891, p. 229.] (R. S., 4009.)

51433°-23-16

The Postmaster-General may impose fines on contractors for transporting the mail between the United States and any foreign country, for any unreasonable or unnecessary delay in the departure of such mail, or the performance of the trip; but the fine for any one default shall not exceed one-half the contract price for the trip. (R. S., 4010.)

Every contract for transporting the mail between the United States and any foreign country shall contain, besides the usual stipulation for the right of the Postmaster-General to discontinue the same, the further stipulation that it may be terminated by Congress. (R. S., 4011.)

The Postmaster-General may, by and with the advice and consent of the President, make any arrangements which may be deemed just and expedient for allowing the mails of Canada, or any other country adjoining the United States, to be transported over the territory of the United States from one point in such country to any other point in the same, at the expense of the country to which the mail belongs, upon obtaining a like privilege for the transportation of the United States mail through the country to which the privilege is granted; but such privilege may at any time be annulled by the President or Congress from and after one month succeeding the day on which notice of the act of the President or Congress is given to the chief executive or head of the post-office department of the country whose privilege is to be annulled. (R. S., 4012.)

The Postmaster-General, under the direction of the President of the United States, is hereby authorized and empowered to charge upon, and collect from, all letters and other mailable matter carried to or from any port of the United States, in any foreign packet-ship or other vessel, the same rate or rates of charge for American postage which the government to which such foreign packet or other vessel belongs imposes upon letters and other mailable matter conveyed to or from such foreign country in American packets or other vessels as the postage of such government, and at any time to revoke the same; and all custom-house officers and other United States agents designated or appointed for that purpose shall enforce or carry into effect the foregoing provision, and aid or assist in the collection of such postage, and to that end it shall be lawful for such officers and agents, on suspicion of fraud, to open and examine, in the presence of two or more respectable persons, being citizens of the United States, any package or packages supposed to contain mailable matter found on board such packets or other vessels or elsewhere, and to prevent, if necessary, such packets or other vessels from entering, breaking bulk, or making clearance until such letters or other mailable matter are duly delivered into the United States post-office. (R. S., 4015.)