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mahogany boat, going through the draw of a bridge over the river, and a fellow comes along with a great big speedboat that had a wash back of it that was enough to pretty near tip over a great big boat, and he just tried to pass the small boat as he was going through the draw, and the wash of the big boat just threw the little boat up against the pier and smashed in the side and crippled the boat. Now, that certainly is reckless operation. That man should be punished, and he should be made to pay the damages, and I brought suit against him in the State court on the general proposition of negligence and made him pay the damages to that boat. He should not ever be permitted to operate a boat-a man who operates a boat like that. Mr. SIROVICH. Do you consider the element of drunkenness in driving a motorboat?

Captain SWEET. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Not separate and apart from negligence.

Captain SWEET. Generally speaking, not. In the case of an operator, a licensed operator, the matter of drunkenness is considered in determining whether he should continue to hold his license or not. In the case of unlicensed operators or owners, the question of drunkenness at the present time does not enter into it in any way. Under this provision of prohibiting reckless operation, it would be considered.

The CHAIRMAN. I notice in this bill, in section 19, you make it take effect 1 year after the date of its approval. Well there are many provisions in this bill that are to take effect at once.

Captain SWEET. I am in agreement with you, Mr. Chairman; but there are some provisions of the bill which we felt probably should not become effective immediately; there are others which we would be perfectly willing to see become effective immediately, and would rather like to see them become effective immediately.

The CHAIRMAN. It is frequently the case we pass legislation, merchant-marine legislation and other legislation, in which the bill takes effect immediately, and then there are certain other provisions that would be deferred, certain other sections. Can that be taken care of in this bill?

Captain SWEET. I think it could, Mr. Chairman. It is a little difficult. The bill provides for certain changes in the lights of some motorboats, and the matter of fire-extinguishers and life preservers.

The CHAIRMAN. As to them, I would feel inclined to agree with you; but the provision that the Secretary of Commerce shall have the right to mitigate and remit, and that sort of thing, could become effective immediately.

Captain SWEET. I would certainly like to see that effective at once, sir. And there are some other provisions in this bill that I would like very much to see effective at once; for instance, this one dealing with reckless operation.

The CHAIRMAN. Yes.

Captain SWEET. There are some others, as I say, where it is a matter of changing the equipment, or getting new licenses, where I think some period of time should be allowed the public to readjust themselves.

Mr. KEEFE. There ought to be some publicity given to that change throughout the country, and giving them some time to comply; but I

quite agree with the chairman and with Captain Sweet, that I think reckless operation should be effective at once, and I think this authorization for the remission of penalties and so on should be effective at once.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, would there be any conflict if we reported out this bill of Mr. Boykin's, which we took up first and which simply exempts from the act of June 9, 1910, racing boats, to let it go ahead and be applicable and then cover the situations in this bill as permanent legislation?

Captain SWEET. I would think it would be desirable to have Mr. Boykin's bill enacted immediately, if it is possible, and to afford that relief to outboard boats until such time as H. R. 6039 or some other legislation to relieve motorboats generally is enacted. I do not see any reason why the enactment of Mr. Boykin's bill would have any effect. on this bill at all when it is passed.

The CHAIRMAN. We took up this morning, before some of the members came in, the Boykin bill (H. R. 6273), which simply exempts from the operation of the motorboat law sections 4 and 6 and provides that they shall not apply to motorboats propelled by outboard motors while competing in any race previously arranged and announced or if such boats be designed and intended solely for racing, while engaged in such navigation as is incidental to the tuning up of the boats and engines for the race. That is, it does not require them to carry all of this equipment on those racing boats. Captain SWEET. That is correct, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. And the next exemption is that

motorboats as defined in section 1 of the act of June 9, 1910 not be required to carry on board copies of the pilot rules.

shall

I would suggest, if the bill is reported out, that the title be changed to read:

An act to exempt certain motorboats from the operation of sections 4 and 6 of the Motorboat Act of June 9, 1910, and from certain other acts of Congress, and to provide that certain motorboats shall not be required to carry on board copies of the pilot rules.

Motorboats defined by section 1-are those all motorboats?

Captain SWEET. Yes, sir. Section 1 of the motorboat law defines the kind of motorboats covered by the act and includes everything

The CHAIRMAN. Would it be wise to exempt them from carrying on board copies of the pilot rules; do you do that in the new bill? Captain SWEET. Yes, sir; section 12 of H. R. 6039 provides that motorboats shall not be required to carry on board copies of the pilot rules.

The CHAIRMAN. Then it would be all right?
Captain SWEET. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. If that meets with the approval of you gentlemen here, and a motion is made to amend that title and report the bill, that will be done.

Mr. KEEFE. I so move.

Mr. O'BRIEN. Second the motion.

(The motion was unanimously carried.)

The CHAIRMAN. Are there any other questions about H. R. 6039?

Mr. RAPPLEYEA. Mr. Chairman, we have had quite a few cases like the Barden case, one case right here in Washington, where the boat was at the Corinthian Yacht Club. I had taken the certificate off of the boat to transfer ownership and had to bring the certificate over to Baltimore to surrender to the customhouse, to get another. The owner came down with a mechanic and wanted to show him that boat and for certain cases this Corinthian Yacht Club had a dinghy that they talked of, and he put on an outboard motor and went out and was picked up and fined; and I had to go up to Colonel Johnson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce, to get the fine remitted, and it took an awful lot of time; and the suggestion of Captain Sweet, if it can be made an amendment to the bill, that the certificate of ownership, if it is not on board, if it can be produced at the customhouse within 1 week, or have the man guilty if he does not, or the procedure which is used on third-class rowboat operators, which are now putting on outboards, where the provision of the law is they paint it on the boat where they cannot frame the license, and the operator can have a photostat of that license in his possession.

Now, that would serve the purpose of small boats, too-those two classes. There is a photostat of the license in the possession of the operator where he cannot frame it, or put it where it would be dry; or the provision, if he has left it at home, that it can be produced at the nearest customhouse within 1 week.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, you want to make him go to the customhouse. Why cannot he go before the postmaster and mail in some sort of official card.

Mr. RAPPLEYEA. That is a good suggestion; excellent.

The CHAIRMAN. There are a lot of things that apply to postmasters. Mr. RAPPLEYEA. Excellent. He could have a card filled out and mailed by the postmaster to the customhouse.

The CHAIRMAN. You see, all of this legislation revolves around the fact we are dealing with cities. Some people do not know what a city looks like.

Mr. RAPPLEYEA. Of course, one thing we have to look out for is on the Pacific coast; we have to make some provision to stop the Japanese fishermen from using motorboats and going out spying on the fleet, without any means of identification.

The CHAIRMAN. We have a bill coming up in the next few days that undertakes to take care of that problem. I am in thorough accord with that, but it has been pretty hard so far to work out a bill there that is not going to be burdensome somewhere else. If we can work it on the other regions, why, all right.

Mr. RAPPLEYEA. Your suggestion of the postmaster seeing the certificate and mailing a card in to the collector of customs is excellent. That solves the problem.

The CHAIRMAN. Can you give me the citation to the particular legislation under which this iniquitous procedure was had?

Captain SWEET. 46 U. S. Code, 277.

The CHAIRMAN. I would be very glad if you people will cooperate with the Coast Guard in working out something.

Lieutenant POLLIO. We will be very glad to cooperate.

The CHAIRMAN. And we are going to get it through, if this committee is agreeable to it.

That is all, unless the others have some questions. Unless there is something else, we will stand adjourned.

Mr. LODGE. May I make just a short remark, for just a moment, on what I think is very pertinent on this particular case. Mr. Keefe mentioned his son operates a 16-foot motorboat. I am going to take class A, now, as written in this bill. I do not know the speed of Mr. Keefe's son's boat, but let us assume it is 10 or 15 miles an hour, and let us suppose that Johnny Jones right down the lake there owns a boat that is 15 feet long and the speed of his boat is 20 miles an hour. Now, Mr. Keefe's son, as his boat is 16 feet long, would have to have a combination light on that boat, according to the way the bill is written; however, Johnny Jones, operating a 15-foot boat, and faster than Mr. Keefe's boat, would not have to have a combination light.

That thought just came to my mind and I thought I ought to put it in at this point.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, so much the better for Johnny Jones. [Laughter.]

Mr. LODGE. Well, it certainly would not seem fair to Mr. Keefe's

son.

The CHAIRMAN. Almost any proposition you take up, in drawing a line, you can reduce it to an absurdity, but we just have to have some line of demarcation.

(The committee thereupon adjourned subject to the call of the chairman.)

APPENDIX

CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO H. R. 6039

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ENGINE AND BOAT MANUFACTURERS, INC.,
New York, June 9, 1939.

Hon. SCHUYLER OTIS BLAND,

Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries,

Old House Office Building, Washington, D. C.

DEAR SIR: We appreciate your committee's kindness in allowing the filing of additional briefs in re: H. R. 6039 and we beg that this communication be included in the record with our testimony given at the hearing on H. R. 6039 held Tuesday, June 6, 1939.

Our attention has been called by different sources to section 3, paragraph a of this bill under which no boats 16 feet in length included in the new class A would be required to carry the present red and green combination running lights at night. These interests expressed the fear that certain types of high speed boats of less than 16 feet would create a grave navigation hazard after dark, if equipped with only a white light showing all around the horizon, due to the speed involved and the difficulty in ascertaining the direction in which such craft might be proceeding.

Outboard runabouts of from 14 to 16 feet in length, together with utility type outboard boats which also have some decking in the bow, can be powered with motors giving rated speeds of from 20 to 40 miles an hour. Several manufacturers also produce stock inboard runabouts and utilities of 15 or 151⁄2 feet in length with speeds ranging from 16 to 30 or more miles an hour. Inboard boats of the racing type and less than 16 feet in length are capable of speeds of more than a mile a minute.

We are inclined to agree that decked outboard and inboard craft of from 14 to 16 feet in length, that are capable of high speed, might become a serious menace in night navigation if only a white light is required. There are probably between 40,000 and 50,000 of these boats on Federal waters at the present time that are now required to carry the combination red and green running light. The average operator of boats of this type exercises care when under way at night, yet there are those who, in familiar waters, do not take adequate precaution and therefore are a source of danger. Many of these boats have greater speed than similar type craft of even 16 and 18 feet in length which would be required to carry the combination red and green lantern.

A solution to this problem might be reached by amending paragraph a of section 3 by including a comma after the word "horizon" on line 18 and inserting the following: "Provided, That outboard and inboard runabouts and utility boats capable of speeds of more than 20 miles per hour shall, in addition, carry a combined lantern in the fore part of the vessel and lower than the white light aft, showing green to starboard and red to port, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to two points abaft the beam on their respective sides." We trust that your committee will give its earnest consideration to this matter.

Respectfully submitted.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ENGINE
AND BOAT MANUFACTURERS, INC.,
IRA HAND, Secretary.
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