REGISTRY OF SHIPS AND VESSELS.

ACT OF DECEMBER 31, 1792.

§ 1. What vessels shall be deemed vessels of the United States. Ships or vessels which shall have been registered, and those which shall be registered pursuant to this act, and no other, (except such as shall be duly qualified, according to law, for carrying on the coasting trade and fisheries, or one of them,) shall be denominated and deemed ships or vessels of the United States, entitled to the benefits and privileges appertaining to such ships or vessels: Provided, That they shall not continue to enjoy the same longer than they shall continue to be wholly owned, and to be commanded by, a citizen or citizens of the said States.

§ 2. What vessels are entitled to be registered. — Ships or vessels built within the United States, and belonging wholly to a citizen or citizens thereof, and ships or vessels which may hereafter be captured in war, by such citizen or citizens, and lawfully condemned as prize, or which have been, or may be, adjudged to be forfeited for a breach of the laws of the United States, being wholly owned by a citizen or citizens thereof, and no other, may be registered as hereinafter directed: Provided, That no such ship or vessel shall be entitled to be so registered, or, if registered, to the benefits thereof, if owned in

1 This exception has reference to the cod and mackerel fisheries-registers now being lawful papers for vessels engaged in the whale fishery.

Act of April 4, 1840.

§ 1. Be it enacted, &c., That all vessels which have cleared, or hereafter may clear, with registers for the purpose of engaging in the whale fishery, shall be deemed to have lawful and sufficient papers for such voyages, securing the privileges and rights of registered vessels, and the privileges and exemptions of vessels enrolled and licensed for the fisheries; and all vessels which have been enrolled and licensed for like voyages, shall have the same privileges and measure of protection as if they had sailed with registers, if such voyages are completed, or until they are completed.

2 Vessels built in the United States, owned wholly or in part by citizens or subjects of a foreign state, duly recorded, (vide § 20,) on being purchased and wholly owned by a citizen or citizens of the United States, are also entitled to be registered. Gen. Reg. Art. 1.—So also are vessels built in a foreign

whole or in part by any citizen of the United States, who usually resides in a foreign country, during the continuance of such residence, unless such citizen be in the capacity of a consul of the United States, or an agent for, and a partner in, some house of trade or copartnership, consisting of citizens of the said States, actually carrying on trade within the said States.1

country, and wrecked within the waters of the United States, and purchased and repaired by a citizen or citizens thereof-provided the cost of repairs be equal to three fourths of the cost of the vessel when repaired.

Act of December 23, 1852.

§1. Be it enacted, &c., That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he hereby is, authorized to issue a register or enrollment for any vessel built in a foreign country, whenever such vessel may have been, or shall hereafter be, wrecked in the United States, and have been, or shall hereafter be, purchased and repaired by a citizen or citizens thereof: Provided, That it shall be proved to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Treasury that the repairs put upon such vessel shall be equal to three fourths of the cost of said vessel when so repaired.

In case of application for the registry of a vessel of foreign build, wrecked in the waters of the United States, and purchased and repaired by a citizen or citizens thereof, the applicant will be required to furnish to the collector of the port to which the vessel belongs, proof of the wreck within the waters of the United States, of his or their title thereto by purchase, of the citizenship of the owner or owners, of the amount of purchase money paid therefor, and a detailed statement of the items of expenditure for repairs, accompanied by the bills receipted, which are to be compared with the statement by the collector, and his opinion on the case officially certified on the statement, which will be laid by the collector, with the other papers in the case, before the Secretary of the Treasury, who, if he shall find the same satisfactory, and that the repairs have amounted to three fourths of the entire cost of the vessel, will return the papers to the collector, with his special authority to register the vessel and issue a certificate thereof, furnishing the applicant with a duly authenticated copy of such authority. On the presentation of such authenticated copy to the collector, with the certificate of admeasurement, the oath or affirmation, and bond, the collector will register the vessel, and issue a permanent certificate of registry.

Some doubt having been expressed as to the meaning of the provision requiring the cost of repairs to equal three fourths of the cost of the vessel when repaired, it will be borne in mind, that it is not the absolute or marketable value of the vessel, but the cost to her purchasers and repairers, to which the provision is held by the Department to refer. For instance, if the purchase money of the vessel amount to $500, the amount expended in repairs must equal three times that amount, or $1,500, to come within the relief of the law, the aggregate cost being $2,000, and three fourths of it being for repairs. Gen. Reg. Art. 16.

No ship or vessel which has been, or shall be, registered pursuant to any law of the United States, and which hereafter shall be seized, or captured and condemned, under the authority of any foreign power, or that shall, by sale, become the property of a foreigner or foreigners, shall, after the passing of this act, be entitled to, or capable of, receiving a new register, notwithstanding such ship or vessel should afterwards become American property; but that all such ships and vessels shall be taken and considered, to all intents and purposes, as foreign vessels: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall extend to, or be construed to affect, the person or

§ 3. Where vessels shall be registered. Every ship or vessel (except as is hereinafter provided) shall be registered by the collector of the district in which shall be comprehended the port to which such ship or vessel shall belong at the time of her registry, which port shall be deemed to be that, at or nearest to which the owner, if there be but one, or, if more than one, the husband, or acting and managing owner of such ship or vessel, usually resides. And the name of the said ship or vessel, and of the port to which she shall so belong, shall be painted on her stern, on a black ground, in white letters, of not less than three inches in length. And if any ship or vessel of the United States shall be found without having her name, and the name of the port to which she belongs, painted in manner aforesaid, the owner or owners shall forfeit fifty dollars; one half to the person giving the information thereof, the other half to the use of the United States.

§ 4. Proceedings preliminary to registry. In order to the registry of any ship or vessel, an oath or affirmation shall be taken and subscribed by the owner, or by one of the owners, thereof, before the officer authorized to make such registry, who is hereby empowered to administer the same, declaring, according to the best of the knowledge and belief of the person so swearing or affirming, the name of such ship or vessel, her burden, the place where she was built, if built within the United States, and the year in which she was built; or that she was captured in war by a citizen or citizens of the said States, and lawfully condemned as prize, (producing a copy of the sentence of condemnation, authenticated in the usual forms,) or that she has been adjudged to be forfeited for a breach of the laws of the United States, (producing a like

persons owning any ship or vessel, at the time of the seizure or capture of the same, or shall prevent such owner, in case he regain a property in such ship or vessel, so condemned, by purchase or otherwise, from claiming and receiving a new register for the same, as he might or could have done if this act had not been passed. Act June 27, 1797, § 1.

No ship or vessel shall be entitled to be registered as a ship or vessel of the United States, or, if registered, to the benefits thereof, if owned in whole or in part by any person naturalized in the United States, and residing for more than one year in the country from which he originated, or for more than two years in any foreign country, unless such person be in the capacity of a consul, or other public agent of the United States: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the registering anew of any ship or vessel before registered, in case of a bona fide sale thereof to any citizen or citizens resident in the United States: And provided also, That satisfactory proof of the citizenship of the person on whose account a vessel may be purchased, shall be first exhibited to the collector, before a new register shall be granted for such vessel. Act March 27, 1804, § 1.

copy of the sentence whereby she shall have been so adjudged,) and declaring his or her name, and place of abode, and, if he or she be the sole owner of the said ship or vessel, that such is the case; or, if there be another owner or other owners, that there is or are such other owner or owners, specifying his, her, or their, name or names, and place or places of abode, and that he, she, or they, as the case may be, so swearing or affirming, is or are citizens of the United States; and where an owner resides in a foreign country, in the capacity of a consul of the United States, or as an agent for, and a partner in, a house or copartnership consisting of citizens of the United States, and actually carrying on trade within the United States, that such is the case, and that there is no subject or citizen of any foreign prince or state, directly or indirectly, by way of trust, confidence, or otherwise, interested in such ship or vessel, or in the profits or issues thereof; and that the master or commander thereof is a citizen, naming the said master or commander, and stating the means whereby, or manner in which, he is so a citizen.3 And in case any of the matters of fact in the said oath or affirmation alleged, which shall be within the knowledge of the party so swearing or affirming, shall not be true, there shall be a forfeiture of the ship or vessel, together with her tackle, furniture, and apparel, in respect to which the same shall have been made, or of the value thereof, to be recovered, with costs of suit, of the person by whom such oath or affirmation shall have been made: Provided always, That if the master, or person having the charge or command of such ship or vessel, shall be within the district aforesaid when application shall be made for registering the same, he shall himself make oath or affirmation, instead of the said owner, touching his being a citizen, and the means whereby, or manner in which, he is so a citizen; in which case, if what the said master, or person having the

In case of a vessel built in a foreign country, and wrecked and repaired in the United States, the oath will be made to read, "Was wrecked within the waters of the United States, purchased and repaired by a citizen (or citizens) of the United States, according to law, and authorized to be registered by the Secretary of the Treasury, by letter under date of authenticated copy of which I now produce." Gen. Reg. Art. 7.

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2 In all cases where there is more than one owner, the parts or proportions of the vessel belonging to each owner must be stated in the oath. Act of July 29, 1850, § 5.

3 That is, whether native-born or naturalized. If the former, the oath will set forth that he was born within the limits of the United States; if the latter, that he was naturalized in the State of, on the day of

in the year, by virtue of a decree of the Court of - Gen. Reg. Art. 7.