CONTENTS Establishment of Regulations to Prevent Collisions Determination of Ship's Passenger Allowance VINNOJETO STEAMBOAT-INSPECTION SERVICE: ORGANIZATION CHAPTER I HISTORY The United States Steamboat-Inspection Service, a bureau of the Department of Commerce, has, as its primary duty or function, the administration of the laws of the United States enacted for the purpose of safeguarding the lives of passengers on steamboats and other vessels engaged in marine transportation. In the performance of this important function, the service is chiefly engaged in three general types of work: (1) The inspection of the hulls, machinery, and equipment of vessels of the merchant marine of the United States made subject to such inspection by acts of Congress; (2) the licensing of the officers and the certification of the crews of such vessels; (3) the conduct of trials and investigations to ascertain violations of the steamboat-inspection laws and of the rules and regulations established for their proper administration. The activities of the service bring it into close contact with several large business interests of the nation as well as with millions of men, women, and children annually carried by vessels subject to its jurisdiction. Shipbuilders, manufacturers of marine equipment, iron and steel mills rolling material for the construction of boilers, and the manufacturers of marine boilers,—all are vitally interested in and affected by the work of this service. 1 STEAMBOAT-INSPECTION SERVICE Establishment and Early Growth of the Service: 18381870. The Steamboat-Inspection Service had its beginning in an act of Congress approved July 7, 1838 (5 Stat. L., 304), the first legislation enacted by the national government looking toward the "better security of the lives of passengers on board of vessels propelled in whole or in part by steam." Owners or masters of such vessels were required to employ a competent number of experienced and skillful engineers, to have the hulls of their vessels inspected every twelve months and the boilers of the same every six months to determine their strength and durability, and to provide their ships with lifeboats, signal lights, fire pumps and hose, and other equipment to insure protection of those on board. A license certificate had to be procured by such owner or master, subscribing to their compliance with these requirements, before passengers could be carried. This act further authorized district judges of the United States within whose district any ports of entry or delivery might be, on the navigable waters, bays, lakes, and rivers of the United States and "upon the application of the master, or owner of any steamboat or vessel propelled in whole or in part by steam, to appoint from time to time, one or more persons skilled and competent to make inspections of such boats and vessels, and of the boilers and machinery of the same." The inspectors thus appointed were authorized to inspect such vessels when called upon by the master or owner, receiving compensation from the owners of vessels inspected at the rate of five dollars for each hull and five dollars for each boiler. After each inspection, the inspectors were authorized, if the vessel was found to meet all requirements, to issue a license certificate or certificate of inspection to the owner or master, which was required to "be posted up and kept in some conspicuous part of the boat for the information of the public." The concluding section of this act, which initiated the inspection of steam-vessels in the United States, provided that any person employed on board a boat in which lives were lost through his misconduct, negli gence, or inattention to duty should be deemed guilty of manslaughter. Several laws of minor importance were passed in the years immediately following the act of 1838 extending its provisions and making certain modifications in its application. An act approved March 3, 1843 (5 Stat. L., 626) provided for additional steering apparatus on steam-vessels in case of an emergency such as in the event of the pilot being driven from the wheel by fire. The number of passengers that vessels subject to the steamboat laws could carry was limited by the act of February 22, 1847 (9 Stat. L., 127), while the act of March 3, 1849 (9 Stat. L., 399), extended the above to include all vessels bound from any port in the United States to any port or place in the Pacific Ocean or on its tributaries or from any such port or place to any port in the United States on the Atlantic or its tributaries. The present Steamboat-Inspection Service, however, dates its establishment from an act of Congress approved August 30, 1852 (10 Stat. L., 1852), and known as the "Steamboat Act." Since this act furnished the foundation upon which a large part of the service, as it is at present organized, was built, it may be well to examine its provisions somewhat in detail, especially those pertaining to the administration of the service. It provided for the appointment of nine supervising inspectors, by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, who were to be competent and experienced men in the construction and operation of merchant vessels. These supervising inspectors were required to meet once a year for joint consultation and to establish rules and regulations for the uniform administration of the inspection laws. At this joint session, the supervising inspectors were also to assign to each of their number the limits of the territory over which he should exercise supervision and control. A< detailed description of the nature of the work of these supervising inspectors will be reserved for a later chapter, but it is sufficient to note here that they were charged with the super |