"All steam-vessels navigating any waters of the United States which are common highways of commerce, or open to general or competitive navigation, excepting public vessels of the United States, vessels of other countries, and boats propelled in whole or in part by steam for navigating canals," were made subject to the provisions of this act. Despite 'frequent modifications and amendments that have been made from time to time, the basic activities and organization of the Steamboat-Inspection Service as thus established have remained practically without change up to the present time.

There will be reserved for the next chapter a detailed analysis of the activities of the service, as authorized by the act of 1871 and modified by subsequent amendments and additions thereto, only the more important provisions of the act enlarging the scope of the service being noted here. The following gives a brief resume of the contents of these provisions :

(1) The respective duties of the various branches of the service, namely the Supervising Inspector-General, the district supervising inspectors, and the local inspectors were outlined in detail;

(2) The board of supervising inspectors was authorized to establish such regulations to be observed by all steam-vessels in passing each other as they should from time to time deem necessary for safety;

(3) Additional boards and local inspectors were authorized and the qualifications of such officers were set down in greater detail;

(4) Ferry-boats, canal-boats, yachts, and other small craft of like character propelled by steam, tug-boats, towing-boats, and freight-boats were made subject to the laws for the inspection of vessels and the licensing of engineers and pilots;

(5) Reinspections were authorized to be made by local inspectors at proper times, to ascertain the safety of vessels for

office of steamboat inspectors receiving any fee or reward for their services, except that allowed by law.

the purposes of navigation and to detect violations of the inspection laws;

(6) Additional requirements were imposed upon the owners of vessels to provide for the safety and comfort of passengers;

(7) Collectors of customs were forbidden to license, register or enroll any vessel propelled in whole or in part by steam until satisfied that all provisions concerning the regulation of such vessels had been complied with;

(8) The states were prohibited from imposing upon pilots of steam-vessels any obligation to procure a state or other license in addition to that issued by the United States; and

(9) The issuance of licenses by the boards of local inspectors to masters, chief mates, engineers, and pilots of steam-vessels was made the subject of detailed regulation, especially with regard to the qualifications of applicants for such licenses, and the local inspectors were given power to revoke the licenses of officers in case of "bad, intemperate habits, incapacity, inattention to duty, or the willful violation of any provisions of this act."

It is significant, as was especially brought out in a brief history of the Steamboat-Inspection Service prepared under the direction of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor and contained in a work known as the "Organization and Law of the Department of Commerce and Labor," published in 1904, that the act of 1871 was directed toward the promotion of the security of the lives of all persons on board steam-vessels, thereby giving the officers and crews of such vessels the lawful protection that formerly extended only to passengers.

Following the passage of the important act of 1871, which has been characterized by the Supervising Inspector-General, in his annual report for 1905, as being, without doubt "the wisest legislation ever devised upon these lines," the subject of steamboat inspection received frequent attention from Congress. Numerous acts were passed from 1872 to 1903 with the purpose of making more efficient and inclusive the work

of the service. A great many of these laws, however, were enacted only after urgent and repeated recommendations had been made by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Supervising Inspector-General in their annual reports. A brief summary of the content of the most important of these acts follows:

(1) Act of April 17, 1874 (18 Stat. L., 30), authorizing the issuance of engineers' and pilots' licenses by the boards of local inspectors, to aliens who had declared their intention of becoming citizens of the United States.*

(2) Act of August 2, 1882 (22 Stat. L., 186), known as "The Passenger Act 1882," superseding all prior acts seeking to regulate the transportation of passengers on steamvessels. Collectors of customs were authorized to direct inspectors to examine vessels for the purpose of ascertaining the number of passengers such vessels could carry with safety and the accommodations, such as hospital facilities, food, and deck space provided therefor.

(3) Act of August 7, 1882 (22 Stat. L., 346), providing that all foreign private steam-vessels carrying passengers from any port of the United States to any other place or country should be subject to the laws for the regulation of steamvessels. The Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to appoint sixteen "special inspectors of foreign steam-vessels," at a salary of $2000 per annum, who should make reports to the Supervising Inspector-General under such regulations as should be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury.

(4) Act of March 3, 1885 (23 Stat. L., 438), adopting the "Revised International Rules and Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea," to be followed in the navigation of all public and private vessels of the United States upon the high seas or in the coast waters of the United States.

(5) Act of June 19, 1886 (24 Stat. L., 79), abolishing the collection of all fees heretofore charged, for the rendering of

4 Previous to the passage of this act, the issuance of such licenses had been restricted by law to citizens of the United States.

certain services, by collectors of customs and inspectors of steam-vessels, to American vessels. Collectors and inspectors were required to make a detailed report of service performed and fees provided by law to the Secretary of the Treasury; and that officer was authorized to allow and pay said officers for such services, as each would have received prior to the passage of this act, out of money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.

(6) Act of January 22, 1894 (28 Stat. L., 28), authorizing the Supervising Inspector-General, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, to detail assistant inspectors from any local inspection district where such assistant inspectors were employed, to inspect iron and steel boiler plates at the mills where the same were manufactured. Material for the manufacture of marine boilers, when bearing the stamp of an assistant inspector so detailed, was to be accepted by local inspectors as being in full compliance with the rules of the supervising inspectors with regard to the inspection of boiler plates.

(7) Act of March 1, 1895 (28 Stat. L., 699), abolishing the office of "special inspector of foreign steam-vessels," as created by the act of August 7, 1882, previously quoted. The inspection of foreign vessels was thereafter to be a part of the duties of the local inspectors and their assistants. Additional boards of local inspectors were established and the salaries of all local inspectors were based upon the number of vessels inspected during the preceding year, ranging from $1200 to $2500 per annum. The act further authorized the

As previously noted, the payment of fees to the inspectors of vessels for their services was abolished by the act of 1852, but the salaries of such officers as fixed by law had been paid, up to this time, out of receipts from fees derived from the inspection of vessels and the licensing of officers. The annual reports of the Supervising Inspector-General show that the receipts from these sources were more than sufficient to cover the salaries and contingent expenses of the service.

In his annual report for 1893, the Supervising Inspector-General urged that provision be made for the inspection of boiler plates at the mills.

appointment by the Secretary of the Treasury, upon the nomination of the supervising inspector of the district, of assistant inspectors in collection districts where 225 or more steamers were inspected annually. The Secretary of the Treasury was also given power to appoint clerks for the boards of local inspectors in the above districts. The compensation of these additional employees of the service was fixed by the act, and traveling expenses for all officers of the service were thereafter to be allowed at the rate of eight cents per mile."

(8) By an executive order issued on March 2, 1896, all the employees of the Steamboat-Inspection Service, with the exception of the Supervising Inspector-General and the supervising inspectors, who are appointed by the President, were placed in the classified civil service.8

It is significant to note that two of the important changes made in the service by this act had been repeatedly urged by the Supervising Inspector-General in his annual reports. In the first place, that officer specifically recommended the repeal of the act creating the office of "special inspector of foreign steam-vessels" in his reports for 1889 and 1890, on the ground that the need for such special inspectors ceased to exist when the act of June 19, 1886, abolishing the collection of all fees, was approved. At the time of the passage of the act of August 7, 1882, requiring the inspection of foreign vessels, the expenses of the service were paid out of the receipts from fees, and such fees could not legally be diverted to pay the salaries and expenses of inspectors of foreign vessels. Since the inspectors were paid on an annual fixed salary basis after 1886, however, they could perform this additional service, which was not heavy, without additional expense to the government.

In the second place, the Supervising Inspector-General had frequently called attention to the inequalities in the salaries of local inspectors as fixed by the act of 1871, in comparison with the amount of work they were called upon to do, and specifically recommended in his annual report for 1893 a minimum salary of $1500 and amounts in excess of that sum based upon the number of vessels inspected.

As early as 1880, the Supervising Inspector-General expressed dissatisfaction with the method of appointment of local inspectors, namely, by a commission consisting of the supervising inspector of the district, the collector of customs, and the United States district judge, a system dating back to 1852-and urged the appointment of the local inspectors from among the list of masters or pilots and engineers licensed by the service, by the Secretary of the Treasury upon nomination by the supervising inspector of the district. In