proval of the report and ordered the dismissal of all officers of the service concerned.

Congress was now convinced of the necessity of legislative action, and a series of amendments was passed and approved on March 3, 1905 (33 Stat. L., 1022), which embodied many of the recommendations of the commission. Some of the more important changes and innnovations were: (1) Provisions authorizing the board of supervising inspectors to prescribe measures to be taken by the owners of vessels to guard against and extinguish fire, and to establish regulations governing the exact number and character of life-saving equipment to be kept on board, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor; (2) appeals could thereafter be taken to the supervising inspectors in case of the revocation of certificates of inspection by local boards, or to the Supervising Inspector-General in case of the revocation of the licenses of officers, when such action had received the approval of the supervising inspector; (3) assistant inspectors were expressly placed under the direction, supervision, and control of the local inspectors in the performance of their duties, and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor was authorized to detail assistant inspectors from one port or district to another, as the needs of the service might require; (4) salaries of local inspectors were definitely determined by the terms of the act, thus repealing the provision in the act of March 1, 1895, which based the salaries upon the number of vessels annually inspected; 12 (5) the Secretary of Commerce and Labor was empowered to call in session at any time, after reasonable public notice, an executive committee, to be composed of the Supervising Inspector-General and any two supervising inspectors, which committee, with the approval of the Secretary, should have power to alter, amend, add to, or re

12 The Secretary of Commerce and Labor, in his annual report for 1905, characterized this provision as being by far the most important change made. He pointed out that under the old system, as authorized by the act of 1895, "a substantial premium was thus actually placed on lax inspection."

peal any of the rules and regulations made by the board of supervising inspectors, such alteration, amendment, addition, or repeal to have the full force of law, when approved by the Secretary, and to continue in effect until thirty days after the adjournment of the next meeting of the board of supervising inspectors.

This last innovation made possible changes in the rules and regulations for the administration and enforcement of the steamboat inspection laws to meet emergencies which often arose due to the rapid changes and improvements in the practice of steam engineering and steam navigation. The Secretary of Commerce and Labor took advantage of the authority thus granted him on two occasions in the fiscal year following the passage of the act; and in his annual report for 1906 the Supervising Inspector-General commented upon the work of the committee as showing conclusively "that its establishment was not only important but wise legislation," and that its necessity had been fully proven.

A number of acts were passed in 1906 and the years following which imposed new activities upon the service and enlarged the scope of its work. Some of the more important provisions contained in these acts are the following:

(1) Vessels of fifteen gross tons or less, propelled in whole or in any part by gas, gasoline, petroleum, or electricity could be operated only by persons licensed by a board of local inspectors;

13

13 This provision was in partial response to the forceful recommendation made by the Supervising Inspector-General in his annual report for 1905 for the extension of the act of January 18, 1897, to all motor-driven vessels of whatever tonnage. He charged that many of these vessels were built with the designed purpose of having them a fraction under fifteen tons, which was the maximum tonnage exempted from the restrictions of the law requiring inspection and licensed officers, if engaged in carrying freight or passengers for hire; there being no restriction if the vessel was not used for commercial purposes. He continued: "These craft are used for both commercial and pleasure purposes, and many of them being navigated by inexperienced, incompetent, and irresponsible persons, are a constant menace to life and property. The laws and the rules and regulations applicable to other vessels which must be ob

(2) Local inspectors were given power to determine the necessary complement of officers and crews of all vessels of the United States subject to inspection, and to enter them upon the ship's certificate of inspection, such entry being subject to appeal to the supervising inspector and from that officer to the Supervising Inspector-General;

14

(3) Sea-going barges were required to submit to an annual inspection of hull and equipment;

(4) The chairman of the Lighthouse Board, the Supervising Inspector-General, and the Commissioner of Navigation were charged to convene as a board, when called by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, to establish certain regulations concerning the navigation of sea-going barges and towing vessels within any of the inland waters of the United States;

(5) The permanent indefinite appropriation for the salaries and expenses of the service was repealed and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor was directed to submit estimates annually for the same beginning with the fiscal year of 1912;

(6) The supervising inspectors were directed to make their annual reports to the Supervising Inspector-General instead of to themselves meeting as a board, although the board was still authorized to examine the work of all inspectors in the service and to correct mistakes when possible;

(7) An additional board of local inspectors was established.15

served to insure safe navigation are practically ignored by these motor vessels; and as a consequence, accidents resulting in loss of life, occasioned by their reckless navigation frequently come to the notice of this office, but the Department is powerless to take any action to punish the guilty or to protect the innocent from the result of ignorance and incompetency.'

14 This amendment was suggested as highly desirable by the Supervising Inspector-General in his annual report for 1907.

15 The provisions here enumerated give, in summarized form, the most important changes made by the following acts: March 17, 1906 (34 Stat. L., 68); May 16, 1906 (34 Stat. L., 193); May 28, 1906 (34 Stat. L., 204); June 11, 1906 (34 Stat. L., 230); February 8, 1907 (34 Stat. L., 881); April 2, 1908 (35 Stat. L., 55); May 28, 1908 (35 Stat. L., 424); June 25, 1910 (35 Stat. L., 831); May 22,

One particularly important act passed during this period, namely, the act of June 9, 1910 (36 Stat. L., 462), and known as the "Motor-Boat Act," is deserving of special attention. Motor-boats were defined as vessels propelled by machinery and not more than sixty-five feet in length, except tug-boats and tow-boats propelled by steam. All such motorboats more than forty feet in length and propelled by machinery driven by steam were made subject to the inspection of the engine, boiler, or other operating machinery by the local inspectors of steam vessels and to their approval of the design thereof. Regulations as to lights, whistles, foghorns, and bells were established. All motor-boats carrying passengers were required to carry one life-preserver for every passenger on board, and were not to be operated except in charge of a person duly licensed by a local board of inspectors. No examination was to be required as a condition of obtaining such a license, but the license could be revoked or suspended by the local board of inspectors for misconduct, gross negligence, recklessness in navigation, or violation of law upon the part of the holder.

By an act of Congress approved March 4, 1913 (37 Stat. L., 736), a new executive department to be denominated the Department of Labor, was organized. The Steamboat-Inspection Service was thereafter a bureau of the Department of Commerce and under the direction of the Secretary of Commerce. 16

Several important amendments have been made by Congress to the inspection laws since 1913, the most important of which are as follows:

1912 (37 Stat. L., 116); January 24, 1913 (37 Stat. L., 650); March 3, 1913 (37 Stat. L., 732); and March 4, 1913 (37 Stat. L., I013).

16 In all quotations and references to existing law relating to the power of the head of the Department, the term Secretary of Commerce has been used in this monograph as that term was substituted for Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of Commerce and Labor by the acts of February 14, 1903, and March 4, 1913, respectively.

(1) Regulations restricting the transportation of dangerous and inflammable articles on passenger vessels were modified to permit the carriage of crude petroleum, gunpowder, the use of kerosene and lubricating oils as stores, and the transportation and use of gasoline or any other product of petroleum for the operation of engines to supply an auxiliary lighting and wireless system, under regulations to be prescribed by the board of supervising inspectors;

(2) Licenses of masters, mates or pilots of steam-vessels were not to be renewed by local boards of inspectors until applicants had passed a satisfactory examination for colorblindness;

17

(3) By executive order of September 4, 1914, issued under authority of the Ship Registry Act of August 18, 1914 (38 Stat. L., 693), the requirements as to inspection of foreign-built vessels registered under the latter act were suspended for two years;

(4) Supervising inspectors were authorized to decrease, at their discretion, the number of passengers vessels were permitted to carry by the local inspectors, and the approval of the supervising inspector must be secured for an increase in such number or for a special permit in case of excursions;

18

17 This amendment merely gave statutory effect to and made more inclusive, a rule of the board of supervising inspectors established in 1889 requiring pilots of steam vessels to pass a satisfactory examination for color blindness as a condition to the renewal of their license. The rule adopted by the board at that time was characterized by the Supervising Inspector-General in his report for 1880 as "probably the most important ever adopted by the board."

18 The passage of this and other amendments noted below was the direct result of another startling marine disaster, namely, the sinking of the excursion steamer Eastland while lying at her dock at Chicago, resulting in the loss of 812 lives. The disaster was made the subject of a special investigation under the personal direction of the Secretary of Commerce, the outcome of which was a series of recommendations submitted by the Board of Inquiry in its report dated August 5, 1915, a number of which were made the subject of legislation by Congress. The problem of preventing the overloading of steamers carrying passengers had for some time been the subject of discussion by the Supervising Inspector-General in his reports. Previous to the passage of the above amendment the sole responsibility