ENFORCEMENT OF NAVIGATION LAWS. LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE, TRANSMITTING LETTERS FROM THE ACTING COMMISSIONER OF NAVIGATION CONCERNING ITEMS APPEARING IN THE ESTIMATES OF THE BUREAU OF NAVIGATION FOR THE COMING FISCAL YEAR. DECEMBER 11, 1913.-Referred to the Committee on Appropriations and ordered to be printed. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEAR MR. SPEAKER: For the special information of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and for the use of the Members of the House generally, I beg respectfully to transmit and to make a portion of this communication two letters from the Acting Commissioner of Navigation concerning items appearing in the estimates of the Bureau of Navigation for the coming fiscal year. The work done by the U. S. motor vessel Tarragon may be divided generally into three parts: (a) The enforcement of the navigation laws calling for proper lights, life-saving equipment, means of extinguishing gasoline fires, and for obedience to the rules of the road when vessels are under way, etc.; (b) the supervision of vessels to prevent illegal shipments, cruelty, improper food, and bad living conditions; (c) to enforce the wireless-communication laws. This work must be done in inland and coast waters. It has been carried out at such small cost and has been of such exceptional value that the department has asked to be permitted to procure another vessel to extend this service from its present limited area into waters where it is greatly needed but from which lack of means now excludes it. The following letter will make the subject clear: With reference to the appropriation asked for in the estimates of $35,000 for enforcing the navigation laws, I think the Committee on Appropriations should have before it the following facts: The present appropriation was made when there were but 100,000 motor boats in the United States, and it was distributed among 60 of the principal ports where motor boats were hired by the day or hour for inspection purposes. The number of these vessels increased to over 250,000, and in order to secure the most efficient service at the lowest cost, the department purchased in June, 1912, the motor boat Tarragon, 65 feet long, and placed her in charge of competent, trained men and systematic inspections were begun. She was to be employed on the Chesapeake Bay and tributary waters. Acting under your instructions her radius of action was extended and during the past six months she has inspected vessels in every collection district and almost every port from Bridgeport, Conn., to Key West, Fla. One thousand six hundred and fifty-six vessels were reported as violating the navigation laws. Life-saving reports show that during 1913, 1,038 such vessels were involved in serious disasters and as only 17 lives were lost it is fair to assume this was due in part at least to the life-saving equipment carried as required by the navigation laws. Another field of usefulness which the Tarragon has developed is the supervision of the oyster fleet on the Chesapeake Bay, where there are not less than 1,200 boats with crews aggregating 3,500 men. There are probably as many more in Delaware Bay and River and the sounds of North Carolina. Reports of illegal shipments, cruel treatment, insufficient food, and inadequate quarters, published by the press and submitted by charitable institutions were found not to be exaggerated and seemed to be a feature of almost every oyster-dredging season down the bay for a generation. To secure crews to serve under the conditions in the fleet for the small wages offered, shipping agents at Baltimore and Norfolk resorted to shanghaiing. Men while intoxicated were signed on without knowing the nature of their agreements; railroad yards were watched and men and boys stealing rides on the cars in violation of a local statute were given the choice between arrest and serving in the oyster fleet; skilled mechanics and artisans and even members of the professions while intoxicated were shipped by these agents and finally found themselves down the bay on the oyster dredges. In strange and unfriendly environments they were forced to do work for which they were fitted neither in body nor mind. The mental condition of these men when they came out of their stupor and realized their surroundings, and the disappointment of the master who had paid the shipping agent for a crew found unable or unwilling to make the operation of the vessel profitable, often resulted in violence and sometimes in bloodshed. These were the conditions found by this department in the oyster fleet. In the work of the Tarragon it became necessary to apprehend and take into court one mutinous crew, several masters of vessels and some shipping agents, in all of which cases except one indictments were found and convictions secured. During the present season the Tarragon has found but one case of ill treatment. The master was arrested, indicted, and held under a $1,000 bond for the grand jury. In two shanghaiing cases the arrest of the principals and securing the witnesses was performed by the Tarragon. Two runaway boys under age who had joined the fleet were found and returned to their parents. In a letter dated the 26th ultimo the United States attorney at Baltimore states: "In reference to the proposal for the purchase of a vessel to assist the motor boat Tarragon during the winter months in the supervision of the oyster fleet in the Delaware Bay, Chesapeake Bay, Pamlico Sound, and tributary waters, I wish to urge upon the department the importance of such work as that done at present by the Tarragon. "Only last week I had two hearings before Commissioner Bond in alleged shanghaiing cases, which were reported to me and in which the arrest of the principals and the securing of the witnesses was performed by the use of the Tarragon. During the oystering season there are many occasions to use the Tarragon in violations of the law against improperly shipping men and for the protection of such men when shipped. "Before the use of the Tarragon and its predecessor, the Old Glory, when I heard of a violation I was forced to call upon the Treasury Department for the service of the revenue cutter, and by the time I secured the cutter, it was frequently too late to secure the desired witnesses. "The use of such a vessel as the Tarragon is absolutely necessary for the proper inspection of the oyster fleet, and a rigid inspection of the oyster fleet is essential to enforce the laws for the protection of the seamen in the oyster fleet. "If the department would care to have me, I shall be glad to appear before the department, or before any committee of Congress to which this matter is referred, and explain to them fully the needs of such a vessel and illustrate to them the good work such a vessel does by a number of cases which have been prosecuted here in the past few years. I can not speak too highly of the work Collector Dryden and the Tarragon are now doing." Total expenditures in connection with the motor boat "Tarragon," from the date of purchase, June 24, 1912, to and including Oct. 31, 1913. Total expenditures on account of Tarragon, including original cost, salaries, and all operating $19,584. 26 $8, 260.00 16,670.00 2,914.26 Net expense of the vessel to Nov. 1, 1913 (16 months).... The records of this department show that approximately one motor boat in every three inspected is without proper equipment. The department is aware of the unusual perils which attend the navigation of these vessels and of the thousands of lives constantly endangered in their navigation, and that its present facilities for inspection are inadequate for the work to be done. I think, therefore, that the department is justified in strongly urging the increased appropriation. The sum of $35,000 for enforcing the navigation laws on the inland waters of the United States, including the Great Lakes and Alaska, does not seem excessive. The mitigated penalties to which reference is made arise in this way: Statutory fines are fixed by the law for certain specific transgressions, but the Secretary of Commerce is authorized by the same law to mitigate these fines when conditions shall so warrant. It is found that a very large percentage of the offenses are committed in ignorance, and that the boat owners are willing and glad to comply with the law when its requirements are pointed out to them. In cases of this kind the penalty is mitigated to a nominal one. It will appear, however, that even with these reduced fines, the net amount being in many cases $5 and perhaps averaging $10, the service has been very nearly self-supporting. The new vessel proposed now to be purchased will operate in New England waters during the summer season, where at that time there are more vessels than in any other part of our coast. Since in August last the Tarragon reported 607 violations of the navigation laws in and near New York, it is fair to assume that the new vessel would report during the season not less than 2,000 violations. The mitigated penalties from these, together with the results of the work of the vessel elsewhere during the balance of the year, should make her almost self-sustaining the first year. It is the fact that where the Tarragon has done her work there is a great reduction in transgressions of the navigation laws, coupled with general approval of the service rendered by this small vessel. On the other hand, the owners of motor boats are beginning to realize that the law does not limit the number of passengers which may be carried on them, and the consequent overcrowding of these small vessels is becoming notorious. Special inspection is therefore necessary to see that they are properly provided with the lawful outfit of life-saving devices. Furthermore, nothing has been possible as yet in the way of enforcing these salutary laws on the Great Lakes, although a visit of an officer of the Tarragon to the St. Lawrence while his vessel was being repaired showed a great need for such services there. There is, therefore, a continuing opportunity for at least two such vessels. If Congress should enact a law limiting the number of passengers on motor boats, the use of the new vessel would be essential for the enforcement of this law. The work of the Tarragon has demonstrated that such a vessel may be employed also in inspecting steam vessels to ascertain if the lifeboats, life-saving devices, and other equipment required by the certificate of inspection are on board in good condition, ready for immediate use. In addition the Tarragon and the new vessel, being equipped with wireless and having radioinspectors on board, would do constant and efficient service in keeping radioequipments in condition. This is of special importance at ports where there are no radioinspectors. Referring to the estimate for enforcing the wireless-communication laws (radioservice), the Acting Commissioner of Navigation writes as follows: With reference to the appropriation asked for in the estimates of $48,750 for enforcement of the wireless-communication laws, involving an increase of $10,870, I think the Committee on Appropriations should have before it the following facts: The following table shows the items of expenditures for 1913 and 1914 under these appropriations and the proposed expenditures for 1915: |