amendments of the wording as may seem proper and necessary. They are at liberty to enlarge the precepts but not to curtail them.

I respectfully recommend that whatever rules be approved by this committee should be approved by the Navy and Treasury Departments before being submitted to Congress, and, after being made statutory, they should be brought to the notice of all foreign maritime nations who have already approved the amended British rules.

Very respectfully,

Hon. SAMUEL J. RANDALL,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

R. W. THOMPSON,
Secretary of the Navy.

[Inclosures accompanying communication of Secretary of the Navy, January 22, 1880.]

A.

Letter from Secretary of State to Secretary of the Navy.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, January 13, 1863.

SIR: I have the honor to invite your attention to the inclosed copy of a communication of the 10th instant from Lord Lyons, relative to regulations for preventing collisions at sea, and will thank you to cause them to be examined by an intelligent officer or officers, and the result communicated to this department. A similar communication has also been received at this department from the French legation.

SIR: I have received the orders of my government to address to you the following communication:

The great increase which has lately taken place in the number of ships employed upon the ocean, the changes which are being made in the build and character of those ships, and more especially the introduction and rapid extension of steam navigation, have for some time made it necessary to alter and amend the rules and practice formerly observed for the purpose of preventing collisions at sea. Certain improvements have consequently been made from time to time, both in the description of lights and signals to be used by vessels at night, and also in the rules to be observed by vessels when approaching one another. Some of these alterations, those, for example, which relate to green and red side-lights, have already been adopted by most maritime nations, but even in these cases the adoption of the new system by each nation has hitherto only had the effect of a municipal law, whilst in other cases the rules and practice adopted by different nations are inconsistent and conflicting. That the law and practice of all the maritime nations of the world concerning the precautions to be observed for preventing collisions at sea should be adapted to the exigencies of modern navigation; that they should be consistent and uniform, without distinction of flag or of place; and that they should have the force of international maritime law, are objects the importance of which it is unnecessary to urge. Under these circumstances the Governments of Great Britain and France have prepared a set of rules which will, they believe, if adopted by the maritime nations of the world, fulfill the objects above mentioned. The rules are to come into force on the 1st day of June, 1863. They will from that date govern British and French ships, and will be capable of being inforced with regard to such ships in the courts of either country. To complete the work thus begun, it is necessary to procure the concurrence of other nations; and for this purpose I am charged by Her Majesty's Government to communicate to you the inclosed copy of the above-mentioned rules, and to express the hope that the Government of

the United States may see fit to apply them to its own ships, and to signify to Her Majesty's Government its desire that such ships may in any questions that may arise in British courts of law be treated accordingly. Her Majesty's Government are the more ready to believe that this course will be willingly acceded to, since the rules in question have been so framed as to adhere as closely as the wants of modern navigation will permit to the established practice of the sea. I have only to add that a communication similar to the present will be addressed on the part of the British and French Governments to the governments of every maritime nation, in the hope that the rules in question may thus be universally adopted, and that they may become an integral part of the international law of the world.

I have the honor, &c.,

Hon. WM. H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State.

LYONS.

C.

Indorsements written on the back of the above letter.

I have examined these rules and approve them as a general system. But in time of war, belligerents would or would not adopt them at discretion, according to cirThey should apply to vessels on our western waters in whole or at least

cumstances.

in part.

JOSEPH SMITH,
Rear-Admiral.

I have examined the within rules carefully, and in my judgment their adoption and enforcement by ourselves would tend materially to lessen chances of collision by our vessels. They are well drawn and certainly well calculated to subserve the purposes for which they are intended.

I concur in the above.

L. M. GOLDSBOROUGH, Rear-Admiral, United States Navy.

C. H. DAVIS, Commodore, United States Navy.

These rules are very nearly those which now govern the usage of the sea service, but they only apply to sea-going steamers. I think they should be alike applicable, and receive the force of law, to all steamers and vessels upon our inland waters also. So far as naval vessels are concerned, there are times when the commander must have the authority to suspend these rules entirely.

G. V. FOX, Assistant Secretary.

D.

Letter from Secretary Wells to Secretary Seward.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, January 21, 1863.

SIR: Your letter of the 13th instant, inclosing the communication of Lord Lyons dated the 10th instant, addressed to yourself and containing the "regulations for preventing collisions at sea," to be adopted by the English and French governments on the 1st day of June, 1863, has been received and carefully examined. These regulaons are approved by the department, and from the 1st of June next will be adopted for the naval service subject to temporary suspension or alteration by any naval comander according to the circumstances or exigencies under which they may be placed. I respectfully suggest that article 3d should be altered so as to read thus: "All steamvessels when underweigh shall carry," and that "regulations for preventing collisions at sea" be altered so as to read "regulations for preventing collisions on the water." The object of these changes is to have one uniform rule on the water instead of confining the great usefulness of the regulations to the sea alone. For example, the great lakes and river St. Lawrence as well as the waters near our northwestern boundaries are used by ourselves and the vessels of the British in common, and it would Reem desirable that invariable rules should govern the vessels of both nations. If the same necessity exists for harmony in the inland waters of Europe and Asia it is a

proper occasion to urge rules which shall be universal. The department will present these regulations altered as above suggested and ask Congress to adopt them for all classes of vessels, including those upon the inland waters of the United States as well

SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of "Regulations for preventing collisions on the water." These regulations have been adopted by the great maritime nations of England and France, who have brought them to the attention of this government and asked its adoption of them. They will be put in force so far as those two nations are concerned on and after the 1st of June, 1863. The department has examined them carefully, and they meet with its approval. It proposes to adopt them in the naval service, and desires that Congress may give them legal force. It is equally important that a uniform system should prevail in the mercantile as well as in the naval service, and the department therefore deems it proper to bring the subject to the attention of the Committee on Commerce, and to suggest such action by Congress as will accomplish this object. I have taken the liberty of inclosing a draught of an act which would seem to cover the case. It is the intention of the British and French Governments to invite the attention of every maritime nation to these regulations in the hope that they may be universally adopted, and become an integral part of the international law of the world. Copies of the letter of the Secretary of State and of the communication addressed to him by Lord Lyons with which the regulations were transmitted to this department are herewith inclosed.

SIR: Her Majesty's Government have learned with much satisfaction from the note which you did me the honor to address to me on the 22d January last, that the Government of the United States approved the regulations for preventing collisions at sea which have been concerted between the Governments of Great Britain and France. With regard to the suggestion of the United States Secretary of the Navy, that the wording of the regulations should be modified so as to make them applicable to steamvessels on lakes and rivers as well as to those on the sea, Her Majesty's Government find that it is not in their power to make the regulations applicable to all inlaud navigation, as there are rivers in the United Kingdom and probably in other parts of Europe in which special local regulations exist with which it would not be proper to interfere. The principal object which the Secretary of the Navy had in view would, however, be attained if the operation of the regulations should be extended to the inland lakes of North America and to the waters of the River St. Lawrence, and Her Majesty's Government have accordingly entered into communication with the Provincial Government of Canada for the purpose of ascertaining whether such an extension would be feasible.

I have the honor, &c.,

Hon. Wм. H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State.

LYONS.

G.

The law of port helm.

The lords commissioners of the admiralty are furthermore pleased to direct that the
recognized Trinity House rules, that all vessels should keep their course, are to be
acted upon except where there is danger of collision, and in that case each vessel
should invariably put her helm aport.

Regulations for preventing collisions on the water.

[General Order No. 34.]

NAVY DEPARTMENT, May 4, 1864.

The provisions of the following act "fixing certain rules and regulations for pre-
venting collisions on the water," to take effect on the 1st day of September, 1864, are
adopted for the naval service of the United States from this date. As most of the col-
lisions occur from the non-observance of article sixteen, it is particularly enjoined
upon commanding officers, in approaching another vessel, to slacken and stop in time to
prevent the possibility of collision.

AN ACT fixing certain rules and regulations for preventing collisions on the water.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America
in Congress assembled, That from and after September one, eighteen hundred and sixty-
four, the following rules and regulations for preventing collisions on the water be
adopted in the Navy and the mercantile marine of the United States: Provided, That
the exhibition of any light on board of a vessel of war of the United States may be
Suspended whenever, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Navy, the commander-in-
chief of a squadron, or the commander of a vessel acting singly, the special character
of the service may require it.

REGULATIONS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS (ON THE WATER AT SEA).

20. No ship under any circumstances to neglect proper precautions.

PRELIMINARY.

ART. 1. In the following rules, every steamship which is under sail, and not under steam, is to be considered a sailing-ship; and every steamship which is under steam, whether under sail or not, is to be considered a ship under steam.

RULES CONCERNING LIGHTS.

LIGHTS.

ART. 2. The lights mentioned in the following articles, and no others, shall be carried in all weathers between sunset and sunrise.

LIGHTS FOR STEAMSHIPS.

ART. 3. All steam-vessels (sea-going steamships), when under way, shall carry(a) At the foremast-head, a bright white light, so fixed as to show a uniform and unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of twenty points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light ten points on each side of the ship, viz, from right ahead to two points abaft the beam on either side, and of such a character as to be visible on a dark night, with a clear atmosphere, at a distance of at least five miles.

(b) On the starboard side, a green light, so constructed as to show a uniform and unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of ten points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to two points abaft the beam on the starboard side, and of such a character as to be visible on a dark night, with a clear atmosphere, at a distance of at least two miles.

(c) On the port side, a red light, so constructed as to show a uniform unbroken light over an arc of the horizon of ten points of the compass, so fixed as to throw the light from right ahead to two points abaft the beam on the port side, and of such a character as to be visible on a dark night, with a clear atmosphere, at a distance of at least two miles.

(d) The said green and red side lights shall be fitted with inboard screens, projecting at least three feet forward from the light, so as to prevent these lights from being seen across the bow.

LIGHTS FOR STEAM-TUGS.

ART. 4. Steamships, when towing other ships, shall carry two bright white mast-head lights vertically, in addition to their side lights, so as to distinguish them from other steamships. Each of these mast-head lights shall of the same construction and character as the mast-head lights which other steamships are required to carry.

LIGHTS FOR SAILING-SHIPS.

ART. 5. Sailing-ships under way, or being towed, shall carry the same lights as steamships under way, with the exception of the white mast-head lights, which they shall

never carry.

EXCEPTIONAL LIGHTS FOR SMALL SAILING-VESSELS.

ART. 6. Whenever, as in the case of small vessels during bad weather, the green and red lights cannot be fixed, those lights shall be kept on deck, on the respective sides of the vessel, ready for instant exhibition, and shall, on the approach of or to other vessels, be exhibited on their respective sides in sufficient time to prevent collision, in such manner as to make them most visible, and so that the green light shall not be seen on the port side, nor the red light on the starboard side.

To make the use of these portable lights more certain and easy, they shall each be painted outside with the color of the light they respectively contain, and shall be provided with suitable screens.

LIGHTS FOR SHIPS AT ANCHOR.

ART. 7. Ships, whether steamships or sailing-ships, when at anchor in roadsteads or fairways, shall, between sunset and sunrise, exhibit where it can best be seen, but at a height not exceeding twenty feet above the hull, a white light in a globular lantern of eight inches in diameter, and so constructed as to show a clear, uniform, and unbroken light visible all around the horizon, and at a distance of at least one mile.

LIGHTS FOR PILOT-VESSELS.

ART. 8. Sailing pilot-vessels shall not carry the lights required for other sailing-vessels but shall carry a white light at the mast-head, visible all around the horizon, and shall also exhibit a flare-up light every fifteen minutes.