at these sessions, for in the preliminary work of unifying the maritime law of nations our country should do its share.

The repeal of the law permitting imprisonment of seamen for desertion from American ships in remote foreign ports is again recommended. Men who want to desert American ships leave unmolested. In such ports not 1 man out of 200 deserts, and there are not half a dozen arrests a year. The situation is the reverse of that in our ports, where seamen desert from foreign ships to enjoy the larger opportunities of American life. Imprisonment for desertion from American ships in domestic ports and in near-by foreign ports was abolished in 1898, and the fragment of the law remaining is worse than valueless.

STEAMBOAT-INSPECTION SERVICE.

STATISTICAL SUMMARY OF WORK.

During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911, there were transported on vessels which by law are required to report the number of passengers carried, 314,768,885 passengers. The total number of accidents resulting in the loss of life during this period was 48, a decrease from the previous year of 7, and the number of lives lost 392, including passengers and crew, an increase of 13 over the previous year. Of the total number of lives lost, 113 were from accidents incident to the perils of navigation, and 48 were from suicide and other unrelated causes, leaving 231 which can fairly be charged to accidents, collisions, or foundering. The total number of 392 lives lost, when compared with the number of passengers that were carried, makes a ratio of 1 life lost, including passengers and crew, for every 802,981 passengers carried.

The number of vessels inspected and certificated in the fiscal year 1911 was 8,335, with a tonnage of 8,494,986, a decrease of 94 in number, with an increased tonnage of 20,280, as compared with the previous fiscal year. Of the vessels certificated 6,999 were domestic steamers with a tonnage of 4,703,518, a decrease of 115 steamers and of 175,718 tons; and 468 were foreign passenger steamers with a tonnage of 3,330,267, an increase of 4 in number and of 200,395 tons. Sail vessels and barges to the number of 36 were inspected, with a tonnage of 18,561, a decrease of 2 in number and of 2,579 tons, and also 475 seagoing barges of 424,829 tons, a decrease of 5 in number and of 3,103 tons from the previous year. Three hundred and fiftyseven motor vessels with a tonnage of 17,811 were inspected and certificated, an increase of 24 in number and 1,285 tons over the previous year.

Licenses were issued during the year to 14,006 officers of all grades, an increase of 850 over the preceding year. There were 1,317 applicants examined for color blindness, of whom 30 were rejected and 1,287 were passed. As compared with the previous year, these figures show an increase of 299 in the number examined and 287 in the number passed.

At the various mills 3,916 steel plates for the construction of marine boilers were inspected, a decrease from the previous year of 610, and of this number 311 were rejected. In addition to these plates, there were inspected at the mills a large number of steel bars for braces and stay bolts for marine boilers, and also several hundred

plates for stock and repair purposes. Many requests were received from other branches and departments of the Government for the testing of boiler material at the mills. These received the attention. of the Service, and prompt reports were rendered to the proper officials.

During the year there were examined and tested at various manufactories 210,259 life preservers, of which 730 were rejected.

The total number of persons in the Service at the end of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911, was 261, consisting of 185 officers, 74 clerks, 1 janitor, and 1 messenger. Two vacancies existed in the Service on that date.

SCOPE OF THE SERVICE.

It may be interesting to note the scope of the work of the Steamboat-Inspection Service. The Service exists primarily for the purpose of inspecting the hulls and machinery of vessels of the American merchant marine that are subject to inspection, licensing officers for steam vessels subject to inspection, and conducting investigations and trials of violators of the steamboat-inspection laws and of the rules and regulations passed by the Board of Supervising Inspectors. The work of inspecting the hulls of vessels brings the Service into close contact with the shipbuilding interests of the country, as well as the manufacturers of equipment necessary for vessels; while the inspection of boilers of steamers brings the Service into equally close contact with the mills that roll the material of which marine boilers are constructed, as well as the manufacturers of marine boilers. The work of licensing officers places upon inspectors the responsibility that requires them to assure themselves that men applying for marine licenses have proper physical qualifications, as well as mental capacity.

While the Steamboat-Inspection Service was organized, as its name implies, for the purpose of inspecting steamboats, modern development of the means of propelling vessels has brought to the front the gasoline engine, and with it the motor boat, and while for certain purposes the Service is required to inspect gasoline motor boats of a certain class, the Service comes into contact with the motorboat situation mainly through the licensing of operators of motor boats carrying passengers for hire. Furthermore, the SteamboatInspection Service is charged by the Department with the responsibility of passing upon the buoyant cushions used in motor boats operated for pleasure purposes, and this has entailed no little work upon the central office as a result of the tests that have to be conducted of cushions submitted, and of the numerous questions that have to be answered in regard to the life-saving equipment of certain classes of motor boats.

As the manufacture of dangerous articles has developed, the number of questions asked with regard to the application of section 4472, Revised Statutes, relating to the transportation of dangerous articles on vessels carrying passengers, continues to increase, and there are no more important rulings than those relating to the transportation of dangerous articles under this section. As the gasoline engine has brought into prominence the motor boat, so it has also brought to the attention of the Service the transportation of automobiles, a matter also covered by section 4472, and it becomes more apparent every day that the masters and owners of vessels must strictly enforce the law with reference to the transportation of automobiles.

The work being done by the Steamboat-Inspection Service for other departments of the Government, and for other bureaus of the Department of Commerce and Labor, is constantly increasing. This work consists of investigations made by the Service of disasters affecting vessels owned by other bureaus of this Department; the inspection of material for boilers used in the vessels of other departments of the Government, and the inspection of boilers in vessels owned by other bureaus of this Department, as well as boilers in public buildings.

MOTOR VESSELS.

Reference has been made to the licensing by the SteamboatInspection Service of persons who desire to become operators of motor vessels carrying passengers for hire under the provisions of the act of Congress approved June 9, 1910, which act also provides that any such license as operator of motor boats shall be revoked or suspended by the local board of inspectors for misconduct, gross negligence, recklessness in navigation, intemperance, or violation of law on the part of the holder. While, therefore, the vast majority of motor boats are not subject to inspection, the Service does have a certain jurisdiction over persons holding licenses as operators of them.

At present no examination is required as a condition to obtaining license, and it must be apparent that many persons have received license to operate motor boats who are in fact not competent to hold such license, and who jeopardize not only their own lives and the lives of persons traveling with them, but also the lives of persons traveling on inspected steamers commanded by duly licensed men. It does seem that as a matter of public policy, for the purpose of protecting life and property, the operators of motor boats should be required to submit to some suitable examination before receiving license, although it does not appear necessary to subject them to the rigid rules of navigation and inspection.

NEW FEATURES OF HULL INSPECTION.

In the annual report of the Supervising Inspector General of the Steamboat-Inspection Service for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1910, the Supervising Inspector General recommended a more rigid and thorough hull inspection, and at the meeting of the Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steam Vessels in January, 1911, a rule was passed requiring vessels of a certain tonnage to submit blue prints showing their construction and other information of value to the inspectors. It is believed that it will become more and more apparent that this rule is a good one, for prior to the passage of the rule the inspectors of the Service were in complete ignorance of many essential things they should know regarding the construction of hulls of vessels inspected by them.

REARRANGEMENT OF SUPERVISING-INSPECTION DISTRICTS.

At the last meeting of the Board of Supervising Inspectors, in January, 1911, the supervising-inspection districts of the Service were rearranged. The Second district, which was by far the largest in the matter of the amount of work done, was divided, and the Fourth district was enlarged. The result of the rearrangement has been that the work of the Service has been more evenly distributed, there is better inspection, and there is greater satisfaction, not only to the Service but to vessel owners and licensed officers.

TRANSPORTATION OF EXPLOSIVES BY WATER,

The explosion of dynamite which occurred February 1, 1911, while the explosive was being unloaded from a freight car and taken on board a steamer lying at a dock at Communipaw, N. J., and which resulted in great loss of life and destruction of property, has drawn attention to apparent deficiencies in the laws regulating the transportation of explosives by water, as distinguished from transportation by land, and has given rise to an earnest demand for further Federal legislation on the subject. The statutes, and the regulations made thereunder, governing the transportation of explosives by land (and by water, also, so far as passenger vessels are concerned) seems to be ample for the purpose in view. (See act to codify the penal laws of the United States, approved Mar. 4, 1909; secs. 44724476, Rev. Stats.; and act of Congress approved Aug. 2, 1882, sec. 8.) The only positive prohibitions or requirements, however, concerning the transportation of explosives by freight vessels are, first, that liquid nitroglycerin, dry fulminate in bulk, or other like explosive, shall not be carried on freight vessels operated by a common carrier while transporting other articles of commerce (act of Mar. 4, 1909,